The Covenant Scroll

Ezekiel is the prophet most readers skip. Wheels within wheels. A scroll eaten by a watchman. A man lying on his side for over a year, shaving his head with a sword, forbidden to mourn his own wife. It can feel like a book of strange signs with no thread to hold.

The Covenant Scroll hands the reader that thread. Before the fire came down by the river Chebar, there was a proposal at Sinai. God offered Israel a covenant, the people said "All that the LORD has said we will do," blood sealed it, and the elders ate and drank in His presence. Ezekiel is the story of what happened to that marriage: a Bride who went after other lovers, a Husband who warned and waited, and a promise He refused to let die.

Read through that lens, the book opens. The glory of God departs the temple one threshold at a time. The unfaithful Bride of chapter 16 and the two sisters Oholah and Oholibah tell the history of Israel and Judah in covenant terms. The soul who sins is judged, but the one who turns lives. Then the tone changes. False shepherds are removed and God Himself gathers the scattered flock. A new heart and a new spirit are promised. Dry bones stand up as an exceeding great army. Two sticks become one in His hand. The final war ends in covenant victory, the glory returns, living water flows from the temple, and the city receives its new name: The LORD Is There.

Walking Ezekiel in order, chapter by chapter, this commentary opens with a prelude on the Book of the Covenant and the Book of the Law, the distinction that makes the prophet's warnings and promises fall into place.

Ezekiel is not a book of riddles. It is the record of a covenant God will not abandon.