The Book of Ezekiel

Witnesses to Hope

Just as Nebuchadnezzar found himself at the crossroads (Ezek 21:26), so also, the beginning of the sixth century B.C. marked a period of profound crisis for the people of God. It was in this moment that the prophet Ezekiel delivered his clear, penetrating diagnosis of the situation. He was a priest who had been deported from Israel at the end of the first Babylonian campaign against Judah in 598 B.C. It was there in Babylon, where he lived among his fellow countrymen who had been exiled so far away from their homeland, that Ezekiel pronounced the sentence of God upon his people. (This fact made it difficult for the Jewish scholars to accept this Book, for it was written outside of the boundaries of Israel.) With words and symbolic actions, he waited for, proclaimed, and commented upon a new invasion that would end with the total destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. Those living in exile clung to their false hopes for deliverance, but Ezekiel did not. Through his insight, which came from his gift of inspiration, he was able to see that his world as he knew it was coming to an end. His visions all but crushed him. He speaks of how the message was sweet to proclaim, but how difficult it was to digest (2:1ff). He was not even able to mourn the death of his beloved wife (24:15ff), an indication of how the people in exile were to respond to the news that the temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed (for its destruction was a fulfillment of God’s judgment that the people were to accept obediently).

He speaks of Jerusalem as being an unfaithful wife, mocked by those around her (16:57; 23:12-17). God had cared for her and protected her from all of her enemies, but she had turned her back on him. She would be shamed and wounded (16:39-40). Her end was at hand (7:6). Her “watchman” (3:17) never rested, for the prophet condemned her day by day without rest. Slowly, bit by bit, her agony was to be fulfilled. Some would understand her fate, but most would not, for she possessed a rebellious spirit (2:5). Her evil choices had corrupted the children of Israel for far too long. She could be healed only by a powerful intervention on the part of God (16:3, 33f; 20:8; 23:3). She was concerned only with her own riches, her adornments (7:2). She had forgotten and rejected God, turning to idols (14:1-11; 22:12; 23:35). Prideful, idolatrous, forgetful of and disrespectful to God: these were the evils that the people had continuously committed. The prophet knew that he had to confront Israel with her sinfulness, for he was responsible for this warning (33:1ff). Yet, ultimately, they were responsible for their own fate, for each person is responsible for his own sins (14:12ff; 18:1ff).

When the crisis came, the exiles were thrown into despair. They had been cast out from the city where they had hoped to find refuge. They were sent off into a foreign land. They found themselves crying by the waters of Babylon as they remembered Zion (see Ps 136:1).

Suddenly, unexpectedly, a prophet appeared in their midst (2:5). He had judged their past and censured their present. Eventually, he would speak of their future. The ferocious beasts who had brought God’s judgment down upon Israel were about to pay for their monstrous pride (chs. 25–32). These condemnations are painful for us to listen to, for we have been spoiled by the merciful message of the Gospels. But the revenge that Ezekiel seeks is not a question of an eye for an eye. What the prophet was trying to emphasize is the overwhelming might of God, his holiness.

The future would be a time of renewal. The children of Israel would have a new heart in which a new spirit lived (36:26f). They would bear the word of God upon their foreheads, giving witness to their faith in thought and action (9:4ff). They would worship in a new temple. All of Jerusalem would be rebuilt as the center of a new and faithful Israel (chs. 40–48). The condemnations of the past would be over, and the people would live in hope for the future.

Ezekiel is a prophet who proclaims a radical renewal of Israel. He speaks of a new covenant which, unlike the previous covenant that had been written upon stone, would be written upon the hearts of the people of Israel (36:26). His message is the same that was preached by Jesus, especially as it is recorded in the Gospel of John. One would come who would heal, not only the disgrace of the nations (36:7), but also the sin of the house of Judah (4:6). The one to come would take away the sins of the world (Jn 1:29; 1 Jn 2:2).

Both the fourth Gospel and the Book of Revelation frequently borrow images and phrases from the Book of Ezekiel. They use them to proclaim that God is willing to live in the midst of his people (37:27), especially in the person of Jesus Christ (Jn 1:14; Rev 21:3). He is the new temple, the site of a sincere and universal worship of God (Jn 2:21; 4:21, 24). He gives new birth in water and spirit (36:25, 27; Jn 3:5). He is the Good Shepherd who leads and gathers his people (37:24; Jn 10:16) and fills them with life (Jn 11:17-44), thus fulfilling the prophecy of the dry bones found in Ezekiel 37.

Much of the imagery of the Book of Revelation is taken from the Book of Ezekiel: the four living creatures (1:5; Rev 4:6-8); the throne from which springs a stream of water (47:1-12; Rev 22:1f); Jerusalem, the Lord’s bride (Rev 21:9); the Lord, temple of his people (11:16; Rev 21:22); the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev 21). These images come from a deep symbolism through which Ezekiel communicates his somewhat challenging message of condemnation, but it is a punishment that leads to hope and renewal (the same message as that proclaimed in the Book of Revelation).

The Book of Ezekiel may be divided as follows:

I: Call of the Prophet (1:1—3:27)

II: Before the Siege of Jerusalem (4:1—24:27)

III: Prophecies against Foreign Nations (25:1—32:32)

IV: Israel’s Restoration (33:1—39:29)

V: The New Israel (40:1—48:35)