Purpose of prophecies against the nations in Ezekiel

Ezekiel Nations

God's Will in Biblical Politics: The Purpose(s) and Implications of Ezekiel's Prophecies Against the Nations

Ezekiel is one of the most influential and important of the Major Prophets, with commentary and predictions on a range of theological and historical issues. Most essentially, Ezekiel -- or the texts attributed to him in the Old Testament, which for all intents and purposes is the Ezekiel of modern understanding -- is the prophet of the Babylonian exile, predicting and explaining its occurrence, lamenting and enduring it during the Hebrew nation's time apart from their homeland, and foreseeing the restoration of Jerusalem and God's people to a glory and strength that would eclipse their previous standing. All of the Book of Ezekiel takes place in this context of exile, and this necessarily informs his commentary on other subjects that appear to be only tangentially related at most.

One of these subjects is the prophesying of Ezekiel against many of the foreign nations that stood as historical enemies to the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Much of the first twenty chapters of Ezekiel deal with prophecies against Israel, many of which would be more accurately described as explanations for Israel and its people's current state of despair, but following this Ezekiel turns to a condemnation of many other nations in a rapid succession. It is fairly easy to parse these prophecies on their surface, noting common themes in the transgressions and forms of retribution each is slated to suffer, but developing an understanding of the purpose of these prophecies in context is a more complex ordeal.

There are three primary avenues of interpreting Ezekiel's prophecies against the foreign nations that occurs primarily between Ezekiel 25:1 and 29:21, though these prophecies and others like them crop up elsewhere in the Book of Ezekiel (and in the texts of other prophets as well), and these three differing interpretations as to the purpose of the prophecies are not necessarily mutually exclusive. First and perhaps most simplistically, the prophecies against the nations can be seen as a way to strengthen Ezekiel's (and thus God's, within the confines of the text) condemnation of Israel; second, the prophecies can be seen as having a more political and less theological intent, though still related to the consolidation of the exiled Hebrews and the centralization of power in the religious doctrine; and finally, the prophecies can be seen as a more personal reinforcement, strengthening the weight of Ezekiel's prophesying abilities and all of his prophecies as a whole.

Strengthening Condemnation

One of the most basic and simplistic yet compelling motives attributable to Ezekiel's prophecies against the foreign nations is the implication that this prophesying has on the prophet's condemnation of the Israelites. This pattern appears, though in reverse, in other prophetic books, with prophecies condemning foreign nations culminating in direct comparisons (Tuell 2009, pp. 167; Amos 2:6-16). In Ezekiel, the condemnation of Israel and the explanation of its destruction takes place first, and the prophecies against the foreign nations comes between this domestic condemnation and prophet's vision of the nation restored.

The somewhat odd interruption that is formed by the prophecies against the foreign nations in Ezekiel does not preclude the interpretation of these prophecies as having a commentary on the condemnation of Israel as in other texts. Because Ezekiel is attributed to exilic times, and was very likely actually written during the Babylonian exile, this rearrangement in the sequence of condemnations actually makes sense; the destruction of Israel and the scattering of her people is not something that is being warned of, but rather something that has already occurred. The destruction of the foreign nations that is prophesied is not meant to serve as a warning either, then, but as a reinforcing of God's power and strength in this world, and of the reckoning that will be brought to bear on those who displease Him. This interpretation is strengthened by the fact that the condemnation of foreign nations actually begins several chapters before the more formal and explicit passages of chapters 25-29, at the very end of his condemnation of Israel and explanation of her current state of desolation and the suffering of her people (Ezekiel 21:33-37; Block 1997, pp. 693).

There is also a related and slightly more positive interpretation of the purpose of Ezekiel's prophesying against the foreign nations Put in a highly simplified manner, the trajectory of the Book of Ezekiel is akin to, " this is what happened to Israel for her sins, and the same will happen to these others; turning back to God leads to restored glory." This middle step, the fall of the foreign nations, predicts the opportunity for the people of Israel to once again differentiate themselves from their neighbors through a retrun to pious behavior.

This interpretation in both its more positive and negative connotations most essentially views Ezekiel's prophecies against the foreign nations as emphasizing and reinforcing the appearance of God's power in the political and military workings of the mortal world. It is explicitly stated throughout these passages that the nations will know that Yahweh is the lord through these actions, and this is often interpreted as the primary reason for their destruction and, by association, for Ezekiel's prophecies of God's actins in these areas (Malick 2009). It is used to stress to the exiled Israelites how completely and entirely they and everyone else in the world is under God's control; the Babylonians and Nebuchadnezzar specifically are singled out as being rewarded in their plundering of the other nations because they are righteous while the others, including Israel, have all acted in ways that are displeasing to God and thus warrant punishment (Block 1997, pp. 695-8; Malick 2009).

Political Consolidation

A very similar interpretation emerges from a more political reading of the Book of Ezekiel, though with vastly different effects and implications. The central feature of the above-described interpretation of the prophecies against the foreign nations that occur in the middle of the text, i.e. The reinforcing of the centrality of power in God and his commandments, still emerges as the primary element of the direct communications of the text. The purpose of reinforcing the primacy and centrality of God's power can be seen not as a simple and straightforward theological reinforcing, but of an attempt to form a more cohesive political unit of the exiled Israelites.

There is a highly logical and consistent order to the bulk of the prophecies against the foreign nations contained in this section of Ezekiel, and scholars have suggested that those prophecies which do not fit this pattern are later expansions on the original text, possibly by Ezekiel himself but more likely by his followers and later scholars (Tuell 2009, pp. 169). This order consists first of a description of messenger duties, with Ezekiel beginning his regular prophecies by explaining that God commanded him to say what is to follow. He then details the transgressions of the foreign nations prophesied against, states the penalties that are to be wielded against these nations for each of their particular transgressions, and ends with an exhortation that each nation will then know of God's power, and will recognize Him for who He is after they have suffered His punishment (Tuell 2009, pp. 169). This highly rational and impeccably ordered progression of the regular prophecies are suggestive of more than simply an underlying theological purpose to these prophecies.

There is a great deal of political weight to the order in which the separate aspects of each prophecy are presented, as first jurisdiction is established, then crimes are determined and explicitly stated, judgment is announced, and the purpose of the punishment (i.e. The recognition of God) is explained. Political power as well as theological power -- and because of theological power -- is demonstrated as consolidated in God and His will, possibly in an attempt to consolidate the exiled and increasingly disparate Hebrew people. With clear sets of rules and punishments, political and religious righteousness is made more achievable through greater centralized control.

This political interpretation also bears significant fruit in the non-regular prophecies made by Ezekiel in this section, especially in his lengthy predictions concerning Egypt. There is another very clear though more complex order that occurs in the chapters dealing with Egypt, explaining how the balance of the political and military powers in the world will be altered at God's will by granting Nebuchadnezzar power over Egypt and its wealth, and then through the systematic destruction and ongoing degradation of Egypt and its people (Block 1998, pp. 128-30; Ezekiel 29:1-37:32). Not only does this demonstrate the political power that God wields, but it also shows the Israelites as comprising part of the same camp of all of many of their long-time ancient enemies, succumbing to the same political and military destruction because, like their neighbors, they had turned away from God. Going back to God would also create greater political isolation from these enemies, and thus consolidate political power again in the hands of those who spoke -- at least ostensibly -- for God.

Personal Power

Though the figure and invocation of God is of course central to the power and purpose of Ezekiel's prophecies against the foreign nations, and indeed in all of his prophecies as a whole, there is also necessarily a great deal of personal power in the voice and words of the prophet. Without this, his exhortations and condemnations would not be heard or heeded. This leads to a third possibility for the essential purpose of his prophecies against the foreign nations -- that of strengthening his position within the community of exiled Israelites.

Despite the commonality of oracles and prophecies condemning and predicting the downfall of foreign nations in the prophets of the Old Testament, it is highly unlikely that these words ever reached the leaders or the people of these foreign nations, or that the prophets or writers of these texts ever intended them to (Tuell 2009, pp. 167). Using these nations as examples not only provides greater room for explanation and imagery for various purposes, as explained above, but it also simply and directly adds to the legitimacy of the prophet as a whole. The question of Ezekiel's position within his community has been the subject of no small amount of scholarly debate, and linguistic parsings of his prophecies and the minute details of the different sections and the organization of his text all arrive at different conclusions as to how the prophet was trying to present himself, and the degree to which he claimed divine inspiration, guidance, and even communicative abilities with God (Ward 2006; Zaspell 1985). Regardless of the exact nature of the prophet's position or projected self-image, however, it is clear that Ezekiel was attempting to bolster the power of his message by presenting the legitimacy of his prophesying abilities as best as he was able.