Thursday, February 9, 2017

More on Ezekiel and my Book Corner

Months ago I started a series of posts on Ezekiel and got up to around chapter 12 and then got distracted by many things. Coincidentally (if there is such a word in God’s economy), I received an issue of Bible Study magazine that featured a special section on Ezekiel. I subscribed to Bible Study because one of its regular writers is Michael S. Heiser who is the author of the provocative book, the Unseen Realm that I wrote about several posts ago. Anyway, some of the articles are: the Mission of Ezekiel, God is There, Prophet to the Exiles, Ezekiel’s Embodied Prophetic Voice, Prophetic Rhetoric in Ezekiel 16, Echoes of Leviticus in Ezekiel, A Message to the Rebels, Ezekiel, Whose Sins Caused the Exile?, Gog of the Supernatural North, and finally, Ezekiel and Trauma.

If you go through Ezekiel chapters 12-16, there is a rather overwhelming recounting of Israel’s recalcitrant sinfulness. The article Prophetic Rhetoric in Ezekiel 16 really sheds some light on this display of divine damnation... And I quote:

“Building on the metaphor of Israel as Yahweh’s wife, the prophet tells a vivid story of Israel’s relationship with God…. The prophet’s vivid imagery and strong language in this metaphorical story would have shocked his hearers. Ezekiel 16 contains some of the most explicit language in the Bible. The text repeatedly refers to Jerusalem’s “whorings,” “lewd behavior,” “lust,” and “insatiable” desire for her lovers. “At every street corner you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty, spreading your legs with increasing promiscuity to anyone who passed by” (NIV).

The author of this article, Jason Gile, Ph.D, is a professor of Old Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, Illinois. He also compares the depiction of the rise and fall of Israel to the “prophetic transformation of the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32.”

Book Corner

I just finished reading another exciting novel by Joel C. Rosenberg: The Third Target. What can I say? It’s never a dull moment when you read one of his books. I’m about half done with another Bodie and Brock Thoene book: When Jesus Wept. What a dynamo they are! And then there’s my second book: Prague Rendezvous. I had said earlier I would have it done by the end of 2016…. But here we are and, what can I say, but I’m close. At least I have more pages into this book than were in my first book (Wittenberg Encounter). By the way, Wittenberg Encounter is available in paperback! See the link below for how you can order it.


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