1. Ezekiel and Daniel
The Major Prophets
10.22.2013

2. Ezekiel
• 30 years old
• priest
th year of Jehoiachin’s exile (c.
•5
593 BC) until c. 573 BC
• 10,000 people in Babylon

3. Uniqueness of Ezekiel
• Interest in temple and liturgy
• First prophet to be called outside of Holy Land
(called in Babylon)
• Stresses absolute majesty of God
• New covenant under new heart and new spirit
are the work of God

4. People in Exile
• Cut off from:
– Jerusalem
– The temple
– The land
– Surrounded by pagan religious practices
– Experiencing God’s judgment

5. Walter Brueggemann
• Exile was not simply displacement from the
land – it was an experience of the end of
creation, the exhaustion of salvation history,
the demise of the king, temple, city, land and
all the supports that gave meaning and
structure to life.

6. Ezekiel’s Call
• By the river Chebar
– Storm wind, followed by four living faces with
wings: lion (royalty) ox (strength) eagle (flight)
man (reason) on the throne of the Lord which
moves like a chariot
– Eat this scroll
• Sweet as honey
• Struck mute
• Temple vision

7. Ezekiel’s Call
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Expect a difficult audience
Don’t fear hostility
Counter-cultural
Speak God’s words
Hear God’s words; warn the people

8. Ezekiel’s Message
• Judgment on Jerusalem
– Vision of God’s glory
– Ezekiel’s calling
– The coming fate of Jerusalem
– God’s glory departs because of Jerusalem’s sin
– Reasons for the exile

9. Ezekiel’s Message
• Oracles against nations
– Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philista
– Tyre and Sidon
– Israel’s restoration
– Egypt

10. Ezekiel’s Message
• Restoration
– Renewal of Ezekiel’s call
– Jerusalem’s fall; oracles of salvation of Israel
– God’s future victories over nations
– God’s glory returns: temple, city, land

11. God’s Glory Departs
Message
Chapters 9-11
• God is offended by the idolatry of his people
• God avenges his glory
• God’s glory moves from the temple toward the
exiles
• The people are complacent in Jerusalem
• God’s glory heads east

12. Parables in Ezekiel
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Useless vine (15)
Eagles and vine (17)
Immoral sisters (23)
Shepherds and sheep (34)
Dry Bones (37)
http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=F02FECN
U

13. Themes
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The hand of the Lord came upon me…
Know that I the Lord…
I, the Lord, have spoken…
The glory of the Lord
Rebellious house
abominations

14. Visions
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Four living creatures
Idolatry in the temple
Dry bones
New Jerusalem
Stream of water flowing from altar

15. Daniel

16. Background
• Apocalyptic writing
• Written during the persecution of Antiochus
IV (167-165 BC)
• Take place in Babylon

17. Structure
• Daniel and his companions are wise,
observant and faithful Jews even during
Diaspora
• Visions show God’s triumph

18. Daniel’s Stories
• The Food Test
• The King’s Dream
• The Fiery Furnace
• Lion’s Den

19. Daniel’s Visions
• The Great Tree
• The Writing on the Wall
• The Four Beasts
– Babylon: winged lion
– Median empire: bear
– Persia: leopard
– Greece: 10 horns

20. More Visions
• Ram and he-goat
• Seventy weeks
– Gabriel is introduced in the Bible
• Hellenistic Wars
• Introduction of Michael

21. Appendix (only in Greek version)
• Susanna and her Virtue
• Bel and the Dragon