About This Book
Ezekiel prophesies to Jewish exiles in Babylon, receiving extraordinary visions and performing dramatic symbolic acts to communicate God's messages of judgment and restoration. Ezekiel, a priest, is among the exiles taken to Babylon before Jerusalem's final destruction. By the Kebar River, he experiences an overwhelming vision of God's glory—a whirlwind with four living creatures, wheels within wheels, and a sapphire throne bearing one with human appearance surrounded by radiance. This vision commissions Ezekiel as watchman to rebellious Israel, responsible for warning them regardless of their response.
God gives Ezekiel a scroll to eat, filled with lamentation, symbolizing internalization of God's message. Ezekiel performs bizarre symbolic acts: lying on his side for extended periods representing siege years, rationing food and water, shaving his head and dividing the hair to illustrate Jerusalem's fate, packing exile baggage, and not mourning his wife's death to demonstrate Israel's coming numbness. Through visions, Ezekiel is transported to Jerusalem's temple, seeing abominations practiced there—idolatry, sun worship, and violence—explaining why God's glory departs from the temple. He prophesies against false prophets and false peace, declaring that judgment cannot be averted.
Individual chapters pronounce judgment on surrounding nations. Then, in 586 BC, news reaches the exiles that Jerusalem has fallen exactly as Ezekiel prophesied. The book's tone shifts toward hope and restoration. Ezekiel famously envisions a valley of dry bones that come to life, representing Israel's restoration from spiritual death.
God promises a new covenant, a new heart, and His Spirit within His people. He will reunite divided Israel and Judah under one Davidic king. The book concludes with detailed visions of a restored temple, with God's glory returning and a life-giving river flowing from it, representing ultimate restoration when God dwells with His people forever.