Question 2
ComprehensionJAMB 1980 Passage A: Ezekiel
The great herald of things to come was Ezekiel, not only in the sense that he predicted the future, but also became in the manner and content of his prophetic ministry, he foreshadowed many of the important religious developments, which were characteristic of the age after the Exile. He, rather than Ezra, was the founder of Judaism. He not only pointed forward; but as we shall see, he represented some of the great elements in Israel's religious past.
The book which bears his name is outwardly impressive in its orderliness and symmetry and in the careful chronological arrangement of its contents. It purports to present the record of prophecies uttered in the Babylonian Exile between 593 and 571 B.C. and for long this was not seriously questioned. Even when other prophetic books had been dissected and assigned to sundry authors and editors, this book continued to be regarded by most scholars as having come in its entirety from Ezekiel. Then came a period in which many extreme theories were advanced, assigning much of it to other hands or presupposing complicated processes of editorial revision, or dating the book to a period much later than the Babylonian Exile, or maintaining that Ezekiel's ministry was not exercised in Babylonia but in Palestine, or at least was begun there. Such theories have been subjected to damaging criticism and are now somewhat discredited. The account of Ezekiel's ministry and teaching is based on the view that he lived and worked among the exiles in Babylonia, at the period indicated, and the bulk of the material in the book comes from him, though, like other prophetic collections, it owes much in its compilation, arrangement and transmission to prophetic disciples.
The book which bears his name is outwardly impressive in its orderliness and symmetry and in the careful chronological arrangement of its contents. It purports to present the record of prophecies uttered in the Babylonian Exile between 593 and 571 B.C. and for long this was not seriously questioned. Even when other prophetic books had been dissected and assigned to sundry authors and editors, this book continued to be regarded by most scholars as having come in its entirety from Ezekiel. Then came a period in which many extreme theories were advanced, assigning much of it to other hands or presupposing complicated processes of editorial revision, or dating the book to a period much later than the Babylonian Exile, or maintaining that Ezekiel's ministry was not exercised in Babylonia but in Palestine, or at least was begun there. Such theories have been subjected to damaging criticism and are now somewhat discredited. The account of Ezekiel's ministry and teaching is based on the view that he lived and worked among the exiles in Babylonia, at the period indicated, and the bulk of the material in the book comes from him, though, like other prophetic collections, it owes much in its compilation, arrangement and transmission to prophetic disciples.
In his work, Ezekiel
- A.was friendly with Ezra
- B.founded Judaism in conjunction with Ezra
- C.had a large religious following
- D.forged a link between the past and the future
- E.demonstrated that he was a man of God
Show the answer and explanation
Answer: D (forged a link between the past and the future)
Explanation
The passage says he not only pointed forward to the future but also represented great elements of Israel's religious past. That makes him a link between past and future.