Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• 1. The burnt offering ch. 1
  The burnt offering (in Greek, holokautoma, from which we get the word "holocaust") expressed the offerer's complete consecration to Yahweh (cf. Matt. 22:37; Rom. 12:1-2). However it also made atonement for the offerer. Some r...
• A. The fall of Jerusalem and the capture of Zedekiah 52:1-16
  This is one of four accounts of the fall of Jerusalem in the Old Testament (cf. 2 Kings 25; 2 Chron. 36:11-21; Jer. 39:1-14). The repetition underlines the importance of the event.52:1 Zedekiah (Mattaniah, 2 Kings 24:17) was ...
• Title and Writer
  The title of this book comes from its writer, Ezekiel, the son of Buzi (1:3). "Ezekiel"means "God strengthens (or hardens)"or "God will strengthen (harden)"or "May God strengthen (harden)."The Lord strengthened Ezekiel in the...
• 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...
• 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...
• A. Oracles against Judah's closest neighbors ch. 25
  This chapter ties in very closely with the preceding one. Evidently all the messages in these two chapters date from the beginning of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem (24:1-2). Even though this chapter begins a series of mes...
• E. Judgment on Egypt chs. 29-32
  Ezekiel concluded his oracles against foreign nations with seven messages the Lord gave him concerning the fate of Egypt, one of Israel's most ancient and powerful enemies (cf. Isa. 31:1; Jer. 2:36; 46:1-26). God controls eve...
• 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...
• 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...
• E. Kingdom joy and Jewish favor 8:18-23
  This final section of this part of the book (chs. 7-8) returns full circle to the theme with which it began, namely, the people's concern about fasting (cf. 7:1-7). These messages began after a few Bethelites came to Jerusale...