Back to Course

Ezekiel and Daniel: Babylonian Crisis

  1. Lesson One
    Ezekiel's Prophetic Word (Ezekiel 1–24)
    19 Activities
    |
    2 Assessments
  2. Lesson Two
    Ezekiel: Israel's Shame and Restoration (Ezekiel 25–39)
    22 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  3. Lesson Three
    Ezekiel's Distinctive Message (Ezekiel 40–48)
    24 Activities
    |
    2 Assessments
  4. Lesson Four
    Daniel: Dreams and Prophecies (Daniel 1–3, 9–12)
    18 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  5. Lesson Five
    Daniel: Kings and Kingdoms (Daniel 4–8)
    18 Activities
  6. Course Wrap-Up
    Course Completion
    1 Activity
    |
    1 Assessment

Participants 15

Show more
Lesson Progress
0% Complete

Theodoret and Ezekiel’s River

See the table below for a more complete list of symbolism Theodoret gleaned from Ezekiel. 

DetailSymbolism
RiverThe grace of Christ
River’s increaseThe growth of the church
FourfoldThe four evangelists
Depth of the last soundingThe relative depth of the last gospel
Fruit of the treesGood works
FoliageThe inner joy of good works
Course from Jerusalem through Galilee to the desert and on to the Dead SeaCourse of the gospel across Galilee to civilized pagans and barbarians
The freshening power of the stream’s waterThe sanctification of the myths and fables of pagans
The fish and fishermenSouls and “fishers of men”

As we’ve stressed, Ezekiel is a tough book to interpret. The imagery is so rich that it’s easy to get wrapped up in overly detailed speculation about its meaning. This isn’t to say that Theodoret’s interpretation has no value; his parallels do provide meaningful correlation between the two different contexts. But they are hardly the only or the best possibilities. We would do just as well to focus on Ezekiel’s priestly emphasis on holiness and sharing space with God, which we’ll continue to discuss in the next lesson.

Source: Daniel I. Block, The Book of Ezekiel, Chapters 25–48, 1998, pp. 696-700.