College Press Publishing

The book of Ezekiel is notoriously strange. Ezekiel's visions, actions, and words are bizarre--sometimes utterly incomprehensible--to us. He lies on his side for over a year, he eats a scroll, he is asked to cook with human waste, and he cannot cry at his wife's death. Ezekiel's message seems unavailable to many because we simply do not  have "ears to hear."

Or, perhaps, we don't have "eyes to see." Ezekiel paints pictures with wods. And what pictures they are! In chapter 1, Ezekiel describes strange "living creatures" carrying a "likeness of the image of the glory of the Lord." In chapters 16 and 23, he paints almost obscene sexually graphic images. And he portrays a cartoonish feast of vultures and jackals at a banquet eating the dismembered parts of Gog and his allies in chapter 39. Ezekiel's pictures attempt to provoke awe, curiosity, grief, horror, shock, and disgust. He wages an all-out attack on his audience's senses.

But why? Because God, through Ezekiel, uses every means to get his people's attention. God wants them to turn to him in love and obedience. All the stops are removed as God uses the whole realm of human experience to grab his audience by the heart. God loves his people with an intense covenant love, and he will try to move heaven and earth--and their hearts--to win their affection again. If only the human heart was as easy to move as heaven and earth!

The basic message of Ezekiel is not hard to understand. Like a parent, God punishes only to deliver from harm; his loving embrace comes at the end. In some ways, we can find reflections of ourselves in Ezekiel's ancient audience. And if we stand alongside them and truly listen (and truly see), we will come away the better for it. Perhaps God will woo us closer to himself through Ezekiel's words.

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About the Author...

Brandon L. Fredenburg is assistant professor of Biblical Studies, Lubbock Christian University, Lubbock, Texas. Formerly he served as Instructor in Bible at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee and was Associate Minister of the Central Church of Christ in Nashville. Brandon received the B.A. in Biblical Langauges from David Lipscomb College, the M.A. from Lipscomb University, the M.Div. from Beeson Divinity School of Samford University, and is Ph.D. candidate in Biblical Interpretation from The University of Denver and The Iliff School of Theology. Brandon and his wife, Beverly have three children: John, Jennifer, and Joshua.

About the Editors...