College Press NIV Commentary: Ezekiel
Overview
The book of Ezekiel is notoriously strange. Ezekiel's visions, actions, and words are bizarre "sometimes utterly incomprehensible" to us. He lies on his side for over a year, he eats a scroll, he is asked to cook with human waste, and he cannot cry at his wife's death. Ezekiel's message seems unavailable to many because we simply don't have "ears to hear."
Top Highlights
“Ezekiel must be a watchman for all persons indiscriminately; he is not permitted to take his message only where it might have the greatest effect. Yahweh calls him to faithfulness, not fruitfulness.” (Page 54)
“One frequently occurring phrase by Yahweh is ‘then they will know that I am Yahweh’ (NIV, ‘the Lord’). It occurs over five dozen times and points out a crucial theme in Ezekiel: Yahweh is faithful to his covenant.” (Page 26)
“Some commentators suggest that the description of the creatures represents omnipotence and omniscience in general.4 But Ezekiel’s location, and the iconographic representations of Babylon’s gods in the reliefs of the Ishtar Gate, as well as other typical features of ancient Near Eastern artistic depictions of various gods, suggest that they are representations of these gods in roles subservient to Israel’s God, Yahweh.5 Far from respecting the territorial claims of Babylon’s gods, Yahweh shows Ezekiel that things are opposite from what he and his companion exiles suppose. The gods of Babylon are the obedient, throne-bearers of Yahweh!” (Page 41)
“This strange description is an extended metaphor of Yahweh’s ability to inspire the dispirited exiles to renewed hope, obedience, and trust in his power to save them from their depressing surroundings. Yahweh can make promise after promise to exiled Israel about coming home, but he cannot make them go home. The return requires a trust in Yahweh that compels one obediently to leave Babylon and travel back to Judah to rebuild.” (Page 323)
“The last thing Ezekiel or his contemporaries expected was for Yahweh to communicate to his people in Babylon. Rather than coming from within the land of Judah (as with Jeremiah) or from the temple (as with Isaiah), Yahweh appears in a backwater district of the enemy’s empire. Soon, Ezekiel and his contemporaries will realize that the god of Israel is not confined within Judah’s borders.” (Page 38)
- Title: Ezekiel
- Author: Brandon L. Fredenburg
- Series: College Press NIV Commentary
- Publisher: College Press
- Print Publication Date: 2002
- Logos Release Date: 2006
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subject: Bible. O.T. Ezekiel › Commentaries
- Resource ID: LLS:CPC_EZEK
- Resource Type: Bible Commentary
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-04-26T02:09:46Z