Much of Ezekiel is spent emphasizing God’s anti-locality, namely, that there is no structure or land to which the biblical God is chained. In Ezekiel, God moves freely upon the earth, outside the control of his subjects. With this in mind, the book’s closing verse is a kind of literary surprise. What does Ezekiel mean…
Category: Ezekiel
Blood Sacrifice
What is the purpose of ritual sacrifice in the Bible? Why is so much emphasis placed on blood sacrifice as a means of expiation? Why would Ezekiel incorporate blood sacrifice in his depiction of the heavenly Jerusalem? In a continuation of last week’s theme, Richard and Fr. Marc discuss the importance of sticking with difficult…
Boring Texts
Why do chapters 41 and 42 of Ezekiel spend so much time talking about the monotonous details of temple architecture? Why would these details matter in a book like Ezekiel, which undermines the temple cult in Jerusalem? Are the design schematics outlined in Ezekiel applicable to real-world construction? Even if they were, why list these…
Playing All Sides
In this week’s episode, Richard explores the Lord’s counter-intuitive stance in Ezekiel, in which judgment falls on all sides and no human being finds favor in God’s sight. Why would the story present God as the one who brings evil against Israel? Why would he use Israel’s enemies only to bring more evil against them,…
Do Not Feed Thyself
Richard and Fr. Marc continue their discussion of the biblical functions “shepherd” and “sheep,” exploring these roles in context of Ezekiel 34. Ezekiel’s critique exposes the corruption of Israel’s shepherds, but also undermines common assumptions about the role sheep play in the life of the flock. Do sheep have a career path? I’ll give you…
Ezekiel 33: Double or Nothing
Do our good deeds count for anything? Is there a difference between a wicked person and a person who behaves correctly most of the time? What does it mean to be a child of Abraham? Who get’s what inheritance? What is the inheritance of those who do not keep the Law? No, you guessed wrong….
O How the Mighty Have Fallen
Time travel, alien tyrants, world domination, epic battles, post-apocalyptic cities, sudden drought, unnatural trees reaching above the clouds…despite what you are thinking, this week’s podcast is not about Dr. Who or an old episode of Stargate SG1; it’s about Ezekiel 31. Who knew the Bible could be so much fun? (Episode 39)
Suffer Little Children
Richard and Fr. Marc discuss their experiences reading Ezekiel with children and teens, dispelling the assumption that younger audiences are unable to wrestle with uncomfortable metaphors. In some cases, the children were able to intuit the story’s intended meaning where adults often misread or misunderstand. (Episode 8)