Ezekiel 19 – “Two Metaphors for Israel”

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
God gives two metaphors for Israel, one about a lioness losing her cubs and the other about a tree being uprooted.

II. Photo
Israel is like a misplaced tree: “Now she is planted in the desert, In ground that is arid and parched.” (v. 13)

III. Important Verses
2-4: What a lioness was your mother Among the lions! Crouching among the great beasts, She reared her cubs. She raised up one of her cubs, He became a great beast; He learned to hunt prey — He devoured men. Nations heeded [the call] against him; He was caught in their snare. They dragged him off with hooks To the land of Egypt.
9: With hooks he was put in a cage, They carried him off to the king of Babylon And confined him in a fortress, So that never again should his roar be heard On the hills of Israel.
10-14: Your mother was like a vine in your blood, Planted beside streams, With luxuriant boughs and branches Thanks to abundant waters. And she had a mighty rod Fit for a ruler’s scepter. It towered highest among the leafy trees, It was conspicuous by its height, By the abundance of its boughs. But plucked up in a fury, She was hurled to the ground. The east wind withered her branches, They broke apart and dried up; And her mighty rod was consumed by fire. Now she is planted in the desert, In ground that is arid and parched. Fire has issued from her twig-laden branch And has consumed her boughs, She is left without a mighty rod, A scepter to rule with.

IV. Outline
1. Introduction
2-4. A mother loses her first cub to Egypt
5-9. A mother loses her second cub to Babylon
10-14a. Israel’s mother is like an uprooted tree
14b. Conclusion

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Allen, Leslie C. “Ezekiel 1-19” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 28 (Waco, Texas: Wordbook, 1994).
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Hals, Ronald M. “Ezekiel” The forms of the Old Testament Literature vol. 19 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1989)
Photo taken from http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs29/f/2008/123/3/9/A_man__a_tree_and_the_desert_by_e_antoine.jpg

Ezekiel 18 – “Individual Responsibility”

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
God says that people die for their own sins, not the sins of others.

II. Photo
The exiles compose a parable: “Parents eat sour grapes and their children’s teeth are blunted!”

III. Important Verses
2-3: What do you mean by quoting this proverb upon the soil of Israel, “Parents eat sour grapes and their children’s teeth are blunted”? As I live — declares the Lord GOD — this proverb shall no longer be current among you in Israel.
5-9: Thus, if a man is righteous and does what is just and right: If he has not eaten on the mountains or raised his eyes to the fetishes of the House of Israel; if he has not defiled another man’s wife or approached a menstruous woman; if he has not wronged anyone; if he has returned the debtor’s pledge to him and has taken nothing by robbery; if he has given bread to the hungry and clothed the naked; if he has not lent at advance interest or exacted accrued interest; if he has abstained from wrongdoing and executed true justice between man and man; if he has followed My laws and kept My rules and acted honestly — he is righteous. Such a man shall live — declares the Lord GOD.
20: The person who sins, he alone shall die. A child shall not share the burden of a parent’s guilt, nor shall a parent share the burden of a child’s guilt; the righteousness of the righteous shall be accounted to him alone, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be accounted to him alone.
32: For it is not My desire that anyone shall die — declares the Lord GOD. Repent, therefore, and live!

IV. Outline
1. Introduction
2-3. God will dispose of the “sour grapes” proverb
4-9. A man who follows God’s laws will live
10-13. If his son is wicked, the son will die
14-17. If the grandson is righteous, he will live
18-22. Only the sinner suffers for his sins
23-24. God wants the sinner to repent, but will punish the
righteous who stray
25-28. God only punishes those who deserve it
29. God’s ways are just
30-31. God will punish each person for his sins
32. God desires repentance

V. Comment
Chapter 18, which relates a theology of individual responsibility, is one of the most important chapters in the book of Ezekiel. Collins writes: “Ezekiel’s teaching on individual responsibility is often viewed as a watershed text in the Hebre Bible. Prior to Ezekiel’s time, corporate responsibility was the norm. When Achan was convicted of violating the ban on booty in Joshua 8, not only was he executed but so was his entire family, and even his animals. The case of Achan was admittedly exceptional. In the normal application of law in ancient Israel, only the wrongdoer was punished. But the covenant of God and Israel, and most of the preaching of the prophets, concerned corporate entities. The blessings and curses of the covenant applied to the people as a whole, without exceptions for individual behavior. Jeremiah suggested that individuals could save their lives during the siege of Jerusalem by deserting to the Babylonians, but he did not suggest that the Babylonian soldiers would discriminate on the basis of virtue. The novelty of Ezekiel’s teaching was that it called for such discrimination, by God if not by the Babylonians. The lives of Noah, Daniel, and Job would be spared, even if the rest of the world were destroyed. (There is in fact an ancient precedent for such exceptions in the case of Noah!) The prophet was still greatly concerned for the welfare of Israel as a whole, but he showed a new concern for individual justice in the eyes of God.” (367)

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Allen, Leslie C. “Ezekiel 1-19” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 28 (Waco, Texas: Wordbook, 1994).
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Hals, Ronald M. “Ezekiel” The forms of the Old Testament Literature vol. 19 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1989)
Photo taken from http://www.encyclowine.org/images/0/06/Autumn_Royal_grapes.jpg

Ezekiel 17 – “A Metaphor About Israel, Babylon, and Egypt”

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
By making use of a metaphor, God proclaims that Babylon will punish Israel for surreptitiously turning to Egypt.

II. Photo
God tells a metaphor: “The great vulture with the great wings and the long pinions, with the full plumage and the brilliant colors, came to the Lebanon range and seized the top of the cedar…” (v. 3)

III. Important Verses
2: O mortal, propound a riddle and relate an allegory to the House of Israel.
12-18: Say to the rebellious breed: Do you not know what these things mean? Say: The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and carried away its king and its officers and brought them back with him to Babylon. He took one of the seed royal and made a covenant with him and imposed an oath on him, and he carried away the nobles of the land — so that it might be a humble kingdom and not exalt itself, but keep his covenant and so endure. But [that prince] rebelled against him and sent his envoys to Egypt to get horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Shall he break a covenant and escape? As I live — declares the Lord GOD — in the very homeland of the king who made him king, whose oath he flouted and whose covenant he broke — right there, in Babylon, he shall die. Pharaoh will not fight at his side with a great army and with numerous troops in the war, when mounds are thrown up and siege towers erected to destroy many lives. He flouted a pact and broke a covenant; he gave his promise and did all these things — he shall not escape.
24: Then shall all the trees of the field know that it is I the LORD who have abased the lofty tree and exalted the lowly tree, who have dried up the green tree and made the withered tree bud. I the LORD have spoken, and I will act.

IV. Outline
1. Introduction
2. God tells Ezekiel to tell a metaphor
3-10. Metaphor: an eagle takes a piece of cedar, plants it, but destroys it when it turns to another eagle
11-12a. Introduction to the explanation
12b-21. Explanation: The Babylonians will punish Judah for turning to Egypt
22-24. God will plant a new cedar

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Allen, Leslie C. “Ezekiel 1-19” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 28 (Waco, Texas: Wordbook, 1994).
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Hals, Ronald M. “Ezekiel” The forms of the Old Testament Literature vol. 19 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1989)
Photo taken from http://www.schmoker.org/BirdPics/2007/RaptorsVultures/TUVU5.jpg

Ezekiel 16 – “Jerusalem the Harlot”

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
God accuses Jerusalem of being a whore and vows to punish her accordingly.

II. Photo
God treated Jerusalem like his wife: “I clothed you with embroidered garments, and gave you sandals of tahash-leather to wear.” (v. 10a)

III. Important Verses
3-5: Thus said the Lord GOD to Jerusalem: By origin and birth you are from the land of the Canaanites — your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. As for your birth, when you were born your navel cord was not cut, and you were not bathed in water to smooth you; you were not rubbed with salt, nor were you swaddled. No one pitied you enough to do any one of these things for you out of compassion for you; on the day you were born, you were left lying, rejected, in the open field.
15-19: But confident in your beauty and fame, you played the harlot: you lavished your favors on every passerby; they were his. You even took some of your cloths and made yourself tapestried platforms and fornicated on them — not in the future; not in time to come. You took your beautiful things, made of the gold and silver that I had given you, and you made yourself phallic images and fornicated with them. You took your embroidered cloths to cover them; and you set My oil and My incense before them. The food that I had given you — the choice flour, the oil, and the honey, which I had provided for you to eat — you set it before them for a pleasing odor. And so it went — declares the Lord GOD.
20-21: You even took the sons and daughters that you bore to Me and sacrificed them to those [images] as food — as if your harlotries were not enough, you slaughtered My children and presented them as offerings to them!
35-42: Now, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD. Thus said the Lord GOD: Because of your brazen effrontery, offering your nakedness to your lovers for harlotry — just like the blood of your children, which you gave to all your abominable fetishes: — I will assuredly assemble all the lovers to whom you gave your favors, along with everybody you accepted and everybody you rejected. I will assemble them against you from every quarter, and I will expose your nakedness to them, and they shall see all your nakedness. I will inflict upon you the punishment of women who commit adultery and murder, and I will direct bloody and impassioned fury against you. I will deliver you into their hands, and they shall tear down your eminence and level your mounds; and they shall strip you of your clothing and take away your dazzling jewels, leaving you naked and bare. Then they shall assemble a mob against you to pelt you with stones and pierce you with their swords. They shall put your houses to the flames and execute punishment upon you in the sight of many women; thus I will put a stop to your harlotry, and you shall pay no more fees. When I have satisfied My fury upon you and My rage has departed from you, then I will be tranquil; I will be angry no more.

IV. Outline
1. Introduction
2. God tells Ezekiel to proclaim Jerusalem’s abominations
3-5. Jerusalem was a neglected baby
6-7a. God raised Jerusalem
7b-8. God entered into a covenant with the sexually mature Jerusalem
9-14. God gave Jerusalem enviable beauty
15-19. Jerusalem fornicated like a harlot
20-21. Jerusalem sacrificed its own children
22. The people forgot their humble beginnings
23-26. Jerusalem continued her promiscuity
27. God will withhold his support
28-34. Jerusalem was worse than most harlots
35-41. Jerusalem will be stoned to death by those who it strayed with
42. God will be placated
43-52. Jerusalem is worse than Samaria and Sodom
53-55. God will restore Samaria and Sodom
56-58. Jerusalem will become a byword like Sodom
59-63. God will not destroy Israel because of the covenant

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Allen, Leslie C. “Ezekiel 1-19” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 28 (Waco, Texas: Wordbook, 1994).
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Hals, Ronald M. “Ezekiel” The forms of the Old Testament Literature vol. 19 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1989)
Photo taken from http://demo.lotusseedsdesign.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/5e06319eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/a/n/anashria-womens-premier-leather-sandal.jpg

Ezekiel 15 – “God Vows to Punish Israel”

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
God promises to ignite the land like a piece of firewood.

II. Photo
God compares Israel to firewood: “Now suppose it was thrown into the fire as fuel and the fire consumed its two ends and its middle was charred — is it good for any use?” (v. 4)

III. Important Verses
2-5: O mortal, how is the wood of the grapevine better than the wood of any branch to be found among the trees of the forest? Can wood be taken from it for use in any work? Can one take a peg from it to hang any vessel on? Now suppose it was thrown into the fire as fuel and the fire consumed its two ends and its middle was charred — is it good for any use? Even when it was whole it could not be used for anything; how much less when fire has consumed it and it is charred! Can it still be used for anything?
6-8: Assuredly, thus said the Lord GOD: Like the wood of the grapevine among the trees of the forest, which I have designated to be fuel for fire, so will I treat the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will set My face against them; they escaped from fire, but fire shall consume them. When I set my face against them, you shall know that I am the LORD. I will make the land a desolation, because they committed trespass — declares the Lord GOD.

IV. Outline
1. Introduction
2-5. Metaphor: burned vine-wood is useless
6-8. Explanation: God will destroy the Israelites

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Allen, Leslie C. “Ezekiel 1-19” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 28 (Waco, Texas: Wordbook, 1994).
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Hals, Ronald M. “Ezekiel” The forms of the Old Testament Literature vol. 19 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1989)
Photo taken from http://ic2.pbase.com/o4/21/507121/1/65632689.rYmCh3F8.Campfire.jpg

Ezekiel 14 – “God’s Vengeance and Mercy”

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Although God punishes Israel for its duplicity, he saves some of the people from the famine, wild beasts, enemy attacks, and pestilence that falls upon Jerusalem.

II. Photo
God is vengeful: “Or, if I were to send wild beasts to roam the land and they depopulated it…” (v. 15)

III. Important Verses
4: Now speak to them and tell them: Thus said the Lord GOD: If anyone of the House of Israel turns his thoughts upon his fetishes and sets his mind upon the sin through which he stumbled, and yet comes to the prophet, I the LORD will respond to him as he comes with his multitude of fetishes.
8: I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a byword, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.
13-14: O mortal, if a land were to sin against Me and commit a trespass, and I stretched out My hand against it and broke its staff of bread, and sent famine against it and cut off man and beast from it, even if these three men — Noah, Daniel, and Job — should be in it, they would by their righteousness save only themselves — declares the Lord GOD.
21-23: Assuredly, thus said the Lord GOD: How much less [should any escape] now that I have let loose against Jerusalem all four of My terrible punishments — the sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence — to cut off man and beast from it! Yet there are survivors left of it, sons and daughters who are being brought out. They are coming out to you; and when you see their ways and their deeds, you will be consoled for the disaster that I brought on Jerusalem, for all that I brought on it. You will be consoled through them, when you see their ways and their deeds and realize that not without cause did I do all that I did in it — declares the Lord GOD.

IV. Outline

1-11. Oracle #1
    1-2. Introduction
    3-5. God will not forget Israel’s duplicity
    6. Exhortation to repent
    7-8. Warning: God will kill those who are duplicitous
    9-11. God will also kill the duplicitous prophets
12-23. Oracle #2
    12. Introduction
    13-20. Only Noah, Dan[i]el, Job would be saved from
        13-14. Famine
        15-16. Wild beasts
        17-18. Enemy attack
        19-20. Pestilence
    21. Jerusalem is experiencing all four punishments
    22-23. Jerusalem has survivors

V. Comment
Chapter 14 contains two oracles: the first describes God’s vengeance and the second describes his mercy. Verse 13-20 relate how, if God were to destroy a wicked city, only three of the men would be saved. These three men are Noah, Daniel, and Job. In an article that appeared in the Bernard Revel Graduate School Student Journal, this author wrote the following: “One of the texts found at Ugarit is the Legend of Aqhat, and it describes a righteous man named Danel. Many scholars believe that this text can shed light on two obscure passages in the book of Ezekiel. God gives a warning in 14:19-20: “Or, if I send pestilence to that country, and I pour My fury upon it in blood, to eliminate from it man and animal, even if Noah, Dan[i]el, and Job would be in it… [they] would save [only] their souls.” In 28:3 God addresses the prince of Tyre and asks: “Are you wiser than Dan[i]el?”
While many once considered Dan[i]el to be the biblical Daniel, scholars now believe that he is the Danel described in the Legend of Aqhat. Sparks writes:

Ezekiel’s references to Danel mention him in the company of Noah and Job. Because these two figures can be legitimately identified as non-Israelites, Danel was probably a foreign hero. This likelihood is reinforced by Ezekiel’s oracle against the king of Tyre (Ezek 28), which presupposes that the Phoenicians were familiar with Danel. Although at first sight it may seem artificial to assume a connection between second-millennium Ugarit and first-millennium Phoenicia, we should recall that Ugarit was a cultural ancestor of Phoenicia and that there is substantial evidence the Ugaritic epic tradition was preserved in Phoenicia at least until the Hellenistic period.

Thus, these biblical passages seem to describe a famous non-Israelite hero, not the protagonist of the Book of Daniel.”

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Allen, Leslie C. “Ezekiel 1-19” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 28 (Waco, Texas: Wordbook, 1994).
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Hals, Ronald M. “Ezekiel” The forms of the Old Testament Literature vol. 19 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1989)
Sparks, Kenton L. Ancient Texts for the Study of the Hebrew Bible. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2005.
Photo taken from http://s3.amazonaws.com/readers/2009/05/02/3492482056d553cb6085_1.jpg

Ezekiel 13 – “Tirade Against The False Prophets”

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
God vows to end the false prophecies that are pervasive in Israel.

II. Photo
God denigrates the false prophets: “Your prophets, O Israel, have been like jackals among ruins!” (v. 4)

III. Important Verses
2: O mortal, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy; say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: Hear the word of the LORD!
6-7: They prophesied falsehood and lying divination; they said, “Declares the LORD,” when the LORD did not send them, and then they waited for their word to be fulfilled. It was false visions you prophesied and lying divination you uttered, saying, “Declares the LORD,” when I had not spoken.
14: I will throw down the wall that you daubed with plaster, and I will raze it to the ground so that its foundation is exposed; and when it falls, you shall perish in its midst; then you shall know that I am the LORD.
17-19: And you, O mortal, set your face against the women of your people, who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy against them and say: Thus said the Lord GOD: Woe to those who sew pads on all arm-joints and make bonnets for the head of every person, in order to entrap! Can you hunt down lives among My people, while you preserve your own lives? You have profaned My name among My people in return for handfuls of barley and morsels of bread; you have announced the death of persons who will not die and the survival of persons who will not live — lying to My people, who listen to your lies.

IV. Outline
1. Introduction
2-7. Israel’s prophets have related false prophecies
8-9. The prophets will not return from exile
10-12. The wall will not be repaired
13-16. God will destroy the wall
17-19. Israel’s prophettesses are liars
20-23. God will take away their power of influence

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Allen, Leslie C. “Ezekiel 1-19” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 28 (Waco, Texas: Wordbook, 1994).
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Hals, Ronald M. “Ezekiel” The forms of the Old Testament Literature vol. 19 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1989)
Photo taken from http://i.pbase.com/o6/26/736626/1/72109956.Xf76toPN.jakel.jpg

Ezekiel 12 – “Symbolic Actions; Lessons About Prophecy”

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
God tells Ezekiel to exile himself and eat his food in fear because the people will go into exile and eat their own food in fear. God also tells Ezekiel that his prophecies will come true in the near future.

II. Photo
God will punish the people of Jerusalem: “They shall eat their bread in anxiety!” (v. 19)

III. Important Verses
2: O mortal, you dwell among the rebellious breed. They have eyes to see but see not, ears to hear but hear not; for they are a rebellious breed.
11-12: Say: “I am a portent for you: As I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall go into exile, into captivity. And the prince among them shall carry his gear on his shoulder as he goes out in the dark. He shall break through the wall in order to carry [his gear] out through it; he shall cover his face, because he himself shall not see the land with his eyes.”
18-19: O mortal, eat your bread in trembling and drink your water in fear and anxiety. And say to the people of the land: Thus said the Lord GOD concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread in anxiety and drink their water in desolation, because their land will be desolate of its multitudes on account of the lawlessness of all its inhabitants.
22-23: O mortal, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, that you say, “The days grow many and every vision comes to naught?” Assuredly, say to them, Thus said the Lord GOD: I will put an end to this proverb; it shall not be used in Israel any more. Speak rather to them: The days draw near, and the fulfillment of every vision.

IV. Outline

1-16. Symbolic action #1
    1. Introduction
    2-6. God tells Ezekiel to go into exile
    7. Ezekiel follows God’s order
    8-16. Meaning: Jerusalem’s leaders will be exiled
17-20. Symbolic action #2
    17. Introduction
    18. God tells Ezekiel to eat his food in fear
    19-20. Meaning: the people will live in fear
21-25. Lesson about prophesy #1
    21. Introduction
    22. A proverb in Israel: prophecy is fallacious
    23-25. Lesson: God’s words will come true
26-28. Lesson about prophesy #2
    26. Introduction
    27. A proverb in Israel: prophecies are for the distant future
    28. Lesson: God’s words will come true imminently

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Allen, Leslie C. “Ezekiel 1-19” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 28 (Waco, Texas: Wordbook, 1994).
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Hals, Ronald M. “Ezekiel” The forms of the Old Testament Literature vol. 19 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1989)
Photo taken from http://mindsethypnotherapy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/anxiety-paul-bradbury.jpg

Ezekiel 11 – “Ezekiel Kills Pelatiah”

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Pelatiah, a prince of Judah, drops dead when Ezekiel condemns Jerusalem’s leaders. God promises to gather in the exiles and Ezekiel returns to Mesopotamia.

II. Photo
Ezekiel threatens Jerusalem’s leaders: “You feared the sword, and the sword I will bring upon you — declares the Lord God.” (v. 8 )

III. Important Verses
1-4: Then a spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the House of the LORD, which faces eastward; and there, at the entrance of the gate, were twenty-five men, among whom I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. [The LORD] said to me, “O mortal, these are the men who plan iniquity and plot wickedness in this city, who say: ‘There is no need now to build houses; this [city] is the pot, and we are the meat.’ I adjure you, prophesy against them; prophesy, O mortal!”
8: You feared the sword, and the sword I will bring upon you — declares the Lord GOD.
13: Now, as I prophesied, Pelatiah son of Benaiah dropped dead. I threw myself upon my face and cried out aloud, “Ah, Lord GOD! You are wiping out the remnant of Israel!”
17-18: Yet say: Thus said the Lord GOD: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the Land of Israel. And they shall return there, and do away with all its detestable things and all its abominations.
24-25: A spirit carried me away and brought me in a vision by the spirit of God to the exile community in Chaldea. Then the vision that I had seen left me, and I told the exiles all the things that the LORD had shown me.

IV. Outline
1-4. God orders Ezekiel to prophesy against Jerusalem’s idolatrous leaders
5-12. Ezekiel portends the leaders’ downfall
13. Pelatiah dies immediately
14-21. God promises to gather in the righteous exiles and punish the sinners
22-23. God leaves Jerusalem
24-25. Ezekiel returns to Mesopotamia

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

Ezekiel 10 – “The Cherubs Under God’s Chariot”

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Ezekiel describes the cherubs that ride beneath God’s chariot.

II. Photo
The cherubs are the possessors of God’s fire: “And a cherub stretched out his hand… [and] took some and put it into the hands of him who was clothed in linen, who took it and went out.” (v. 7)

III. Important Verses
1-2: I looked, and on the expanse over the heads of the cherubs, there was something like a sapphire stone; an appearance resembling a throne could be seen over them. He spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, “Step inside the wheelwork, under the cherubs, and fill your hands with glowing coals from among the cherubs, and scatter them over the city.” And he went in as I looked on.
6-7: When He commanded the man dressed in linen: “Take fire from among the cherubs within the wheelwork,” he went in and stood beside a wheel. And a cherub stretched out his hand among the cherubs to the fire that was among the cherubs; he took some and put it into the hands of him who was clothed in linen, who took it and went out.
21-22: Each one had four faces and each had four wings, with the form of human hands under the wings. As for the form of their faces, they were the very faces that I had seen by the Chebar Canal — their appearance and their features — and each could move in the direction of any of its faces.

IV. Outline
1. Description of God’s throne
2. God orders one of the men to take coals to the city
3-4. The temple fills with God’s presence
5-7. The cherubs give coals to the man
8-17. Ezekiel describes the cherubs and the wheels of God’s chariot
18-22. God leaves and the cherubs follow

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.