Yahweh's Promise to Ezekiel

When reading chapter 5 of the textbook, one part of the text that stood out to me was Yahweh's promise to Ezekiel. When Ezekiel saw that his people were worshiping false gods and ignoring the terms of the covenant with their god, he realized that Jerusalem was doomed. However, one day while in Tel Aviv, Ezekiel recounts that he was “...with the exiled elders of Judah when ‘the hand of the Lord Yahweh’ fell upon him and he was taken in spirit to Jerusalem,” (Armstrong 129). In his vision, Ezekiel sees his people bowing to foreign gods inside sacred areas. He is told by Yahweh that these “filthy practices” have driven their god out from their holy land and Ezekiel watched as he disappeared from Jerusalem in his chariot.

Depiction of Ezekiel as he watches Yahweh's chariot

However, Yahweh also promised Ezekiel that he would one day return to the city, and reside on top of Mount Zion. He also promises “...new creation in which the land would be transformed from a desolate wasteland to become ‘like the garden of Eden’,” (Armstrong 130). In this process, Judah and Israel would also be reunited. Fourteen years later after the destruction of the city as Yahweh had promised, Ezekiel had another vision of “...an earthly paradise, a place of peace and fertility in the old sense,” (Armstrong 130). From this, Ezekiel had a vision of a rebuilt city. He would envision the Temple as the “nucleus of the city”, and a spiritual blueprint of this paradise. However, in order to achieve this, Ezekiel was told that his people must forsake all other false gods and accept Yahweh as the god of their city. Once these terms were completed, the city could be reclaimed from exile, and Yahweh would return to them and the blueprint for the spiritual paradise could be constructed.

"Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths", Karen Armstrong