Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• Balak's arrangement with Balaam ch. 22
  22:1-20 Moab had not attacked Israel as the people of God had moved north along Moab's eastern border. In fact the Moabites sold the Israelites bread and water (Deut. 2:29). The Moabites probably counted on Sihon, who had for...
• Audience and Purpose
  Ezekiel ministered to the Jews in exile. He probably wrote this book for the benefit of the exiles and the other Jewish communities of his day and beyond his day. In some of his visions (e.g. chs. 8 and 11) the Lord carried t...
• Structure
  There are two major structural peculiarities that set Ezekiel off as distinctive.First, the book is a collection of prophecies arranged in almost consistent chronological order. No other prophetical book is as consistently ch...
• Message42
  Ezekiel began prophesying when he was 30 years old, and he had gone into captivity five years before that. Thus Ezekiel was familiar with Jeremiah's preaching and ministry. Ezekiel shows quite a bit of similarity to Jeremiah ...
• Outline
  I. Ezekiel's calling and commission chs. 1-3A. The vision of God's glory ch. 11. The setting of the vision 1:1-32. The vision proper 1:4-28B. The Lord's charge to Ezekiel chs. 2-31. The recipients of Ezekiel's ministry 2:1-52...
• 3. The nature of Ezekiel's ministry 2:8-3:11
  This pericope contains 10 commands, and it is the center of the chiasm in chapters 1-3."The Lord's charge to Ezekiel emphasized the absolute necessity of hearing, understanding, and assimilating God's message prior to going f...
• The characteristics of these prophets 13:1-7
  13:1-3 The Lord gave Ezekiel a message for the prophets who were devising messages for the Jews from their own hearts and calling them prophecies from Yahweh. He was using the word "prophet"ironically; these were not true pro...
• The depravity of Jerusalem 16:44-59
  16:44-47 Other people would quote the proverb, "Like mother, like daughter,"in regard to Jerusalem. She was like her Hittite "mother"who was also idolatrous and selfish. And she was like her older (larger) sister, Samaria, an...
• 3. The idolatrous rulers of Judah ch. 22
  The Lord now clarified one of the primary reasons for the sword that was fast approaching Jerusalem and Judah. This reason was the sins of the present generation of Judahites, especially its leaders. In chapter 20 the prophet...
• Covenant unfaithfulness 22:1-16
  22:1-2 Another message came from the Lord instructing Ezekiel to remind the residents of the bloody city of Jerusalem about all their abominations (cf. 20:4). A list of specific sins was necessary for him to pronounce judgmen...
• Coming refining 22:17-22
  22:17-20 The Lord also compared the present Judahites to the base metals that separate from silver in the refining process. He planned to gather them in Jerusalem, His crucible, and subject them to a trial by fire, as refiner...
• Corrupt leaders 22:23-31
  "Often the prophets are inspired to compose attacks on the leadership of Israelite society. The reason for this phenomenon is clear enough: the nation could never have become sufficiently corrupt to merit the outpouring of Go...
• 4. The parable of the two sisters ch. 23
  This chapter is the final climactic one in Ezekiel's collection of messages that condemn Israel's defective leadership (chs. 20-23).Both chapters 16 and 23 describe Israel as a prostitute, but there are significant difference...
• A summary judgment for Israel's unfaithfulness 23:36-49
  This final message brings Oholah and Oholibah back together and passes judgment on all Israel. It is a summary oracle for the section that indicts Israel's leaders (chs. 20-23).23:36-37 The Lord called Ezekiel to pass judgmen...
• The reasons for Jerusalem's present judgment 24:6-8
  24:6 Ezekiel was then to announce woe on the bloody city (no longer the holy city) of Jerusalem (cf. Nah. 3:1), which the pot represented (cf. 11:3, 7, 11; Jer. 1:13-14). The pot had rust (Heb. hel'ah) in it that evidently st...
• III. Oracles against foreign nations chs. 25--32
  It is appropriate that this section appears at this point in Ezekiel, between the messages announcing judgment on Judah and Jerusalem for sin (chs. 4-24) and the messages announcing future blessings for Israel (chs. 33-48). I...
• IV. Future blessings for Israel chs. 33--48
  "This last major division of the book focuses on the restoration of Israel's blessing. Israel would be judged for her sin (chaps. 1-24) as would the surrounding nations (chaps. 25-32). But Israel will not remain under judgmen...
• A. A warning to the exiles 33:1-20
  Since this message is undated, it may have come to Ezekiel about the same time as the previous two in chapter 32, namely, in the last month of 585 B.C. If so, Ezekiel received it about two months after God gave him the six me...
• 1. An exhortation to heed the watchman 33:1-9
  This part of Ezekiel's message of warning to the exiles is similar to 3:16-21. Yahweh recommissioned Ezekiel to his prophetic task (cf. chs. 2-3)."Now that Ezekiel's original ministry of judgment was completed, God appointed ...
• C. Ezekiel's vision of the return of God's glory chs. 40-48
  The Book of Ezekiel begins with a vision of God's glory (ch. 1), records the departure of God's glory (chs. 8-11), and ends with another vision of God's glory (chs. 40-48). This is the longest vision outside the Book of Revel...
• The Zadokite priests 44:15-31
  44:15-16 The Levites from Zadok's branch of the priestly family, however, would have special privileges since Zadok and his sons had served the Lord faithfully in the past (cf. 40:46; 1 Sam. 2:35; 2 Sam. 8:17; 15:24-29; 1 Kin...
• The sacred district in the Promised Land 45:1-8
  The Lord next gave Ezekiel directions for the division of some of the Promised Land in the future. Revelation about apportioning the rest of the land follows later (47:13-48:35). These descriptions do not coincide with any di...
• Bibliography
  Ackroyd, Peter R. Exile and Restoration. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1968.Alexander, Ralph H. Ezekiel. Everyman's Bible Commentary series. Chicago: Moody Press, 1976._____. "Ezekiel."In Isaiah-Ezekiel. Vol. 6 of The Expo...
• V. Oracle four: the problem of God's justice 2:17--3:6
  That another oracle is in view is clear from the question and answer format that begins this pericope, as it does the others. Verse 17 contains the question and answer, and the discussion follows in 3:1-6. The Israelites' cha...
• The two trees 7:15-20 (cf. Luke 6:43-44)
  7:15 Jesus here sounded a warning that the Old Testament prophets also gave about false prophets (cf. Deut. 13; 18; Jer. 6:13-15; 8:8-12; Ezek. 13; 22:27; Zeph 3:4). He did not explain exactly what they would teach, only that...