diff --git a/content/bible_journal/ezekiel_1:1-4.md b/content/bible_journal/ezekiel_1:1-4.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..35d4f89 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/bible_journal/ezekiel_1:1-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,42 @@ ++++ +title = "Ezekiel 1:1–4" +date = "2023-02-27" ++++ + +### Introduction + +Now that the study of Luke has concluded, I want to switch to an Old Testament +book. The pastor at my church has been going through Revelation recently, and +that book uses a lot of the same imagery and themes as Ezekiel, so it seems +good to me to study it in parallel. + +### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ezekiel1.1-4) + +The prophet Ezekiel served during the Babylonian Exile, when the kingdom of +Judah had been conquered and deported because they had failed to uphold the +covenant God had made with them through Moses. Again and again God sent +prophets to warn the people that this would happen and to call for repentance. +Sometimes the people would respond, but never fully or wholeheartedly, and so +the time finally came for God's judgement to be fulfilled upon His people. + +The book of Ezekiel starts with a time reference. It has more than any of the +other prophetic writings, which scholars have determined to fall between 593 +and 573 B.C. Generally, Ezekiel uses the date of the exile of King Jehoiachin, +the last of the Davidic line to rule in Judah. (Technically Jehoichin's uncle +Zedekiah ruled after him, but he isn't considered a legitimate heir as he was +installed by the Babylonian conquerors.) + +Ezekiel was a priest, hundreds of miles away from the temple in which he should +serve. Normally, priests would begin to serve in the temple when they reached +thirty years of age. Ezekiel, however, gets a different call from Yahweh, and +sees a vision of His glory. He sees a stormy wind, a great cloud brimming with +light and lightning as if it were made of metal. All of these things are very +common descriptions of God manifesting His glory before human beings. All of +Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah were brought into the presence of God to receive +their prophetic calls, and because Ezekiel experienced this too, we can know +that he has been delegated the authority to speak on God's behalf. + +* * * + +When our lives have not gone the way we expected, You are still in control, +ready to use us as You see fit.