Reading for November 12th

 Read Ezekiel 7.10-27. The third oracle elaborates the imagery of the land's destruction in the "Day of the Lord." In verses 1-11: The blossoming rod represents Aaron's rod, which designates Levi as the priestly tribe (Num 17), but Jeremiah, a priest descended from Eli (1 Sam 1-3), employs it as a sign of Judah's punishment (Jer 1.11-12). The silver almond-shaped cap, recently discovered by archeologists in Jerusalem, once adorned the rod of the priest. The budding pride also translates as "insolence," indicating Ezekiel's view that the priestly rod is now employed for punishment of Israel, just as Moses' rod punished Egypt (Ex 7-11). In verses 12-13: Normal life will end. In verses 14-17: Ezekiel again takes up the imagery of sword, pestilence, and famine (chs. 5-6). In verses 18-21: Compare Isa 2.6-21, which anticipates that the people will throw away their silver and gold idols on the "Day of the Lord." In verse 22: God's intention to hide the divine face raises tremendous theological problems. God's treasured place was the most holy place in the Temple. In verses 23-27: The leaders are responsible for the punishment. Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 11th

 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" tradition 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 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 rehearses the four cardinal directions that underlie the symbolism of the four living creatures in ch. 1 (se 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..

Reading for November 10th

 Read Ezekiel 6.11-14. Ezekiel returns to the imagery of sword, pestilence, and famine (5.1-17)) to tie his oracles against Israel to the fate of Jerusalem. Altars, on every high hill, on all the mountains tops, under every green tree, and under every leafy oak: A common formulaic description of pagan worship (Deut 12.2; 1 Kings 14.23; Jer 2.20). The wilderness designates the Negeb desert in southern Judah and Riblah ("Diblah" in Hebrew; the Hebrew letters "resh" and "dalet" are similar and sometimes confused) is in Syria (2 Kings 23.33). Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 9th

 Read Ezekiel 6.1-10. In 6.1-14: Oracle against the mountains of Israel. The mountains of Israel: The homeland of Israel in the hills of Samaria and Judah. In verses 1-7: Ezekiel identifies the cause of punishment in the various altars and high places where the people worship, which compromise the sanctity of the land. As a Zadokite priest, Ezekiel holds that legitimate worship of God must take place only in Jerusalem Temple (Deut 12). The scattering of dead corpses around the altars renders the land impure (Num 19; see also Lev 21.10-12). The prophet employs the prophetic "proof saying," then you shall know that I am the Lord, throughout the book to identify God as the source of the prophet's words (Ex 20.2; Lev 19.3-4; see also Ex 3.13-22; Deut 5.6). In verses 8-10: Ezekiel relies on Isaiah's concept of a remnant of Israel (Isa 4.2-6; 6.13; 10.20-23) to demonstrate God's power to destroy and punish. Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 8th

 Read Ezekiel 5.5-17. God sums up the theology of punishment that Ezekiel's symbolic actions illustrate. Charging that Israel acts like the nations (see 1 Sam 8.4-5) by defiling the Temple, God states that the people will suffer war and exile, and will perish by pestilence, famine, and sword. God's threat to make Israel a desolation and an object of mocking among the nations and to unleash famine, wild animals, etc., against the people recalls the threats made in Jer 24.9-10 (see also Deut 28.34;  1 Kings 9.7). Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 7th

 Read Ezekiel 5.1-4. The sword or barber's razor (Isa 7.20) symbolizes the weapons of the Babylonians. One third of the hair is burned to represent those who die when the city is burned; one third is struck with the sword to symbolize those killed around the city; and one third is scattered symbolize those who escape to be pursued by the Babylonians. Some of the hair is burned once again to symbolize the suffering of the people. Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 6th

 Read Ezekiel 4.9-17. Ezekiel uses a variety of grains to demonstrate that there is insufficient grain to make an entire loaf. Twenty shekels: About ten ounces. One-sixth of a hin: About two-thirds of a quart. In order to demonstrate the difficult conditions of the coming siege, God commands Ezekiel to bake bread using human dung as fuel. When he protests that this is a breach of priestly purity, God allows him to use cow dung. In verses 16-17: See Isa 3.1. Comments or Questions..