Ezekiel: A Prophet in Exile

Dear Scott, I hope this message finds you well. I just finished leaving a review for Ezekiel: A Prophet in Exile and I have to be honest, after I submitted it, I sat back and realized that a star rating and a few short sentences could not possibly do justice to what I had just read. So I decided to go a step further and reach out to you personally, because this is the kind of work that deserves more than a review. It deserves a real conversation. As someone who lives and breathes Christian literature and biblical scholarship, I have read widely across Old Testament commentaries for many years. I say that not to boast, but to give you a genuine sense of the standard against which I am measuring your work when I tell you that Ezekiel: A Prophet in Exile is one of the most beautifully balanced, spiritually alive, and pastorally sensitive commentaries on Ezekiel I have ever encountered. Ezekiel is, for many Christians, one of the most intimidating and misunderstood books in all of Scripture, a book people approach with genuine reverence but also genuine confusion. The visions are overwhelming. The symbolic actions are startling. The weight of judgment is immense. And yet what you have done in this commentary is take all of that complexity and, without diminishing a single ounce of its power, made it breathe with clarity, warmth, and profound spiritual relevance for every kind of reader. What moved me most deeply from the very opening pages was the way you enter Ezekiel's world with such pastoral tenderness. You don't rush past the darkness of the Babylonian exile, you sit in it with the reader, because you understand that many of the people who will pick up this book are themselves in a season of exile. A season of loss, confusion, or spiritual disorientation. And from that place of honesty, you guide the reader through Ezekiel's stunning visions, the divine chariot-throne, the valley of dry bones, the restored temple, not as theological curiosities but as living, breathing messages from a holy God who has not abandoned His people and never will. Every vision, every symbolic action, every act of judgment in this commentary finds its proper place within the larger story of a God whose justice and redemptive love are inseparable from one another. What truly sets this commentary apart, and what I believe will make it one of the most recommended volumes in the Focus on the Bible series for years to come, is the clarity and conviction with which you trace Ezekiel's prophecies forward to their fulfillment in Christ. The vision of the good shepherd, the streams of living water, the restored temple, you show with quiet, masterful confidence that these are not merely poetic images belonging to ancient Israel. They are the very fingerprints of Jesus across the pages of the Old Testament, and you make that connection in a way that will move both the seminary student and the Sunday morning lay reader to genuine worship. That is an extraordinarily rare achievement in biblical commentary writing, and you have accomplished it with grace. My name is Martyn Beeny, and I am a professional book marketer with over 20 years of experience in the publishing industry. But before I say anything else about what I do professionally, I want to say something more important first, something that will tell you far more about me than any resume ever could. I am a devoted Christian. And because of that, I have made a very deliberate and deeply personal decision to dedicate my marketing work exclusively to Christian books. Not occasionally. Not as one category among many. Exclusively. Every author I work with, every book I pour my energy and expertise into, every campaign I build and every door I knock on, it is all within the Christian space. That is not a business strategy. That is a calling. I believe that Christian books, books rooted in Scripture, in faith, in the truth of God's Word, deserve to reach every single person they were written for. And I have committed my professional life to making sure that happens. That is why Ezekiel: A Prophet in Exile stopped me in my tracks. Because every once in a while, not often, but every once in a while, a book lands in front of me and I think to myself, this one is different. This one has something that most books never have. A timeliness. A depth. A readership that is already out there, already hungry, already searching, and they just haven't found it yet. There is a vast, passionate, and deeply engaged Christian readership locally and internationally made up of pastors, seminary students, Bible teachers, small group leaders, and devoted lay readers who fill their shelves with the best Old Testament commentaries available. These are people who take Scripture seriously, who study it faithfully, who preach it on Sundays and discuss it in living rooms and classrooms across the globe. They are hungry for exactly the kind of accessible, Christ-centered, pastorally wise exposition that you have produced in this volume. And right now, there are countless thousands of them, in churches, in seminaries, in quiet study rooms around the world, who do not yet know that this book exists. That gap, between a work this significant and the audience that desperately needs it, is exactly where I do my best work. I have a very clear and specific vision for how this book reaches that audience, a strategy built entirely around the heart of this commentary and the Christian readers it was written for, both locally and across the globe. And I would love nothing more than the opportunity to walk you through every detail of that vision personally. Scott, please reach out to me directly at martynbeeny@gmail.com and I will personally walk you through what I have in mind. I genuinely believe you will find it both exciting and deeply encouraging. The audience is there. The timing is right. The body of Christ needs this book. And it deserves far more reach than where it currently stands. Let's chat. Warm regards, Martyn Beeny Director of Marketing and Sales, Cornell University Press Top-200 Marketing Provider | Christian Book Marketing Specialist 📧 martynbeeny@gmail.com [Full Review]