Ezekiel is a book of prophecies given before, during, and after the siege and destruction of Jerusalem. It was written by the prophet Ezekiel entirely in the first person (except for verses two and three of chapter one).
Ezekiel is a book about the sovereignty of God. Over 65 times we read: "Then they will know that I am the Lord." It is God's intention that his power and his sovereignty be known and acknowledged. Chapters 4-24 teach that God will be revealed in the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple. Chapters 25-32 teach that the nations likewise will know God through his judgments. And Chapters 33-48 promise that God will be known through the restoration and spiritual renewal of Israel.
What does it say?
The book of Ezekiel is a book of prophecy that revolves around the life and ministry of the prophet. It begins with Ezekiel's call to ministry in chapters 1-3. Ezekiel had been taken to Babylon in the first wave of exiles before the full destruction of Jerusalem that would be coming soon. With his call to prophesy, he became a "street preacher" among the exiled Jews for 22 years. He was called by God to be a "watchman for the house of Israel." (3:17)
In his task as "watchman," Ezekiel warns of the coming destruction of Jerusalem. This destruction would be God's judgment on the sins of the people. He also spoke to the surrounding nations, telling them of God's judgment on their sins as well. But Ezekiel also spoke of the faithfulness of God to one day restore the land and restore his people and bring glory to himself in the fulfillment of his promises.
Faces & Places
In 597 B.C. King Jehoiachin of Judah surrendered Jerusalem to the Babylonian army, and was taken into exile. (The city would later rebel and be destroyed in 586 B.C.) The Babylonians carried away 10,000 of Jerusalem's leading citizens (see 2 Kings 24:14), including the young Ezekiel, who was a priest (Ezekiel 1:2) and was soon to become a prophet.
Israel's leaders also play a dominant role in this book, because much of the blame for the sinful state of the people is placed directly on their shoulders. The foreign king who brings God's judgment upon Jerusalem is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
While the prophetic images are of Jerusalem, Ezekiel makes his prophesies from the land of Babylon.
Key Verses & Themes
Sin:
Chapters 8 and 9 are a vision of Jerusalem's sin. One example: Ezekiel 8:6 "And he said to me, 'Son of man, do you see what they are doing — the utterly detestable things the house of Israel is doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see things that are even more detestable.'"
Restoration:
Ezekiel 36:24-26 "For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."
Glory:
Ezekiel 44:4 "Then the man brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. I looked and saw the glory of the Lord filling the temple of the Lord, and I fell face down."
So what?
Ezekiel, like many other books of the Old Testament, gives dramatic evidence of God's power and presence among his people. God had been personally dwelling with his people in the temple at Jerusalem. But because he was now turning the city over to Babylon, he would remove the presence of his glory from that place. You can read the remarkable description of God's glory departing from the temple in chapter 10.
There will come a day, Ezekiel tells us, when God's presence will never again depart. God will actually come to dwell within the people themselves, and not merely in a building among them. Ezekiel 36:26 prophesies of a day when God will put his Spirit within his people, transforming their hearts and cleansing their sins.
This is what God does to everyone who comes to him in faith for salvation. Jesus and Peter call it being "born again" (John 3:3; 1 Peter 1:23). When you were saved, God sent his Spirit to live within you. The Apostle Paul exhorts Christians to remember this fact: "Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?"
God removed his glory from the temple in Jerusalem before he gave it over to Babylon. God has placed his glory in you, a temple of God, and will never depart.
