Summary
I dislocated/injured my toe a couple weeks ago and completely lost a week of my life. In this article I’m catching up on the last couple weeks of the Bible study (Weeks 31-32) as well as sending the upcoming week (Week 33), so below is the catch up notes and a look back and ahead at the full book of Ezekiel.
Just a reminder that if you have fallen behind, it’s ok! The summer is hard with vacations and kids and now back to school and I totally get it. Reading the Bible is a marathon, not a sprint — even though it certainly feels like we are sprinting through the year! You can skip weeks and just pick back up whenever you have time, and these writeups can serve as a guide if you need. Now is a GREAT time to jump back in because Ezekiel is BONKERS.
But first, we powered through 5 books in 5 days before landing in one of the strangest, most ethereal and visionary books in the entire Bible.
Joel, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah are short, but each serves its own purpose: Joel with locusts and the Spirit, Nahum with the fall of Nineveh, Habakkuk pulls out an audacious argument with God, and Zephaniah with the Day of the Lord.
Baruch is another Deuterocanon text — attributed to Jeremiah’s scribe, actually — and it reads like a prayer of confession from a people who are finally coming to terms with what happened to them and why.
And then we have been reading the book of Ezekiel over the course of a couple weeks. Ezekiel is evocative of some of our discussions early in the Bible study and especially the strange visions and dense imagery of Enoch. Reading Ezekiel makes me wish I had time to make Bible memes and reels on Instagram again.
Week 31
We read:
Joel 1-3
Nahum 1-3
Habakkuk 1-3
Zephaniah 1-3
Baruch 1-6
Ezekiel 1-8
Proverbs 11:25-31, 12:1-20
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Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:
Day 208 — Monday, 7/27 — Joel 1-3, Proverbs 11:25-28
Day 209 — Tuesday, 7/28 — Nahum 1-3, Proverbs 11:29-31
Day 210 — Wednesday, 7/29 — Habakkuk 1-3, Proverbs 12:1-4
Day 211 — Thursday, 7/30 — Zephaniah 1-3, Proverbs 12:5-8
Day 212 — Friday, 7/31 — Baruch 1-6, Proverbs 12:9-12
Day 213 — Saturday, 8/1 — Ezekiel 1-4, Proverbs 12:13-16
Day 214 — Sunday, 8/2 — Ezekiel 5-8, Proverbs 12:17-20
Day 208 — Monday, 7/27 — Joel 1-3, Proverbs 11:25-28
Plague is back! A locust plague of catastrophic scale strips the land bare and Joel uses this event to prophecy about the coming Day of the Lord, calling people and priests to lament and fast. The locusts are a preview, foreshadowing.
God calls for genuine repentance and promises to restore everything the locusts consumed. Joel prophesies an upcoming outpouring of the Spirit — sons and daughters prophesying, old men dreaming, young men seeing visions — which is referenced in the New Testament.
God promises to gather the hostile nations for judgment in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, restoring Judah and Jerusalem.
Day 209 — Tuesday, 7/28 — Nahum 1-3, Proverbs 11:29-31
We’re back in Ninevah — a wicked city that angers God over and over. The fall of Nineveh is described in vivid detail, and the verdict explained fully: Nineveh is a city of blood, built on prostitution, theft, oppression, witchcraft.
Day 210 — Wednesday, 7/29 — Habakkuk 1-3, Proverbs 12:1-4
Habakkuk echoes a universal complaint: God, why do you tolerate injustice in Judah?
God answers: I am raising up the Babylonians to punish them.
Habakkuk complains again: but they are more wicked than us, how can a holy God use them as his instrument? He girds his loins and waits for an answer.God answers with a vision and the line that will echo through Paul and through the Reformation thousands of years later: “the righteous person will live by his faithfulness.”
Habakkuk recounts God’s power in a beautiful poem, detailing His mighty acts and mercy in history. Even though crops might fail, flocks might vanish, and disaster looms, Habakkuk chooses to find his ultimate joy and strength in God.
Day 211 — Thursday, 7/30 — Zephaniah 1-3, Proverbs 12:5-8
Zephaniah is yet another prophecy of the coming Day of the Lord. A sweeping judgment oracle that begins with Judah and expands to consume everything. The Day of the Lord is near — a day of wrath, distress, anguish, ruin, darkness — and Zephaniah issues a call to seek the Lord before the judgment falls.
Day 212 — Friday, 7/31 — Baruch 1-6, Proverbs 12:9-12
Baruch — another deuterocanonical text (which again can be found in a Catholic translation on the Bible app, if you need) — is another tale of repentance and God’s wisdom and future restoration. Baruch reads his scroll to the exiles in Babylon and they weep, recognizing their punishment for not listening to God. They fast and send money back to Jerusalem for offerings.
Baruch illustrates a meditation on Wisdom, echoing Proverbs in asking where Wisdom is found. Certainly not amongst the nations, and not with the wealthy or powerful. Wisdom is with God, and God has given her to Israel as the law. Once again we look forward to a future reconciliation and restoration in the glory of God.
Baruch ends with the Letter of Jeremiah (Baruch was Jeremiah’s scribe) — a thorough and sharp rebuke against Babylonian idol worship.
Day 213 — Saturday, 8/1 — Ezekiel 1-4, Proverbs 12:13-16
Ezekiel opens on his 30th birthday with a bang: a storm rolls in with fire and biblically accurate angels. Four human-ish living creatures with four faces (human, lion, ox, and eagle) atop four wheels within wheels, covered in eyes, moving in every direction without turning. Above them, a platform with a throne. On the throne, a figure of radiant fire. The imagery is evocative of Enoch. We’ve been here before. God’s Throne Room.
God commissions Ezekiel to Israel, warning him they are rebellious and will not listen but he must speak anyway, and only speak what God has told him. God gives Ezekiel a scroll and tells him to eat it. He does. It tastes like honey. We are so back.
Ezekiel is made a watchman for Israel. If he fails to warn the wicked and they die, their blood is on his hands.
Day 214 — Sunday, 8/2 — Ezekiel 5-8, Proverbs 12:17-20
Ezekiel shaves his head and beard, divides the hair into thirds: one burned in the city, one struck with a sword, one scattered to the wind. A few hairs tucked into his robe. God tells him that this is what will happen to Jerusalem’s people.
A prophecy against Israel and then the end is here. Ezekial is taken to Jerusalem and shown a vision. He is shown the temple complex room by room: an idol at the north gate, seventy elders burning incense to images in a darkened room, women weeping for Tammuz (aka Osiris as discussed here), twenty-five men with their backs to the temple worshipping the rising sun.
Is it a trivial matter to the people of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here?
from Ezekiel 8:17
Yikes.
Week 32
Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:
Day 215 — Monday, 8/3 — Ezekiel 9-11, Proverbs 12:21-24
Day 216 — Tuesday, 8/4 — Ezekiel 12-14, Proverbs 12:25-28
Day 217 — Wednesday, 8/5 — Ezekiel 15-17, Proverbs 13:1-4
Day 218 — Thursday, 8/6 — Ezekiel 18-20, Proverbs 13:5-8
Day 219 — Friday, 8/7 — Ezekiel 21-23, Proverbs 13:9-12
Day 220 — Saturday, 8/8 — Ezekiel 24-27, Proverbs 13:13-16
Day 221 — Sunday, 8/9 — Ezekiel 28-30, Proverbs 13:17-20
Day 215 — Monday, 8/3 — Ezekiel 9-11, Proverbs 12:21-24
God commands the execution of idolaters while those who grieve over the sins of the city are marked for salvation.
We’re back to the throne room — and we see God is leaving the temple.
The Spirit lifts Ezekiel back to the exiles in Babylon and he tells them everything he has seen. God promises that though Jerusalem’s residents have scattered his people, he himself will be a sanctuary for them in exile. And one day he will gather them back and give them a new heart and a new spirit.
Day 216 — Tuesday, 8/4 — Ezekiel 12-14, Proverbs 12:25-28
God tells Ezekiel to pack his bags like a refugee and dig through the wall of his house to leave, acting out the coming captivity and exile.
The people keep saying the visions are for the distant future, but God warns against idol worshippers and false prophets who proclaim peace when there is none.
Day 217 — Wednesday, 8/5 — Ezekiel 15-17, Proverbs 13:1-4
Jerusalem is compared to a useless vine, fit only to be thrown in the fire.
Jerusalem is compared to an adulterous wife — found as an abandoned baby, raised and adorned by God who became her husband, who then used the gifts of gold and oil and fine linen to make idols and offered the children she bore to God as sacrifices to those idols. Yeesh.
A parable of two eagles and a vine illustrates the failure of Zedekiah breaking his oath to Babylon and turning to Egypt for help, which God holds as a covenant violation.
Day 218 — Thursday, 8/6 — Ezekiel 18-20, Proverbs 13:5-8
God clarifies individual responsibility in response to an oft quoted proverb — “The parents eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” God says the one who sins is the one that dies. A righteous father does not save a wicked son, and a wicked father does not condemn a righteous one.
God laments Israel’s fallen princes, comparing them to lions. A historical review of Israel’s persistent rebellion — from Egypt through the wilderness through the land — is followed by the promise of eventual restoration.
Day 219 — Friday, 8/7 — Ezekiel 21-23, Proverbs 13:9-12
Babylon is used as the sword of the Lord, an oracle of coming destruction against Jerusalem. A catalogue of Jerusalem’s sins is presented as a legal indictment: shedding blood, dishonoring parents, oppressing the foreigner, wronging the widow and orphan, despising sacred things, slandering to cause bloodshed, practicing extortion. Jerusalem and Samaria are graphically described as allegorical prostitutes chasing foreign powers and foreign gods.
Day 220 — Saturday, 8/8 — Ezekiel 24-27, Proverbs 13:13-16
God marks the day the king of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem, and Ezekiel’s wife dies the same day. He is told not to mourn publicly, not to weep, not to observe any of the customary mourning rites and his silent grief is a sign of the coming loss.
Oracles of judgment are pronounced against Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia for rejoicing over Jerusalem’s fall. Tyre is described in a beautiful funeral poem as a magnificent merchant ship sinking into the sea.
Day 221 — Sunday, 8/9 — Ezekiel 28-30, Proverbs 13:17-20
The king of Tyre has said “I am a god” — whoopsie! God responds at length with a diatribe about a guardian cherub in Eden, covered in precious stones, being driven out from the mount of God with fire.
Ezekiel has a vision of Egypt, with Pharaoh as a great dragon lying in the Nile, dragged out with hooks, thrown into the desert to be food for birds and beasts. Egypt will be laid waste for forty years, then restored to the least of kingdoms, never again to be a power Israel relies on.
This Week (33)
Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:
Day 222 — Monday, 8/10 — Ezekiel 31-33, Proverbs 13:21-25
Day 223 — Tuesday, 8/11 — Ezekiel 34-36, Proverbs 14:1-4
Day 224 — Wednesday, 8/12 — Ezekiel 37-39, Proverbs 14:5-8
Day 225 — Thursday, 8/13 — Ezekiel 40-42, Proverbs 14:9-12
Day 226 — Friday, 8/14 — Ezekiel 43-45, Proverbs 14:13-16
Day 227 — Saturday, 8/15 — Ezekiel 46-48, Proverbs 14:17-20
Day 228 — Sunday, 8/16 — Jeremiah 1-4, Proverbs 14:21-24
Day 222 — Monday, 8/10 — Ezekiel 31-33, Proverbs 13:21-25
Egypt is compared to a cedar of Lebanon — towering, beautiful, the envy of every tree in the garden of God — cut down for excessive pride. A lament over Pharaoh visualizes Egypt as as a lion among the nations, then as a monster in the seas, dragged out with a net and thrown on the open fields while birds and beasts consume it. A graphic portrayal of Egypt’s downfall into the netherworld with the other pagan nations.
God reiterates that he has made Ezekiel a watchman for Israel, and if the wicked man does not hear the warning and dies, the watchman is responsible. But if he warns and the man does not turn, the man’s blood is on his own hands. Jerusalem has fallen. But hey, at least he can speak now.
Day 223 — Tuesday, 8/11 — Ezekiel 34-36, Proverbs 14:1-4
God denounces Israel’s selfish leaders as false shepherds who feed themselves instead of tending the flock, and promises to come personally as the True Shepherd to rescue His flock — more Jesus foreshadowing.
A mountain is indicted when a prophecy of judgement is issued against Mount Seir, the settlement location of the Edomites (descendants of Esau), for perpetually opposing Israel. But there is hope, as God promises a new heart and a new spirit for the mountains and for His people.
Day 224 — Wednesday, 8/12 — Ezekiel 37-39, Proverbs 14:5-8
Ezekiel is set down in a valley of dry bones. God tells him to prophesy to the bones and they rattle back to life, the bones coming together, sinew and flesh and skin cover them, the breath enters, and they stand as a vast army. The bones are the house of Israel, cut off and without hope. But God will open their graves and bring them up. (Can God please renew the tendon/joint around my messed up toe? Pls & ty)
And then we have a prophecy against Gog from the land of Magog, an apocalyptic Biblical reference that is infamous in conspiracy circles. A great northern coalition led by Gog of Magog invades a restored and peaceful Israel. God himself fights for Israel with earthquake and plague and fire and the enemy is destroyed so thoroughly that it takes seven months to bury the dead and seven years to burn the weapons. The nations will know that God is the Lord.
Fun fact! Gog and Magog were George “Dubya” Bush and George H. W. Bush’s nicknames in Skull & Bones, the not-so-secret society at Yale that they were both members of. Rumor has it that when Prescott Bush, father/grandfather of the Georges, was in Skull & Bones, he and the boys dug up Geronimo’s grave and stole his skull. Neat! I’m sure this is just a normal fun boys club for cool college guys! Also, Dubya once called then French president Jaques Chirac in 2003 and urged him to join the invasion of Iraq because Biblical prophecies from Ezekiel were unfolding. Chirac had to find a theologian and ask what “Gog and Magog” meant. Haha! Cool cool cool! Boys will be boys!
Day 225 — Thursday, 8/13 — Ezekiel 40-42, Proverbs 14:9-12
Ezekiel’s final vision is a three-chapter guided tour of a new temple with precise and detailed measurements. Kinda feels like we’ve been here before.
Day 226 — Friday, 8/14 — Ezekiel 43-45, Proverbs 14:13-16
The glory of the Lord returns to fill the temple. Coming from the east, the direction it departed, filling the temple with the same overwhelming radiance as the original vision in the first chapter.
Instructions for the altar, the sacrifices, the consecration of the priests — everything that was corrupted or neglected must be done correctly this time. The east gate, through which the glory entered, is shut permanently. Land allotments are given for the priests and Levites and the city, with a sacred district set apart at the center. The prince gets land on either side of the sacred district — enough that he no longer needs to seize land from the people, in hopes of circumventing that abuse of power.
Day 227 — Saturday, 8/15 — Ezekiel 46-48, Proverbs 14:17-20
More regulations are detailed for offerings and festivals, the movement of the prince through the gates, the cooking of the sacrifices.
Ezekiel sees a life giving river trickling out from under the temple threshold eastward, toward the Dead Sea. Ezekiel wades in and sees that everywhere the river flows, things live. The Dead Sea becomes fresh. Fishermen spread their nets along its shores. Fruit trees grow on both banks, their leaves never withering, their fruit always in season.
The land is divided among the twelve tribes with a portion for the foreigners who have settled among Israel’s children, treated as native-born. The city’s gates are named for the twelve tribes. And the city’s new name will be: The Lord Is There.
Day 228 — Sunday, 8/16 — Jeremiah 1-4, Proverbs 14:21-24
And now we are in Jeremiah, another prophet during the fall of Jerusalem. Jeremiah is set apart before he was born, and when called up by God he immediately protests that he is too young. God touches his mouth and tells him he has put his words there. As we have seen over and over, prophets are nearly always reluctant.
Once again, God indicts Israel for chasing idols. He calls them to return, repent, and warns of upcoming disaster.
Whew. I gotta say, I really love the dramatic imagery in Ezekiel. I always find the imagery of God as the “living water” so fascinating, wish I had time to write a deep dive on that (I do already have half a draft started).
What jumps out at you from these readings? Join the conversation in the comments and the chat!
I’ve severely fallen off but look forward to your recaps. I’m catching up on Tobit since I’m new to the full Bible and will try to jump in at Ezekiel. Hope you have a speedy recovery from the injured toes. I deactivate my IG so selfishly I’ll say I’m glad I’m not missing any new Bible memes 🤭🫣.