Today is the first day of November, the first day of the 11th month of our year.

So welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.

I'm Brian, it is great to be here with you as we take this step into the new month.

And this next step forward takes us into a new book.

So having wound our way through the warning prophecies of Jeremiah and then seeing those

prophecies come true in the fall of Jerusalem and the carrying off of the Jewish people

into exile and Babylon in the book of lamentations, we find ourselves at the threshold of the

book of Ezekiel.

And Ezekiel is the first of two prophets from the Babylonian exile.

So prophesied to the Jewish people for the first two decades of their exile in Babylon.

And true to form, the prophet prophesies and the people are too busy assimilating themselves

into the new culture to listen.

Ezekiel also contains descriptions of almost cinematic visions that in many ways parallel

the visions of John on the island of Patmos when he wrote the book of Revelation.

And these parallels are often cross-examined in eschatological studies, the studies of

the end times.

But this doesn't make it a lofty and unapproachable book.

These visions have a great impact personally on Ezekiel.

And if we're able to allow ourselves to approach the book and the imagery from the perspective

of what it speaks to our hearts, rather than trying to force it into a timeline of some

sort or a linear ABC list, we'll be able to revel in its deep and rich textures, allowing

it to speak to us as a sunrise would, rather than how the morning newspaper does.

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