Ezekiel is set during a devastating moment in Israel’s story, but its message is not without hope. Join Dr. Tim Mackie around the table as he explores the book of Ezekiel and God’s promise of hope on the other side of loss.
This is a free classroom study
What happens when God’s chosen people take the place God intended as a hub of his life-giving presence and corrupt it into a source of abuse and injustice? Walk with Ezekiel through the tragic loss of the temple in Jerusalem to see how God will bring restoration, hope, and new life on the other side of exile. 16 Hours 32 Minutes
An overview of the book of Ezekiel from 7 years ago from Bible Project.
After you complete this full class, you will be able to understand and communicate the following.
The literary design of the book of Ezekiel.
The historical and literary context of the book, including intertextual links, allusions, and references.
Ezekiel’s unique contributions to the prophetic mosaic as a priest and exile.
The connection between spiritual rebels and human empires.
How lengthy descriptions of the temple dimensions help us meditate on the place where Heaven and Earth are one.
The purpose of Ezekiel’s temple vision.
6 Hours 32 Minutes Lecture Time
6 Modules
29 Classroom Sessions
6 Quizzes
Your Teacher
Dr. Tim Mackie
Tim Mackie is a writer and creative director for BibleProject. He has a Ph.D. in Semitic Languages and Biblical Studies. He wrote his dissertation on the manuscript history of the book of Ezekiel, with a focus on the Septuagint and Dead Sea Scrolls. What a total nerd! He is a professor at Western Seminary and served as a teaching pastor for many years.
Faithlife Study Bible (FSB) is your guide to the ancient world of the Old and New Testaments, with study notes and articles that draw from a wide range of academic research. FSB helps you learn how to think about interpretation methods and issues so that you can gain a deeper understanding of the text.
3:3–8 Yahweh uses a series of rhetorical questions, where the expected answer is “no,” to emphasize that judgment is just as certain as the predictable reactions evoked by the questions.
Seven questions in Amos 3:3–6 are interrupted by the acknowledgment of Yahweh’s sovereignty required by the question in v. 6. The final questions in v. 8 emphasize the prophet’s role as a mere messenger for God who is unable to resist the call to preach (compare Jer 20:8–9).
Since a commentary is a fundamental tool for the expositor or teacher who seeks to interpret and apply Scripture in the church or classroom, the NAC focuses on communicating the theological structure and content of each biblical book. The writers seek to illuminate both the historical meaning and contemporary significance of Holy Scripture.
3:8 The style shift in v. 8 alerted Amos’s audience (reader) that he had reached the climax. He turned from hypothetical situations (vv. 3–6) to statements of fact. “The lion has roared,” the first statement of fact, is the cause of “fear.” Here the lion’s roar strikes fear in humans, “who will not fear?” The effect of the lion’s roar in v. 4 was on other animals.
Since “the lion has roared” is parallel to “the Sovereign Lord has spoken,” both expressions refer to God. This usage accords with the parallel statements in 1:2, “The Lord from Zion will roar, and from Jerusalem he will give his voice” (author’s translation). Amos had heard the lion’s roar of the Lord’s judgment upon Israel.
That roar struck “fear” in Amos. He knew the lion’s roar signaled a kill. Amos spoke God’s message in Israel because he had heard the Lord speak. The prophet’s message was not his own. He only spoke what he heard the Lord speak. With this rhetorical unit Amos would justify his appearance in Israel as spokesman for God. S. Paul captures Amos’s point: “The prophet speaks when commanded but, once commanded, must speak.” Gitay explains the significance of this point as adding to Amos’s credibility.
Amos did not enjoy his task of conveying unpleasant words. He was simply “one of the audience, one who [had] no choice but to prophesy.” D. Hubbard’s concluding paragraph on the unit contains a striking statement about how Amos “won his points”: “He has done so by leading his hearers through a catechism of common-sense questions to his double conclusion that reinforces all that he said in the beginning verses of this chapter: Yahweh will bring disaster on his people (v. 6b), and Amos has no choice but to announce it” (v. 8b).
(3) The Downfall and Devouring of Israel (3:9–12)
9 Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdod and to the fortresses of Egypt: “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria; see the great unrest within her and the oppression among her people.”
10 “They do not know how to do right,” declares the Lord, “who hoard plunder and loot in their fortresses.”
11 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “An enemy will overrun the land; he will pull down your strongholds and plunder your fortresses.”
12 This is what the Lord says: “As a shepherd saves from the lion’s mouth only two leg bones or a piece of an ear, so will the Israelites be saved, those who sit in Samaria on the edge of their beds and in Damascus on their couches.” Having prepared his audience for the message and justified his ministry of judgment in Israel, Amos then spelled out the crimes the Lord would punish.
This oracle has a mixture of forms. The call for witnesses suggests the covenant lawsuit form (v. 9) and serves as an introduction to the second half of the message in this chapter (cf. v. 1). Emphasis on the word of the Lord is a feature of the messenger form (vv. 10–11). Samaria was the likely location of the prophet’s proclamation, and Samaria’s leading citizens probably were the prophet’s target audience.
Smith, B. K., & Page, F. S. (1995). Amos, Obadiah, Jonah (Vol. 19B, pp. 75–77). Broadman & Holman Publishers.
In recent years there have been many new developments in biblical scholarship, some challenging and some affirming scriptural accounts. This authoritative reference work brings together many of the finest scholars of our day to meet the needs of the church well into the twenty-first century.
3:8–9 Joshua receives a further message. This looks like an addition to the original vision (it has an imperative such as often begins a new speech; and it introduces features not hinted at in the preceding description: the Branch, the stone, seven eyes). Nevertheless, its climax, ‘I will remove the sin of this land in a single day’ (i.e. swiftly and completely) is wholly appropriate to this vision, for the high priest represents the whole people. Joshua’s associates or ‘companions’ are presumably his fellow priests.
They are men symbolic of things to come (lit. ‘men of portent’). This probably means that the coming of the Branch has priestly significance. The Branch is a Messianic title (Je. 23:5–6; cf. Is. 4:2; 11:1; see also the Introduction above). It has some connection with Zerubbabel, whose name is not found in any of the main parts of the visions themselves.
The reason for this is not clear. It is possible that Zerubbabel fell out of favour with the Persian authorities and that his name had to be kept quiet. It is more likely that the reader is meant to connect the present leadership of Judah and Jerusalem with the promise of the Messiah, known from Is. 9:1–7 and 11:1–9. Zerubbabel was not thought to be the Messiah but a type of the Messiah. He gives insight into the nature of the Messiah’s rule. This will be spelt out in ch. 4 and 6:9–15. It is not clear what the stone set before Joshua signifies.
The context must help us to form a picture of it. The engraving suggests some type of commemoration, perhaps of the Lord’s commission to Joshua. Eyes might be connected with 4:10, where the seven lamps are explained as the ‘seven … eyes of the Lord, which range throughout the earth’, signifying his knowledge of everything that happens on earth. The word could just possibly mean ‘spring’, in which case it would fit with the end of the verse: cleansing the land of sin.
Butterworth, G. M. (1994). Zechariah. In D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham (Eds.), New Bible commentary: 21st century edition (4th ed., p. 870). Inter-Varsity Press.
Talmidimblogging 