Ezekiel

• Born into a priestly family in Jerusalem just before the reforms of Josiah (622 BC).

• Would have begun his priestly duties at the age of thirty in 593 BC, but disaster struck in 598 BC with Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

• Taken to Babylon among this first wave of captives from Judah in 598 BC. (1:1-2).

Ezekiel

• Five years after being taken into exile (and now living in Babylon) God called Ezekiel to be a prophet who would announce God’s judgment against Jerusalem and her people in exile. (3:1, 11).

• He was to tell them that they would be there for the long haul.

• A younger contemporary of Jeremiah.

• Ministry: 593-571 BC.

– The most turbulent years in the history of Jerusalem.

– Fall of Jerusalem 586 BC.

Ezekiel’s Message

• The sovereignty of God as Lord of all nations and of all history.

• Israel/Judah was defined by place and presence.

• But Israel/Judah failed to keep covenant with God, thus they would forfeit the land and God’s presence.

• Jerusalem would be destroyed and God would depart from his temple.

Ezekiel’s Message

• The promise of the life-giving Spirit as the key to covenant faithfulness.

• Israel’s and God’s return.

• Israel’s eventual restoration in the future with their king, land, covenant and God’s presence (temple) ultimately restored. (33-48).

– A NT reading sees this as fulfilled in Jesus Christ and his new-covenant people.

Features of Ezekiel

• Speaks to the imagination.

• Ezekiel’s sermons bring us into a verbal picture book full of symbolic action, allegorical picture, apocalyptic imagery, symbolic visions and parables. – Vineyards, prostitutes, eagles, lions, swords, sisters,

cooking pots, shepherds, sheep and even the death of Ezekiel’s wife become part of his messages.

• Understanding how these work is important for interpreting Ezekiel’s message.

Features of Ezekiel

• Many of the apostle John’s own images in Revelation are retakes of Ezekiel’s as he joins them to some from Daniel and Isaiah.

• With these John forms a whole new set of images intended to express anew the unspeakable greatness of God and his ways.

– Gog and Magog: Eze. 38:3 and Rev. 20:8.

– “Babylon” becomes Rome - Rev. 14:8.

– “Israel” becomes all God’s people – Gal. 3:16-29; Rev. 7.

Features of Ezekiel

• Ezekiel repeatedly addressed as “son of man” is a Hebraism emphasizing Ezekiel’s humanity in the presence of the eternal God.

• Like Jeremiah, Ezekiel is plagued by false prophets, who are saying Ezekiel’s prophecies will not come to pass (12:21-25) or will be long delayed (12:26-28).

• God tells Ezekiel to prophesy against these preachers who “cover flimsy walls with whitewash.”

Outline

• Chapters 1-24: Oracles from the five-year period preceding the siege of Jerusalem (588).

• Chapters 25-32: Oracles against surrounding nations.

– Some of the other nations Ezekiel prophecies against: Tyre, Edom, Gog, Magog and Egypt (from whom Judah’s kings constantly sought help against Babylon).

Outline

• Chapters 33-48: Oracles covering a 16 year period after the fall of Jerusalem that focuses on hope for the future.

• The first word of hope focuses on restored kingship. (34:1-31).

34:1-31

• Using the imagery of a shepherd (echoing David’s kingship), the scattered sheep will once more be shepherded by “David” in a future messianic age.

– Note the role of this passage in John 10, where Jesus announces himself as the fulfilment of this prophecy.

36:16-38

• Israel will be given a new covenant, and God’s Spirit, so that they can live by it.

– It will be “written on their hearts” – like we see in Jeremiah 31:31-33).

– Notice Paul’s development of this theme in 2 Corinthians 3:1-6.

37:1-28

• In order for this new covenant to happen there must be a “resurrection” of the people, brought to life by God’s Word and Spirit.

– So Israel (a much more expanded new Israel) again becomes one nation, in the land, under their Davidic king and in the renewal of God’s own presence among them.

40:1-48:35

• We see a restored temple and priesthood.

• What Ezekiel sees is so grand that he includes its extraordinary measurements, thus symbolizing its grandeur and glory.

• Here we have the worship of God by the restored community of the future.

40:1-48:35

• It is the return of God’s presence among his people. (43:1-9).

• The redistribution of the transformed land. (45:1-12).

• The life-giving river is seen as flowing from the temple. (47:1-12).

• The apostle John picks up and expands on this in his vision of the final city of God in Revelation 22:1-5.

So the book ends with a new name for the city:

“The Lord is There” (48:35).

The book of Ezekiel is a significant part of God’s story as it tells of the final failure of the people of God as constituted by the first covenant, but looks forward to this being reconstituted by a new covenant that includes the true Shepherd

and the gift of the Holy Spirit.