Warnings from the Watchman
The word of the Lord came to me ... Ezekiel 6:1
Ezekiel 4:1–7:27 – Ezekiel: Renewing God’s Glory
Fifth Sunday in Lent – March 17, 2024 (am)
We began last Sunday to walk through this unique prophecy of Ezekiel and many of you said that you appreciated the unusual approach I took toward preaching it. So, we’re going to take that same approach this morning, just reading the text with running commentary under the headings of a broader outline. We may only be able to do this style one or twice more, but it really helps. Warnings from the Watchman is our title; 3:16-21 gives the job description of a watchman: to deliver faithfully God’s words of warning.
First, though, one quick issue this morning: last Sunday I made a passing reference to the fact that Daniel and his three friends were deported to Babylon along with Ezekiel, but that’s not so. I awoke last Monday morning with that thought in my mind—I’m dreaming in Ezekiel these days! There was an earlier deportation under Jehoiakim just after Babylon defeated Egypt (605 bc); Daniel was part of that group (Dan.1:1-4), not the one under Jehoiachin in 597 bc—his was during the first paragraph of 2Ki.24, not the third! I’m tempted to explain why I believe that’s important to mention, but we have full slate here this morning and I’m sure we can come back to that one later as needed.
Now let’s begin, reading and commenting here in c.4, which begins the long section of God’s judgment on Judah (cc.4-24), kicking out their props of the covenant relationship, the land, His residence in the temple, and the Davidic dynasty. We see two parts in the big-picture outline.
The Destruction of Jerusalem Pictured 4:1-5:17
4:1 “And you, son of man, take a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem—probably the profile of the city (Carson 2016). Every Chicago resident recognizes the skyline profile of the city. Ezekiel scraped a familiar image of Jerusalem on a building stone. 2 And put siegeworks against it, and build a siege wall against it, and cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it all around. Any parent of boys has seen this action. The armies are called guys, and any guys will do. Elaborate battle scenes are set up with little plastic soldiers and other super-hero figurines besieging a city. In a pinch, if your army needs to strengthen its flank, stuffed animals or even a stray Barbie doll will suffice. In our house the narrative soundtrack was always musical, like a preschool opera. Superman has come! You’re going down! Here, the people would gather to witness Ezekiel’s message each day. And remember, he was silent unless God gave him words, but he was always entertaining!
And clear—he was illustrating the coming fall of Jerusalem, even though these people didn’t believe that was possible! Surely God wouldn’t abandon His covenant, the land, His temple, or David’s throne! [For us,] that… would be a bit like finding the body of Jesus in Jerusalem today (Carson 2016). These are eternal, unconditional promises, right? Answer: Yes, but! God’s promises are reliable forever. But anyone who doesn’t live according to His covenant won’t experience its blessings (Block 1997 163), regardless of their ethnicity. And generations can pass without seeing any clear sign of them.
Even so, this section can be somewhat confusing as well, given that there are no fewer than nine clusters of actions here (4:1-5:4), and several of [those] subdivide into yet smaller segments which aren’t sequenced or grouped into any sort of neat or clear order. For instance: What is the connection between baring his arm (v.7) and lying on his sides (vv.4-7) (Block 1997 167)?
Let’s just keep walking through it and I think it’ll begin to make sense. 3 And you, take an iron griddle, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; Ezekiel is acting as God and is separating Himself from the city with an iron barrier—it’s impenetrable—and set your face toward it, and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it, advance it, demonstrating that God isn’t just passively waiting for the city to fall; He’s actively moving against it. This is a sign for the house of Israel. Ezekiel is… symbolizing the cutting off of [all relationship] between God and [Israel]. There is now no channel by which [they] can communicate with [Him], even if they wanted to… (Duguid 88).
4 “Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment, probably better, the sin, the iniquity, of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their [iniquity]. 5 For I assign to you a number of days, 390 days, equal to the number of the years of their [iniquity]. So long shall you bear the [iniquity]of the house of Israel. 6 And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the [iniquity]of the house of Judah. Forty days I assign you, a day for each year. This isn’t an easy sign for us to understand. I’ve long heard that it symbolizes the punishments of the exiles that came first on the northern kingdom, now here on the southern. But, first, Ezekiel rarely distinguishes between the northern and southern kingdoms using these names and, second, it’s hard to find any meaningful way that 390 years reflects the experience of the northern ten tribes in Assyria. Rather, for Ezekiel the “house of Israel” is the whole covenant people of God, and their sins are centered in the Jerusalem temple, the heart of the southern kingdom. Their 390-year history of sin, pictured [here], stretches back in time to around the construction of the first temple [or perhaps the division of the kingdom (Carson 2016)]. [Then], the “house of Judah” appears here to be a designation for [this present] community of the exiles…. Thus, after illustrating their long history of sin against God as a whole nation, Ezekiel next represents [this period] of the Exile… in terms of the symbolic figure of forty years. Just as Israel’s ancestors in the desert were a lost generation, spending forty years in the desert for their sin (Num.14:34) so [this present] generation is condemned to a similar fate for the nation’s long history of sin (Duguid 90). Thus the two phases of Ezekiel’s sign-act, lying on his left and right sides, respectively, depict successive events: the long period of Israel’s apostasy, and the subsequent experience of the wrath of God (Block 1997 180). If this is so, we might ask why Ezekiel wouldn’t lay on his right side for seventy days rather than forty, illustrating their seventy-year captivity? (cf. Dan.9:2) I’d say it’s because he was explaining their present circumstances. So, the image he used would’ve needed to be familiar from their past. He’s not telling them how long they’ll be there; he’s telling them what’s happening there. It’s much like what happened to their ancestors in the desert. And it’s happening due to their roughly 390-year history of sin against God since His manifest presence first entered Solomon’s temple, or since the kingdom was divided. 7 And you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm bared, a show of strength (cf. Isa.52:10), an image of military action, and you shall prophesy against the city. 8 And behold, I will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, there will be no escaping this judgment from God (cf. Block 1994 180), till you have completed the days of your siege.
9 “And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer, an unpalatable mixture of grains and legumes, and put them into a single vessel and make your bread from them, suggesting that no one kind of grain was plentiful enough on its own to make a whole loaf. During the number of days that you lie on your side, 390 days, you shall eat it. 10 And your food that you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day, a near-starvation diet, [roughly] eight ounces a day; from day to day you shall eat it, for thirteen months. 11 And water you shall drink by measure, the sixth part of a hin, two-thirds of a quart; from day to day you shall drink. 12 And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it in their sight on human dung.” [A]n experiment was carried out in the third century ad [apparently demonstrating] that [a dog wouldn’t even] eat Ezekiel’s bread (Duguid 89, all vv.9-12 insertions). 13 And the Lord said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.” That’s the lesson, a glimpse of life in exile. 14 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself. From my youth up till now I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has tainted meat come into my mouth.” 15 Then he said to me, “See, I assign to you cow’s dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread.” Are we picking up on God’s disposition toward His people? He’s not lacking mercy even now—cow dung rather than human for this illustration—but those from Jerusalem who will face this reality likely won’t have this option. 16 Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, behold, I will break the supply of bread in Jerusalem, just in case they might have missed the point (Block 1997 187). They shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, not even knowing if they’ll have more tomorrow, and they shall drink water by measure and in dismay for the same reason. 17 I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and look at one another in dismay, and rot away because of their punishment. This is game-over! And God Himself is doing it! But He’s not yet finished.
5:1 “And you, O son of man, take a sharp sword. Use it as a barber’s razor and pass it over your head and your beard. Shave it all off, something forbidden for priests (44:20; cf. Lev.21:5), but it also may reflect either grief or self-inflicted disgrace (Block 1997 192). But here, a new sign message was being set up that isn’t nearly as hard to follow. Then take balances for weighing and divide the hair. 2 A third part you shall burn in the fire in the midst of the city you just illustrated on a brick, and do this when the days of the siege are completed, clearly an image of destruction coming on those who live in Jerusalem. And a third part you shall take and strike with the sword all around the city, illustrating the violent death of those who [manage] to escape the destruction inside the city. And a third part you shall scatter to the wind, symbolizing both the dispersion and the disappearance of the remainder of the population (Block 1997 194), think of the exiles even right here in Babylon who are watching this illustration, and I will unsheathe the sword after them, drawing attention again to the fact that it’s God Himself Who’s doing this, accomplishing all this destruction. But then comes a sign of grace—measured, but grace. 3 And you shall take from these hairs scattered to the wind a small number and bind them in the skirts of your robe, an image of divine protection, perhaps the first indicator that exile in Babylon was a means of protecting some of these people from the destruction that was going to come on Jerusalem, but this illustration isn’t finished yet. 4 And of these again you shall take some and cast them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. So, even some from the exile who are watching these prophetic illustrations won’t turn from their sin and embrace the responsibility of covenant relationship with God. From there a fire will come out into all the house of Israel. This judgment fire will spread out among the nations and find unfaithful Israel wherever they may have been dispersed, or hidden away.
5 “Thus says the Lord God: This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. 6 And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you are more turbulent (riotous uproar [Block 1997 201]) than the nations that are all around you, and have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, and have not even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, 8 therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, am against you, the eternally faithful God. And I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations, because you’ve dishonored Me in the sight of the nations. 9 And because of all your abominations (actions… found to be disgusting, revolting, or repulsive [Block 1997 203]) I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. This is not to be taken literally, as the unprecedented high-water mark of God’s judgment in time and eternity, but as an expression of His full and final judgment at this time. Unparalleled sin demands unparalleled punishment (Taylor 87). 10 Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers, describing the worst conditions under siege (cf. 2Ki.6L28f. Jer.19:9; Lam.4:10). And I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. 11 Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, your idolatry and your syncretism, therefore I will withdraw. This is God speaking! My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity. Now He ties off His statement back in 5:2. 12 A third part of you shall die of pestilence (disease [TBD]), and be consumed with famine in your midst; a third part shall fall by the sword all around you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.
13 “Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. Understand that [this] judgment… is neither arbitrary nor unfair. The judgments coming on [Jerusalem here] are not random afflictions thought up on the spur of the moment, as if God has lost his temper; they are the execution of the curses on the covenant breakers (Duguid 100) that God promised from the start (cf. Deu.31:14-30, our Scripture Reading today). And when He pours out His judgment, God says, then they shall know that I am the Lord—that I have spoken in my jealousy—when I spend my fury upon them. 14 Moreover, I will make you a desolation and an object of reproach among the nations all around you and in the sight of all who pass by. 15 You shall be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror, to the nations all around you, when I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and with furious rebukes—I am the Lord; I have spoken—16 when I send against you the deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will send to destroy you—D. A. Carson’s sermon on this passage is titled, When the Lord Shoots to Kill—and when I bring more and more famine upon you and break your supply of bread. 17 I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will rob you of your children. Pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I am the Lord; I have spoken.” There’s no turning back.
The Desolation of the Land Proclaimed 6:1-7:27
6:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, 3 and say, You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places. These locations of pagan worship plagued Israel throughout her history. And even though they were most often on hilltops, as mentioned here, high-places doesn’t really a refer to geography. It refers to elevated platforms for sacrifices that could be constructed in valleys and even within city walls (Block 1997 223-4). But regardless of their location, God said: 4 Your altars shall become desolate, and your incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain before your idols. 5 And I will lay the dead bodies of the people of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6 Wherever you dwell, the cities shall be waste and the high places ruined, so that your altars will be waste and ruined, your idols broken and destroyed, your incense altars cut down, and your works wiped out. 7 And the slain shall fall in your midst, and by all of this you shall know that I am the Lord.
8 “Yet, what a welcome word this is to hear, I will leave some of you alive, [those few] hairs [tucked] in the skirts of [Ezekiel’s] robe (5:3). When you have among the nations some who escape the sword, and when you are scattered through the countries, 9 then those of you who escape will remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, the places Israel considered unclean, thinking that only in the land could they be in relationship to God, how I have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes that go whoring after their idols. And they will be loathsome in their own sight for the evils that they have committed, for all their abominations. 10 And they shall know that I am the Lord. I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them.”
The relief is finished. 11 Thus says the Lord God: “Clap your hands and stamp your foot and say, Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, for they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. 12 He who is far off shall die of pestilence, and he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who is left and is preserved shall die of famine. Thus I will spend my fury upon them. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, under every green tree, and under every leafy oak, places of pagan ritual, wherever they offered pleasing aroma to all their idols. 14 And I will stretch out my hand against them and make the land desolate and waste, in all their dwelling places, from the wilderness to Riblah, far south to far north (Block 1997 238-9). Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
C.7 comes in three sections (vv.1-4, 5-9, 10-27) announcing Israel’s end in the land, the thing they thought was impossible. And while the writing style is hard to classify, its rhetorical aim is clear: to evoke a strong emotional reaction in the audience (Block 1997 241). 7:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “And you, O son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel: An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land. 3 Now the end is upon you, and I will send my anger upon you; I will judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations. 4 And my eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity, but I will punish you for your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know that I am the Lord. There’s section one.
Section two: 5 “Thus says the Lord God: Disaster after disaster! Behold, it comes. 6 An end has come; the end has come; it has awakened against you. Behold, it comes. 7 Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. The time has come; the day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting on the mountains. 8 Now I will soon pour out my wrath upon you, and spend my anger against you, and judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations. This isn’t just discipline. 9 And my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. I will punish you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know that I am the Lord, who strikes. The eternal faithfulness of God is anchored to His own character and purpose. But there is no salvation, no enjoyment of His promises, for anyone who doesn’t live according to His covenant, regardless of the nation of their birth (Rom.3:20-26).
Section three has four parts: (a) announcement (vv.10-12a); (b) economic and psychological effects (vv.12b-18); (c) religious effects (vv.19-24); (d) political effects (vv.25-27) (Block 1997 254). Part one: 10 “Behold, the day! Behold, it comes! Your doom has come; the rod has blossomed; pride has budded. 11 Violence has grown up into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, nor their abundance, nor their wealth; neither shall there be preeminence among them—none of the signs of their privilege and blessing. 12 The time has come; the day has arrived.
Part two, economic and psychological effects: Let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn, for wrath is upon all their multitude. 13 For the seller shall not return to what he has sold, while they live [the seller will not recover the land he has sold, even though they may both still be alive (Block 1997 257)]. The collapse of the economy will be total, rendering all business transactions futile (Block 1997 259). For the vision concerns all their multitude; it shall not turn back, it’s irreversible, just like the [sale] of the land; and because of his iniquity, none can maintain his life—this is the core problem that’s bringing on all this chaotic turmoil. 14 “They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but none goes to battle, for my wrath is upon all their multitude. 15 The sword is without; pestilence and famine are within. He who is in the field dies by the sword, and him who is in the city famine and pestilence devour. 16 And if any survivors escape, they will be on the mountains, like doves of the valleys, out of place, all of them moaning, each one over his iniquity, again renaming the core problem. 17 All hands are feeble, and all knees turn to water. 18 They put on sackcloth, and horror covers them. Shame is on all faces, and baldness on all their heads. They feel their guilt.
Part three, religious effects: 19 They cast their silver into the streets, they throw it out with the trash (Block 1997 264), and their gold is like an unclean thing. Why? Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord; that’s the first reason. And this is where we see that even though money is in view, we’re not still in the economic part of c.7. This is divine judgment on their misuse of the wealth God had given Israel. It won’t deliver them from His wrath. And second: They cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. It’s worthless to them! They depended on it instead God, now by His judgment it’s has no value at all. For it was the stumbling block of their iniquity. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils (1Ti.6:10). 20 His beautiful ornament they used for pride, and they made their abominable images and their detestable things of it. They decorated their idols with it. Therefore I make it an unclean thing to them. 21 And I will give it into the hands of foreigners for prey, and to the wicked of the earth for spoil, and they shall profane it. If it’s going to evil purposes anyway, let evil people have it. 22 I will turn my face from them, and they shall profane my treasured place. Robbers shall enter and profane it. 23 “Forge a chain! For the land is full of bloody crimes and the city is full of violence. 24 I will bring the worst of the nations to take possession of their houses. I will put an end to the pride of the strong, and their holy places shall be profaned.
Part four, political effects: 25 When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there shall be none. No shalom. 26 Disaster comes upon disaster; rumor follows rumor. They seek a vision from the prophet, while the law perishes from the priest and counsel from the elders. They’re chasing the spectacular and ignoring daily faithfulness. 27 The king mourns, the prince is wrapped in despair, and the hands of the people of the land are paralyzed by terror. According to their way I will do to them, and according to their judgments I will judge them, and they shall know that I am the Lord.”
Conclusion
What relevance does this have for us today? Three lessons by way of reminder of Who God is:
1. If God pours out His judgment on His chosen people who reject Him, He will pour out His judgment on all people who do so. This is only a slight variation of the argument Paul presses into in his letter to the Romans, as we’ve recently seen. How the idea ever developed His old covenant people were favored regardless of how they lived is nothing short of incomprehensible. God warned against that very outcome from the initiation to the completion of the old covenant.
2. Observing the stated reasons for Israel’s judgment here should open our eyes to the many ways we continue to do quite similar things today. It is so easy for us to receive the material blessings of the Lord and begin to treat them as though we’re entitled to them, as though they belong to us, as though they’re the earned fruit of our own labors and gifting—houses and cars and appreciating investment portfolios and private schools for our kids and so on.
It is so easy to for us to begin thinking that our health and wellbeing are in our own hands to manage, yet at the same time that healthcare at DuPage County standards is a is an entitlement, a basic human right, even though the vast majority of this planet knows nothing remotely similar. But even more, it’s so easy for us to begin thinking that the reputation and world-ranking of our doctor is our assurance of a positive outcome in our recent diagnosis.
It is so easy for us to begin thinking that the name on our diploma is our guarantee of a profitable career, or that our involvement, our achievements, our résumé and professional reputation are the true measurement of our success, our character, and even our integrity.
I’ll stop at this point, but God help us in our need.
3. Above all we should remember that God poured out His judgment on Jesus for the sins of all who will receive Him by faith. And we need Him desperately. He alone enjoys God’s favor. Jesus alone can reconcile us to God. And He alone can deliver us from the just judgment of our sin and rebellion that is so much like what we read about in today’s text. Jesus is God’s answer for all who will receive Him, saving us from the yet more fearsome and final judgment that will fall on those who reject Him as the apostle John described in the new covenant edition of the prophet Ezekiel, Revelation.
Let’s thank God for Jesus, our Savior and Lord and King, remembering His body sacrificed and His blood shed to cleanse us from sin, to absorb God’s wrath that we justly deserved, and thus to reconcile us to God.
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Resources
Block, Daniel I. 1997. New International Commentary on the Old Testament. The Book of Ezekiel, two vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
. 2021. Recording Series: Ezekiel, online recordings and notes. Wheaton: College Church.
Bullock, C. Hassell. 2007. An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophetic Books. Ch. 11, Ezekiel: The Merging of Two Spheres, 274-307. Chicago: Moody.
Calvin, John. Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, two vols. Translated by Thomas Myers. Logos.
Carson, D. A. 2016. D. A. Carson Sermon Library. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife.
. 2015. The Lord Is There: Ezekiel 40-48. TGC15: YouTube.
, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham, eds. 1994. New Bible Commentary 21st Century Edition. Ezekiel, by L. John McGregor, 716-744. Leicester, Eng.: InterVarsity.
Clendenen, E. Ray, gen. ed. 1994. New American Commentary. Vol. 17, Ezekiel, by Lamar Eugene Cooper, Sr. Nashville: Broadman & Holman.
Collins, C. John, OT ed. 2001. ESV Study Bible. Study notes on Ezekiel, 1495-1580, by David J. Reimer. Wheaton: Crossway.
Craigie, Peter C. 1983. The Daily Bible Study Series. Ezekiel. Louisville: Westminster John Knox.
Dever, Mark. 2006. The Message of the Old Testament. Ch. 26, The Message of Ezekiel: Paradise, 635-650. Wheaton: Crossway.
Duguid, Iain M. 1999. The NIV Application Commentary. Ezekiel. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
Elwell, Walter A., and Philip W. Comfort, eds. 2001. Tyndale Bible Dictionary (TBD). Wheaton: Tyndale.
Heschel, Abraham J. 2001.The Prophets, two vols. Peabody, MA: Prince.
Longman III, Tremper, & David E. Garland, gen. eds. 2010. Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Vol. 7, Jeremiah-Ezekiel. Ezekiel, by Ralph H. Alexander, 641-924. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
Smith, Gary V. 1994. The Prophets as Preachers. Ch.14, Ezekiel: When Will You Acknowledge God, 251-281. Nashville: Broadman & Holman.
Smith, James E. 1995. The Major Prophets. The Book of Ezekiel, 351-508. Joplin, MO: College.
VanGemeren, Willem A. 1990. Interpreting the Prophetic Word. Ch. 11, The Message of Ezekiel, 321-353. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
Walton, John H., gen. ed. 2009. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary, Old Testament. Vol. 4, Isaiah-Daniel. Ezekiel, by Daniel Bodi, 400-500. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
Walvoord, John F. & Roy B. Zuck. 1983. The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Vol. 1, Old Testament. Ezekiel, 1224-1323, by Charles H. Dyer. Colorado Springs: Victor.
Wiseman, Donald J., gen. ed. 1969. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries. Vol. 22, Ezekiel, by John B. Taylor. Downers Grove: InterVarsity.
NEXT SUNDAY: The Temple and the Departure of God’s Glory, Ezekiel 8:1–11:25