The study of Ezekiel
Ezekiel
The Genre of this book is prophetic; it is a book of poems, oracles, and visions. The theme of this book is God is dependable and never fails. That rituals, and going to the temple will not protect or save you. God demands true worship from his people’s heart. A temple is not needed to worship God. That no matter what happens, God has his hand in history, and his kingdom will come. God must be obeyed to receive his blessing. The key character and event are as follows. The main character in this book is a man named Ezekeil. He is put into exile in Babylon as young man. He is in despair over the loss of his homeland. Then God gives him a vision and he discovers God is not confined to the narrow stricture of his native land. He is a universal God who commands and controls persons and nations. God then commands Ezekiel to preach his message to a stubborn, sinful, hopeless people that do not want to hear it. He holds Ezekeil accountable to be more stubborn then them. This begins the ministry of Ezekiel the prophet. By accepting God call Ezekeil becomes aflame in God word. He preaches to a spiritual dead community. He uses many different way to convey his message to include cutting his hair and beard to demonstrate, what God would do to Jerusalem, due to their sinful nature. He helps us understand that the king of Babylon is a tool used by God to bring forth his eternal kingdom. That the destruction of Israel was due to their sin. God judges sin and punishes it. That destruction was not the end of the story. When the temple of God was destroyed, the people still had the promise of their everlasting faithful father and the covenant he made with their forefathers. He had promised Abraham’s descendents that he would bless the world through them. God is still in control of things, he has not forgotten his promise. That he will one day return to his people and transform the land and the people from death to life. That he will replace the old ways with higher standards, and gather us into his presence. That when the people’s hearts are filled with God, they will no longer grieve him, but forever be in his presence
The Genre of this book is prophetic; it is a book of poems, oracles, and visions. The theme of this book is God is dependable and never fails. That rituals, and going to the temple will not protect or save you. God demands true worship from his people’s heart. A temple is not needed to worship God. That no matter what happens, God has his hand in history, and his kingdom will come. God must be obeyed to receive his blessing. The key character and event are as follows. The main character in this book is a man named Ezekeil. He is put into exile in Babylon as young man. He is in despair over the loss of his homeland. Then God gives him a vision and he discovers God is not confined to the narrow stricture of his native land. He is a universal God who commands and controls persons and nations. God then commands Ezekiel to preach his message to a stubborn, sinful, hopeless people that do not want to hear it. He holds Ezekeil accountable to be more stubborn then them. This begins the ministry of Ezekiel the prophet. By accepting God call Ezekeil becomes aflame in God word. He preaches to a spiritual dead community. He uses many different way to convey his message to include cutting his hair and beard to demonstrate, what God would do to Jerusalem, due to their sinful nature. He helps us understand that the king of Babylon is a tool used by God to bring forth his eternal kingdom. That the destruction of Israel was due to their sin. God judges sin and punishes it. That destruction was not the end of the story. When the temple of God was destroyed, the people still had the promise of their everlasting faithful father and the covenant he made with their forefathers. He had promised Abraham’s descendents that he would bless the world through them. God is still in control of things, he has not forgotten his promise. That he will one day return to his people and transform the land and the people from death to life. That he will replace the old ways with higher standards, and gather us into his presence. That when the people’s hearts are filled with God, they will no longer grieve him, but forever be in his presence
