Prophet: Ezekiel

In Judaism and Christianity, Ezekiel is believed to have already been active as a prophet in the Kingdom of Judah, where he prophesized the destruction of Judah's capital city Jerusalem, but also the restoration of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel in the aftermath. Following the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem, which destroyed Solomon's Temple and brought an end to the Jewish–Babylonian War in 587 BCE, Ezekiel continued his activity as a prophet during the Babylonian captivity.

At the time of Jerusalem's first capture by the Babylonians, they took Daniel and the noble families of the land (Daniel 1:1-3) back to Babylon. Eight years later, the Jews rebelled, and the Babylonians took the king and 10,000 captives, one of whom was the priest, Ezekiel.

All this had happened because the Jews had broken God’s law and turned to the idols of the surrounding nations, desecrating the temple and brutally persecuted His prophets. Despite the losses to Babylon, however, Judah did not turn to God, burt continued to chase the gods of other nations, mistreated the poor and disregarded God’s laws.

Five years after the Babylonians last attacked Jerusalem the Jews revolted again (2 Kings 24:20). This brought the Babylonians to once again attack the city as God's punishment dfor their continued idolatry. However, God din’t leave them without hope. He chose Ezekiel to speak for Him to the people, to tell them the error of their ways and teach them justice. Ezekiel is a "watchman" to warn Israel of the coming storm (Ezekiel 3:17).

Ezekiel sees that God will render justice not only on Jerusalem, but on all the other nations who have led her into idolatry and celebrated her destruction. He will form a new covenant with the people of Israel and will lead them Himself as a good shepherd, and will defend Israel from her enemies in the dark future. Ezekiel predicts that there will be a new temple in Jerusalem one day, and the glory of the Lord will on that day return.

Ezekiel has a number of powerful visions. Among the things he sees are:

The Lord enthroned above the cherubim (Ezekiel 1)
The flagrant idolatry happening within Jerusalem (Eze 8)
The divine executioners who will slaughter the wicked (Ezekiel 9)
A valley of dry bones reanimating (Ezekiel 37)
A new temple in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 40-48)

In God's service, Ezekiel suffers a numbers of hardships. God takes away Ezekiel’s voice, rendering him mute for 7 years, (Ezekiel 3:27, Ezekiel 33:22), allowing him to speak only when the Lord has words for him to share with the people. He is tied to the ground on one side for 390 days, and on the other for 40 days, and eats cakes cooked over cow feces during that time as well. His wife dies, but he is forbidden to mourn her loss. Her death is a sign that Jerusalem will be destroyed, and Ezekiel’s response will mirror the Jews’.

Ezekiel prophecies during the same time period as Jeremiah, but while Jeremiah is in Jerusalem and Egypt, Ezekiel is in the land of the Babylonians. He provides a glimpse of the new relationship God plans to make with His people, that His Holy Spirit will dwell within them (Ezekiel 37:14), and that they will be united under a righteous king (Ezekiel 34:24).