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Ezekiel 46-48
Oct. 22nd, 2010 09:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wolfpurplemoonEzekiel ends with a bit of a fizzle, very anti-climatic after all that fire and brimstone stuff earlier. God describes how to divide up the land and some final instructions about temple rituals.
wolfpurplemoon
Ezekiel 43-45
Oct. 21st, 2010 09:46 pmwolfpurplemoonIf Ezekiel shows the people of Israel God's architectural plans for a new temple, they will be ashamed for all their sins and start building it.
God's back to asking for animal sacrifices, the fact that God used to want all these sorts of things and then changed his mind really does nothing for his all-knowing reputation. It makes total sense if you realise that the bible was written by people over many centuries and their beliefs and needs changed over that time, but if you see it as the true word of an all-knowing God you have to make a lot of excuses to explain it away.
Something I should have pondered before in the books that first mentioned circumcision: when God says that the uncircumcised desecrate his temple if they are allowed to enter, does he mean to include women in that? Can women even enter into the covenant if they can't be circumcised?
God doesn't like sweaty priests, and they have to wear different clothes in the inner court of the temple and change when they go out to the people so they don't transmit holiness to the people, it does sound like a terrible thing to transmit to the people. It sounds back to front to me, if you have a place you wish to keep sterile then you clean yourself and change your clothes when you go in to stop bad stuff from entering the clean place, cleanliness can't contaminate other things.
God's back to asking for animal sacrifices, the fact that God used to want all these sorts of things and then changed his mind really does nothing for his all-knowing reputation. It makes total sense if you realise that the bible was written by people over many centuries and their beliefs and needs changed over that time, but if you see it as the true word of an all-knowing God you have to make a lot of excuses to explain it away.
Something I should have pondered before in the books that first mentioned circumcision: when God says that the uncircumcised desecrate his temple if they are allowed to enter, does he mean to include women in that? Can women even enter into the covenant if they can't be circumcised?
God doesn't like sweaty priests, and they have to wear different clothes in the inner court of the temple and change when they go out to the people so they don't transmit holiness to the people, it does sound like a terrible thing to transmit to the people. It sounds back to front to me, if you have a place you wish to keep sterile then you clean yourself and change your clothes when you go in to stop bad stuff from entering the clean place, cleanliness can't contaminate other things.
Ezekiel 40-42
Oct. 20th, 2010 09:13 pmwolfpurplemoonOh yay, we haven't had a good how to build a temple chapter in a while, with all its detailed measurements and furnishing instructions.
Ezekiel 37-39
Oct. 19th, 2010 09:01 pmwolfpurplemoonGod is planning to build a zombie army and will cause an earthquake in Israel when the people of Gog invade. He seems to really detest the land of Gog, they are all going to die and be buried together in a big grave.
Ezekiel 34-36
Oct. 18th, 2010 08:28 pmwolfpurplemoonAnother analogy that equates the people who follow God with sheep, I'm still not sure this is a good thing to be seen as. Also, it's a little odd, he is saying that there were some bad shepherds who didn't feed their sheep (yet, ate the meat and wore the wool, not sure how you get those things if you don't look after your sheep, but anyway) and now God is going to gather all the lost sheep/people and protect them. But if God is their shepherd then does that mean he's the one with the terrible sheep-herding skills?
God seems to be punishing one of Israel's enemies for killing them, but didn't God just send them after Israel?
God isn't rescuing his people from their enemies for their own good, he's concerned that they've all been bad mouthing him and setting a bad example to the people of other nations and he needs to protect his reputation by making everything liveable again and providing everything his people need.
God seems to be punishing one of Israel's enemies for killing them, but didn't God just send them after Israel?
God isn't rescuing his people from their enemies for their own good, he's concerned that they've all been bad mouthing him and setting a bad example to the people of other nations and he needs to protect his reputation by making everything liveable again and providing everything his people need.
Ezekiel 31-33
Oct. 17th, 2010 08:05 pmwolfpurplemoonGod is going to lay waste to Egypt, noone will be able to live there ever again. Really? Looks pretty well populated from here.
Ezekiel has a sucky deal with God, he has to warn people that God says are going to be punished, if he doesn't warn them and God kills them, then Ezekiel is responsible for the death, but if he warns them and they ignore him and are killed, then Ezekiel is scot-free.
Ezekiel has a sucky deal with God, he has to warn people that God says are going to be punished, if he doesn't warn them and God kills them, then Ezekiel is responsible for the death, but if he warns them and they ignore him and are killed, then Ezekiel is scot-free.
Ezekiel 28-30
Oct. 16th, 2010 05:31 pmwolfpurplemoonMore prophecies against various neighbouring countries. God continues to think that the best way to make people know him is to destroy everything they have and evict them from their homelands.
Ezekiel 25-27
Oct. 15th, 2010 04:34 pmwolfpurplemoonOh, ok, the neighbours are getting a bit of punishment too, God addresses a whole bunch of them individually and explains their fates, such as becoming slaves, destroying cities, destroying the knowledge of them (the fact they are mentioned in the bible means that's not true), killing everyone, becoming desolate or bare rock, rising sea levels flooding the land and getting a lament sung about you. Tyre/Tyrus sounds like it was a very prosperous and bustling place, there's nothing in the lament that explains why such a place would deserve being reclaimed by the sea.
Ezekiel 23-24
Oct. 14th, 2010 03:25 pmwolfpurplemoonI think Ezekiel 23 is an example of what I meant before about God's arbitrary sins, the metaphor is again of a woman who is a prostitute. This is like the people of Jerusalem worshipping the gods and idols of the neighbouring cultures. For this grave sin God will send their neighbours to kill them. The neighbours that apparently get no punishment for worshipping those other gods and idols which tempted his people.
So whatever else the people were doing is nowhere near as awful to God as their worshipping of the wrong gods, it's quite petty I think. He doesn't really want them to be moral, or at least it seems he prefers worship to moral behaviour, ignoring all moral behaviour not done in his name. What's wrong with just being good for goodness' sake?
Now we have what appears to be a recipe for stew, with some analogy about how it is impossible to remove rotten meat from the pot, like it is hard to remove the sin from the midst of the people. Seems to be God justifying killing everyone because of a few sinners.
God kills Ezekiel's wife and tells him not to mourn or accept sympathy from other people because they will soon experience the same loss when God starts the destruction.
So whatever else the people were doing is nowhere near as awful to God as their worshipping of the wrong gods, it's quite petty I think. He doesn't really want them to be moral, or at least it seems he prefers worship to moral behaviour, ignoring all moral behaviour not done in his name. What's wrong with just being good for goodness' sake?
Now we have what appears to be a recipe for stew, with some analogy about how it is impossible to remove rotten meat from the pot, like it is hard to remove the sin from the midst of the people. Seems to be God justifying killing everyone because of a few sinners.
God kills Ezekiel's wife and tells him not to mourn or accept sympathy from other people because they will soon experience the same loss when God starts the destruction.
Ezekiel 18-20
Oct. 12th, 2010 09:41 pmwolfpurplemoonGod has decided that the children shouldn't suffer for the sins of their parents any longer, why did he say that they should before? This sort of indecisiveness doesn't seem right in an all-knowing deity.
OK, so let me get this straight, a wicked person will die/suffer for their sins, unless they decide to turn away from their sin and do what is just. So, how long can you spend being sinful before the punishment kicks in, because once you're dead you're not going to be able to turn from your sin and become righteous, surely. And just how righteous do you have to become and how long for in order to correct the wrong God thinks you committed?
I haven't even got that straight and now apparently if you're righteous and then start being wicked then you'll die and your righteous acts are not taken into account, which makes even less sense. So, the moral of the tale seems to be, start out bad and become good, not the other way round. I agree with the house of Israel that this is unjust, and God's answer to that charge is not actually an answer because he just calls them unjust back and assures them he takes no pleasure in the deaths of anyone, wicked or good.
OK, so let me get this straight, a wicked person will die/suffer for their sins, unless they decide to turn away from their sin and do what is just. So, how long can you spend being sinful before the punishment kicks in, because once you're dead you're not going to be able to turn from your sin and become righteous, surely. And just how righteous do you have to become and how long for in order to correct the wrong God thinks you committed?
I haven't even got that straight and now apparently if you're righteous and then start being wicked then you'll die and your righteous acts are not taken into account, which makes even less sense. So, the moral of the tale seems to be, start out bad and become good, not the other way round. I agree with the house of Israel that this is unjust, and God's answer to that charge is not actually an answer because he just calls them unjust back and assures them he takes no pleasure in the deaths of anyone, wicked or good.
Ezekiel 16-17
Oct. 11th, 2010 10:27 pmwolfpurplemoonGod sees Jerusalem as a woman who turned to prostitution. But the sort of prostitute who can only attract clients if she pays them.
He'll put a stop to the prostitution by getting a mob to stone the figurative woman to death and hack her to pieces. That'll put a stop to that.
I don't think that a sprig from the top of a cedar will grow if planted in the ground, it certainly wouldn't turn into a vine if it did grow. I also don't think that eagles are much inclined toward gardening or that trees grow on the top of mountains. Um, did I miss the point of the parable?
He'll put a stop to the prostitution by getting a mob to stone the figurative woman to death and hack her to pieces. That'll put a stop to that.
I don't think that a sprig from the top of a cedar will grow if planted in the ground, it certainly wouldn't turn into a vine if it did grow. I also don't think that eagles are much inclined toward gardening or that trees grow on the top of mountains. Um, did I miss the point of the parable?
Ezekiel 13-15
Oct. 10th, 2010 05:41 pmwolfpurplemoonThat's a clumsy translation: "prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying." While it is clear enough what is meant, I always try very hard to not use the same word so many times in one sentence.
Ezekiel's book is another one that is greatly concerned with those 'false' prophets who don't go round saying they're all doomed, probably because the ones that say nice things are going to happen are far more popular than God's 'real' prophets.
God doesn't like the women who make magic bands for their wrists and heads to 'trap human souls', does this mean that God thinks these magic bands are actually working? Because then perhaps there's a legitimate concern, but if they don't work (as is more likely) then why worry about them.
Ah ha, how to get a personal answer from God, worship idols and then go ask one of God's prophets for a favour from God. God will talk to you personally then, in order to punish you and the prophet you went to.
God declares that noone will survive when he decides to send a plague, famine, war or a wild animal attack on a city (burning all the people is another punishment he'd like to send them).
Ezekiel's book is another one that is greatly concerned with those 'false' prophets who don't go round saying they're all doomed, probably because the ones that say nice things are going to happen are far more popular than God's 'real' prophets.
God doesn't like the women who make magic bands for their wrists and heads to 'trap human souls', does this mean that God thinks these magic bands are actually working? Because then perhaps there's a legitimate concern, but if they don't work (as is more likely) then why worry about them.
Ah ha, how to get a personal answer from God, worship idols and then go ask one of God's prophets for a favour from God. God will talk to you personally then, in order to punish you and the prophet you went to.
God declares that noone will survive when he decides to send a plague, famine, war or a wild animal attack on a city (burning all the people is another punishment he'd like to send them).
Ezekiel 9-12
Oct. 9th, 2010 10:10 pmwolfpurplemoonEzekiel (at God's command) tells a guy to go kill everyone who isn't repelled by the abominations going on in Jerusalem. And he just goes and does it without question, what's wrong with these people.
What shocking behaviour the people of Israel have displayed, they didn't follow God's laws because they were (gasp) following the laws of the surrounding nations, wait, what's so wrong with getting along with your neighbours?
They'll know God when everything has been destroyed and most people have been killed, I'm sure they'll be really keen to follow God after that.
What shocking behaviour the people of Israel have displayed, they didn't follow God's laws because they were (gasp) following the laws of the surrounding nations, wait, what's so wrong with getting along with your neighbours?
They'll know God when everything has been destroyed and most people have been killed, I'm sure they'll be really keen to follow God after that.
Ezekiel 5-8
Oct. 8th, 2010 09:25 pmwolfpurplemoonGod gives hair dressing tips (cut with a sword, ouch!) with specific instructions for how to dispose of the cut strands. It sounds like a magical ritual to me.
It goes without saying that this is another book filled with grisly predictions about the fates that will befall the sinful people of Israel.
It is an abomination to God that a group of women were observing a ritual that involves mourning the end of summer as less crops will grow and some men are worshipping the sun. I've always thought that worship, or at least dedicated observation, of the seasons and the movement of the sun is a pretty logical religion for a farming community, it certainly isn't abominable.
It goes without saying that this is another book filled with grisly predictions about the fates that will befall the sinful people of Israel.
It is an abomination to God that a group of women were observing a ritual that involves mourning the end of summer as less crops will grow and some men are worshipping the sun. I've always thought that worship, or at least dedicated observation, of the seasons and the movement of the sun is a pretty logical religion for a farming community, it certainly isn't abominable.
Ezekiel 1-4
Oct. 7th, 2010 03:34 pmwolfpurplemoonGod pops by to see Ezekiel on a platform carried by winged creatures with four faces each and shiny wheels. I think Ezekiel needs to stay off the hallucinogens.
God feeds Ezekiel a scroll, sounds like a great way to memorise something.
It seems God is appointing a new prophet to give dire warnings to the people of Israel. You do know that the definition of madness is to keep doing the same action and expecting a different result.
Ezekiel has to bear the punishment for the people of Israel by lying down for a day per year that Israel has forsaken God, that's 390 days apparently. God keeps grudges, that much is clear.
God feeds Ezekiel a scroll, sounds like a great way to memorise something.
It seems God is appointing a new prophet to give dire warnings to the people of Israel. You do know that the definition of madness is to keep doing the same action and expecting a different result.
Ezekiel has to bear the punishment for the people of Israel by lying down for a day per year that Israel has forsaken God, that's 390 days apparently. God keeps grudges, that much is clear.
