In rabbinic literature, Ezekiel became a favorite of unorthodox forms of Judaism and thus was regarded with some caution by the rabbis. Four aspects of Ezkiel's prophecy were singled out. First, the divine chariot revelation in chaper 1 became the basis of Jewish mysticism and also of heretical speculation of various kinds. The mysticism is sometimes referred to as "merkabvah (chariot) mysticism." Second, the rabbis feared that Ezekiel's severe denunciations of Israel in the first part of the book could be used by Christians in an anti-Jewish way and so were unacceptable. Third, the resurrection of the dry bones in 37, 1-14 was a favorite of sectarian groups and hence was played down by the rabbis. Fourth, Ezeliel's vision of the future temple and his laws seemed to contradict the Pentateuchal instructions and nearly led to the exclusion of the book from the canon.
Posted via email from ezekiel1-48's posterous
No comments:
Post a Comment