The Believers Church Bible Commentary Series is published for all who seek more fully to understand the original message of Scripture and its meaning for today—Sunday school teachers, members of Bible study groups, students, pastors, and other seekers. The series is based on the conviction that God is still speaking to all who will listen, and that the Holy Spirit makes the Word a living and authoritative guide for all who want to know and do God’s will.
Each volume illuminates the Scriptures; provides historical and cultural background; shares necessary theological, sociological, and ethical meanings; and, in general, makes "the rough places plain." Critical issues are not avoided, but neither are they moved into the foreground as debates among scholars. The series aids in the interpretive process, but it does not attempt to supersede the authority of the Word and Spirit as discerned in the gathered church.
The Believers Church Bible Commentary is a cooperative project of Brethren in Christ Church, Brethren Church, Church of the Brethren, Mennonite Brethren Church, and Mennonite Church.
Overall Outline
The commentaries are organized into sections according to the major divisions of the text. Each section comprises five parts:
- An introductory preview
- A summary outline of the section
- Explanatory notes
- The text in its biblical context
- The text in the life of the church
Ezekiel
Millard C. Lind has taught the book of Ezekiel for thirty years in seminary and in the church. He skillfully opens the prophet's message about God's presence, covenant, victorious rule, concern for the nations, and cleansing for worship and obedience. The "wheel" and "dry bones" are not just for entertainment. This actor, singer, and instrumentalist is prophesying to a battered people who need the word of the Lord for survival and mission.
God has called Ezekiel to be a sentinel for his people, to warn them of pending danger. They must not look back to unjust Jerusalem nor join a revolt against Babylon. Instead, they are to turn and live by God's law, even in a foreign land. After judging the nations and Jerusalem, God will restore Israel to a renewed land. The people will be given a new heart and spirit—a resurrection. God will defeat international terror and organize Israel as a new temple community, with the Lord in their midst. Then all will now that God leads world history, not by militarists, but through a people serving as a moral exemplar for the nations.
