Ezekiel: The Chariot Throne, the Departed Glory, and Yahweh Shammah

An advanced academic exegesis of Ezekiel 1:1 to 3:27, examining the historical and geographical setting by the Chebar River in Babylon, the storm wind from the north, the four living creatures (cherubim) with four faces, the fiery intersecting wheels within wheels, the crystal firmament and sapphire throne of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh, the commissioning of the priest Ezekiel to a rebellious house of thorns and scorpions, the eating of the scroll sweet as honey in the mouth yet written with lamentations, mourning, and woe, and the solemn appointment of the prophet as a watchman (tsopheh) to the house of Israel.

A detailed collegiate study of Ezekiel 4:1 to 7:27, analyzing the striking prophetic street theater and physical sign acts: inscribing Jerusalem on a clay brick and laying miniature siege against it with an iron griddle, lying on his left side for 390 days and right side for 40 days to bear the iniquities of Israel and Judah, baking defiled bread over dung to portray horrific starvation and uncleanness in exile, shaving his head and beard with a sword to divide the hair into thirds (burned, struck with the sword, and scattered to the wind), and the climactic theological oracles announcing the end has come upon the four corners of the land.

An exhaustive collegiate exploration of Ezekiel 8:1 to 11:25, examining Ezekiel visionary transport in the Spirit to the Jerusalem temple, the four progressive abominations defiling the sanctuary (the image of jealousy, creeping things carved on walls, women weeping for Tammuz, and twenty-five men worshiping the rising sun with their backs to the temple), the celestial scribe with the inkhorn marking the sighing remnant, the six executioners with shattering weapons, the scattering of coals of fire over the city, the tragic four-stage departure of the Shekinah glory of Yahweh from the holy of holies to the cherubim, to the threshold, to the east gate, and over the Mount of Olives, the sudden death of Pelatiah, and the glorious promise of the new heart and heart of flesh.

An advanced theological exposition of Ezekiel 12:1 to 17:24, analyzing the prophetic enactment of packing exile baggage and digging through a wall with covered eyes to foreshadow King Zedekiah flight, the refutation of complacent proverbs ("The days are prolonged and every vision fails"), the scorching exposure of false prophets as jackals among ruins who whitewash flimsy walls with plaster, the condemnation of female sorcerers trapping souls with magical charms, the irrelevance of ancestral righteousness where even Noah, Daniel, and Job could only save themselves, the parable of the useless burnt vine branch, the sweeping marital allegory of Jerusalem as the exposed newborn foundling washed and adorned by God who turned to insatiable spiritual prostitution, and the riddle of the two great eagles, the cedar sprig, and the treacherous broken covenant.

An advanced collegiate exegesis of Ezekiel 18:1 to 21:32, analyzing the decisive divine refutation of the cynical intergenerational proverb ("The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children teeth are set on edge"), the three generation moral case study establishing individual accountability before God, the divine affirmation of taking no pleasure in the death of the wicked, the poetic funeral lament for the royal princes of Judah as captured lions and a withered desert vine, the historical survey of Israel chronic rebellion from Egypt through the wilderness to the promised land, the oath of the wilderness, and the terrifying oracle of the drawn, polished, and sharpened sword of Yahweh against Jerusalem and the ammonite capital Rabbah.

An exhaustive collegiate exploration of Ezekiel 22:1 to 24:27, analyzing the prophetic indictment of Jerusalem as the bloody city (ir ha-damim), the metallurgical parable of the divine smelting furnace where silver turns to dross, the tragic search for a man to stand in the breach to avert destruction, the graphic allegorical history of Samaria (Oholah) and Jerusalem (Oholibah) as two lustful sisters committing insatiable spiritual adultery with Assyria and Babylon, the parable of the boiling rusted pot on the fire, the sudden, heartbreaking death of Ezekiel beloved wife ("the desire of your eyes") and the divine prohibition against mourning, serving as the ultimate silent sign of Jerusalem catastrophic fall.

A comprehensive academic exegesis of Ezekiel 25:1 to 32:32, analyzing the transitional hinge of the prophetic book: seven judgment oracles against foreign nations surrounding Judah (Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, Sidon, and Egypt). Particular theological focus is placed on the maritime splendor of Tyre as a magnificent trading ship shipwrecked in open seas, the searing indictment of the Prince of Tyre (Ittobaal III) claiming divinity ("I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods"), the tragic dirge over the King of Tyre depicted as a glorious anointed guardian cherub in Eden cast out of the mountain of God for unrighteous pride and commercial violence, and the sevenfold funeral lament over Egypt and Pharaoh as a monster of the seas dragged out with divine hooks and cast into the underworld among the uncircumcised.

An advanced theological exposition of Ezekiel 33:1 to 36:38, examining the arrival of the fugitive from Jerusalem in late 586 BC announcing "The city has fallen", the unloosening of Ezekiel tongue, the recommissioning of the watchman of Israel, the scathing indictment of the corrupt predatory shepherds of Israel who fed themselves while scattering the flock, the promise of Yahweh Himself coming as the Good Shepherd to seek, rescue, and feed His sheep with His servant David as their prince, the judgment on Mount Seir (Edom), the prophetic revitalization of the mountains of Israel, and the magnificent covenant promise of moral cleansing with clean water, the removal of the stony heart, the gift of the indwelling Spirit of God, and the Edenic renewal of the desolate land for the vindication of Yahweh holy name.

An exhaustive collegiate study of Ezekiel 37:1 to 39:29, analyzing the monumental apocalyptic vision of the valley of dry bones (bikah meleah atsamot) and the two-stage resurrection by the Word and the Spirit (Ruakh), the symbolic sign act of the two sticks of Judah and Joseph bound into one indivisible royal scepter under the Davidic King, the permanent covenant of peace (berit shalom), and the sweeping eschatological battle against Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, leading an imperial coalition from the uttermost north against the restored, undefended people of Israel, culminating in divine earthquake, torrential rain, hailstones, sulfurous fire, the seven-year burning of weapons, the seven-month burial of corpses in the Valley of Hamon-gog, the sacrificial feast of birds and beasts on mountains of Israel, and the final outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

An advanced collegiate climax of Ezekiel 40:1 to 48:35, analyzing the final grand visionary architectural tour in 573 BC, the twenty-fifth year of exile: the man with the measuring reed, the meticulous dimensions of the outer and inner courts, gates, chambers, and the Holy of Holies of the eschatological temple, the return of the Shekinah glory of Yahweh entering through the east gate to fill the house, the ordinances of the Zadokite priesthood, the trickle of water emerging from beneath the temple threshold that deepens into an ankle deep, knee deep, waist deep, and uncrossable river flowing into the Arabah to heal the Dead Sea and give life to countless fruit bearing trees, the equitable division of the land among the twelve reunited tribes, the sacred holy district (terumah) for the sanctuary, and the climactic new name of the eternal city: Yahweh Shammah, "The Lord Is There."