Exile of Yehoyakhin

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  1. The Book of Yehezkel

    Introduction

    Dr. Tova Ganzel

    The Book of Yehezkel covers a fateful period of some 22 years in the history of the Jewish People: beginning with year five of the exile of King Yehoyakhin and ending fifteen years after the Destruction of the First Temple. As opposed to other prophets, Yehezkel's prophecies are conveyed in Babylon and grapple with the contemporaneous crisis from a Diaspora vantage point.

    The purpose of Yehezkel's prophecies – in the years preceding the Destruction – was to inform the people that God had departed from His Temple in Jerusalem. He therefore describes in detail the Divine chariot and the journeys of God's glory outside the Temple.

    Yehezkel presents the view of the "inhabitants of Jerusalem," who say that the exiles have distanced themselves from God and from His Land, and that they are not counted among the inheritors of the land and those close to God. God's response, however, conveyed through the prophet, is that while those taken in captivity are currently in exile, God is with them there, as a "miniature Temple". For the first time, the prophet affirms the Jewish identity of the exiles: they remain part of God’s nation, even though the Jews still living in their homeland have a different view, and maintain that God's place is still in the Temple in their midst.

    Both groups, the inhabitants in the land and those exiled to Babylonia, despite their differences, have this in common: neither changed its behavior during these years. Thus, Yehezkel's prophetic mission during these years was not to call upon the people to mend their ways and repent, but rather to explain the significance of the events in Jerusalem, and thereby to prepare the ground for the prophecies of rebuilding which came after the Destruction, as well as the vision of the future Temple.

  2. The End is Near

    Dr. Tova Ganzel

    The prophetic message of Yehezkel and Yirmiyahu is that the end of Jerusalem is imminent. The common belief in Jerusalem and in Babylonia is that somehow God will save the inhabitants of Jerusalem, allowing them to survive this crisis. The exiles themselves, though, might – in a best case scenario – return to the land; but will otherwise assimilate and disappear among the nations.

    Yirmiyahu prophesies that in his own days Yehoyakhin is “a man who shall not prosper” and in those years that Yehuda is desolate, none of his progeny will prosper as king or ruler. But in the long term, the exile of Yehoyakhin will settle and prosper in Babylonia for a long period of time and they will serve as the salvation of the people. It would be these exiles who would return one day to rebuild the land which was about to be destroyed. Yehekzel prophesies that those who remained in Jerusalem will die by pestilence, by the sword or by famine.

    But even after these prophecies, neither the inhabitants of Jerusalem nor the exiles in Babylonia were convinced. The Temple was still standing; the inhabitants of Jerusalem remained steadfast despite the crises they had faced since the time of Shlomo. These facts made a stronger impression than the prophecies of Yirmiyahu and Yehezkel.

    To convey his messages, Yehezkel enlists all possible means: the use of symbolic acts and the borrowing of expressions familiar from the Tokhaha in Vayikra. Now, another means is adopted: a key word, aimed at emphasizing the subject of the prophecy as a whole. We see here the repeated use of the word “ketz” (end), alluding to the story of the Flood.

  3. The Deeds of the People in the Temple

    Part 1

    Dr. Tova Ganzel

    Yehezkel pronounces a Divine vision whose message is that although the Temple is still standing, it is effectively empty and worthless. Yehezkel sees, by means of a Divine vision, four symbolic sins, each sight worse than its predecessor. Yehezkel uses terms unique to Devarim chapter 4 which describes the prohibitions of idolatry at length, the covenant with God and the warning of exile if the covenant is violated through idol worship.

  4. Tzidkiyahu

    Part 2

    Dr. Tova Ganzel

    Yehezkel continues his criticism of Tzidkiyahu by means of a parable. By relying on the king of Egypt to aid him and rebelling against Nevukhadnetzar, Tzidkiyahu decreed his own death in Babylonia. This violation was a grave breach of trust.  Yehezkel goes further by comparing the violation of the covenant with Nevukhadnetzar to violation of the covenant with God.

    This conclusion to the prophecy indicates that the potential for renewal of the monarchy in Israel rests with Yehoyakhin, who is in exile. This conclusion once again emphasizes the unique status of Yehoyakhin in Sefer Yehezkel; and, indeed, it is Zerubavel – the grandson of Yehoyakhin – who will eventually lead the nation at the start of the Second Temple period.