{"id":74104,"date":"2020-05-03T14:26:49","date_gmt":"2020-05-03T11:26:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=74104"},"modified":"2020-05-03T14:26:49","modified_gmt":"2020-05-03T11:26:49","slug":"ezekiel-the-historiographer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/ezekiel-the-historiographer\/","title":{"rendered":"Ezekiel The Historiographer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Chapter 20 begins with Ezekiel recounting how \u201ccertain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord and sat before me.\u201d Most of the commentators suggest that they weren’t pious \u2013 rather, they were looking for an excuse from Ezekiel to justify the cancellation of the covenant (from the people’s perspective), just as a divorced wife is no longer responsible for her husband’s welfare (Rashi). God uses the opportunity not only to upbraid the elders for their dishonesty, but to argue that this deception began in the earliest stages of Israel’s history.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here begins one of the most fascinating exercises in historiography in all of the prophets.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ezekiel opens with the beginning of the Jewish people, which he dates to their becoming a nation in Egypt. He describes a specific pattern of behavior, beginning with the people and followed by God’s response. Ezekiel describes three movements of Israel’s history:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Israel in Egypt (v. 5-9)<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. The first generation in the desert (v. 10-17)<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. The second generation in the desert (vv. 18-26)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The larger pattern is as follows \u2013 God establishes laws for the people (or reminds or rebukes them regarding statutes that were given), inevitably followed by the Jewish people violating the statutes. This leads to a period of Divine anger and God planning to annihilate the nation, but ultimately God chooses to forgo the full punishment for the sake of His Name.<\/span><\/p>\n

    In the first cycle, God chooses Israel, and chooses for them a bountiful land for them to live in \u2013 on the condition that they reject their idolatry: ” So says the Lord God, On the day I chose Israel \u2026 to bring them out of the land of Egypt, to a land that I had sought out for them, flowing with milk and honey; it is the glory of all the lands” (v. 5-6). Yet, the people refuse to forsake their idols.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    In the second cycle, Ezekiel emphasizes the greatness of the laws that God gave them at Sinai, laws that “if a man perform [them], he shall live through them” (v. 11). Yet, the people rebel again. Despite this, God chooses not to finish them in the desert “For the sake of His Great Name.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    The final cycle is addressed to the following generations: \u201cDo not follow the statutes of your parents\u201d (v. 18). Again, Ezekiel emphasizes the greatness of the laws \u2013 yet Israel rejects God again.<\/span><\/p>\n

    This speech is significant not only for Ezekiel’s negative portrayal of the Jewish people, who continually violate God\u2019s laws and are unworthy of redemption. But more importantly, Ezekiel reveals the secret of their survival \u2013 the lowly state of the Jewish people is a <\/span>chillul Hashem \u2013 <\/span><\/i>a desecration of God’s name. So too, suggests Ezekiel, the future redemption is not dependent on the righteousness of the people but the need to restore honour to God’s name.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":74105,"id":74105,"title":"ez20-triangle","filename":"ez20-triangle.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez20-triangle.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/ezekiel-the-historiographer\/ez20-triangle\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ez20-triangle","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":74104,"date":"2020-05-03 11:26:36","modified":"2020-05-03 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