Ezekiel 28 – The prophecy against the kingdom of Tyre – great trading city and center of the region. Tyre is condemned for being proud enough to consider itself “a god.”  But foreigners will be brought against them

Tyre was created perfect – full of natural riches and guarded by god’s ensigns. But Tyre’s “busy trading has filled you with violence and sin” (28:16). The dishonesty of their trade, however, and the pride they showed has brought them to ashes. They have…

Ezekiel 26 – Tyre was an island city off the coast of Phoenicia. It was a commercial hub in the region and built impressive buildings and connected a near-by island to it. They were subjected to a long, long siege by the Neo-Babylonians (13 years) but while the siege ruined the city’s commerce and power, it failed to bring the city down. Alexander the Great conquered it and built a causeway from the mainland out to it.

Here Ezekiel…

Ezekiel 24  – Ezekiel, who is in Babylon, prophesies that the city of Jerusalem is now under siege and shall suffer complete destruction and death of the population by the sword – all because of its unfaithfulness.

Ezekiel’s telling of the history of Israel, from its beginnings, is one that focuses only on the failures of faith and continual passions for unwholesome customs and idolatry. Here the message is more that God has continually had to punish Israel for the…

Ezekiel 23 – Now comes an allegorical history of Jerusalem and Samaria. They are described as two women, “Daughters of the same mother” (23:2) who became prostitutes in Egypt. Their names were “Oholah” (Samaria) and Oholibah (Judah).

Oholah played the whore and God has handed her over to “her lovers, to those Assyrians for whom she lusted” (23:9-10). Though the sister – Judah – saw her reduced to shame, she too lusted for her neighbors – for the Assyrians with their…

Ezekiel 21 – The same prophesy of destruction is directed to the people of the Negeb. The King of Babylon will stop at the crossroads that lead either to Jerusalem or to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and there he will conduct all kids of magic to see which one he is meant to attack. It will be Jerusalem. But the Ammonites too, practitioners of all kinds of “lying omens,” will be slaughtered.

The prophet here seems to wander away from the…

Sorry for the two days without posts. I am on Long Island and we have been without power because of Hurricane Sandy. We are fortunate to have power back now; many are still without.

Ezekiel 19 – There follows here a poetic “dirge” lamenting the fall of Israel – King Jehoahaz is depicted as a young lion who learned to be a “man-eater” (19:3). “The nations combines against him; he was caught in their pit; they dragged him off with hooks to the land of…