The course on Ezekiel that I am designing for the mission to Nairobi has two broad goals:

1. to introduce students to the book of Ezekiel—its situation in covenantal history, its authorship, its original audiences, its structure, its central themes, some of its Old- and New-Testament connections, and its overall structure; and
2. to interpret key passages of Ezekiel theologically and christocentrically, making interpretive principles explicit so that students may interpret any passage from Ezekiel theologically and christocentrically.

The first goal (about a quarter of the material?) serves the second, but the first should also benefit students’ reading anywhere in the Bible.

Now, what does interpreting Ezekiel “theologically and christocentrically” involve? Most basically, it presupposes that the triune God—who has revealed his “grace and truth” climactically and perfectly in the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ (John 1.14–17)—has always been speaking the same message through the prophets under the old administrations of the covenant of grace (see Heb 1.1–4). God is the Bible’s primary Author (see 2 Tim 3.16), and in the Bible he reveals himself as Lord over the history of the redemption. The central focus of all of God’s self-revelation in the Bible is the Redeemer of God’s people. What is called the “Old Testament” looks forward in history to the coming Redeemer, and the “New Testament” looks upward to Jesus, the Redeemer who has come, who died, who rose again from the dead, who is now seated in heaven at God’s right hand, and who is coming again to judge the living and the dead. Such a doctrine derives from Jesus himself, who declared after his resurrection in

Luke 24.26–27:

(NA28)	(Translation)
…οὐχὶ ταῦτα ἔδει παθεῖν τὸν χριστὸν καὶ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ;	“…Was it not necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to enter into his glory?”
καὶ ἀρξάμενος ἀπὸ Μωϋσέως καὶ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν προφητῶν διερμήνευσεν⸃ αὐτοῖς ἐν πάσαις ταῖς γραφαῖς τὰ περὶ ἑαυτοῦ.	And starting with Moses and going through all the prophets, [Jesus] interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures.

Moses and the other prophets were speaking directly about Jesus. Again, he affirms that all three major section of the Old Testament are about him in

Luke 24.44–47:

(NA28)	(Translation)
Εἶπεν δὲ πρὸς αὐτούς· οὗτοι οἱ λόγοι μου οὓς ἐλάλησα πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἔτι ὢν σὺν ὑμῖν, ὅτι δεῖ πληρωθῆναι πάντα τὰ γεγραμμένα ἐν τῷ νόμῳ Μωϋσέως καὶ τοῖς προφήταις καὶ ψαλμοῖς περὶ ἐμοῦ.	And [Jesus] said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you: that it was necessary to fulfill all the things written concerning me in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms.”
τότε διήνοιξεν αὐτῶν τὸν νοῦν τοῦ συνιέναι τὰς γραφάς·	Then he opened their mind[s] to understand the scriptures.
καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ὅτι οὕτως γέγραπται παθεῖν τὸν χριστὸν καὶ ἀναστῆναι ἐκ νεκρῶν τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ,	And he said to them, “Thus it is written for the Messiah to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
καὶ κηρυχθῆναι ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ μετάνοιαν εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν εἰς πάντα τὰ ἔθνη….	and for repentance unto forgiveness of sins to be heralded in his name to all the Gentiles….”

More specifically focused on the corpus of the Prophets, Peter says in

1 Peter 1.10–11:

(NA28)	(Translation)
…ἐξεζήτησαν καὶ ἐξηραύνησαν προφῆται οἱ περὶ τῆς εἰς ὑμᾶς χάριτος προφητεύσαντες	…the prophets, who prophesied concerning the grace that would be for you, searched and inquired carefully,
ἐραυνῶντες εἰς τίνα ἢ ποῖον καιρὸν ἐδήλου τὸ ἐν αὐτοῖς πνεῦμα Χριστοῦ προμαρτυρόμενον τὰ εἰς Χριστὸν παθήματα καὶ τὰς μετὰ ταῦτα δόξας.	inquiring about what person or what kind of time the Spirit of Messiah in them was indicating when he testified beforehand concerning the sufferings of Messiah and the glories that came after these things.

Do you see it? The Spirit of Messiah testified beforehand to the prophets about the sufferings and glories of Messiah. One cannot interpret the prophets well without presupposing that the triune God is revealing himself in the person and work of the coming messianic Redeemer. So a theological and christocentric interpretation of the book of Ezekiel begins by saying that the man Ezekiel is like all the other prophets, indeed like every other human writer of the Old Testament, with a message centered on the Redeemer who will come to suffer and rise from the dead. With this presupposition students can see the organic connection between the themes of Ezekiel and the redemptive message of the entire Bible.

The result of interpreting Ezekiel theologically and christocentrically should be a greater assurance in God’s covenantal faithfulness and unchanging promises, a clearer hope in the consummation of the Redeemer’s finished work, and a deeper love for the triune God.

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But most commentaries on Ezekiel will not present a genuinely theological and christocentric interpretation of the text, in a way that accords with what Jesus and his apostles have affirmed about the Old Testament’s message.

Therefore, part of my fundraising total includes a two commentaries that focus on sound theology and christocentric interpretations. They have been an aid to me as a teacher and will be an aid to students and scholars at Common Ground Theological Institute in the future.

I intend to bring these physical commentaries with me and leave them in the book room at the Institute. Please consider donating one or more copies to the mission!

First is Daniel I. Block’s two-volume NICOT commentary:

Second is my pastor Iain M. Duguid’s NIVAC commentary:

EDIT: BECAUSE THIS INFORMATION IS NOW OUT OF DATE, I HAVE REMOVED THE CONTRIBUTION INFORMATION.

I know that these top-notch commentaries will be excellent additions to the Institute’s book room, available to pastors in Kenya for years to come.

If you cannot contribute toward this tangible resource, please read about other ways that you can support the mission to Nairobi.