Reading for December 28th

Read Ezekiel 7.1-9. In 7.1-27: Ezekiel's prophecy of the end. Ezekiel's three oracles draw upon the "Day of the Lord" taditions to announce the end of Israel (Am 5.18-20; 8.1-14; Isa 2.6-22; 13). The "Day of the Lord" functioned originally as an announcement of God's defense of Israel, but various prophets reconfigured it as an announcement of God's punishment of Israel. In 7.1-4: The first oracle announces the end of Israel. End is drawn from Amos' prophecy against Bethel (Am 8.1-3), which includes the imagery of dead bodies scattered about the altar as in 6.1-7. The four corners of the land indicates the complete destruction of the land and reheares the four cardinal directions that underlie the symbolism of the four living creatures in ch. 1 (see Isa 11.12). In verses 5-9: Ezekiel again employs the statement the end has come, but he shifts his language to that of the "Day of the Lord" tradition. Comments or Questions..