Blogging Through the Bible in 90 Days

Bye bye Ezekiel

I am pretty sure I could construct a proper Temple to the LORD at this point. I know just how many doors, how many cubits, how many palm tree shaped columns. I know about the proper way of slaughtering the sacrifices and who gets what meat to eat.

Ezekiel was mostly a diatribe of God's fury... which makes for difficult reading. There were only a few things that really stood out for me. One was the initial vision by the river, which I already talked about over at my place.

But comparing Jerusalem to a prostitute was a bit of semi-pornographic weirdness. It just went on and on! And got pretty darn graphic. It made me wonder what the effect of it was on the people Ezekiel was telling. Were they shocked? Angry? Embarrassed?

I love the Valley of the dry bones. I have heard it several times before because it is always read during Holy Week. But to read it in context for the first time was interesting. It is really the turning point, isn't it? It is the point where God begins to offer hope that all is not lost. That He, and He alone, can redeem the Israelites. That He can breath life back into them. How true this is. Only God can breath life back into us. And while I am not such a big fan of the "God is a wrathful, jealous kind of guy" school of thought, I do find the idea of his willingness to redeem us very powerful indeed.

And finally, the twisted stick. Reuniting Judah with Israel. What a great metaphore.

I found Ezekiel pretty tiresome in parts. But the bits that spoke to me were really gems, so I am happy to have read it.

On to Daniel and the lions....

posted by Rachel Nguyen @ 9:55 AM