King Zedekiah

June 5, 2017

Wail over those who went down into the pit (Ezek 32:17-32:18)

“In the twelfth year,

In the first month,

On the fifteenth day

Of the month,

The word of Yahweh

Came to me.

‘Son of man!

Wail over the hordes

Of Egypt!

Send them down!

With Egypt,

With the daughters

Of majestic nations,

To the world below!

They will go down

To the pit.’”

Once again there is another oracle of Yahweh to Ezekiel, the son of man, with a specific date, the 15th day of the 1st month of the 12th year of King Zedekiah, 586 BCE. Ezekiel was to wail over the many people from Egypt, who were being sent down to the pit, the world below, the shadowy afterlife. Egypt, with the daughters of other majestic nations, would also go down into the pit.

June 5, 2017

Lamentation over the Pharaoh of Egypt (Ezek 32:1-32:2)

“In the twelfth year,

In the twelfth month,

On the first day

Of the month,

The word of Yahweh

Came to me.

‘Son of man!

Raise a lamentation

Over Pharaoh,

King of Egypt!

Say to him!

‘You consider yourself

A lion

Among the nations.

But you are

Like a dragon

In the seas.

You trash about

In your streams.

You trouble the water

With your feet.

You foul

Your streams.’”

Once again there is another oracle of Yahweh to Ezekiel, the son of man, with a specific date, the 1st day of the 12th month of the 12th year of King Zedekiah, 585 BCE. Yahweh wanted Ezekiel to present a lamentation over the Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. In fact, Ezekiel was to speak to him with these exact words that Yahweh was giving him. How he was going to do this is not clear. Although the king of Egypt considered himself a lion among nations, he was rather a sea monster dragon in the water, trashing around with his feet in small streams, polluting the water. In other words, the Pharaoh was not as important as he thought that he was.

June 2, 2017

How great was the Pharaoh (Ezek 31:1-31:2)

“In the eleventh year,

In the third month,

On the first day

Of the month,

The word of Yahweh

Came to me.

‘Son of man!

Say to Pharaoh,

King of Egypt,

With his hordes!

‘Who are you

Like

In your greatness?’”

Once again, there is specific date for this oracle of Yahweh to Ezekiel, the son of man, the 1st day of the 3rd month, of the 11th year of King Zedekiah, 587 BCE. Yahweh wanted Ezekiel to pose a question to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt as well as the many people of Egypt. Who would they compare themselves to? Who or what was like them in their greatness?

June 2, 2017

The broken arm of the Pharaoh (Ezek 30:20-30:21)

“In the eleventh year,

In the first month,

On the seventh day

Of the month,

The word of Yahweh

Came to me.

‘Son of man!

I have broken

The arm of Pharaoh,

King of Egypt.

It has not been

Bound up

For healing.

It has not been

Wrapped

with a bandage.

Thus it cannot

Become strong

To wield the sword.’”

Once again there is a precise date for this oracle of Yahweh to Ezekiel, the son of man, the 7th day of the 1st month of the 11th year of King Zedekiah, in 587 BCE. Yahweh said that he had broken the arm of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Once it was broken, it was not going to heal. His broken arm was not bound up, wrapped up, or bandaged. He was not going to become strong enough to wield a sword. In other words, the Pharaoh would be useless in the face of any battle.

May 31, 2017

King Nebuchadnezzar and Tyre (Ezek 29:17-29:18)

“In the twenty-seventh year,

In the first month,

On the first day

Of the month,

The word of Yahweh

Came to me.

‘Son of man!

King Nebuchadnezzar

Of Babylon

Made his army

Labor hard

Against Tyre.

Every head

Was made bald.

Every shoulder

Was rubbed bare.

Yet neither he

Nor his army

Got anything

From Tyre

To pay

For the labor

That he had expended.”

This appears to be one of the last oracles of Ezekiel. Once again, there is an exact date, the 1st day of the 1st month of the 27th year of King Zedekiah, making it 571 BCE, well after the captivity of Jerusalem. As usual, the word of Yahweh came to Ezekiel, the son of man. Yahweh explained how King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had made his army work very hard against Tyre. They were baldheaded and wore out their shoulders. However, neither he nor his army got anything out of Tyre to pay for all the energy that they had spent against it.

May 30, 2017

Against Egypt (Ezek 29:1-29:2)

“In the tenth year,

In the tenth month,

On the twelfth day

Of the month,

The word of Yahweh

Came to me.

‘Son of man!

Set your face

Against Pharaoh,

King of Egypt!

Prophesy

Against him!

Prophesy

Against all Egypt!’”

Once again there was a specific date for this oracle of Yahweh to Ezekiel, the son of man. It was the 10th year of King Zedekiah, the 12th day of the 10th month, probably early 587 BCE. Ezekiel continued to use the first-person singular, as he had throughout this work. This time Yahweh wanted him to look towards Egypt. He was to prophesize against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, probably Pharaoh Hophra, as well as all of Egypt.

May 21, 2017

Against Tyre (Ezek 26:1-26:2)

“In the eleventh year,

On the first day

Of the month,

The word of Yahweh

Came to me.

‘Son of man!

Tyre said

Concerning Jerusalem.

‘Aha!

Broken is

The gateway

Of the people.

It has swung open

To me.

I shall be replenished,

Now that is wasted.’”

The time for this oracle to Ezekiel, the son of man, was the 11th year of King Zedekiah, which would have been 587 BCE. The Greek translation has a mention of a month that would put it into 586 BCE. Tyre was a Phoenician costal island city that still exists in southern Lebanon, well known for its maritime trade. Actually, it would have been part of the old Israelite territory of Asher. Here, the people of Tyre seemed to have laughed at Jerusalem when the gates of that city fell. Instead of being an ally of Jerusalem, they turned against them. They took advantage of the bad situation in Jerusalem. Isaiah, also, had a long diatribe against both Tyre and Sidon in chapter 23.

 

May 16, 2017

The exact day of the Babylonian siege (Ezek 24:1-24:2)

“In the ninth year,

In the tenth month,

On the tenth day

Of the month,

The word of Yahweh

Came to me.

‘Son of man!

Write down

The name

Of this day!

This very day!

The king of Babylon

Has laid siege

To Jerusalem

This very day.’”

As usual, Ezekiel mentioned an exact date. This was the 10th day, of the 10th month, of the 9th year of the reign of King Zedekiah. This seems to be January 15, 588 BCE. Once again, Yahweh appeared to Ezekiel, the son of man, who was still probably in Babylon. Yahweh wanted him to write this exact date down because it was the day that Babylon began its siege of Jerusalem.

April 30, 2017

The second young lion was captured (Ezek 19:7-19:9)

“The second young lion

Ravaged

Their strongholds.

He laid waste

To their towns.

The land

Was appalled.

All who were in it

Were appalled

At the sound

Of his roaring.

The nations

Set upon him

From the provinces

All around.

They spread

Their net

Over him.

He was caught

In their pit.

With hooks,

They put him

In a cage.

They brought him

To the king of Babylon.

They brought him

Into custody.

Thus his voice

Would be heard

No more

On the mountains

Of Israel.”

This second young lion ravaged the strongholds and towns around there. The land and everybody in it were appalled at the sound of his roaring. Thus various countries from around the area set upon him. They spread out their nets over him. They caught him in a pit. They hooked him and put him into a cage. They brought him to the king of Babylon. He was now in custody so that his voice would no longer be heard on the mountains of Israel. This sounds a lot like a reference to King Zedekiah (598-587).

April 30, 2017

The second young lion (Ezek 19:5-19:6)

“When the lioness saw

That she was thwarted,

That her hope was lost,

She took another

Of her lion cubs.

She made him

A young lion.

He prowled

Among the lions.

He became a young lion.

He learned

To catch prey.

He devoured people.”

With the capture of the first young lion, this lioness tried to develop a second young lion. She had given up hope, but then she found another one of her young lion cubs. She made him into another young lion so that he prowled among the other young lions. He then learned to catch prey and devour humans. Perhaps this lioness is a reference to Hamutal, the wife of King Josiah (640-609 BCE), whose two sons became kings, King Jehoiakim (609-598 BCE) and King Zedekiah (598-587 BCE).