Why I Read Commentaries: Here's Some Great Stuff on Ezekiel 1

Reading commentaries can be a great way to grow in our knowledge of (and love for!) God and His Word.  And, commentaries can offer substantial guidance in helping us interpret difficult passages well.  (AFTER careful personal study and observation, of course!)

Ezekiel 1 is one of those passages that can seem weird when you read it. But its message is so worthwhile, and time in a couple commentaries can help underline the value of its message.  Listen to these great insights from a couple of commentaries I've spent some time in this last week, both commenting on Ezekiel 1:

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Iain Duguid, Ezekiel. NIVAC. Zondervan, 1999. p. 61:

• The true and living God is not a tame God.  He cannot be comfortably manipulated into a box and made to do our bidding.  If he were, he would hardly be worthy of following.  God’s radical freedom to be God, bound only by his self-revelation, means that his ways can never be reduced to a pat formula or a trite slogan."

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Daniel I. Block, the Book of Ezekiel: Chapters 1-24. NICOT. Eerdmans, 1997. p. 106:

• With respect to force and awesomeness, no theophany in the entire OT matches Ezekiel’s inaugural vision, and modern readers can only regret that Ezekiel did not provide a visual image to accompany the text.  Just one picture of this multi-sensual and polychromatic spectacle would have been worth ten thousand words.  If the sensory experience was impressive, its theological significance is profound."

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If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

• ​Why I Read Commentaries: John Stott on Ephesians 3:18
• Why I Read Theology: Gentry and Wellum on "Covenant" in the Bible
• Ezekiel 1 and a Big View of God