Beyond the River Chebar

To many readers the book of Ezekiel is a hopeless riddle. However, if we took the time to study it, we would discover that despite the strangeness of the man and his utterances this is the most clearly organized of the major prophetic books. If we persisted, we would also discover that, from a rhetorical perspective, this priestly prophet knew his audience; he recognized in Judahs rebellion against YHWH the underlying cause of the divine fury that resulted in the exile of his people and the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 586 BCE. But he also recognized that YHWHs judgment could not be the last word. Because his covenant was eternal and irrevocable he looked forward to a day of spiritual renewal and national restoration. This is the second of two volumes of Blocks essays on the book of Ezekiel. The essays in this volume explore the theme of Kingship in Ezekiel - both his assessment of Judahs historical kings and his hope for a restored Davidic King/Prince - and the mysterious visions concerning Gogs attack on restored Israel (Ezek 38-39) and the new temple (40-48). Block brings to bear decades of study of the book to open up fresh insights on the ancient text.