Ezekiel 38 – “Doom for Gog”

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
God will send Gog’s army to Israel and destroy it there.

II. Photo
God will bring an earthquake to the land: “On that day, a terrible earthquake shall befall the land of Israel.” (v. 19b)

III. Important Verses
4: I will turn you around and put hooks in your jaws, and lead you out with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all of them clothed in splendor, a vast assembly, all of them with bucklers and shields, wielding swords.
8-9: After a long time you shall be summoned; in the distant future you shall march against the land [of a people] restored from the sword, gathered from the midst of many peoples — against the mountains of Israel, which have long lain desolate — [a people] liberated from the nations, and now all dwelling secure. You shall advance, coming like a storm; you shall be like a cloud covering the earth, you and all your cohorts, and the many peoples with you.
11-12: You will say, “I will invade a land of open towns, I will fall upon a tranquil people living secure, all of them living in unwalled towns and lacking bars and gates, in order to take spoil and seize plunder” — to turn your hand against repopulated wastes, and against a people gathered from among nations, acquiring livestock and possessions, living at the center of the earth.
21-23:  I will then summon the sword against him throughout My mountains — declares the Lord GOD — and every man’s sword shall be turned against his brother. I will punish him with pestilence and with bloodshed; and I will pour torrential rain, hailstones, and sulfurous fire upon him and his hordes and the many peoples with him. Thus will I manifest My greatness and My holiness, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations. And they shall know that I am the LORD.

IV. Outline
1-3a. Introduction
3b-9. Gog will advance with its troops against Israel
10-13. Gog will decide to take the spoils of Israel
14-18. Gog will be used to show God’s glory
19-20. Natural disasters
21-23a. God will destroy the army
23b. Recognition of God formula

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.solarroadways.com/images/faq/earthquake%20road%20damage%203.jpg

Ezekiel 37 – “Symbolic Actions: Reviving the Dry Bones and Combining the Sticks”

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
God demonstrates his commitment to restoring the people by having Ezekiel resurrect a pile of dry bones. He also tells Ezekiel to take two sticks, one representing Judah and the other Israel, and promises to unite the two.

II. Photo
Ezekiel revives the dry bones: “And while I was prophesying, suddenly there was a sound of rattling, and the bones came together, bone to matching bone.” (v. 7b)

III. Important Verses
1-6: The hand of the LORD came upon me. He took me out by the spirit of the LORD and set me down in the valley. It was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many of them spread over the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, “O mortal, can these bones live again?” I replied, “O Lord GOD, only You know.” And He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! Thus said the Lord GOD to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live again. I will lay sinews upon you, and cover you with flesh, and form skin over you. And I will put breath into you, and you shall live again. And you shall know that I am the LORD!”
11-12: And He said to me, “O mortal, these bones are the whole House of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone; we are doomed.’ Prophesy, therefore, and say to them: Thus said the Lord GOD: I am going to open your graves and lift you out of the graves, O My people, and bring you to the land of Israel.
16-17: And you, O mortal, take a stick and write on it, “Of Judah and the Israelites associated with him”; and take another stick and write on it, “Of Joseph — the stick of Ephraim — and all the House of Israel associated with him.” Bring them close to each other, so that they become one stick, joined together in your hand.
24: My servant David shall be king over them; there shall be one shepherd for all of them. They shall follow My rules and faithfully obey My laws.

IV. Outline

1-14. Vision Report / Report of a Symbolic Action: The Valley of Dry Bones
    1a. Superscription
    1b-6. God sends Ezekiel to prophesy to the dry bones
    7-8. The bones grow flesh
    9. God sends Ezekiel to prophesy to the bodies
    10. The bodies begin to breathe
    11-14a. God explains the symbolic action
    14b. Postscript
15-28. Report of a Symbolic Action: The sticks of Judah and Israel
    15. Superscript
    16-17. Ezekiel is to bring two sticks
    18-23. Ezekiel’s message to the people: God will reunite Judah with Israel
    24-25. The people will serve God under the house of David
    26-27. God will establish a covenant with Israel
    28. Recognition of God formula: the nations will know God

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://gallery.photo.net/photo/6572526-md.jpg

Ezekiel 36 – “God Will Restore Israel For His Own Sake”

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
God vows to restore Israel so that he can impress the nations of the world.

II. Photo
God will cleanse the people: “I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean: I will cleanse you from all your uncleanness and from all your fetishes.” (v. 25)

III. Important Verses
2: Thus said the Lord GOD: Because the enemy gloated over you, “Aha! Those ancient heights have become our possession!”
13-15: Thus said the Lord GOD: Because they say to you, “You are [a land] that devours men, you have been a bereaver of your nations,” assuredly, you shall devour men no more, you shall never again bereave your nations — declares the Lord GOD. No more will I allow the jibes of the nations to be heard against you, no longer shall you suffer the taunting of the peoples; and never again shall you cause your nations to stumble — declares the Lord GOD.
20-24: But when they came to those nations, they caused My holy name to be profaned, in that it was said of them, “These are the people of the LORD, yet they had to leave His land.” Therefore I am concerned for My holy name, which the House of Israel have caused to be profaned among the nations to which they have come. Say to the House of Israel: Thus said the Lord GOD: Not for your sake will I act, O House of Israel, but for My holy name, which you have caused to be profaned among the nations to which you have come. I will sanctify My great name which has been profaned among the nations — among whom you have caused it to be profaned. And the nations shall know that I am the LORD — declares the Lord GOD — when I manifest My holiness before their eyes through you. I will take you from among the nations and gather you from all the countries, and I will bring you back to your own land.
35-36: And men shall say, “That land, once desolate, has become like the garden of Eden; and the cities, once ruined, desolate, and ravaged, are now populated and fortified.” And the nations that are left around you shall know that I the LORD have rebuilt the ravaged places and replanted the desolate land. I the LORD have spoken and will act.

IV. Outline

1-15. Oracle #1: The mountains of Israel will prosper once again
    1-2a. Superscription: prophecy for the mountains of Israel
    2b. Israel will capture its enemy’s mountains
    3-7. Israel’s neighbors will suffer disgrace
    8-11a. God will make the hills of Israel greater than before
    11b. Recognition of God formula
    12. Israel will return to its mountains
    13-15a. Israel will no longer be  a byword for the nations
    15b. Postscript
16-38. Oracle #2: God will restore Israel for his own sake
    16. Superscription
    17-23. Rationale for action
        17-19. God punished Israel and sent it into exile
        20-21. Israel’s being in exile profanes God’s name
        22-23. God will act for his own sake
    24-27. God will return the people to the land and invigorate them
    28. The relationship between Israel and God
    29-30. Prosperity in the land
    31. The people will return to God
    32. God will act for his own sake
    33-34. The land will be repopulated
    35-36a. The nations will be impressed with God’s actions
    (36b. Postscript)
    37-38a. Jerusalem will be filled with people and sacrifice
    38b. Postscript

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.face-wash.com/images/face-wash-man.jpg

Ezekiel 35 – “Doom for Edom”

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
God vows to destroy Edom because it supported Jerusalem’s downfall.

II. Photo
God gives Ezekiel his mission:  “O mortal, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it.” (v. 2)

III. Important Verses
4-6:  will turn your towns into ruins, and you shall be a desolation; then you shall know that I am the LORD. Because you harbored an ancient hatred and handed the people of Israel over to the sword in their time of calamity, the time set for their punishment — assuredly, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will doom you with blood; blood shall pursue you; I swear that, for your bloodthirsty hatred, blood shall pursue you.
8: I will cover its mountains with the slain; men slain by the sword shall lie on your hills, in your valleys, and in all your watercourses.
10-13: Because you thought “The two nations and the two lands shall be mine and we shall possess them” — although the LORD was there — assuredly, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will act with the same anger and passion that you acted with in your hatred of them. And I will make Myself known through them when I judge you. You shall know that I the LORD have heard all the taunts you uttered against the hills of Israel: “They have been laid waste; they have been given to us as prey.” And you spoke arrogantly against Me and multiplied your words against Me: I have heard it.

IV. Outline
1-3a. Superscription: prophecy for Edom
3b-4a. God will destroy the region of Mount Seir
4b. Recognition of God formula
5. Edom’s sin: aiding in Israel’s downfall
6. Edom’s punishment: blood (“dam” in Hebrew).
7-9a. God will destroy the region of Mount Seir
9b. Recognition of God Formula
10. Edom’s greedy thoughts
11. God will give Edom its due
12-13. God knows Edom’s aspirations
14-15a. God will destroy Edom
15b. Recognition of God formula

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.dkimages.com/discover/previews/932/50270804.jpg

Ezekiel 34 – “Replacing Israel’s Leaders; Prophecy of Prosperity”

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
God will replace Israel’s leaders, gather in the exiles, and bring prosperity to the land.

II. Photo
God addresses Israel’s leaders: “Ah, you shepherds of Israel, who have been tending yourselves! Is it not the flock that the shepherds ought to tend?” (v. 2b)

III. Important Verses
2b-6: To the shepherds: Thus said the Lord GOD: Ah, you shepherds of Israel, who have been tending yourselves! Is it not the flock that the shepherds ought to tend? You partake of the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, and you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not tend the flock. You have not sustained the weak, healed the sick, or bandaged the injured; you have not brought back the strayed, or looked for the lost; but you have driven them with harsh rigor, and they have been scattered for want of anyone to tend them; scattered, they have become prey for every wild beast. My sheep stray through all the mountains and over every lofty hill; My flock is scattered all over the face of the earth, with none to take thought of them and none to seek them.
11-15: For thus said the Lord GOD: Here am I! I am going to take thought for My flock and I will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when some [animals] in his flock have gotten separated, so I will seek out My flock, I will rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered on a day of cloud and gloom. I will take them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them to their own land, and will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses and in all the settled portions of the land. I will feed them in good grazing land, and the lofty hills of Israel shall be their pasture. There, in the hills of Israel, they shall lie down in a good pasture and shall feed on rich grazing land. I Myself will graze My flock, and I Myself will let them lie down — declares the Lord GOD.
23: Then I will appoint a single shepherd over them to tend them — My servant David. He shall tend them, he shall be a shepherd to them.

IV. Outline

    1-24a. Oracle #1: God will replace Israel’s leaders
        1-2a. Superscription: Prophecy to the “shepherds of Israel”
        2b-6. The “shepherds” have been neglecting the people’s needs
        7-10. Judgment speech
            7-10a. God addresses the “shepherds”
            10b. God will remove the shepherds from their post
        11-16. God will bring the “flock” to Israel and tend to it
        17-22. God will judge between the righteous and unrighteous “animals”
        23-24a. David will be the new shepherd and God will be the flock’s deity
        24b. Postscript
    25-30. Oracle #2: God will bring prosperity
        25-27a. God will bring prosperity to the land
        27b. Recognition of God formula
        28-29. The people will be free of oppression and famine
        30a. Recognition of God formula
        30b. Postscript
    31. Postscript
        31a. Summary statement
        31b. Postscript

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://magdelene.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/800px-rumunia_5806.jpg

Ezekiel 33 – “Individual Responsibility; The Fall of Jerusalem”

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
God asserts that individuals are responsible for their actions and that Jerusalem will fall because of its sins.

II. Photo
God likens Ezekiel to a watchman: “When I bring the sword against a country, the citizens of that country take one of their number and appoint him their watchman.” (v. 2b)

III. Important Verses
2-6: O mortal, speak to your fellow countrymen and say to them: When I bring the sword against a country, the citizens of that country take one of their number and appoint him their watchman. Suppose he sees the sword advancing against the country, and he blows the horn and warns the people. If anybody hears the sound of the horn but ignores the warning, and the sword comes and dispatches him, his blood shall be on his own head. Since he heard the sound of the horn but ignored the warning, his bloodguilt shall be upon himself; had he taken the warning, he would have saved his life. But if the watchman sees the sword advancing and does not blow the horn, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and destroys one of them, that person was destroyed for his own sins; however, I will demand a reckoning for his blood from the watchman.
17-20: Your fellow countrymen say, “The way of the Lord is unfair.” But it is their way that is unfair! When a righteous man turns away from his righteous deeds and commits iniquity, he shall die for it. And when a wicked man turns back from his wickedness and does what is just and right, it is he who shall live by virtue of these things. And will you say, “The way of the Lord is unfair”? I will judge each one of you according to his ways, O House of Israel!
21-22: In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a fugitive came to me from Jerusalem and reported, “The city has fallen.” Now the hand of the LORD had come upon me the evening before the fugitive arrived, and He opened my mouth before he came to me in the morning; thus my mouth was opened and I was no longer speechless.

IV. Outline

1-20. Oracle #1: Responsibility for sin
    1-2a. Superscription
    2b-20. Oracle
        2b-6. The responsibilities of the watchman and the citizens
        7-9. Ezekiel’s responsibility to the wicked
        10-11. God desires repentance
        12-16. Discourse about reward and punishment
        17-20. Disputation: God is fair
            17a. Position of the Israelites
            17b-20. Rebuttal
21-33. Oracle #2: Responsibility for the fall of Jerusalem
    21-23. Superscription
        21a. Historical/geographic introduction
        21b. Messenger report: Jerusalem has fallen
        22-23. God’s oracle from the night before
    24-29. Disputation: The people do not deserve the land
        24. Position of the Israelites: they will possess the land
        25-27. Rebuttal: the Israelites are sinners
        28. God will destroy the land
        29. Recognition of God formula
    30-33. Prophecy: the people will listen to Ezekiel but not heed his message

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.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_free_images/0420-0907-3020-0104_soldier_standing_in_front_of_barbed_wire_using_binoculars_m.jpg

Ezekiel 32 – “Doom for Egypt – Part IV”

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
God vows to annihilate the Egyptians and to send them to the underworld.

II. Photo
Egypt’s cattle will disappear: “I will make all her cattle vanish from beside abundant waters.” (v. 13a)

III. Important Verses
2-6: O mortal, intone a dirge over Pharaoh king of Egypt. Say to him: O great beast among the nations, you are doomed! You are like the dragon in the seas, Thrusting through their streams, Stirring up the water with your feet And muddying their streams! Thus said the Lord GOD: I will cast My net over you In an assembly of many peoples, And you shall be hauled up in My toils. And I will fling you to the ground, Hurl you upon the open field. I will cause all the birds of the sky To settle upon you. I will cause the beasts of all the earth To batten on you. I will cast your carcass upon the hills And fill the valleys with your rotting flesh. I will drench the earth With your oozing blood upon the hills, And the watercourses shall be filled with your [gore].
16: This is a dirge, and it shall be intoned; The women of the nations shall intone it, They shall intone it over Egypt and all her multitude — declares the Lord GOD.
21-23: From the depths of Sheol the mightiest of warriors speak to him and his allies; the uncircumcised, the slain by the sword, have gone down and lie there. Assyria is there with all her company, their graves round about, all of them slain, fallen by the sword. Their graves set in the farthest recesses of the Pit, all her company are round about her tomb, all of them slain, fallen by the sword — they who struck terror in the land of the living.
29: Edom is there, her kings and all her chieftains, who, for all their might, are laid among those who are slain by the sword; they too lie with the uncircumcised and with those who have gone down to the Pit.

IV. Outline

1-16. Oracle #1
    1-2a. Introduction
    2b-14. Lament for Egypt
        2b-6. God will utterly destroy Egypt
        7-8. God will bring darkness to the land
        9-10. Fear will spread
        11-12. Babylon will annihilate the Egyptians
        13-14a. The cattle will disappear
        14b. Conclusion
    15. Conclusion
    16a. Description of the lament
    16b. Conclusion
17-32. Oracle #2
    17-18. Introduction
    19-21. Egypt will descend to Sheol
    22-23. Assyria resides in Sheol
    24-25. Elam resides in Sheol
    26-27. Meshech and Tubal reside in Sheol
    28. Egypt will descend to Sheol
    29. Edom resides in Sheol
    30. The [Phoenician] princes of the north reside in Sheol
    31a. Pharaoh will be killed
    31b. Conclusion
    32a. Egypt will be terrified
    32b. 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://www.siouxnationag.com/uploads/image/cattleriver.jpg

Ezekiel 31 – “Doom for Egypt – Part III”

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Pharaoh’s empire will fall like the Assyrian empire.

II. Photo
Assyria is likened to a mighty tree: “In its branches nested All the birds of the sky.” (v. 6a)

III. Important Verses
3-9: Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon With beautiful branches and shady thickets, Of lofty stature, With its top among leafy trees. Waters nourished it, The deep made it grow tall, Washing with its streams The place where it was planted, Making its channels well up To all the trees of the field. Therefore it exceeded in stature All the trees of the field; Its branches multiplied and its boughs grew long Because of the abundant water That welled up for it.  In its branches nested All the birds of the sky; All the beasts of the field Bore their young under its boughs, And in its shadow lived All the great nations. It was beautiful in its height, In the length of its branches, Because its stock stood By abundant waters. Cedars in the garden of God Could not compare with it; Cypresses could not match its boughs, And plane trees could not vie with its branches; No tree in the garden of God Was its peer in beauty. I made it beautiful In the profusion of its branches; And all the trees of Eden envied it In the garden of God.
12: Strangers, the most ruthless of nations, cut it down and abandoned it; its branches fell on the mountains and in every valley; its boughs were splintered in every watercourse of the earth; and all the peoples of the earth departed from its shade and abandoned it.
18: [Now you know] who is comparable to you in glory and greatness among the trees of Eden. And you too shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the lowest part of the netherworld; you shall lie among the uncircumcised and those slain by the sword. Such shall be [the fate of] Pharaoh and all his hordes — declares the Lord GOD.

IV. Outline
1-2a. Introduction
2b. Query to the haughty Pharaoh
3-9. Assyria is a towering cedar tree
10-14. The mighty tree fell
15-17. The tree’s supporters also fell
18a. Egypt will suffer a similar fate
18b. Conclusion

V. Comment
Chapter 31 describes the fall of Assyria and portends doom for Egypt. For the historical background to this period of Israelite history, see “Ezekiel, Book of” by Lawrence Boadt in the Anchor Bible Dictionary (vol. 2, pp. 713-714): “Ezekiel lived through the greatest crisis in ancient Israel’s history: the final destruction of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem; the loss of independence in the promised land, exile of all the leading citizens to Babylonia; and the tearing down of the temple and removal of the House of David from kingship (2 Kings 25; Jeremiah 39–41, 52; Lamentations 1–5; 2 Chronicles 36). It was a double tragedy, for each of the losses just listed had both political and theological ramifications for the people, and not only were their physical lives disrupted but their faith was shaken as well.

“Since the middle of the 8th century B.C.E., events in Palestine had been determined by the policies of Assyria, the world power of the day. The N kingdom had come under Assyrian domination by the middle of the 9th century and was treated as a vassal state. Rebellion led to its fall in 722 B.C.E., and its territory had been made into a full Assyrian province. The wars surrounding this traumatic loss had brought the S kingdom of Judah into the Assyrian orbit as well (cf. Isaiah 6–8). Its king, Hezekiah, had tried to revolt in 705–701, but failed; and although Judah was not wiped out completely, its next king, Manasseh, remained a faithful servant of Assyria throughout his long reign (2 Kings 18–21).
“Manasseh’s grandson, Josiah, came to the throne in 640 as an eight-year-old boy. When he came of age to rule in 628, he began a religious reform as well as a political effort to retake the N territories (2 Chronicles 34). The Assyrian empire had become seriously weakened after the death of its last strong king, Assurbanipal, and the Babylonians were building a new empire at its expense. Josiah was succeeding in both his religious and political goals until a foolish attempt to intervene against an Egyptian army going to the aid of Assyria led to his premature death in battle in 609 B.C.E. His son and successor Jehoiakim ended any further religious reform.
“In 605 a victory over Egypt brought the Babylonians to power over Judah. Jehoiakim pledged loyalty to Babylon but was soon attempting to rebel and win back Judah’s independence. The prophet Jeremiah’s ministry was largely carried out in opposition to this political opportunism of Jehoiakim. Jeremiah called for loyalty to the covenant with God and to the covenant treaty with Babylon; he warned that the God of Israel would not stand by a pledge to defend the people if they continued to rebel. Jeremiah’s words were only too accurate, and in 598 a Babylonian army sacked the city of Jerusalem and led most of its educated and gifted citizens into exile (2 Kgs 24:1–7). Jehoiakim died during the siege, and the Babylonians took his young son Jehoiachin with them as a captured pledge so that further rebellion would not occur. In his place they named his uncle Zedekiah to rule as regent (2 Kgs 24:8–20). But he, too, in the following years began plotting to be free, and in a second prolonged attack of three years (588–586), Nebuchadrezzar’s army leveled the cities of Judah and finally burned Jerusalem to the ground, taking away whatever remained of value and exiling the rest of its leading citizens in the summer of 586 (see 2 Kings 25; Jeremiah 52). Jeremiah survived this period of horror but disappeared soon after being forcibly taken to Egypt in 583 or so (see Jeremiah 37–45).”

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://131.111.69.66/~grant/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/dsc_0457.jpg

Ezekiel 30 – “Doom For Egypt – Part II”

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
The king of Babylon will ravage Egypt and its allies.

II. Photo
Egypt’s day has come: “Wail, alas for the day! For a day is near; A day of the Lord is near! It will be a day of cloud, an hour of [invading] nations!” (vv. 2b-3)

III. Important Verses
4-5: A sword shall pierce Egypt, And Nubia shall be seized with trembling, When men fall slain in Egypt And her wealth is seized And her foundations are overthrown. Nubia, Put, and Lud, and all the mixed populations, and Cub, and the inhabitants of the allied countries shall fall by the sword with them.
10-12: Thus said the Lord GOD: I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt through King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon. He, together with his troops, the most ruthless of the nations, shall be brought to ravage the land. And they shall unsheathe the sword against Egypt and fill the land with the slain. I will turn the channels into dry ground, and I will deliver the land into the hands of evil men. I will lay waste the land and everything in it by the hands of strangers. I the LORD have spoken.
25-26: I will make firm the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fail. And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he lifts it against the land of Egypt. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Thus they shall know that I am the LORD.

IV. Outline

1-12. Oracle #1
    1-2a. Introduction
    2b-12a. Nebuchadrezzar will destroy Egypt and its allies
    12b. Conclusion
13-19. Oracle #2
    13a. Introduction
    13b-19a. God will annihilate Egypt and its allies
    19b. Conclusion
20-26. Oracle #3
    20. Introduction
    21-26a. God will deliver Egypt to Babylon and scatter the Egyptians
    26b. 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://mnewmanphoto.com/gallery/img/clouds.jpg

Ezekiel 29 – “Doom for Egypt”

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
God vows to punish Pharaoh and to give Egypt to the king of Babylon.

II. Photo
God vows to punish Pharaoh: “I will haul you up from your channels, with all the fish of your channels clinging to your scales!” (v. 4b)

III. Important Verses
3-6: Speak these words: Thus said the Lord GOD: I am going to deal with you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, Mighty monster, sprawling in your channels, Who said, My Nile is my own; I made it for myself. I will put hooks in your jaws, And make the fish of your channels Cling to your scales; I will haul you up from your channels, With all the fish of your channels Clinging to your scales. And I will fling you into the desert, With all the fish of your channels. You shall be left lying in the open, Ungathered and unburied: I have given you as food To the beasts of the earth And the birds of the sky. Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know That I am the LORD. Because you were a staff of reed To the House of Israel:
10-12: Assuredly, I am going to deal with you and your channels, and I will reduce the land of Egypt to utter ruin and desolation, from Migdol to Syene, all the way to the border of Nubia. No foot of man shall traverse it, and no foot of beast shall traverse it; and it shall remain uninhabited for forty years. For forty years I will make the land of Egypt the most desolate of desolate lands, and its cities shall be the most desolate of ruined cities. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries.
18-20: O mortal, King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon has made his army expend vast labor on Tyre; every head is rubbed bald and every shoulder scraped. But he and his army have had no return for the labor he expended on Tyre. Assuredly, thus said the Lord GOD: I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon. He shall carry off her wealth and take her spoil and seize her booty; and she shall be the recompense of his army. As the wage for which he labored, for what they did for Me, I give him the land of Egypt — declares the Lord GOD.

IV. Outline

1-16. Oracle #1
    1-3a. Introduction
    3b. Pharaoh’s conceit
    4-7. God will punish Pharaoh for harming Israel
    8-9. God will punish Egypt for Pharaoh’s pride
    10-12. God will destroy Egypt for 40 years
    13-16. Egypt will rise, but never to its former glory
17-20. Oracle #2
    17. Introduction
    18-19. Nebuchadrezzar will conquer Egypt
    20. Israel will be strengthened

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.featuredpix.com/uploads/0/157_640x480.jpg