Kooky, Crazy, Wonderful Ezekiel

Right now, in my daily Bible reading, I am in the book of Ezekiel, the third of the three major prophets.  I contrast the mood to that of the other two prophets: Isaiah, sweet and loving but in a deeply meaningful way; and Jeremiah, angry angry angry.

As mentioned in the title of this post, the main feeling I get from Ezekiel is outlandishness.  In virtually every chapter, the prophet is having another vision--for lack of a better term, an oddball vision.  Though I am only a quarter of the way through the book (I just read chapter 11 this morning and there are 48 in total), I can say that most prevalent so far is Ezekial's impression of cherubs, with hands below their wings and wheels inside.

Reading Ezekiel is a pleasure, and I find myself just picking it up to randomly read more than I did with Jeremiah.  I find the mood easier to handle: less death, doom, destruction.  Although Ezekiel's visions are crazy, somehow they're easier to deal with. 

Another reason reading Ezekiel is easier than reading Jeremiah is that the chapters are shorter.  This shouldn't matter, but somehow it does; the faster I get through a chapter, the more motivated I am to read another.

One final thought: I was discussing Ezekiel with my father this morning, who said that Ezekiel may actually have had a psychiatric illness.  As someone with a psychiatric illness (Bipolar Disorder Type I), I can relate.  Thinking of Ezekiel this way casts the prophet and his visions in a whole new light.  I'm not sure what I think of him right now: the connection is there but it's hard to deal with.

Sorry so long.  These are my impressions of the book of Ezekiel.  Next up are the twelve minor prophets (called so only because their books are short, not because they're unimportant); however, as I am only a fourth of the way through Ezekiel, it will take me a while to get to them.  This is Bible reading at its finest, and I am loving it.