I still really want to get this Ezekiel nonsense over with. So we'll jump ahead to chapter 40 which is where the plot shifts from God threatening to murder and starve the people and trash the city, as well as everybody else in the neighborhood, to the future return from exile and rebuilding of Jerusalem. It starts with this:
40 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the fall of the city—on that very day the hand of the Lord was on me and he took me there. 2 In visions of God he took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose south side were some buildings that looked like a city. 3 He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze; he was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. 4 The man said to me, “Son of man, look carefully and listen closely and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Tell the people of Israel everything you see.”
For the next three interminable chapters the bronze man measures stuff. Here's a sample, it goes on and on just like this:
5 I saw a wall completely surrounding the temple area. The length of the measuring rod in the man’s hand was six long cubits,[a] each of which was a cubit and a handbreadth. He measured the wall; it was one measuring rod thick and one rod high.
6 Then he went to the east gate. He climbed its steps and measured the threshold of the gate; it was one rod deep. 7 The alcoves for the guards were one rod long and one rod wide, and the projecting walls between the alcoves were five cubits[b] thick. And the threshold of the gate next to the portico facing the temple was one rod deep.
8 Then he measured the portico of the gateway; 9 it[c] was eight cubits[d] deep and its jambs were two cubits[e] thick. The portico of the gateway faced the temple.
And on and on and on and on . . .
In Chapter 43, Zeke has a vision of God's glory returning to the Temple, still guided by the bronze dude. In Chapter 44, God promises to restore the priesthood but only the descendants of Zadok will be allowed to conduct the sacrifices. Chapter 45 prescribes setting aside land for God and the priests, measuring systems, and priestly conduct and privileges. (Yes, this seems to supersede the Torah.) Ch. 46 prescribes more rituals, again appearing to amend the Torah. In Chapter 47, the bronze dude lays out the borders of the restored kingdom of Israel, and yes, it's from the river (actually it specifies the Dead Sea) to the Mediterranean. However:
21 “You are to distribute this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. 22 You are to allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the foreigners residing among you and who have children. You are to consider them as native-born Israelites; along with you they are to be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 23 In whatever tribe a foreigner resides, there you are to give them their inheritance,” declares the Sovereign Lord.
Hmm. Chapter 48 divides the land among the 12 tribes, which is unfortunate because 10 of them have disappeared by now. Isaiah also thought they would return, but they didn't. And that's the end. We never actually get around to the restoration, just the prophecy. Now on to Daniel.
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