Ezekiel

Author: Ezekiel

Ezekiel prophesies among the exiles in Babylon, before and after Jerusalem falls.

Outline

  1. The glory and the watchman (1–7)

    Ezekiel sees living creatures and wheels, eats the scroll, and is made a watchman for the house of Israel.

  2. The glory leaves the temple (8–24)

    Visions of idolatry in Jerusalem end with the glory departing and the city marked for the siege.

  3. Oracles against the nations (25–32)

    Ammon, Tyre, Egypt, and their neighbors are judged so Israel will not think Babylon is the only power under God.

  4. Restoration (33–48)

    A shepherd, dry bones, a new heart, and a measured temple close the book with the name The Lord Is There.

Key verses

  • Ezekiel 36:26

    God says he will give a new heart and put a new spirit within the people.

  • Ezekiel 37:4–5

    Ezekiel is told to prophesy to dry bones, and breath enters them.

  • Ezekiel 48:35

    The last line names the restored city The Lord Is There.

Ezekiel is a priest who never gets to serve in the temple he was born for. He is among the exiles by the river Chebar, carried away with Jehoiachin before the final fall of Jerusalem. The heavens open, and he sees a storm, living creatures, wheels within wheels, and a likeness with the appearance of a man on a throne. He falls on his face. He is given a scroll written with lamentation and woe, and he eats it. It is sweet in his mouth. The sign is the ministry: the word is taken in before it is spoken, and the speaking will be bitter to the hearers. He is appointed a watchman. If he does not warn the wicked, their blood is required at his hand. If he warns them and they refuse, he has delivered himself.

The early visions are not encouragement for the exiles who still hope Jerusalem will be spared because the temple is there. Ezekiel is taken, in vision, to the temple and shown the image of jealousy, elders burning incense to creeping things in the dark, women weeping for Tammuz, and men with their backs to the temple worshiping the sun. The glory that had filled the house rises from the cherub to the threshold, then to the east gate, then away from the city. The departure is the book’s explanation of the fall before the fall is complete. A man with an inkhorn marks those who sigh over the abominations. The rest are given to the slaughter. Ezekiel then acts out the siege with a clay tablet, lies on his side, shaves his hair, and does not mourn when his wife dies, because the exiles will not mourn in the ordinary way when the news from Jerusalem finally arrives. The prophet’s body is part of the message.

Oracles against Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, and Egypt keep the exiles from thinking that judgment is a private quarrel between the Lord and Judah. Tyre is described as a ship and as a figure in Eden whose beauty corrupted his wisdom. Egypt is a cedar and then a dragon in the Nile. These chapters are long because the book will not let the nations be a footnote. The same Lord who left the Jerusalem temple disposes of the empires the exiles can see.

After a fugitive arrives with the news that the city has fallen, Ezekiel’s mouth is opened and the book turns. The watchman charge is repeated. Shepherds of Israel are indicted for feeding themselves, and the Lord says he himself will search for the sheep and set up one shepherd, his servant David. The mountains of Israel, which were told they would be desolate, are told they will shoot forth branches. A new heart and a new spirit are promised, and the people will be cleansed not because they deserved the return but because the Lord has concern for his holy name. The valley of dry bones is the picture of a people who say their hope is lost. Ezekiel prophesies, the bones come together, and breath enters them. Two sticks, Judah and Joseph, become one in his hand. Gog of the land of Magog is raised against the restored people and falls.

The last vision measures a temple the prophet walks through with a man who carries a line. Water flows from the threshold and becomes a river that sweetens the Dead Sea. The land is allotted. The city at the end has a name: The Lord Is There. The glory that left by the east gate returns by the east gate. Ezekiel’s book is the long argument that the presence of God is not trapped in a building Judah can use as a charm, and that the same presence can come back when the building and the people have both been judged.

Chapters