Puzzling over the overlapping images of the faces of the cherubim and the tabernacle furnishings, with the help of James Jordan’s essay on orientation in Revelation. The east-west orientation, lion-bull, is fairly clear. East is the place of the altar, therefore the origin of the bull, who . . . . Continue Reading »
Before the fall, Adam and Eve were naked and not ashamed in the garden (Genesis 2:25). After the fall, they saw their nakedness (3:7), and their behavior manifests shame, even though the word is not used. In the LXX, the two words “naked” and some form of “shame” are used . . . . Continue Reading »
In the Bible, holy things and holy places are measured out. Measuring is an act of consecrating, of dividing holy from common. In Ezekiel 47, the water that flows from the temple is measured. That can only mean it is holy water, and not just holy but sanctifying. . . . . Continue Reading »
Throughout the early chapters of Exodus, Yahweh is hardening Pharaoh’s heart. By the end, there is a heart of stone in the heart of Egypt. To say that Israel has a heart of stone that needs to be turned to hearts of flesh is to say that Israel is an Egypt that needs to be re-Israelized . . . . Continue Reading »
Solomon’s temple had windows, but they are mentioned only once, in 1 Kings 6:4. Ezekiel’s description of the visionary temple uses the word “window” twelve times. One can see out of, and look into, Solomon’s temple. From Ezekiel’s temple, Israel can . . . . Continue Reading »
Ezekiel is the only OT writer to promise a “new heart” to Israel (18:31; 36:26). He promises hearts of flesh in place of hearts of stone. What has given the people of Judah hearts of flesh in the first place? Ezekiel 14:1-7 gives an answer: They have set (stone - gold and . . . . Continue Reading »
Ezekiel 16: 3-6: Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem: Your birth and your nativity are from the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. As for your nativity, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you; you were not . . . . Continue Reading »
Walter Bruggemann ( An Introduction to the Old Testament , p. 206f) offers this intriguing discussion of Ezekiel 18. He notes that this has usually been taken as a universal statement about individual human responsibility, but that interpretation detaches the passage from its context. He suggests a . . . . Continue Reading »
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