God speaks to the hard-hearted.
In 597 B.C. the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar relocated Judah’s king and ten thousand of Jerusalem’s leading citizens to Babylon (see “A Long Layover” at Ezek. 1:2). Likely included in this group was a young priest-in-training named Ezekiel. About four years later, God called this man to prophesy to His people in their captivity.
Like most prophets, Ezekiel faced plenty of rejection from his audience. The Lord forewarned Ezekiel that the Jewish exiles in Babylon were a hard-hearted group who had already proven unwilling to listen to the Lord (3:7). Yet He also reminded His messenger that regardless of his listeners’ response, it was his duty to proclaim God’s word.
This was a uniquely difficult assignment because to most of the exiles, the worst was already past prevention. Fear of capture was no longer a factor. They had already endured resettlement nearly a thousand miles from home. Family and friends had long been claimed by the cruelties of their captors on the journey and on the battlefield. Still, the people needed to be reminded that their circumstances were the result of God’s judgment, which was far from over. Jerusalem would soon be destroyed, and their captivity would last at least half a century longer. The prophet delivered this message in Ezekiel 4–24.
In addition to addressing the Jews, Ezekiel’s prophecies heralded God’s judgment of the Gentile nations surrounding Judah—Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, Sidon, and Egypt. These warnings were given in Ezekiel 25–32.
The final portion of the book offered words of hope. Ezekiel 33–48 declared that God would eventually restore His people to their land. Ezekiel’s vision of dry bones coming to life (ch. 37) represented part of that promise. The theme of hope continued in Ezekiel 40–48, in which God described a restored temple and the renewal of sacrifices and authentic worship.
One of the most important messages that Ezekiel gave to the exiles was about personal accountability. While corporate responsibility is important (see “Corporate Confession” at Lam. 1:18), the people of Ezekiel’s day had a strong sense of group identity that tended to dismiss their individual need to follow God’s will. Some even believed that future generations would pay the price of their sins. Ezekiel challenged this thinking by declaring that “the soul who sins shall die” (Ezek. 18:20). Every individual must make a personal decision to follow the Lord. No one can depend on the faith of another to gain acceptance with God.
The Book of Ezekiel can make for difficult reading. The prophet’s call (chs. 1–4) is described in highly symbolic language, and some of the methods that Ezekiel used to communicate his message are perplexing. For example, he illustrated the extent of God’s wrath against Judah by refraining from grief when his wife died on the day Jerusalem was attacked for the third and final time (24:16–24). He built a clay model of Jerusalem to symbolize its impending fall (4:1–8), and he shaved his head and burned some of his hair to portray the fate of the city’s people (5:1–10).
These actions may well seem strange to us. But like the people of Ezekiel’s day, through careful study we can perceive lessons in the prophet’s object parables. Fortunately, the book follows a straightforward chronology, with an explanation usually following the prophet’s parables and one-man dramas.
The Book of Ezekiel was written by Ezekiel. The prophet spoke to his fellow exiles living in various settlements, such as Tel Abib, located along the Chebar River between Babylon and Nippur. The primary focus of his prophecies was not on Babylon, however, but on Jerusalem and a handful of nations surrounding Judah.
Key Verses in Ezekiel
• “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel” (Ezek. 3:17).
• “I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them … and they shall be My people, and I will be their God” (Ezek. 11:19, 20).
• “I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.… Then you shall know that I am the LORD … when I provide you an atonement for all you have done” (Ezek. 16:60, 62, 63).
• “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge” (Ezek. 18:2).
• “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son” (Ezek. 18:20).
• “I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies.… Therefore turn and live!” (Ezek. 18:32).
• “I Myself will search for my sheep and seek them out.… I will seek what is lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment” (Ezek. 34:11, 16).
• “O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!” (Ezek. 37:4).
• “The name of the city from that day shall be: THE LORD IS THERE” (Ezek. 48:35).