Bible Study Notes 11/18/2025
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(Much gratitude is given to Dr. Carol Kaminski for her Old Testament Survey course at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and the study materials that accompany and inform this teaching.)
The Curses of the Mosaic Covenant
God’s people have repeatedly transgressed God’s laws, along with their kings, so Ezekiel uses curse language from the Mosaic covenant to describe the judgment of 586 BC, which includes the sword, famine, plague, and wild beasts (Ezek. 5:9-17; 6:11; 7:15; 12”16; 14:12-23; cf. Lev. 26:14-39; Deut. 28:15-68).
As God fulfills the curses of the covenant, the slain will fill the streets, people will die by the sword, and wild beasts will take Israel’s children.
Ezekiel says that fathers will eat their children due to famine (Ezek. 5:10; cf. Lev. 26:29; Jer. 19:9; Lam. 4:10).
Ezekiel’s Vision of the Dry Bones
Yahweh causes Ezekiel to stand in the midst of a valley full of dry, human bones, which is identified as the whole house of Israel – there is no longer any life left in them (Ezek. 37:1-14).
- Remember that Ezekiel is a priest and the most defiling source of ritual impurity for a priest was a human corpse.
- Ezekiel’s vision depicts God’s people under his wrath because they have forsaken the God who gives them life, and their death is a testimony to the absence of righteousness.
- God’s people would not listen, to repent and choose life, so in this vision they are depicted as those who are dead in their transgressions.
- Only God can bring to life those who are dead, through the life-giving power of his Spirit.
- Ezekiel sees God breathing his Spirit into the bones of Israel so that the dead are brought to life, which is a vision of the restoration of God’s people beyond the exile. READ Ezek. 37:11-14.
- Ezekiel 37 tells us that God’s plan of redemption through history does not end with EXILE, but life will be given through the work of God’s Spirit.
- The curses of the covenant lead to Israel’s death; thus, the restoration must involve a resurrection from the dead.
It is the LORD God who breathes life into these dry bones, as it is the Creator God who breathed life into Adam, so that he became a living being.
- It was the LORD God who brought life out of Sarah’s dead womb and who now reveals to the prophet Ezekiel that the restoration of his people will require nothing less than a resurrection from the Dead.
The expectation of Israel’s resurrection becomes an important theme during the period of EXPECTATIONS.
- We will see that in the full course of our study that hope for the resurrection of (corporate) Israel is FIRST realized in Israel’s representative, the Messiah, who is raised from the dead.
- The resurrection of Jesus is, indeed, central to the storyline of the Bible, as represented by the acronym CASKET EMPTY.
- All four gospels climax their narratives with the empty tomb (Mt. 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20; cf. 1 Cor. 15).
- The Apostle Paul states that if there is no resurrection, we are still in our sin (1 Cor. 15:12-19).
- Death comes through Adam; resurrection from the dead comes through the last Adam.
- Paul says: “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22).
- Paul also says: “The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45).
This resurrection and life-giving spirit is the hope set before the prophet Ezekiel, which he sees from afar, and comes to understand that sin and death will not have the final word, but God will raise up his people to new life.
- Jesus is the “first fruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:20) – AND we, too, await our resurrection unto eternal life.
However, in the prophet’s lifetime, he witnesses the onslaught of God’s curse being poured out on his people, which he sees so vividly in the vision of the dry bones.
Remember that Jeremiah used curse language to describe the 586 BC judgment, that there would be four instruments of God’s wrath: the sword to slay, the dogs to drag off, the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy (Jer. 15:3).
Remember that Ezekiel announces that Israel’s punishment will include being inflicted by plagues, famine, wild beasts, scattering, and the sword (Ezek. 5:10-17; 6:3-14; 14:12-21).
Israel becomes a reproach among the nations (Ezek. 5:15; cf. Jer. 19:7-8).
This is the vision of devastation that lies before the prophet Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones.
As we reflect upon God’s wrath being poured out on Israel, we are reminded that this is what sin deserves, including our own.
Jerusalem is Destroyed and Judah is Exiled to Babylon
Nebuchadnezzar (Babylon) and his army wage war against Jerusalem as an instrument of God’s judgment.
They break down its walls, burn the temple, and all the houses in Jerusalem (2 Kgs. 25:9-10; cf. Jer. 52:1-30).
Those not killed by the sword are taken into exile to Babylon, with only the poorest of the land remaining (2 Kgs. 25:11-12).
- Furniture and other items used in the temple are brought to Babylon, along with the vessels that had been used for worship (2 Kgs. 25:13-17). (We will see these vessels again in Daniel.)
- Nebuzaradan, Nebuchadnezzar’s captain of the guard, leads people from the city, including priests, officials, and a group of sixty men found in the city, and takes them to Riblah, where he strikes them down and puts them to death (2 Kgs. 25:18-21).
2 Chronicles ends with the history of the last few kings of Judah, including a description of the destruction of Jerusalem; the reason for God’s judgment; the edict of King Cyrus (2 Chron. 36: 1-23; cf. 2 Kgs. 24-25).
After recalling Zedekiah’s rebellion and hardness of heart (2 Chr. 36:11-13), the destruction of Jerusalem with its temple is explained in the following way: READ 2 Chr. 36:14-17.
Now the prophet Ezekiel hears that Jerusalem has been taken (Ezek. 33:21).
Jeremiah Laments Over the Destruction of Jerusalem
Lamentations (author unidentified but traditionally thought to be Jeremiah) provides a graphic description of the destruction of Jerusalem and probably written shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC.
Jeremiah laments over the desolation, for he witnesses firsthand the devastation that has come upon the city and its inhabitants due to God’s wrath – a time of complete despair and suffering.
- Priests and prophets have been slain by the sword; dead bodies of men and women are lying in the streets (Lam. 2:21).
- Note that Moses had announced that the sword would be an instrument of God’s wrath against covenant breakers (Lev. 26:25, 33; cf. Ezek. 9).
- For those not killed by the sword, conditions could not be any worse: women are eating their own offspring due to famine (Lam. 2:20):
- Jeremiah laments: “the hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food” (Lam.4:10).
- Moses warned the Israelites that this would happen if God’s people failed to obey his laws: “you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you” (Deut. 28:53; cf. Lev. 26:29; Deut. 28:54-55).
- Thus, Jeremiah said, “Happier were the victims of the sword than the victims of hunger” (Lam. 4:9).
- Women are raped (Lam. 5:11), princes are hung up by their hands (Lam. 5:12), and all joy has gone – it’s a time of great mourning, with no one to comfort Jerusalem (Lam. 1:2, 17).
- READ Psalm 79:1-3, which refers to this period.
As Jeremiah describes the siege of Jerusalem (Lam. 3-4), he acknowledges that “the chastisement of the daughter of my people has been greater than the punishment of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment, and no hands were wrung for her” (Lam. 4:6; cf. Ezek. 16:44-58).
Because of Israel’s sins, God has poured out his wrath and anger (Lam. 4:11-13).
Overwhelmed with grief and despair, Jeremiah finds himself without hope, but he turns his attention to God: READ Lam. 3:21-25.
Jeremiah experienced complete devastation all around him, but places his hope in the unchanging character of God, as his mercies are new every morning.
- The prophet prays to God for mercy amid these tragic circumstances (Lam. 5:1-18).
- Knowing God reigns on the throne, he appeals to him, saying: READ Lam. 5:21-22.
- God has not totally rejected his people – the prophets DO announce that the time of restoration will come.
Reading through the book of Lamentations is important because it is the most comprehensive and contemporary description of the destruction of Jerusalem – while doing so, meditate on the scope of God’s judgment against his people, for this is a reminder of what sin deserves.
Gedaliah is Appointed Governor in Jerusalem
The destruction of Jerusalem is complete; God’s temple is in ruins; those not killed during the bloody siege are taken into exile, including King Zedekiah, who is bound in chains, but not before seeing his sons killed before his eyes and having had his own eyes gouged out (2 Kgs. 25:7; Jer. 52:10-11).
Nebuchadnezzar appoints a man named Gedaliah as governor over those who are left in the city – the poor.
- There is an uprising and many men under the leadership of Ishmael murder Gedaliah (2 Kgs. 25:22-25; Jer. 41:1-8).
- Jeremiah witnesses these bloody events (Jer. 39-42, 52).
- The concern of those remaining in Jerusalem caused them to ask Jeremiah to pray to God, assuring him that they will obey whatever God says.
- Jeremiah tells the people that they are not to be afraid of the Babylonians and they are not to go to Egypt (Jer. 42).
- The people told Jeremiah that he was telling a lie (Jer. 43:2), and did not listen (READ Jer. 43:4), thus, they will be a curse among the nations, rather than a blessing (Jer. 44:7-8, 12).
- The people gave a response to Jeremiah’s words of judgment: READ Jer. 44: 16-17.
- They continue in idolatry! So Jeremiah tells them: READ Jer. 44:22-23.
- Jeremiah announces judgment against the remnant of Judah and against Egypt, the place where they are now located: READ Jer. 44:26-30.
The Prophet Obadiah
(Probably dated in the period after the destruction of Jerusalem because it has the Babylonian attack in view)
The Edomites, one of Israel’s neighbors, delighted in the demise of God’s people (as suggested in Psalm 137), so God calls the prophet Obadiah to announce his judgment against them.
Psalm 137 describes God’s people weeping in Babylon over their city: “Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, ‘Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations?’” (vs 7; cf. Lam. 4:21-22; Ezek. 25:12-14; 36:5).
Remember in Genesis that Jacob and Esau were two brothers who had many years of sibling rivalry; Jacob’s name was changed to Israel and is the forefather of the Israelites; Esau became the father of the Edomites (Gen. 36:1-43).
- Obadiah now alludes to this conflict, which is being played out nationally in Edom’s gloating over Jacob’s demise (Obad. 1:10-12).
- God announces judgment against Edom through Obadiah, warning that the house of Esau will be as “stubble” and that “they shall burn them and consume them, and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau” (Obad. 1:18).
- The Edomite kingdom suffers significantly under the reign of a later Babylonian king named Nabonidus.
- Obadiah along with other prophets emphasizes that God holds the nations accountable for their actions.
God now has a preserved remnant through the devastation of Jerusalem.
God told Moses that if people returned to him, he would restore them from captivity and gather them from all the nations where they had been dispersed (Deut. 30:1-5) and the prophets share in this certain hope.