Those empires will be the instruments of Israel's purification ("judgment") and eventual return to the Lord. Hence, exile and destruction are not the end of the relationship; rather they constitute the judgmnent process that will establish justice, that is, uphold the righteous and put down the wicked. God is not absent from the process. Ezekiel does not hesitate to affirm that the Lord is present among the exiled population and that if people give up their delusions and their sinful ways, the Lord will raise them from the death of exile and give them a new city and temple. In the general picture of exile and restoration just presented, Ezekiel did not differ significantly from his prophetic predecessors. What then was his peculiar contribution to the Bible and to the contemporary church?
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