2 Sign of the Prophet’s Posture Discomforts of captivity 4:4-8 Sign of Famine Deprivations of captivity 4:9-17 Sign of the Knife and Razor Utter destruction of the city 5:1-17 Sign of House Moving Removal to another land 12:1-7,17-20 Sign of the Sharpened Sword Judgment imminent 21:1-17 Sign of Nebuchadnezzar’s Sword Babylon the captor 21:18-23 Sign of the Smelting Furnace Judgment and purging 22:17-31 Sign of Ezekiel’s Wife’s Death Blessings forfeited 24:15-27 10 Sign of the Two Sticks Reunion of Israel and Judah 37:15-17 D ALLEGORIES Allegories in the Bible are stories intended to teach spiritual lessons John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress is a classic example of an allegory In Ezekiel the allegories have the same purpose as the symbolic actions They di er in that the allegories teach by words; the symbolic actions teach by actual events Below are listed the main allegories of Ezekiel Read each allegory, and try to determine the spiritual lesson it teaches The Vine 15:1-8 The Faithless Wife 16:1-63 The Two Eagles7 17:1-21 The Cedar 17:22-24 The Two Women 23:1-49 The Boiling Caldron 24:1-14 E APOCALYPTIC IMAGERY Apocalyptic writing prophesies of things to come by means of much symbol and imagery Daniel and Revelation are the two books of the Bible usually classi ed as apocalyptic Ezekiel contains many apocalyptic passages Identify the contents of each of the following: 6:1-14 28:25-26 38:1-23 7:5-12 34:25-31 39:1-29 20:33-44 36:8-15,33-36 47:1-12 There are many resemblances between Ezekiel and Revelation This is clearly seen when passages like the following are compared: F POEMS The poems of Ezekiel are lamentations, or elegies They are found at 19:1-14 and 27:136 IV SURVEY Scan the entire book in one sitting This should only be a cursory reading, for main impressions and observations of atmosphere What things stand out to you? Secure a chapter title for each of Ezekiel’s forty-eight chapters Record these on paper Now begin to look for groupings of chapters, according to similar content 4 Is there any turning point in the book? Be on the lookout for words and phrases which are repeated throughout the book Such words and phrases, if they are strong, are clues to the theme of the book From this introductory study of the text, what does the book teach about God? About the prophet Ezekiel? About the people? Study carefully survey Chart 87, comparing the outlines with the survey you have made thus far The observations and suggestions which follow concern this survey chart Observe that basically the book of Ezekiel is made up of three main parts: Fate of Judah (desolation) Foes of Judah (destruction) Future of Judah and Israel (restoration) ... throughout the book Such words and phrases, if they are strong, are clues to the theme of the book From this introductory study of the text, what does the book teach about God? About the prophet... Ezekiel? About the people? Study carefully survey Chart 87, comparing the outlines with the survey you have made thus far The observations and suggestions which follow concern this survey chart... Daniel and Revelation are the two books of the Bible usually classi ed as apocalyptic Ezekiel contains many apocalyptic passages Identify the contents of each of the following: 6:1-14 28:25-26 38:1-23