Beyond the River Chebar

To many readers the book of Ezekiel is a hopeless riddle. However, if we take the time to study it, we will discover that despite the strangeness of the man and his utterances this is the most clearly organized of the major prophetic books. If we persist, we will also discover that from a rhetorical perspective, this priestly prophet knew his audience; he recognized in Judah's rebellion against YHWH the underlying cause of the divine fury that resulted in the exile of his people and the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 586 BCE. But he also recognized that YHWH's judgment could not be the last word. Because his covenant was eternal and irrevocable he looked forward to a day of spiritual renewal and national restoration. This is the second of two volumes of Block's essays on the book of Ezekiel. The essays in this volume explore the theme of Kingship in Ezekiel--both his assessment of Judah's historical kings and his hope for a restored Davidic King/Prince--and the mysterious visions concerning Gog's attack on restored Israel (Ezek 38-39) and concerning the new temple (40-48). Block brings to bear decades of study of the book to open up fresh insights on the ancient text. Few people know the book of Ezekiel as well as Block does and fewer still are able to explain the unique and challenging aspects of this great prophet's rich theology as well as he does. The book's nine individual studies address Ezekiel's purposes in ways that allow a reader to see, through experienced eyes, real treasures of biblical theology. For anyone planning to preach or teach Ezekiel, Block's work provides a wonderful introduction--better, I think, than one could find in any of the standard commentaries.--Douglas Stuart, Gordon-Conwell Theological SeminaryDaniel Block is one of the foremost Ezekiel scholars of our time, author of a major two-volume commentary on the book and numerous other studies. In Beyond the River Chebar: Studies in Kingship and Eschatology in the Book of Ezekiel he gathers together a selection of the important essays he has written on these themes over the years. It is splendid to have these available between two covers and we are again indebted to Daniel Block.--Paul M. Joyce, Samuel Davidson Professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, King's College LondonDaniel I. Block is the Gunther H. Knoedler Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois. He is the author of The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24 (1997), The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 25-48 (1998), Judges and Ruth (1999), How I Love Your Torah, O LORD! (2011), The Gospel according to Moses (2012), and Deuteronomy (2012).