The Book of Ezekiel is one of the most magnificent books of the Old Testament. Yet, among the major prophets, it is generally the least considered. The time of Ezekiel spanned from the latter days of one of Judah’s greatest kings (Josiah) to exile with the captives in Babylon. The message of the prophet was two-fold, punishment for one’s own sin and the assurance of restoration because of God’s mercy and righteousness. The unique way in which Ezekiel presents God’s message to the people causes his prophetic work to stand out among the prophets. Through apocalyptic visions, imagery, allegories, dramatic enactments, proverbs, and prophecies, the prophet painted a picture of the hope God provides for man, even in the face of judgment.
Background to Ezekiel
Ezekiel was a descendant of Aaron, born to Buzi about 623 B.C. This would have been near the middle of King Josiah’s reign. Though a priest (Eze. 1:3), he never served in the priestly functions of the temple because he was taken into captivity at the age of 25 (Eze. 1:1, 2).
The political and social upheavals during the early life of Ezekiel are astounding. He was 11 years of age when Assyria finally fell to the Chaldeans, he was 14 when King Josiah fell in battle to Pharaoh Neco (2 Chron. 35). In fact, he witnessed the fall of four of Judah’s kings (Josiah in 609 B.C., Jehoahaz in 609 B.C., Jehoiakim in 598 B.C., and Jehoiachin in 598 B.C.). Ezekiel was 17 years of age when Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were carried into Babylon. And one wonders if Ezekiel, contemporary with Jeremiah (cf. Jer. 3:6; 35:1), was familiar with or perhaps even heard the words of the weeping prophet.
Ultimately, in about 598 B.C., Ezekiel was carried into Babylonian captivity being among the 10,000 captives taken when young King Jehoiachin was removed and replaced by the Chaldean proxy Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:10-17). For five years, Ezekiel would dwell among the captives at the river of Chebar (cf. Eze. 1:1, 2) as an exile among exiles. But in the fifth year of his captivity, “The word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest” (Eze. 1:3), and for the next 22 years, he would stand as God’s spokesman opposing the false prophets, correcting the misperceptions of the people, and pleading with them to return to the Lord.
Message of Ezekiel
Ezekiel’s message is one of divine justice and mercy. In his work Know Your Bible, Frank Dunn noted that Ezekiel’s message can be summed up in four words: sin, punishment, restoration, and blessing. God’s justice demands the punishment of sin, but His mercy provides the hope and promise of restoration.
God set Ezekiel as a “watchman over the house of Israel” (Eze. 3:17; 33:7) to warn them of their sin and the consequences of their sin. The people assumed that their punishment was unjust. They believed they were being punished, not for their own sin, but for the sins of their fathers: “What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?” (Eze. 18:2).
Ezekiel corrected the people’s false belief in their innocence and of God’s injustice. Their punishment was for their own sins, not for the sins of generations past:
Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die. Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal? (Eze. 18:23-25)
Ezekiel also emphasized the hope of Israel’s restoration if they would but repent of their iniquity and return to the Lord (cf. Eze. 18:30-32). The prophet’s vision of the Valley of Dry Bones (Eze. 37:1-14), one of the most familiar events of the book, provided hope for a people who saw themselves as dead and without hope.
Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel (Eze. 37:11-12).
Key Words And Themes
The glory of God is one of the key themes of the book of Ezekiel. The book opens with a vision demonstrating “the glory of the Lord” to the prophet (1:28). Because of the people’s idolatrous practices, Ezekiel bore witness to the “glory of the Lord“ departing from the temple in Jerusalem (10:4-18), only to see “the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord” in a vision of the new temple, the church (44:4).
Brother Denny Petrillo, in his excellent Introduction to his commentary on Ezekiel, noted 12 words or phrases that are key to the book. Note the following and give close attention to the italicized words that highlight some of these:
Ezekiel’s task was to impress upon (that is, prophesy to) the exiles the word of the Lord, explaining that their enslavement was due to their own sinfulness. They had committed abominations by their continued worship of idols. Therefore, God was bringing upon them a sword that would shed their blood—the penalty for their sinfulness. God said that these events occurred so that they would “know that I am the Lord.”
The repetition of these words helps to highlight and thereby identify the themes of God’s holiness, Israel’s sinfulness, individual responsibility, and restoration.
What We Can Learn
The Book of Ezekiel abounds in the glory and holiness of God in contrast to the imperfection and sinfulness of man. In sin, man finds himself at the mercy of a just God. Thankfully, the God of heaven is not only just but merciful and has provided a means by which man can find hope, even in the face of judgment.