Lecture on the second part of Ezekiel, especially chapters 16 , 24 and 33. This is the third of five lectures given on the Bible and Culture course at Schloss Mittersill, Austria (a course run jointly by Schloss Mittersill and IFES).

1. EZEKIEL
1

2. Ezekiel 12
2

3. acted parable of exile
3

4. people given time to reflect
4

5. purpose is God’s glory
5

6. events will happen soon
6

7. Ezekiel 13
7

8. judgment on false prophets
8

9. Ezekiel 16
9

10. ?
Discuss
• Read Ezekiel 16:1-14
• How does God show his grace
and generosity?
• Read 16:15-22
• How does Israel respond?
Why?
10

11. Jerusalem’s origins
(16:1-5)
11

12. Abandoned
12

13. Neglected
13

14. Despised
14

15. Facing death
15

16. God’s grace
(16:6–7)
16

17. Rescues the baby from death
17

18. Gives life
18

19. Gives growth
19

20. Shows grace to the
undeserving
20

21. God’s generosity
(16:8–14)
21

22. God’s generosity
(16:8–14)
21

23. Betrothal (8)
22

24. Married (8)
23

25. Cared for (9)
24

26. Showered with gifts (10-13)
25

27. Made famous (14)
26

28. Made perfectly beautiful (15)
27

29. Jerusalem’s response
28

30. ingratitude
29

31. trusting in her own beauty
30

32. unfaithfulness
31

33. prostitution
32

34. adultery+prostitution
33

35. exclusive, intimate covenant
Genesis 2:23–24; Ephesians 5:31–32
34

36. ultimate marriage
Revelation 21:1–10
35

37. forgetfulness leads to prostitution
Numbers 15:37–41
36

38. God’s judgment
(16:35–43)
37

39. Allowing his people to make
themselves a disgrace before
the nations
38

40. Bringing down on their own
heads what they have done
39

41. Jerusalem’s lovers will be the
agents of God’s judgment
40

42. Grace
(16:59–63)
41

43. Punishment
42

44. dealing with the people
as they deserve
43

45. God will remember the
covenant
44

46. God will make atonement
45

47. God is doing this for
his own sake
46

48. Ezekiel 17
47

49. • Allegory
• Eagle – Nebuchadnezzar
• The shoot – Jehoiachin, exiled 597
• The seedling – Zedekiah, attempting to get
help from Egypt for a rebellion
• He will be uprooted, exiled and killed
• God will plant a new king on a high
mountain
48

50. Ezekiel 18
49

51. prophetic dispute
50

52. Who is Ezekiel speaking to?
Summarise his argument
?
51

53. • Opinion – ‘We are being punished for
the sin of our parents’ generation’
• Refutation – This generation is paying
for its own sin
• Repentance is possible – leads to life
• A new heart and new spirit
52

54. Ezekiel 20
53

55. Dates in Ezekiel
1:2 31 July 593 30:20 March 587
8:1 17 September 592 31:1 May 587
20:1 14 August 591 32:1 February 585
24:1 15 January 588 32:17 March 585
26:1 587 33:21 8 January 585
29:1 December 588 40:1
573
29:17 571
54

56. Dates in Ezekiel
1:2 31 July 593 30:20 March 587
8:1 17 September 592 31:1 May 587
20:1 14 August 591 32:1 February 585
24:1 15 January 588 32:17 March 585
26:1 587 33:21 8 January 585
29:1 December 588 40:1
573
29:17 571
54

57. • Very negative version of Israel’s history
• The punishment they have deserved has
been delayed
• Judgment = second exodus; purging
• God’s motivation is the honour of his
name among the nations (9, 14, 22, 39, 41,
44)
55

58. Identify the figures of
speech in Ezekiel 21 ?
56

59. Ezekiel 24
57

60. Dates in Ezekiel
1:2 31 July 593 30:20 March 587
8:1 17 September 592 31:1 May 587
20:1 14 August 591 32:1 February 585
24:1 15 January 588 32:17 March 585
26:1 587 33:21 8 January 585
29:1 December 588 40:1
573
29:17 571
58

61. Dates in Ezekiel
1:2 31 July 593 30:20 March 587
8:1 17 September 592 31:1 May 587
20:1 14 August 591 32:1 February 585
24:1 15 January 588 32:17 March 585
26:1 587 33:21 8 January 585
29:1 December 588 40:1
573
29:17 571
58

62. • Different use of cooking pot metaphor –
now expression of judgment
• God’s patience has finally come to an end
• Symbolic action (15–27)
59

63. Ezekiel 25–32
60

64. Ezekiel 33
61

65. Dates in Ezekiel
1:2 31 July 593 30:20 March 587
8:1 17 September 592 31:1 May 587
20:1 14 August 591 32:1 February 585
24:1 15 January 588 32:17 March 585
26:1 587 33:21 8 January 585
29:1 December 588 40:1
573
29:17 571
62

66. Dates in Ezekiel
1:2 31 July 593 30:20 March 587
8:1 17 September 592 31:1 May 587
20:1 14 August 591 32:1 February 585
24:1 15 January 588 32:17 March 585
26:1 587 33:21 8 January 585
29:1 December 588 40:1
573
29:17 571
62

67. • Renewal of Ezekiel’s call (33:1–20)
63

68. • Renewal of Ezekiel’s call (33:1–20)
• The fall of Jerusalem announced (21–33)
63

69. • Renewal of Ezekiel’s call (33:1–20)
• The fall of Jerusalem announced (21–33)
• Justifies the punishment once more
63

70. 64

71. • New awareness of situation (v. 10)
64

72. Our offences and sins weigh us down,
and we are wasting away because of
them. How then can we live?
Ezekiel 33:10
65

73. • New awareness of situation (v. 10)
66

74. • New awareness of situation (v. 10)
• Misplaced confidence
66

75. • New awareness of situation (v. 10)
• Misplaced confidence
• True repentance
66

76. • New awareness of situation (v. 10)
• Misplaced confidence
• True repentance
• Assurance
66

78. • 588 BC: Zedekiah rebelled

79. • 588 BC: Zedekiah rebelled
• 586 BC: Jerusalem (including the temple) was
destroyed;

80. • 588 BC: Zedekiah rebelled
• 586 BC: Jerusalem (including the temple) was
destroyed;
• Most of population exiled
(2 Kings 25:2-21 )

81. Key themes in Ezekiel
68

82. God’s sovereignty/
Human responsibility
69

83. • Sovereign Lord
• ‘Then they will know that I am Yahweh’
• ‘For the sake of my holy name’
• God punishes to purify
• God restore and forgives
• He is sovereign over all nations
• Ultimate triumph of God (Ezekiel 38–39)
70

84. Judgment and purification
71

85. God’s presence
72

86. Salvation:
A radical new start
73

87. Repent! Turn away from all your
offences; then sin will not be your
downfall. Rid yourselves of all the
offences you have committed, and get a
new heart and a new spirit. Why will you
die, house of Israel? For I take no
pleasure in the death of anyone, declares
the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!
18:30–32
74

88. As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign
Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of
the wicked, but rather that they turn
from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from
your evil ways! Why will you die, O
house of Israel?
Ezekiel 33:11
75

89. Exile was not simply displacement from
the land, but it was the experience of the
end of creation, the exhaustion of
salvation history, the demise of king,
temple, city, land and all those supports
which gave structure and meaning to life.
Walter Breuggemann,
‘Weariness, Exile and Chaos’
76

90. Our bones are dried up, and our hope is
lost; we are cut off completely.
Ezekiel 37:11
77