Ezekiel’s Message of Hope and Restoration: Ezekiel 34–48, the second major part of this book, is concerned with a message of hope for the exiles and with the promise of Israel’s future restoration. That message has broken through in a muted sense in chapters 1–33 (11:14–21; 16:53–63; 20:33–44; 28:25–26), but it now becomes the central theme. These fifteen chapters fall into three sections. The first, chapters 34–37, is a series of seven oracles dealing with the restoration of Israel. The second section describes the rise and fall of Gog of Magog, Israel’s last great enemy (chs. 38–39). Finally, chapters 40–48 express a message of hope for Israel’s present and future, grounded in the presence of the Lord. These chapters present Ezekiel’s third great vision of the Glory of the Lord (see chs.…