Ezekiel 37-48/2 Peter/1 John

Ezekiel
37: First the dry bones - a vision of Judah restored, even from death. Nothing is impossible with God. I hope this section was familiar to everyone. It has a kind of humor to it. Then the symbolic action of the two sticks. The two kingdoms will be united once again under the peaceful rule of a Davidic King and Yahweh will return to the sanctuary to dwell with the people.

38-39: Prophecy against Gog and Magog. Who is Gog and Magog. They are both mytho-historical powerhouses that are likely stand-ins for other powers. If you look at the geography of the Holy Land, you will notice that, unless you are Egypt, the way you invade is from the north. Both Assyria and Babylon came from the north.

So Ezekiel is prophecying against some future super-power that, like Assyria and Babylon, will come down from the north and attack the land. However - notice it is not the people who fight. God rains down wrath from heaven, and Gog and Magog are defeated - not by human hands, but by God's power.

40-48: April 28, 573 BC Ezekiel had a vision of the rebuilt Temple and Jerusalem. This vision has a plan to settle all the people in the land that is reclaimed, with boundaries that would be permanently safeguarded. It should be noted that as you read Nehemiah and Ezra that these boundaries and building plan are never established during the Second Temple Period. This important section is also a recapitulation laws found in Leviticus and Numbers and a temple building plan that is reminiscent of Exodus and Solomon's temple. Remember, Ezekiel is describing in prose what we would normally describe in a blue print.

40-42: The new Temple. Chapter 40 deals with the walls, courts and fortifications. It is a massive new building, based on Solomon, but in a larger and grander style. Chapter 41 deals with the Temple itself. Notice the narrowing entrances indicating that you were entering a holier and holier place. 42 describes the chambers that the priests used for garments, for eating the sacrifices and for preparation for their priestly activities (remember Ezekiel was a priest).

43: The glory of the Lord on the chariot of "wheels within wheels" returns to the temple (recall chapter 1). The presence of God enters the same gate it left and God takes up residence forever. There is a warning against disloyalty and disobedience to the law.

44: The gate through which God enters is closed forever, open only for the prince to enact certain rituals as the civic head. Then the priesthood is reformed. Only the members of the Zadok priesthood (a smaller section of the Levites) are allowed to perform priestly duties and are required to follow certain purity practices.

45: 1-9 divides up parts of the city for the priests and the prince (the monarchic ruler in Jerusalem). It is followed by an injunction to cease taking land from the weak (you may remember Ahab and Jezebel taking the land of Naboth after having him killed).

The rest of the chapter regulates the weights and measures (to prevent cheating) and the calendar.

46: Four sections here: The management of gates, the offerings made by the prince (he brings them; the priest does the sacrifice), the management of the prince's property when it is given outside of the family, and the kitchens.

47: 1-12: The description of the River of Life that flows from the Temple, bringing life every where. The swamps and marshes are used to supply salt.

13-23: The boundaries of the kingdom. They are roughly equivalent to the Davidic kingdom, but do not include any areas east of the Jordan (Transjordon).

48: The allotment of the land to each tribe. Here each tribes receives an equal amount of land. Jerusalem is set aside as a holy city with 12 gates, three per side, named after each tribe.

2 Peter
Although the actual authorship is unknown (since this letter is likely very late in the century), it is setup as a final letter written by Peter before his death. The letter quotes and alludes to quite a lot of the New Testament, the gospels as well as the letter Jude. As the final address before his death, the author exhorts his hearers to live a holy life, to not listen to false teachers, and to stand firm until the final coming of God and his kingdom.

1 John
You will notice that John uses "We" quite a lot. Some argue that this was not written by the same author of the gospel, but I think it was written by him, along with the community he was with. The language, form, and the theology have the same shape. The simple prose-poetry of John is also found throughout 1 John.

The letter, along with many others focuses on theology, the nature of Jesus, holy living and false teachers. John, however, you will find writes in a very different way to Paul.

So it is important to point out that John uses very black and white language to convey his message. If we were to read this to literally, we might think that if we sin, it means that we do not belong to God. I don't think that is John's point, since he refers several times to the forgiveness of sins.

Another thing to notice is the reference to the "antichrist." There is a popular notion that the antichrist is an actual person who will appear in the future, take over the world, and bring about the end of the world. This is not how the term is ever used in the New Testament. Rather it refers to a teaching or a movement that challenged the identity of Christ, either his Messiahship, his divinity or his humanity, or other false teachings.

Finally, "God is love" appears twice, in prominent places, and the emphasis placed on love should not be missed. It is hard to find other statements in the Bible that seem to refer to God's very nature, as opposed to some attribute that God possesses. To say God is powerful, angry, jealous, compassionate, present, patient, loving - etc. is not the same as to say "God is love." John's words here have therefore had a significant influence in theology.