Beyond the River Chebar
Young Hoon (John) Kim
This book, Beyond the River Chebar, is a collection of articles that talks about the kingship and eschatology in Ezekiel. Block wants to show the proper interpretation of the book of Ezekiel by providing different views on the interpretation of certain passages and different theological views. Moreover, Block provides history and other aspects for the better understanding of the book of Ezekiel.
Daniel Block starts by introducing Zion theology. Zion theology is the Israelites’ religious attitude toward Jerusalem. Scholars recognize some Israelites’ thoughts regarding to the Zion Theology. First, since worshipping of Yahweh at the national temple in Jerusalem, the Israelites thought that the deity’s enthronement is a central feature. Second, since the Location of the temple is on the “peak of Zaphon,” they assume that Zion is the center of the universe. Last, The election of Zion by YHWH is closely tied to the election of David. From Zion Yahweh’s reign of peace and justice extends to the entire world.
Additionally, Yahweh’s kingship, which is the one of the core aspects of the Zion Theology, has poor evidences in Ezekiel’s ministry. The word “malak” has been used to refer to Yahweh once (Ezek. 20:33). However, the context does not provide any element that has to do with the enthronement of Yahweh.
In second chapter, the author deals with the royal ideology in Ezekiel. Block briefly talks about the history of Israel’s monarchy
Ezekiel was a priest that proficized during the exile in Babylon. The Israelites had to work in farms and canals. The hard part was that they could not worship in the temple. God spoke to Ezekiel through visions God told Ezekiel that they didn’t have to be in Jerusalem to worship him. God brought them closer to them through the exile. Ezekiel said that each individual shares the responsibility of the group. Ezekiel gave a message of hope to the Israelites.
The city of Jerusalem has been recognized as the holy city throughout the history of three religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. During the time of Judaism, Biblical writers presented Jerusalem as the most sacred space, the center of the world, and the city of the Lord. A leading interpreter of religious texts, Mircea Eliade, in his book The Sacred and The Profane, defined several religious experiences with specific terminologies, such as hierophany, which means the sign of sacredness, and axis mundi, which is the center of the world. These terminologies will help us in interpreting how the biblical writers promote Jerusalem as the holy city. In the Hebrew Bible Genesis 1-3, 22, 2 Samuel 6-8, 1 King 6-8, the writers reveal Jerusalem
The Book of Hosea is one among the several books of the Hebrew scripture and appears as the first in the order of the twelve Minor Prophets. The term ‘minor’ refers to the length and not the importance of the books when compared to the books of Ezekiel, Isaiah and Jeremiah. All the twelve minor books are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Haggai & Malachi (Feinberg, 1990). Hosea was instructed by God to marry a prostitute, by the name of Gomer, who symbolized covenantal relationship between Israel and him (God). Hosea’s prophesies were unique in the sense that they were relayed through the names given to his children. This paper seeks to give an illustrative description on the first chapter of
Ezekiel was a broad shouldered african american boy with a scar across his neck. very muscular and fast ,he was a warrior. In childhood he had a basic life working as field worker. If he worked well and every night at eight thirty he and his friends would be given corn bread and a glass of water
The best way to get a four spot on the Billboard Hot 100, is by rapping about something everyone will go through, a heartbreak. That is what Kanye West did in “Heartless,” a song about a heartbreak he went through with former fiancee Alexis Phifer. The song debuted as a single but was later put on his 808s & Heartbreaks album. The song explains nearly everything about his relationship. They both made mistakes, but she’d act as if hers were minor. That is why he states, “I’m gonna take of tonight.” He emphasizes the word tonight, to prove he is exhausted and wants to be taken seriously. But he then argues himself by asking why they always end up late night on the phone. Which proves who is the intended audience. Simply, anyone that has gone through something similar, sometimes ends up on the phone with them late night with remorse. West’s tone in is angry in this song. He was tired of his ex-fiancee, who left him at his lowest point. When his mother had passed away just months before he was finished working on this album. Both of the women that he loved the most have left his life, in an instant. Kanye just began working on his music as a way to overlook the trials set ahead of him. He released this song and it was only the second time he used auto tune. Apparently auto tune can get you a 5x platinum record, mind that’s five million sales.
In Isaiah’s Immanuel, Dr. Edward Hindson truly dives into the book of Isaiah. Hindson helps us to grasp the importance and statute of Isaiah. He was not simply a prophet among prophets. He stands out as a citizen of Israel and a servant of God. Hindson does not hold back on his praises of Isaiah and agrees with W.R.Smith, that he is the second most important person throughout the whole story of Israel (2). Isaiah’s writings style still puts modern day scholars in awe. However, Isaiah’s Godly leadership is a principle throughout the book that far exceeds his other attributes. His wisdom, words, and visions from God guided the nation of Israel throughout the reign of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Hindon discusses the history of not only Isaiah
Brown, M. L. (2010). Jeremiah. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Jeremiah–Ezekiel (Revised Edition) (Vol. 7, p. 358). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
DeClaisse-Walford’s book is an incredible, well thought, and researched work that provides readers with a clear and concise understanding of the Hebrew Psalter. Her ability to quote the original Hebrew texts helps us read the text alongside the writer hence a clear understanding of the text.
God’s goodness and mercy far transcends the comprehension of the most brilliant human mind! He “who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth”(Psalm 113:6).Yet in His infinite love for us He stoops down to reveal Himself to us by a multitude of illustration, types, and shadows, so that we may learn to know him. This paper will describe what is meant by the Kingdom of God; examine the religious philosophy of the various sects of Judaism during the Second Temple period: Pharisee, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots, describe the religious philosophy and political philosophy of each sects, it will also describe how the Messianic expectation differ from the Messianic role that Jesus presented, and include an exegesis of
Furthermore showing that women are tied to men and whatever life the man lives the women does also. Honor and shame are the two main recurring motifs that drive this chapter and that we may use as morals for our own lives. A lot of the verses of this chapter have much deeper meaning, symbolism, and history. Different verses and phrases are described and explained in various encyclopedias and dictionaries. Verse 8 reads, “Now a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph”.
I turned to a number of commentaries with these questions in mind. Christopher Seitz cites the opinion of C. Westermann that the salvation referred to in this chapter is brought about by “the divine, miraculous transformation of a condition, the nation’s oppression and impoverishment, into its opposite” rather than it being brought about by an historical event. Seitz comments that by God becoming Zion’s everlasting light, “Zion’s exaltation has cosmic, transnational consequences.” I found this unconvincing in the face of the fact that we have not seen the exaltation of Zion during the period of the text. One would have to remove it entirely from history and see this as an apocalyptic text, which my passed study of Isaiah has shown not to be true.
John H. Walton’s Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible is broken up into fourteen chapters. Those fourteen chapters are each part of one of five sections. This book also contains over twenty historical images. Before the introduction, the author gives readers a full appendix of all images used in this published work. The author then gives his acknowledgements followed by a list of abbreviations.
accept a perverted gospel, they should obey God rather than man. Even though the country was engaged in civil war, Jerusalem remained God’s choice for the nation’s capital (1 Ki. 11:32, 36). When contrasting the two kingdoms, author Paul H. Wright wrote, “the Davidic monarchy was stable throughout the time of the kingdom of Judah and reigned from a single capital city, Jerusalem. Not so the Northern Kingdom of Israel,
One sense that seemed to jut out from the rest was the moral sense. You can argue all day about about the small details, and descriptions, but whats really important are the values that seem to manifest in every sentence. Ezekiel’s story is a great example of mans obedience to God. He was a prophet, a leader, and faithful servant of God, this man literally risked death by false proclamation in order to warn the destruction of
In the years just after World War II, Zionism (the desire to rebuild a Jewish national presence in the Promised Land) became a popular Jewish cause all around the world. Many Jews who were not practicing Judaism at all with religion became involved with the establishment of the State of Israel. Even today, many years after the successful founding of the State of Israel, there are Jews whose only real tie to Judaism is their belief in Zionism and their support for the State of Israel. They are joined by many Jews who are members of synagogues and support a modern Jewish religious movement, but who also find their prime identity as Jews in the Zionist cause.