EZEKIEL
The most remarkable individual during Israel’s period of exile was the prophet Ezekiel... He was like Jeremiah, both a priest and prophet, although he shows distinct differences from Jeremiah by making more use of his priestly training in his message. On the other hand, many of his oracles are clearly influenced by, and drawn from the work of, his older contemporary Jeremiah.
Introduction
For proper comprehension and interpretation of the Bible, it is apt to understand the thought and the spoken as well as the written words of the writers. The Old Testament did not fall from above; it is the creative works of human beings but believed to be inspired by God through the Holy Spirit. This is why it is important and relevant to read the words of the authors. The second Vatican council made it clearer;
However, since God speaks in Sacred Scripture through men in human fashion, the interpreter of Sacred Scripture, in order to see clearly what God wanted to communicate to us, should carefully investigate what meaning the sacred writers really intended, and what God wanted to manifest by means of their words…The interpreter must investigate what meaning the sacred writer intended to express and actually expressed in particular circumstances by using contemporary literary forms in accordance with the situation of his own time and culture.
In this Essay, without going into the intricate task of exposing details of all the prophets and their prophecy, we shall engage in a critical exposition of prophet Ezekiel prophecy according to Boadt`s claim that Ezekiel was most incredible character for the period of Israel’s exile. The Old Testament is a literature, whereas a theology is concerned with the world of ideas and their systematic formulation. It is possible for us to extract the ideas, so far as is attainable, and to pay little attention to their literary setting. Conversely, we may concentrate our attention upon the literature and its complex history, giving only scant attention to the systematic ordering of the religious ideas which we find in it.
Lawrence Boadt suggests that Ezekiel was the most incredible character for the period of Israel’s exile. His call took place in the fifth year of Israel’s exile. Ezekiel was from a priestly family just like Jeremiah and his vision was in Babylon. He is not an unknown prophet, yet, in contrast to Jeremiah, we are told very little about him.
Concerning where he lived, majority of scholar have argued that Ezekiel lived and worked in Judah throughout his period of prophecy and that the Babylonian background appendaged to his book is an imposition. Other commentators suggest that he has a dual ministry. These confusions were as a result of the analysis given that his prophecy began in Judah and the dating of this account . Georg Fohrer gives a consoling account that has been generally accepted by biblical scholars today. He acknowledged that, though Ezekiel’s prophecy was in Babylon he visited Jerusalem several times in visionary trances. Boadt informs us, with reference to Ezekiel 33 that Jeremiah wrote letters to the exiles and that Ezekiel must have received first hand knowledge about Jerusalem.
He was a married prophet and his wife is said to have died before or during the siege of Jerusalem in 587 and was understand as a symbolic message to the Jerusalem of his time.
Scholars agree on the point that Ezekiel was commissioned at the age of thirty in 593 to 571. Boadt gives a rundown of this in a tabular form. The idea that Ezekiel was a psychosomatic prophet is a misunderstanding on the personality of the prophet. Boadt argued that Ezekiel was not crazy, he was uniquely trying to rebuild a sense of trust that God never changes both in words and deeds.
The book of Ezekiel is composed of 48 chapters. It is placed in the Hebrew bible among the aspect of the division of the bible known as the prophet (הנביאים) Chronologically it is among the exilic prophets but it is canonically placed in between Jeremiah and the Minor Prophets. Kelley E. Brad notes that, ‘the standard interpretive approaches to the book consist of three prominent themes including a priestly perspectives and traditions of the identity, language, and actions of Ezekiel’.
Majority of biblical scholar attributed the authorship of the book of Ezekiel to him. Boadt made us to understand that Ez. 1:1-3 contains the superscription which identifies Ezekiel as the author of the book. But some biblical scholars argue about authorship on the basis of the controversy about the date and place. Boadt talks about the uncertainty on the acceptance on the fact that Ezekiel contributed in the arrangement of his prophecy. Some argue that his prophecy was arranged by the priestly tradition.
The book of Ezekiel is constructed more clearly than Isaiah and Jeremiah and has three elements of eschatological oracles. Brueggemann divided these oracles into two significant parts, chapters 1-24 as the first part and 25-48 as the second part. These he brands as the message of judgment and hope. He is right but the more appropriate idea is that Ezekiel’s oracle is divided into three parts; Oracle against Judah and Jerusalem (Chapters 1-24), against other nations (Chapters 25- 32) and oracle of hope and restoration for Judah (Chapters 33- 48).
His prophecy has a unique style that is quite different from other prophets including his contemporaries, although there were some similarities in their prophecies based on context. He was influenced by the prophecy of his forerunners. Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Zechariah were the only writing prophets who were also priests, and they all ministered during or after the Babylonian exile. Like Jeremiah, there is no evidence that Ezekiel ever served as a priest in the Jerusalem temple. This is an assumption that is baseless. I accept Boadt’s argument and I think it corresponds to the evidence in the texts. Examples from each of the four major prophetic books in the Bible include Isaiah 10:5–12:6, which portrays the downfall of the Assyrian king and the rise of a new Davidic monarch; Jeremiah 32–33, which portrays the redemption of land and Jerusalem in particular; Ezekiel 37:15–28, which portrays the restoration of a united Israel and Judah under the rule of a Davidic king; and Zephaniah 1, which cites creation traditions often identified with the P layer of Genesis to support its conceptualization of the Day of God.
He used a unique language and style that is distinct from other prophets but they are sometimes confusing and difficult to understand. He moves from the apocalyptic to the repetitive and the superfluous language. He sometimes mixes poetry and prose in arbitrary manner.
Historically, the book begins in Ezek 1:1–3 with a chronological notice that places Ezekiel’s vision in the thirtieth year, that is, the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile to Babylonia or 592 B.C.E., and it continues with a sequence of chronological notices in Ezek 8:1; 20:1; 24:1; 26:1; 29:1; 29:17; 30:20; 31:1; 32:1; 32:17; 33:21; and 40:1, that organize the various textual blocks of the book of Ezekiel according to a twenty-year chronological scheme from the beginning to the end of the book. This chronology is significant for understanding the theological worldview of the book insofar as it marks the active years of a Judean priest who would serve in the Temple from the age of thirty to the age of fifty.
Ezekiel uses both dramatic sign and symbolic actions in his prophecy which Boadt sees as one of the significant features in his prophecy. He used the traditional oracular components of address, accusation, passing of judgments, and the divine messenger model, “thus says the lord”. He also combines them with parables, legal cases, proverbial wisdom, disputation and poems. He also, according Boadt, used form of prophecy known as ecstasy which is identical to the prophets of the primitive prophecy; Elijah and Elisha, expressions such as “the hand of the lord fell upon me” (1:3; 3:22; 33:22; 37:1).
Ezekiel ministered to the Jews in exile. He probably wrote this book for the benefit of the exiles and the other Jewish communities of his day and beyond his day. In some of his visions (e.g. chaps. 8 and 11) the Lord carried the prophet to Jerusalem in his spirit, but his messages were not exclusively for the Jews in Jerusalem.
Several theological concepts receive considerable attention in Ezekiel. Toeing Boadt’s line of thought, Ezekiel’s theology is similar to that of Jeremiah. This implies that he was not independent of other prophets before him. Some biblical scholars like Alexander identified five theological teaching in Ezekiel’s prophecy: the nature of God, the purpose and nature of God's judgment, individual responsibility, the ethical, religious, and moral history of Israel, and the nature of Israel's restoration and future worship. Some scholars mentioned six significant theological themes: the holiness and transcendence of God, the sinfulness of humanity, the inevitability of judgment, individual responsibility, hope of restoration, and God's redemptive purpose. Others listed seven major themes: the reliability of God's word, the glory of God, individual responsibility, Israel's long history of sin, the power of national leadership for good or bad, God's holiness and our responsibility for obedience, and God's transcendence.
All these theological issues that are addressed by Ezekiel correspond to Boadt`s idea that Ezekiel, though distinct from other prophet, made good use of the traditions before him. Like other prophets, his prophecy was to the corrupt practices and social situation of his time, and for the hope of restoring the kingdom of Israel.
Thereafter, in Ezekiel's theology, God's glory is the theme that runs throughout this book, from the prophet's call when that glory first impressed him, to the demonstration of that glory in the eschatological future (1:28; 3:12, 23; 8:4; 9:3; 10:4, 18-19; 11:22-23; 39:11, 21; 43:2-5; 44:4). Boadt made us to understand that, God's glory is an aspect of His character, and His glorious character determines His conduct throughout history and his revelation. In his theology of judgement in chapters 4-24 he was mainly attacking temple cult, false prophecy, pagan idolatry (similar to Jeremiah), social statutes, and violation of religious practices, individual responsibility ( he used Jeremiah’s proverb 31:30 which he copied from Deuteronomy 24:16).
Michael Fishbane argues that Ezekiel used the proverb of “sour grape” to construct a theological legal argument to establish is principle of individual responsibility by means of means of three-generational model. Moreover, we need to remember that God, for Ezekiel, was a God who acts. Ezekiel portrays the image of God as a God who acts in history. His ability to restructure history of the people was to refresh their minds about this God who had acted in rich mercy and tells them how unfaithful they have been to this God. By analysis it appears fifteen times where Ezekiel informs us that God said He acted to keep His name glorious (20:9, 14, 22, 39, 44; 36:20-23; 39:7, 25; 43:7-8). And several times the Lord said He had acted so the people would know that He was Yahweh.
Thereupon, another aspect of his theology is what Boadt calls the theology of restoration. Restoration for Ezekiel was not different from other prophets. But what makes his restoration theology different is his use of proverbs and symbols such as the restoration of the dry bones (37:1-3). This explains that the bones symbolise the whole house of Israel which had lost the hope of being revived as a nation. Boadt informs us that Ezekiel's oracle of restoration foresaw twofold plan of God; the restoration from the captivity and the restoration of the Davidic kingdom. The second plan was the restoration of the temple and reform of their religious practices. Ezekiel’s theology is based on the Holiness and transcendence of God, the grace and mercy of God and the sovereignty of God.
Ezekiel's priestly background may account in part for the interest in priestly things that his book reflects: the actions of the priests in Jerusalem, the Jerusalem temple, the glory of the Lord, and the future temple yet to be built. It probably also explains Ezekiel's familiarity with things connected with priestly ministry, such as cherubim, differences between the laws of cult and the pre-supposition regarding ritual and impurity in the Priestly Schools and the book of Deuteronomy. Both sources regard the relationship between the priest and the laity and the access to the sacred in different ways. The fundamental reason that lies at the base of these different cultic systems is distinct perceptions of holiness.
The difference is not in the concept of what is holy and what is profane, but rather in the understanding of what holiness really is. The Priestly Schools view holiness as dynamic, sensitive and dangerous, and maintain that the access to the sacred should be limited. In contrast, in Deuteronomy holiness is static, and the access to the sacred is far less restricted, since it is not dangerous or threatening. In other words, in Deuteronomists’ idea of holiness according to Brueggemann, holiness is not an active entity but a status. These opposing world-views regarding the holy are actually related to general conceptions about the character of the relationship between humans and nature on the one hand, and between man and God on the other hand.
Evaluation and Conclusion
Every prophet must come to terms with the fact that the majority of people ignore as irrelevant the word that seems to him so authoritative and compelling. Amos and Jeremiah are both incredulous that people should deny or fail to see what seems to them, the prophets, so obvious, that Israel is deep in sin and judgement is imminent. Isaiah is so amazed at the unresponsiveness of Israel that he can only draw the conclusion that God himself must have hardened the people's hearts and made them incapable of responding. And the answer arrived at, though expressed in different words, is always the same. It is not the prophet's job to worry about results, which the Lord has set in his own hand. It is his to sow and perhaps to water but God will take care of any increase. He must patiently give his back to the smiters and his cheeks to those who pluck out the hair, and go on to the end though all men for sake him and flee. And if in the far future God wills to appoint him a portion with the great and allow him to divide the spoil with the strong, then that is a matter for God alone.
An understanding of Ezekiel's personality is fundamental to the understanding of his book. This understanding is made difficult by a number of peculiar factors. One of these is that Ezekiel fails to communicate emotion readily. This is perhaps largely a literary failure. He finds it easier to express feeling and ideas in dramatic action and in ritual than in the written word. But the failure to 'put across' his own personality results in a failure to present adequately his conception of the personality of God, and this in turn leads to a serious misunderstanding of his message.
Nonetheless, Ezekiel's oracle was not totally independent to other prophets but he has the basic attributes of prophecy which is found in other prophets especially Jeremiah.
REFERENCE
Bertholet A., and K. Galling, “Ezekiel”, in Ronald E. Clement, Old Testament Prophecy: From Oracle to Canon (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1996).
Blenkinsopp, J., A History of Prophecy in Israel rev. and enl. (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1996).
______Ezekiel, (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990).
Boadt, L., Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction, (New York: Paulist Press, 1984)
Boadt, L., & Desmond Tutu, The Hebrew Prophets: Visionaries of the Ancient World, (New York: Lion Press, 1997).
Brueggemann, W. & Hans, W. W., The Vitality of Old Testament Tradition, (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1982).
Brueggemann, W., An Introduction to the Old Testament: The Canon and Christian Imagination, (Louisville: John Knox Press, 2003).
______ Reverberation of Faith: A Theological Handbook of the Old Testament Themes, (Louisville: John Knox Press, 2002).
Clements, R., Old Testament Theology: A Fresh Approach (London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1978).
Enns, P.P., Ezekiel, (Nashville: B&H Publishing, 1998).
Fishbane, M., “Sin and Judgement in the Prophecies of Ezekiel” in James L Mays & Paul J. Achtemeier (Eds.) Interpreting the Prophets (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1987), 170-187.
Freedman, D. N.,(ed.) The Anchor Bible Dictionary vol. 2, (London: Doubleday Press, 1922).
Fohrer, G., Introduction to the Old Testament (transl. David Green, London: Hollen Street Press, 1968).
Gowan, D. E., Theology of the Prophetic Books: The Death and Resurrection of Israel, (Louisville, John Knox Press, 1998),
Herntrich, V., “Ezekiel problem” in Ronald E. Clement, Old Testament Prophecy: From Oracle to Canon (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1996)
Jensen, J., God’s Word to Israel, (Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1988)
Kelley, B. E., "Dealing with the Trauma of Defeat: The Rhetoric of the Devastation and Rejuvenation of Nature in Ezekiel." Journal of Biblical Literature 128, no. 3 (Fall2009 2009): 469-490. Religion and Philosophy Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed October 31, 2009).
Ohler, A., Studying the Old Testament from Tradition to Canon, (Edinburgh: T&T Clark Ltd, 1985)
Otto Kaiser, Introduction to the Old Testament: A Presentation of its Results and Problems (Transl. John Sturdy, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1969).
Petersen, D. L., The Prophetic Literature: An Introduction, (Louisville: John Knox Press, 2002),
Ralph H. Alexander, "Ezekiel," in Isaiah-Ezekiel vol. 6, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, pp. 739-40.
Regev, E., "Priestly Dynamic Holiness and Deutronomic Static Holiness." Vetus Testamentum 51, no. 2 (April 2001): 243-261. Religion and Philosophy Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed October 17, 2009).
Reiss, M., "Jeremiah, the suffering prophet, and Ezekiel, the visionary." Jewish Bible Quarterly 32, no. 4 (October 2004): 233-238. ATLA Religion Database, EBSCOhost (accessed November , 2009).
Robinson, H.W., “Two Hebrew Prophets: Studied in Hosea and Ezekiel” in Ronald E. Clement, Old Testament Prophecy: From Oracle to Canon (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1996).
Sweeney, Marvin A. "Dating prophetic texts." Hebrew Studies 48, (2007): 56-73. ATLA Religion Database, EBSCOhost (accessed October 26, 2009).
Vatican II Council, Dei Verbum Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Vatican Council II: The Conciliar Documents, ed. A. Flannery (Collegeville, MT: The Liturgical Press, 1975).
Zimmerli, W., et al, Ezekiel: A Commentary on the Book of Ezekiel Vol. 2, (Michigan: Fortress Press, 1983).
No comments:
Post a Comment