Ezekiel

Daniel I. Block (PhD, University of Liverpool) is the Gunther H. Knoedler Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Wheaton College. He is the author of more than 120 scholarly papers and many popular articles on biblical texts and topics. His published books include The Book of Ezekiel; Covenant: The Framework of God’s Grand Plan of Redemption; The Gospel according to Moses: A Commentary on Deuteronomy; and For the Glory of God: Recovering a Biblical Theology of Worship.

• A Word to Those Who Preach the WordIntroduction: The Problem with Preaching EzekielPrefacePart 1: When God Abandons His PeopleChapter 1: Where Is God When You Need Him? (1:1–3)Chapter 2: In the Service of the King of Kings: Ezekiel’s Ordination Vision (1:1, 4–28a)Chapter 3: In the Service of the King of Kings: Ezekiel’s Ordination Commission (1:28b—3:11)Chapter 4: In the Service of the King of Kings: The Gravitas of the Calling (3:12–27)Chapter 5: Putting on a Show! Dramatizing the Fall of Jerusalem (4:1—5:4)Chapter 6: So this Was Not Just a Show! Proclaiming the Fall of Jerusalem (5:5–17)Chapter 7: Fumigating the Mountains of Israel (6:1–14)Chapter 8: Sounding the Alarm for the Land of Israel (7:1–27)Chapter 9: What’s Wrong with This Picture? Ezekiel’s First Temple Tour in Jerusalem (8:1–18)Chapter 10: Marked for Doom or Deliverance: Yahweh’s Response to the Abominations of Israel (9:1–11)Chapter 11: Where Is God When We Demand Him? Yahweh’s Abandonment of His Temple (10:1–22; 11:22, 23)Chapter 12: The Pot of Stew: Responding to an Upside–down World (11:1–13)Chapter 13: The Gospel According to Ezekiel: Opening the Window to a Brighter Day (11:14–21)Chapter 14: Packed for Exile: Fate of the Davidic Line (12:1–16)Chapter 15: The Grace of Prophecy (12:17–20)Chapter 16: Prophecy—True and False (12:21–28)Chapter 17: Fake Visions, Fraudulent Divination: Hijacking the Prophetic Office (13:1–16)Chapter 18: Phony Phemale Prophets: The Abuse of the Prophetic Office (13:17–23)Chapter 19: The Fate of Fake Prophets: A Warning Against Prophetic Hijacking (14:1–11)Chapter 20: The Price of Treachery: A Lecture on Divine Justice (14:12–23)Chapter 21: A Metaphor on Divine Judgment (15:1–8)Chapter 22: Rewriting the History of Israel, Part 1: Trampling Underfoot the Grace of God: Jerusalem, the Adulterous Wife (16:1–63)Chapter 23: The Passion of God’s Love! Recalling the Boundless Grace of Yahweh (16:1–14)Chapter 24: The Toughness of God’s Love: Perverting God’s Boundless Grace (16:15–43)Chapter 25: The Triumph of God’s Love: The Persistence of God’s Boundless Grace (16:44–63)Chapter 26: The Eagle and the Vine: A Fable Concerning the Davidic Dynasty (17:1–21)Chapter 27: The Tender Sprig: Longing for the Messiah (17:1–4, 22–24)Chapter 28: Disputing the Justice of God, Part 1: Closing the Door to Fatalism (18:1–24)Chapter 29: Disputing the Justice of God, Part 2: Opening the Door to Divine Mercy (18:19–32)Chapter 30: A Dirge for the Dynasty of David (19:1–14)Chapter 31: Rewriting the History of Israel: Part 2 The Nation’s Story in Seven Phases (20:1–31)Chapter 32: Reworking Future History (20:32–44)Chapter 33: Unsheathing the Sword of Yahweh ((20:45—21:17 [21:22])Chapter 34: When Divination Works: Guidance for Yahweh’s Agent of the Sword (21:18–32)Chapter 35: Woe to the Bloody City! (22:1–16)Chapter 36: No Sanctuary City Here! (22:17–31)Chapter 37: Rewriting the History of Israel: Part 3 O Oholah! O Oholibah! (23:1–49)Chapter 38: Lessons from a Boiling Cauldron: Twisting the Doctrine of Eternal Security (Ezekiel 24:1–14; 33:21, 22Chapter 39: When Does God Not Cry? The End Is in Sight (24:1, 2, 15–27)Part 2: When God Returns to His PeopleChapter 40: Why Does Yahweh’s Fury Rage Against the Nations? The Bad Good News for Israel (25—32, esp. 28:20–26)Chapter 41: When God Calls the Nations to Account (25:1–17)Chapter 42: Tyre Is No More! (26:1–21)Chapter 43: A Lament for the Magnificent Ship Tyre! (27:1–36)Chapter 44: The Prince of Tyre: Pride Comes Before the Fall (28:1–10)Chapter 45: Who Laments the King of Tyre’s Demise? (28:11–19)Chapter 46: Announcing the Doom of the Kraken of the Nile (29:1–16)Chapter 47: Giving Nebuchadnezzar and Ezekiel Their Due: A Laborer Is Worthy of His Hire (29:17–21)Chapter 48: The Day of Yahweh in Egypt and Breaking the Arms of Pharaoh (30:1–26)Chapter 49: Timber! Falling the Pharaonic Tree! (31:1–18)Chapter 50: A Lament for the Kraken of the Seas (32:1–16)Chapter 51: How Low Can the Monster Go? Egypt’s Descent to Sheol (32:17–32)Chapter 52: Ezekiel’s Final Summons to Watchman Duty (33:1–9)Chapter 53: When Theology Fails: Ezekiel’s Final Shofar Blast for His Compatriots in Babylon (33:10–20)Chapter 54: What’s Wrong with These Pictures: Images of Ezekiel’s World as the Lights Go Out (33:21–33)Chapter 55: The Good Shepherd Returns: The Salvation of Yahweh’s Flock (34:1–22)Chapter 56: The Arrival of the Messiah: The Signet of the [Re]new[ed] Covenant (34:23–31)Chapter 57: The Restoration of Yahweh’s Land: A Most Unusual Prophecy (35:1—36:15)Chapter 58: A Divine Heart Transplant and the Restoration of Yahweh’s Honor (36:16–38)Chapter 59: Can These Bones Live? The Resurrection of Yahweh’s People (37:1–14)Chapter 60: Yahweh’s Original and Ultimate Vision for Israel as His Covenant People (37:15–28)Chapter 61: Yahweh’s Guarantee of Israel’s Future: A Satire on Gog of Magog and His Allies, Part 1 (38, 39)Chapter 62: Yahweh’s Guarantee of Israel’s Future: A Satire on Gog of Magog and His Allies, Part 2 (38, 39)Chapter 63: Envisioning the Good News: Stand by and See the Return of Yahweh (Ezekiel 40:1–4; 43:10–12)Chapter 64: Touring the Temple Compound with Ezekiel: Laying the Groundwork for a Theology of Sacred Space (40:1—42:20)Chapter 65: Yahweh’s Return to His Temple (43:1–9)Chapter 66: The Altar of Sacrifice: The Heart of the Temple Compound (43:12–27)Chapter 67: Guarding the Holiness of Yahweh and the Sanctity of His House (44:4–31)Chapter 68: The Riddle and Role of the Prince in Ezekiel’s Vision of Israel’s Future (44:1–3; 45:1–8a, 16, 17; 46:1–18)Chapter 69: The Sacred Offerings and Festivals in Ezekiel’s Vision of Israel’s Future (45:16—46:15, 19–24Chapter 70: The River of Life and Healing of the Land (47:1–12)Chapter 71: Ezekiel’s Lesson on Geography: Israel as a Holy Land (47:13—48:7, 23–29)Chapter 72: Yahweh Is There! The Mother Lode of Sanctity in the Holy Land (45:1–8; 48:8–22, 30–35)NotesScripture IndexGeneral IndexIndex of Sermon Illustrations