Ezekiel's Visionary Call as Prologue: From Complexity and Changeability to Order and Stability?*

Abstract

This article reads Ezekiel 1 as a prologue to the entire book of Ezekiel and deals with the tension between the vision of the living creatures in Ezekiel 1 and the vision of the temple in the epilogue, Ezekiel 40—48. It is argued that the vision in Ezekiel 1 signals complexity and changeability. The prologue is characterized by various kinds of category transgressions (cf. for instance the monstrosity of the living creatures). In Ezekiel 40—48, the new temple signals the opposite: order and stability. The book of Ezekiel uses both aspects to describe Yahweh as a god who is able to change the situation of the exiles and ensure future stability. A short section discusses passages from the book of Revelation as examples of the re-use in the New Testament of motifs from the book of Ezekiel.