Ezekiel

The God-Centered Prophet

Approaching Ezekiel

• Who was Ezekiel and what were his times?

• What are the structure and themes in Ezekiel?

• How does Ezekiel point us forward to Jesus and the NT?

Hebrew names for the books Hebrew arrangement and classification

English arrangement and classification Approximate dates concerned

In the beginning

These are the namesAnd he called

In the wildernessThese are the words

TorahGenesisExodus

LeviticusNumbers

Deuteronomy

Law (Pentateuch) GenesisExodus

LeviticusNumbers

Deuteronomy

the beginning to c. 1400 BC

JoshuaJudges

1-2 Samuel1-2 Kings

Former prophets JoshuaJudges

1-2 Samuel1-2 Kings

HistoryJoshuaJudges

Ruth1-2 Samuel1-2 Kings

1-2 Chronicles

1400-1380 BC1380-1050 BC1200-1150 BC1100-971 BC971-560 BC

1010-539 BC

Isaiah

JeremiahEzekiel

The book of the Twelve:Hosea-Malachi

Latter prophets Isaiah

JeremiahEzekiel

The book of the Twelve:Hosea-Malachi

EzraNehemiah

EstherPoetry and Wisdom

JobPsalms

ProverbsEcclesiastes

Song of Songs

539-450 BC445-410 BC483-474 BC

No specific historical period covered

Praises

JobProverbs

RuthSong of SongsThe Preacher

How!EstherDanielEzra

Nehemiah1-2 The Words of the days

The writings Psalms

JobProverbs

RuthSong of SongsEcclesiastesLamentations

EstherDanielEzra

Nehemiah1-2 Chronicles

Major prophets Isaiah

JeremiahLamentations

EzekielDaniel

Minor prophets Hosea-Malachi

739-530 BC627-580 BC

586 BC593-570 BC605-530 BC

760-460 BC

Approaching Ezekiel

• Who was Ezekiel and what were his times?

• Like with Isaiah and Jeremiah, we consider Ezekiel one of the “major” prophets—major because of length.

• He possessed a heart devoted to God.

• Ezekiel came from a priestly family (1:2) while they were in exile.

• “The hand of the Lord was one him there” (1:3)

Approaching Ezekiel

• Who was Ezekiel and what were his times?

• He possessed a strong sense of calling (1-3)

• It appears that his call to prophecy came “in the thirtieth year” (1:1)—that is, his thirtieth year when he would’ve entered active priestly ministry (Num 4:30).

• His vision of the new temple (40-48) likely occurred twenty years after his first vision, when he was fifty—the end of priestly service.

Approaching Ezekiel

• Who was Ezekiel and what were his times?

• He possessed a strong sense of calling (1-3)

• The Lord spoke to him and “sent him to the people of Israel” (2:3)—the result will be that “they will know that a prophet has been among them” (2:5).

• He ate the “scroll,” which symbolized the word of the Lord given to him for the house of Israel (2:8-3:4)

• He was to speak specifically “to the house of Israel” (3:4), the people in exile (3:11), but he was warned that they would not listen.

Approaching Ezekiel

• Who was Ezekiel and what were his times?

• He was a messenger from God to the people.

• Ezekiel was taken into exile with Jehoiachin in 597 BC; it is clear that he still views Jehoiachin to be the true king of Judah because all the dating in this book is connected to his reign (see map/charts).

• His prophecies occurred simultaneously with Jeremiah—however, Jeremiah remained in Jerusalem while Ezekiel was in Babylon.

• “The word of the Lord came to me”—a phrase that appears 50 times in Ezekiel; “the hand of the Lord” upon him (1:3, 3:14, 22, 8:1, 33:22, 37:1, 40:1); “they shall know that I am the Lord”—appears over 50 times: all marks of Ezekiel’s role as a prophet

Babylon, Egypt, Judah Timeline

612 BC Nabopolassar defeats Assyria and establishes Neo-Babylonian empire

609 BCJosiah dies at Meggido, fighting against the Egyptian leader, Neco (as part of a

Babylonian alliance?); Jehoahaz succeeds—but the Egyptians replace him with Jehoiakim.

607 BC Nabopolassar dies; Nebuchadnezzar becomes ruler in his place

605 BCNebuchadnezzar defeats Egyptian Pharaoh Neco at Carchemish; Jehoiakim shifts his

alliance from Egypt to Babylon; Babylon takes its first group of exiles from Judah (cf. Dan 1:1-7)

598 BC

Jehoiakim rebels against Babylon, but dies before he suffers the consequences. Jehoiachin reigns for three months before Nebuchadnezzar marches to Jerusalem,

deposes Jehoiachin and replaces him with Zedekiah—Babylon takes its second group of exiles (cf. Eek 1:1-3)

586 BC Zedekiah intrigues with other nations (especially Egypt), but ultimately is destroyed by

Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar conquers Jerusalem, destroys temple. Appoints Gedliah to be governor (Jer 40:5)

Dates in Ezekiel

Reference Modern equivalent Situation1:2 July 593 inaugural vision8:1 September 592 first temple vision

20:1 August 591 elders come to inquire24:1 January 588/587 siege of Jerusalem begins

26:1 c. 587-586 oracle against Tyre, before Babylon besieged it

29:1 January 587 oracle against Egypt

29:17 April 571 Egypt assigned to Babylon; after Babylon’s siege of Tyre

30:20 April 587 oracle against Egypt31:1 June 587 oracle against Egypt32:1 March 585 oracle against Egypt

32:17 April 585 oracle against Egypt33:21 January 585 fugitive arrives in Babylon40:1 April 573 second temple vision

Approaching Ezekiel

• Who was Ezekiel and what were his times?

• His message was one of “forthtelling.”

• Ezekiel’s message contained countless oracles of judgment, both upon Judah and the nations. As such they focused on:

• Description of evil

• Denunciation of evil

• Warnings and predictions that God will judge the evil

Approaching Ezekiel

• Who was Ezekiel and what were his times?

• His message was one of “foretelling.”

• Especially in chaps 33-48, Ezekiel’s message turns toward the future and hope: new covenant, new priests, new shepherd, new princes, new temple.

• He used a variety of communication techniques to give his message.

• Many of Ezekiel’s techniques border on street theater or even the bizarre: using an iron pan (4:1-17); shaving his beard (5); packed his belongings and dug through a wall (12); a sword dance (21); the death of his wife (24).

• He also made use of extended allegories to communicate his message (15-17; 19; 21; 23)

Approaching Ezekiel

• What are the structure and themes in Ezekiel?

• God’s holiness and Judah’s failure to be holy

• Israel had profaned their holy status by following after idols and not obeying God’s rules (20:18-21)

• Their rebellion was exemplified in “despising God’s holy things” and violating the Holiness Code of Leviticus (21:6-12, 23-31 [esp. v. 26; notice also language of prophet, priest, and king])

• The result was that they had “profaned God’s holy name” (20:39; 36:20-22)

Approaching Ezekiel

• What are the structure and themes in Ezekiel?

• God promises to restore Judah so that they might be a holy people in a holy place

• God will regather his people on his “holy mountain” where they will be restored to right relationship with him (20:40)

• God acts to redeem and restore his people for the sake of “his holy name” (39:7, 25)

Approaching Ezekiel

• What are the structure and themes in Ezekiel?

• God promises to restore Judah so that they might be a holy people in a holy place

• God will establish his Davidic king over his people and his sanctuary in their midst (37:24-28—esp. v. 28)

• God’s holy people will be established as a new holy temple—exemplifying his presence with his people for the sake of the nations (40-48)

• They will once again be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (esp. 44:15-31)

Approaching Ezekiel

• What are the structure and themes in Ezekiel?

• The prophet’s call and inaugural vision (1-3)

• The Glory of the Lord on his throne accompanied by “creatures”—he comes to call Ezekiel as his prophet, as his watchman

• The destruction of Jerusalem (4-5)

• One of the things that Ezekiel does is prophesy about Jerusalem for the exiles—there appears to be expectation that these prophecies would make their way back to Jerusalem.

• Setting up a mini-Jerusalem to see it destroyed (4)

• Cutting off one-third of the the prophet’s hair and beard (5)

Approaching Ezekiel

• What are the structure and themes in Ezekiel?

• Oracles against the land of Israel (6-7)

• “the mountains and the hills” (6:2)—stand for the people (6:6), who committed idolatry on the high places

• “the land [soil] of Israel” (7:2)—disaster is coming in such a way that everything will be affected.

• Temple vision: judgment against Jerusalem (8-11)

• Idolatrous abominations in the Temple (8)

• Judgment upon the idolaters (9)

• The glory of the Lord departs (10-11)

Approaching Ezekiel

• What are the structure and themes in Ezekiel?

• Oracles about the sins of Judah and Jerusalem (12-24)

• Pack your bags—Jerusalem will go into exile (12)

• False prophets and idolatrous elders condemned (13-14)

• Jerusalem is a useless, fruitless vine (15)

• A faithless bride—parallels to Jeremiah and Hosea (16)

• A parable about an eagle, vine, cedar (17)

Approaching Ezekiel

• What are the structure and themes in Ezekiel?

• Oracles about the sins of Judah and Jerusalem (12-24)

• The promise of divine judgment to each generation (18)

• A lament for Israel’s princes and the continued rebellion of Israel (19-20)

• The Lord has drawn his sword and will shed blood (21-22)

• Israel and Judah’s whoredom (23)

• Siege of Jerusalem (24)

Approaching Ezekiel

• What are the structure and themes in Ezekiel?

• Oracles against the nations (25-32)

• Against Judah’s neighbors (25)

• Against Tyre and Sidon (26-28)

• Against Egypt (29-32)

Approaching Ezekiel

• What are the structure and themes in Ezekiel?

• Blessing for Judah and Jerusalem (33-48)

• The watchman (33)

• Israel’s shepherds and God the Good Shepherd (34)

• The mountain of Edom and the renewal of Israel’s mountain (35-36)

• The dry bones live; the broken stick reunited (37)

• God’s enemies defeated: Gog and Magog (38-39)

Approaching Ezekiel• What are the structure and themes in Ezekiel?

• Blessing for Judah and Jerusalem (33-48)

• The temple restored, Israel reestablished (40-48)

• Four major views about this section:

• Ezekiel’s prophecy found its fulfillment in the return and rebuilding of Jerusalem under Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah

• Ezekiel’s prophecy awaits a future “literal” fulfillment with a reestablished temple and reestablished sacrifices

• Ezekiel’s prophecy refers to God’s people as the new temple; God’s presence is established in/with them.

• Ezekiel’s prophecy refers to the new heavens and new earth when the entire earth shall be God’s temple and he will dwell in the midst of his world.

Approaching Ezekiel

• How does Ezekiel point us forward to Jesus and the NT?

• There are at least 65 direct or indirect quotations of Ezekiel in the NT; 48 of them in Revelation.

• Jesus is the promised Shepherd King (Ezek 34; John 10)

• Jesus brings the river of life to make unclean to be clean (Ezek 47:1-12; John 4:10-14, 7:38-39; Rev 21:1, 22:1)

• The church is the new temple, being built upon the prophets and apostles with Christ as the chief cornerstone (Eph 2:20-22; 1 Pet 2:4-9)

• The land allotment turns out to be a people allotment (Ezek 47-48; Rev 7)

• The new Jerusalem, the holy city, will descend from heaven; God would dwell with humans forever; no need for a temple (Ezek 48:35; Rev 21-22)