Lawrence Ezekiel

A 12-Week Study
1. Auflage 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4335-5530-5
Verlag: Crossway
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 96 Seiten

Reihe: Knowing the Bible

The book of Ezekiel proclaims God's uncompromising judgment against his rebellious people-but also his promise of restoration if they repent. Exposing the depth of Israel's disobedience, the prophet Ezekiel calls the nation to find forgiveness by turning away from their sin and back to God. Carefully explaining Ezekiel's often confusing prophecies, this study guide will encourage readers to trust in the God who does not abandon his people but restores the repentant for his glory. Part of the Knowing the Bible series.

Michael Lawrence (PhD, Cambridge University; MDiv, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) serves as the lead pastor of Hinson Baptist Church in Portland, Oregon. He is the author of Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Lawrence, Michael

Leseproben

WEEK 1: OVERVIEW

Getting Acquainted

Where is God? This is not a question we typically ask when life is going well. But when the bottom drops out from under us, when everything we take for granted is called into question, this is often the first question we ask. The answer we fear, the answer our circumstances might suggest, is that God has abandoned us and wants nothing to do with us. And our response might be angry protestations that God is not being fair, or denial that anything is wrong in the first place, or despair that things could ever be different. Perhaps we even vacillate between all three of these responses.

This is the situation facing Ezekiel and his fellow exiles in Babylon. Their world has been upended after they have been included in the first wave of deportees from Judah following Nebuchadnezzar’s initial invasion of the land. At first they maintain hope, but then news arrives that Jerusalem has fallen and the temple has been burned to the ground. Has God abandoned his people for good? Can the dead bones of Israel ever live again (see Ezek. 37:3)?

Amid alternating anger, denial, and despair on the part of the exiles, God calls Ezekiel to speak his words, and only his words, to them. Otherwise the prophet remains mute for more than five years. Often he is also told to act out God’s message in dramatic street theater, since the people are not inclined to listen. At first his message is an uncompromising and unrelenting pronouncement of judgment on Israel and vindication of God’s justice. But once judgment falls, Ezekiel’s message turns, just as relentlessly, into a message of hope for the restoration of God’s people. Although the people’s sin drove him from their midst as they broke their covenant1 with him, God will not abandon his people. He will overcome all their enemies and their sin and lead them like a shepherd to safe pastures. Not only will he make a new covenant with them; he will also make them new, and so will dwell with them forever.

But the message of Ezekiel is not only for exiled Israelites. For all who have put their faith in God and his Messiah, Jesus Christ, the answer to the question, “Where is God?” is clear: Despite our circumstances, despite our sin, God is with his people. He always has been, and he always will be. (For further background, see the ESV Study Bible, pages 1495–1501; available online at www.esv.org.)

Placing Ezekiel in the Larger Story

Like the other major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel), Ezekiel stands at a climactic moment in Israel’s history as the covenant curses of Deuteronomy 28:15–68 are finally brought to bear. For centuries, God has patiently borne his people’s treachery, idolatry, and sin, but his patience has finally come to an end. While Isaiah stood at the beginning of this period, and Daniel at the end, Ezekiel and Jeremiah prophesy at the white-hot center of Jerusalem’s fall. Jeremiah is in Jerusalem, amid the crashing tumult, with all the confusion and passion we would expect. Already in exile in Babylon, Ezekiel hears and observes events from afar, like distant thunder. As a result, his prophecy is marked by waiting and reflection, long pauses followed by dramatic moments as events occurring months and even years earlier finally burst upon the consciousness of the exilic community.

In this context, Ezekiel serves not only as the prosecutor of God’s covenant lawsuit, vindicating God’s judgment against his own people; he serves also as pastor to the despairing exiled flock, providing them hope that judgment is not God’s final word to them. If they will repent, God will again be their God and dwell with them, and they with him. Central to this hope is the pouring out of God’s Spirit in a new covenant with a new temple and a renewed worship. This hope will wait centuries more for its fulfillment, but with the coming of Jesus Christ, God incarnate, it has begun. He is the true temple, and in his death and resurrection he has established a new covenant of peace. He is the source of living water, which is the Holy Spirit.2 Even now he dwells with his people. While we still await the final fulfillment of Ezekiel’s visions, because of the resurrection we can be confident that the day will arrive when the proclamation that “the dwelling place of God is with man” (Rev. 21:3) will come to full fruition.

Key Verse

“My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.” (Ezek. 37:27–28)

Date and Historical Background

Ezekiel is noteworthy for its precise dating. The book begins with the prophet’s first vision, which can be dated to July 31, 593 BC. This was four years into the exile of King Jehoiachin, who had been deported to Babylon along with the leaders of Israel for his rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24:10–16). It also seems that this first vision comes in Ezekiel’s thirtieth year, the year he would have begun his duty as priest. In exile, God calls him to an even higher ministry. The final vision comes 20 years later, on April 28, 573 BC. In the interim, Zedekiah, the puppet king installed by Nebuchadnezzar, rebels and precipitates the siege and fall of Jerusalem 18 months later to Babylon’s army in 586 BC.

The book is essentially chronological in its arrangement, with some material (e.g., chs. 25–32) topically grouped. It is organized around the climactic event of Jerusalem’s fall. Prior to that catastrophe, Ezekiel’s message is one of unrelenting judgment, first for Israel and then for the nations. After word comes of Jerusalem’s fall, Ezekiel’s mouth is again opened and his message turns to hope of future restoration for God’s people.

While dealing primarily with God’s judgment against Israel and the nations and with the hope for restoration, the primary audience is the exilic community in Babylon. Ezekiel not only explains their exile but also seeks to turn them from false hopes (denial, claims of injustice, ethnic pride, and trusting in their heritage) to their only real hope, repentance toward God and faith in his promises. Such repentance and faith will be demonstrated in a longing for God’s glory and a commitment to holiness.3 In the end, their hope lies not with themselves but with God and his unwavering commitment to act for the “sake of my name” in order to vindicate his reputation and holiness.

Outline

    I.   Inaugural Vision (1:1–3:27)

    II.  Judgment on Jerusalem and Judah (4:1–24:27)

A. A promise of judgment and hope (4:1–11:25)

B. The case for judgment opened (12:1–16:63)

C. The case for judgment closed (17:1–24:27)

   III.  Oracles against Foreign Nations (25:1–32:32)

    IV.  Hope after the Fall of Jerusalem (33:1–39:29)

A. The fall of Jerusalem (33:1–33)

B. Hope for God’s people (34:1–37:28)

C. The last battle (38:1–39:29)

     V. Vision of Restoration (40:1–48:35)

A. The new temple (40:1–46:24)

B. The new creation (47:1–48:35)

As You Get Started

Do you have a sense at the outset of this study of any specific emphases of Ezekiel? Without using your Bible, do any particular passages from Ezekiel come to mind? Has this biblical book already been meaningful to your own walk with the Lord in any specific ways?

What is your current understanding of what Ezekiel contributes to Christian theology? That is, how does this book clarify your understanding of God, Jesus Christ, sin, salvation, the end times,4 or other doctrines?

What aspects of the prophecy of Ezekiel have confused you? Are there any specific questions you hope to have answered through this study?

As You Finish This Unit . . .

Take a few minutes to ask God to bless you with increased understanding and a transformed heart and life as you begin this study of Ezekiel.

Definitions

1 Covenant – A binding agreement between two parties, typically involving a formal statement of their relationship, a list of stipulations and obligations for both parties, a list of witnesses to the agreement, and a list of curses for disobedience and blessings for faithfulness to the agreement. The OT is more properly understood as the old covenant, meaning the agreement established between God and his people prior to the coming of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the new covenant (the NT).

2 Holy Spirit – One of the persons of the Trinity, and thus fully God. The Bible mentions several roles of the Holy Spirit, including convicting people...