Introduction to Ezekiel and its Text. Authorship of the Book of Ezekiel is most often credited to Ezekiel, evidenced by the

Transcription

1 1 Introduction to Ezekiel and its Text John Mahowald Word Count: 1,554 Authorship Authorship of the Book of Ezekiel is most often credited to Ezekiel, evidenced by the unity of the book, the autobiographical style, and the selection of the content. Although the book does not explicitly credit Ezekiel as the author, these three aspects of the book point to Ezekiel as the author (Cooper 30). The unity seen in the Book of Ezekiel is uncharacteristic of books authored by different sources. There are no breaks to the flow of Ezekiel s message and arrangement throughout the entire book (Cooper 31). A consistency exists in language and style used by the author (Cooper 31, Arnold 409). The book s autobiographical nature also leads critics to evaluate Ezekiel as the author. Nearly all of Ezekiel s oracles are cast in the first person (Block 27). Only once in 1:2-3 does the Ezekiel actually abandon the first person form for the third person. For this reason, readers are left with the impression that they have gained access to the private memoirs of a holy man, a prophet of Israel (Block 27). The character and personality of Ezekiel is consistent, indicating again Ezekiel s hand in authorship. His priestly character, love for symbolism and attention to detail lead are unwavering. Thirdly, the author s content helps identify Ezekiel having penned the material. Unlike any other prophetic book, Ezekiel includes carefully dated events and prophesies (Cooper 39). This information would only be known to Ezekiel himself. There is noticeable chronological unity of Ezekiel s prophesies in first half of the book and their fulfillment in the second half. Content only known to the Ezekiel, the main character of the book, provides evidence that he may have been the author.

2 2 Until 1900, strong criticism for Ezekiel s authorship was relatively absent. Some have sought to demonstrate the writing of the Book of Ezekiel as a later piece of nationalistic literature, yet this opposition is relatively insignificant. For the purpose of this research, it will be assumed that Ezekiel is the author of the book 1. Not much is known of the Prophet Ezekiel except what is included in the book. Ezekiel is both the son of a priest and a priest himself (Block 9, Cooper 27). His priesthood provides an explanation for his inclusion in the second deportation in 597 B.C. (Block 9). Ezekiel s call to prophetic ministry was in 593. He served a dual role of priest and prophet to the Jews in Babylon, as well as had correspondence with those in Jerusalem (Cooper 28). Very little is known of his personal life. Readers discover that he was married, yet Yahweh brought about the death of his wife and then forbade the prophet from external expression of grief (Block 9). Ezekiel has more recently been the subject of many psychoanalytical studies as a result of his unique style of ministry (Block 10-11). Regardless of his psychological state, his actions under Yahweh s control allow him to be a vehicle of divine revelation (Block 12). Historical Background, Geographical Setting and Dating Ezekiel was born in the mist of great political turmoil. The Book of Ezekiel begins with Ezekiel near Nippur in the Chebar canal July of 593 B.C, yet there are numerous events leading up to this date and setting (Cooper 24; Block 4). The Northern kingdom, under Ahab and Jezebel, reached its peak of spiritual disobedience between 874 to 853 B.C. (Cooper 20). Assyria seized control of the Northern kingdom in 722, an act the North never expected because of their covenant relationship with God. It became evident, however, that Assyria was stretched too thin from imperial efforts in Israel. In 612 B.C., Assyrian Nineveh fell to Babylon (Cooper 1 Because of the nature of this essay, great detail of authorship theories is not necessary. Further information may be found on page 32 of Cooper and page 24 of Duguid

3 3 21). While the Northern Kingdom had already fallen and was now controlled by Babylon, the Southern Kingdom was experiencing corruption exceeding that of their Northern counterpart. Josiah is considered the last good king of the Northern Kingdom (Cooper 20). He entered the kingship on the political and social platform provided by Manasseh ( ), arguably the worst king to sit on David s throne (Block 2). Josiah attempted to implement social, moral and spiritual renewal through centralizing public worship in Jerusalem and reinstituting the Passover (Block 3). When Josiah was killed in 609, his middle son Jehoahaz abdicated his position. After only three months Jehoahaz was taken captive to Egypt by Pharaoh Neco and replaced by his brother Jehoiakim (Cooper 22). Acting as Pharaoh Neco s puppet, Jehoiakim managed to eradicate many of his fathers reforms (Block 3). In 605, Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, consolidated his power in Babylon and drive out Egyptian from Palestine. In his successful offensive, Jehoiakim became one of Babylon s vassals (Block 3). After years of Public compliance and private dissentient toward Egypt, Jehoiakim decided to revolt (Cooper 22). In 598, Jehoiakim disobeyed requests from Nebuchadnezzar, which drove Babylon to engage in a siege of Jerusalem (Block 3). Jerusalem was forced to surrender to Babylonian strength. In this process, Jehoiakim died and was replaced by his son Jehiachin. Similar to his father, Jehiachin was unwilling to comply with Babylonian requests. Within three months, Nebuchadnezzar removed Jehiachin from power, made Jehiachin s brother Zedekiah king, and brought captives from Jerusalem to Babylon (Cooper 22). These captives settled in 597 B.C. in a separate Jewish colony near Nippur on the Chebar canal (Block 4). Among these captives was Ezekiel. Similar to his predecessors, Zedekiah was anxious to separate from Babylonian control. In 589, confident from treaties with Tyree, Ammon and Egypt, Zedekiah launched an open revolt against Babylon (Duguid 21). Nebuchadnezzar responded violently invading Judah and laying siege to

4 4 Jerusalem (Block 4). After a year long siege, the entire city was torn down and burned. Survivors were either exiled to Babylon or allowed to remain. Only the poorest inhabitants were allowed to remain (Duguid 21-22). Ezekiel s ministry is contained within much of Israel s trouble, covering more than twenty years of critical Judean history (Cooper 23). His ministry began in July of 593 B.C. and his final vision was in April of 571 B.C. (Cooper 24). The entirety of Ezekiel s ministry is conducted in Babylon thought it appears that he had correspondence with those in Jerusalem (Cooper 28; Arnold 409). Purpose and Message Ezekiel s primary purpose as a prophet was to convince Judah of their false confidence in God s deliverance from Babylon and instill hope that God will restore His covenant with Israel upon repentance. Before the exile, Judah was convinced that God would deliver them in the face of trial. This confidence resided on four pillars of God s promise: God s covenant with Israel at Sinai, Yahweh s ownership of the land of Canaan, God s eternal covenant with David, and God s dwelling in Jerusalem (Block 8). Ezekiel systematically dissolves Israel s confidence in these promises by contrasting the sovereignty and glory of God with the utter sinfulness of Humans. Ezekiel s first vision in the book is of God s visible glory, which was revealed to Ezekiel at the Kebar River, the location of their exile (Ezek. 1). God s glory and majesty has gone into exile with his people (Duguid 35). Since God s temple was defiled by His people, He uses Ezekiel s prophesies to declare the destruction of the temple and God s glory leaving the temple (Ezek. 9-11). God s sovereignty is seen in His choice to leave the temple due to the abominations displayed by God s people in Jerusalem (Duguid 36). God was not expelled from his home by the Babylonians. Rather, God used the Babylonians as a means to accomplish His will (Duguid 35-36).

5 5 God s Sovereignty is then contrasted with the sinfulness of the people as a means of further dissolve Judah s pillars of pride. Ezekiel not only focuses on Israel s current sinfulness yet examines its lengthy history of sinfulness. Ezekiel condemns Jerusalem for acting like a prostitute even from its beginning (Ezek. 23:3). Even when God brought Israel out of Egypt into the desert, they still rebelled against Him (Ezek. 23:20). Judah s sin permeated every layer of social life. It affected kings, priests, bureaucrats, prophets, the elite families of Jerusalem, elders and women (Duguid 36). With great emphasis Ezekiel uses the most graphic and shocking language to capture the attention of his audience (Duguid 36). The contrast of God s sovereignty and the sinfulness of Judah provides the premise for Ezekiel to declare the inescapable completing of Judgment. Ezekiel describes God s destruction as a comprehensive throughout the region. Nothing will be left untouched. Unlike times past, there is no mediator for the people, such as Noah, Daniel and Job (Duguid 36). Ezekiel s prophesies are confirmed in Chapter 33 when the actual fall of Jerusalem occurs. There is a distinct change in the tone of Ezekiel s prophesies as there is a hope in the reconstruction a society built on obedience to God s law. For Israel, Ezekiel foresaw a future resurrection of the nation, the reunification of the Northern and Southern kingdoms, the rebuilding of the temple, and the restoration of sacrificial worship (Cooper 24). Ezekiel saw that sin simply does exist in society, it pervades the hearts and minds of men and women (Duguid 38). Ezekiel prophesies the promise of a new heart and a spirit obedient to God. (Duguid 38). God s promises have not departed. If His people will turn to Him, He will restore to them the four pillars of His promise, only this time they will be backed by a sound covenant relationship.

6 6 Works Cited Arnold, Bill T., and Bryan E. Beyer. Encountering the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, Block, Daniel I., The New International Commentary on the Old Testament: The Book of Ezekiel. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, Cooper, Lamar E., The New American Commentary. Ed. L. Rush Bush, et al. Vol. 17. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, Duguid, Iain M., The NIV Application Commentary: Ezekiel. Ed. Terry Muck, et al. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999.