Mikdash Me'at

Found 2 Search results

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 Departure of God’s Glory from the Temple

   Part 2

   Dr. Tova Ganzel

   The people of the city concede that difficult times are on their way. But the people nevertheless maintain that even if they “cook” in the fire of the troubles that await them, they will be saved from annihilation, just as meat in a cauldron is saved from burning. Thus the people prepare themselves for the siege, certain however that they will prevail.

   God’s response emphasizes that despite their claim, they are destined to be brought out of Jerusalem and be judged on the border of Israel.

   After these prophecies of destruction, Yehezkel transmits the promise that the exiles are destined to return to their land. God will bring back His people to the land in the future, but without the people having repented. So God Himself will have to give them a new heart of flesh that will ensure that henceforth they will follow God’s laws. While superficially this appears to be a prophecy of consolation, in fact it actually offers little comfort.

   The chapter concludes with God’s glory departing not only from the Temple, but also from the city of Jerusalem. Any hope of the people finally internalizing the message of Yehezkel’s prophecy is shattered by God’s statement depicting the people as rebellious.