The Read through The Bible assignment for Monday, December 29, 2014 is Ezekiel 19 & 20 Continued Rebellion and Promised Restoration Some introductory issues for Ezekiel • Authentic voice of Ezekiel. Most of the critical biblical scholars of the last two centuries sought to find the real words of Ezekiel. Scholars assume differing schemes or criteria for authenticity, often seeing much of the book as the work of later hands. However, little consensus has been reached among the experts. Some contemporary scholars have called for a greater appreciation of the text as we have it-as a whole literary work-while also acknowledging that the book has been edited and expanded over time. • Chariot-throne of God. One of the most striking and memorable visions of the book is the throne of God, which is placed above a kind of moving chariot (1:4-28; 10:3-22). How to understand this vision has long been debated, some even connecting it (quite wrongly) with UFOs! The vision is best understood as a symbolic presentation of the awesome transcendence of Israels God. It a visual presentation of the Lords glory, the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD (1:28). • Extreme one-man dramas. As part of his prophetic vocation, Ezekiel engaged in a large number of extreme activities, the purpose of which were to dramatize and symbolize his message of doom from the Lord. These activities strike the modern reader as odd, eccentric, or even weird. They include: o building a model of the city of Jerusalem and setting siege to it, part of which meant being tied up with ropes and lying on his left side for 390 days and on his right side for forty days (4:1-15); o shaving his head bald, dividing up his hair and striking part of it with a sword all around the city model (5:1-4); o packing up his belongings every night in a mock exile (12:3b-7); o trembling and shaking when he ate and drank (12:17-20) While seemingly very strange, they may have been very effective, memorable means of dramatic communication in the small community Ezekiel served in exile. • Ezekiel as son of man. The prophet is consistently addressed by God as son of man. How shall we understand this address? Many contemporary translations, including the NRSV, translate this phrase as mortal, which conveys only one possible meaning. Another meaning would be member of the human race, or, in poetic terms, son of Adam. The term sets the prophet off as a mortal, frail creature of dust (as Adam was) as opposed to a heavenly being. • Future of the temple. A long section on the future temple and restored vision of Israels tribes ends the book (chapters 40-48). In loving detail the prophet-priest describes the future restoration of ritual, temple, and land as Gods promise of blessing for Gods people. In the early centuries of Jewish interpretation of the book, Ezekiel was controversial because his vision of the temple and its rituals was different from the ones described in other books, especially the Pentateuch. The centrality of the first five books of Moses for Judaism made the book of Ezekiel suspect for some of the rabbis. We misunderstand the vision and rituals if we take them literally. These are not literal building plans, ritual codes, and territorial maps but an idealized and parable-like presentation of the holiness of the presence of the Lord and a revitalized Israel blessed with Gods presence. • Gog and Magog: apocalyptic or historical? The prophetic and symbolic visions regarding Gog and Magog (chapters 38-39) are often seen as early apocalyptic literature. Scholars are divided as to how to interpret these chapters. They are clearly symbolic and not about any contemporary prince and nation-then or now-but what do they symbolize? One option is that they are disguised prophecies against Babylon and its rulers (the one nation around Israel not mentioned in the rest of the book). This would make the reference historical (past). A popular view is that these names represent end-time or apocalyptic enemies of God and Gods people, who will be utterly destroyed as God reestablishes the kingdom in Israel. • King of Tyre or Satan? Ezekiels long prophecy against the city and king of Tyre (chapters 26-28) is a difficult passage to interpret. Classical Christian authors have often taken the king of Tyre to be a type or figure of Satan, based on such statements as Your builders made perfect your beauty (27:4b); I am a god (28:2b); or You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty (28:12b). The prophet does draw upon biblical and Canaanite myths and symbols to describe the arrogant self-understanding of the king, including comparing him to a cherub (or angel) in paradise (28:11-16). It may be tempting to think of this as an allegory of Satan, but that reads too much into the text, which is actually about a human being, the king of Tyre. As the prophet himself says, you are but a mortal, and no god (28:2)-and not a fallen angel either! • Priestly character of the book. Ezekiel is the prophet most concerned with ritual and the temple. Yet Ezekiels version of the law, ritual, and temple is often different from that of the Pentateuch. Some scholars suggest that he wrote before the Pentateuch was in its final written form, and that he draws upon an alternative legal tradition. Others argue that Ezekiel knew these laws but engaged in a radically new interpretation for a new age, reformulating the shape of the temple, its officers, and its rituals under the impulse of his vision of the future. • Prophet and the word of God. Ezekiel has unusual and powerful visions regarding his vocation as one who is to speak the word of God to Israel. God calls Ezekiel to speak the word even knowing that Israel is stubborn and a rebellious house (2:1-7). Following this call to prophesy, Ezekiel has a vision of a scroll (or book), covered completely with writing. God tells him to eat the scroll that is filled with words of lamentation, mourning, and woe (2:8-10). He does eat it, but it tastes as sweet as honey in his mouth. The effect of Ezekiels prophecies on his hearers will be sorrow and mourning, with the desired end being to bring them to repentance. By eating the scroll, Ezekiels message becomes part of him, not just an occasional word but central to his very existence-as vital as food to the body. • Social context: Jerusalem or Babylon? Because many of the prophecies address all of Judah or Jerusalem (rather than just the Jews in exile), some scholars have argued that Ezekiel was in fact a prophet living in Jerusalem. The book was later redacted and expanded by prophets in the school of Ezekiel in the exile and afterwards. The critical rewriting of the book under this assumption is so radical that most interpreters have rejected it. Even when speaking of all Israel or Jerusalem, the Jews in exile would be very interested in what he had to say on the issues back home. • Unfulfilled prophecy. There is a remarkable case of unfulfilled prophecy by Ezekiel at 29:17-21. The details which Ezekiel foretold concerning Tyre did not all transpire: Nebuchadnezzar and his army did lay siege to the city for thirteen long years, but they did not take it as Ezekiel had predicted (chapters 26-28). It is striking that these details are left in the book, along with a short passage which reinterprets them for a new time (29:17-21). Like Jonahs prophecy of the destruction of Nineveh (Jonah 3:4), the Lord did not fulfill the exact word of the prophet, but used it for another purpose. • Use and reinterpretation of Scripture. Recently, Bible scholars have focused on the ways in which Ezekiel uses earlier laws, sacred traditions, symbols, prophecies, and writings. These include regular allusions and references to traditions or texts now found in the Pentateuch, the Psalms, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. Ezekiel often alters these earlier texts or knows of different versions, using them to suit his own context and vision. Rituals, laws, Israelite history, the layout of the land by tribes, and other details are similar to, but also different from, what we know from other biblical books. • Visions of Ezekiel. Visions occupy the book of Ezekiel more than that of any other prophet, with the exception of Daniel. For example, chapters 1-3; 8-11; 37; and 40-48 contain extensive visions which he later related to his fellow Israelites (11:24-25). They appear to have come to him in a kind of ecstatic state, filled with the Spirit-but the exact nature of his experience remains speculative. How to understand these visions as texts is the important interpretive issue. A literal interpretation must be rejected, but the precise meaning(s) of many symbols remains elusive. AUTHOR: Alan Padgett, Professor of Systematic Theology from https://enterthebible.org/oldtestament.aspx?rid=46
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 02:29:07 +0000
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