Author : Keith Sharp
Author
The book bears the name of its author (1:1-5), who, as Jeremiah and Zechariah, was a priest as well as a prophet (1:3). Ezekiel’s claims to inspiration are striking. Forty-six times he asserts, “the word of the Lord came to me.” One hundred twenty-two times he introduces a statement with “thus says the Lord God”(cf. Ezekiel 1:3; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Date
Ezekiel is one of the most precisely dated of the prophetic books. He was called to be a prophet at the age of thirty (1:1) in the fifth year of his captivity in Chaldea (1:2), i.e., 592 B.C. His last dated prophecy came in the twenty-seventh year of his captivity (29:17), i.e., 570 B.C. Thus, Ezekiel prophesied for at least twenty-two years.
Life of Ezekiel
The prophet was among the captives taken into exile by Nebuchadnezzar with King Jehoiachin of Judah in 597 B.C. (1:1). He was placed by the River Chebar (probably a large irrigation canal from the Euphrates) at Tel Abib (1:3; 3:15) not far from the great Chaldean capital, Babylon. He was permitted to have his own home (3:24; 8:1). Ezekiel was happily married to a woman he loved (24:16-18). On the very day Nebuchadnezzar began to besiege Jerusalem(24:1-2), the Lord told Ezekiel that his wife would die suddenly and that he was not to mourn for her (24:16-17). She died the very next day (24:18), and Ezekiel did as the Lord commanded (24:18). This was a sign of Jerusalem’s impending destruction and how the people were to react (24:19-24).
It is interesting that the Lord characteristically addresses Ezekiel as “son of man” (cf. 3:17). Ninety-three of the one hundred seven Old Testament occurrences of this phrase are in Ezekiel. This was the characteristic manner in which Jesus referred to Himself, doing so in eighty passages. This phrase designates man with his human weakness in contrast with almighty God.
Role of Ezekiel
Three great Old Testament prophets were contemporaries with differing roles: Jeremiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel. Jeremiah, the eldest of the three, was the prophet to the Jews in the land of Palestine. Daniel was the prophet in the court of Gentile kings and prophesied to mighty rulers of empires about world rule. Ezekiel was the prophet to the Jews in exile (3:4-5). His role was to preserve a faithful remnant to God from among the Dispersion (33:10-11).
Ezekiel was “a watchman for the house of Israel” (3:16-21; 33:1-11). As such, he is a great example to preachers and elders today (cf. Acts 20:28-31). His role was to warn of impending danger. He was not responsible for whether or not the people would heed the alarm (3:11). In fact, Ezekiel was warned that “Israel will not listen to you” (3 :7), for they were “a rebellious house” (3:9). But he was to be just as stubborn in proclaiming truth as they were in opposing it (3:8-9). Indeed, the Jews liked to hear Ezekiel speak, but they would not obey his admonitions (33 :30-31). God told Ezekiel why: “But the house of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to Me; for all the house of Israelare impudent and hard-hearted” (3 :7).
Message of Ezekiel
The Lord will prove to Israel and to the nations that He is the Lord God. Sixty-three times either “you shall know that I am the Lord” or “they shall know that I am the Lord” occurs in Ezekiel (cf. Harkrider, 5-6).
No biblical writer is clearer than Ezekiel in proclaiming individual responsibility. The Jews in exile claimed God was holding them accountable for what their fathers had done (18:2). Chapters eighteen and thirty-three are thorough refutations of this fallacy and marvelous defenses of the justice of God (33:12-20).
Chapter eighteen is perhaps the single most devastating blow to the whole system of Calvinism, which in effect denies individual responsibility, in the entire Bible. The message of Ezekiel in summary is: “The soul who sins shall die” (18:20). Each person is individually accountable to God for his own action. The Jews cannot rely on the temple or descent from Abraham. Neither Adam’s guilt nor Christ’s righteousness is imputed to others. Each person is individually accountable for his own life.
Method
Ezekiel is one of two Old Testament books, along with Zechariah, that fits the category of “apocalyptic” literature. Revelation in the New Testament is also apocalyptic. This means that much of Ezekiel consists of symbols, allegories, and visions (cf. 1:1; 4:1-3; 17:2; 20:49). A number of Ezekiel’s visions, such as his description of God on His throne (1:4-28) and the new Israel (chapters 40-48), have their counterparts in the book of Revelation. Apocalyptic literature was a kind of code language written by oppressed people, so that the message was concealed from the oppressors.
Division
The book of Ezekiel is naturally divided into two parts (chapters 1-32 and chapters 33-48), with the fall of the city of Jerusalem marking the division (586 B.C.). At the outset of each division Ezekiel is commissioned to be a prophet (3:16-21; 33:1-9). Before Jerusalem’s fall, Ezekiel warned a people with false confidence of impending destruction (cf. 5:5-17). After the destruction of the city, he comforted a broken people with promises of restoration (cf. chapter 37).
Outline
I. The Call & Commission of Ezekiel – 1: 1 – 3:21
II. The Sin of Judah & Its Punishment – 3:22 – 24:27
A. The Doom of Jerusalem – 3:22 – 7:27
B. The Temple Abandoned By God – 8:1 -11:25
C. The Leaders Condemned – 12:1 – 15:8
D. God’s Chosen People Condemned – 16:1 – 19:14
E. The Last Full Measure – 20:1 – 24:27
III. Judgment Upon Gentile Nations – 25:1 – 32:32
A. The Border Nations – chapter 25
B. Tyre & Sidon – chapters 26 – 28
C. Egypt – chapters 29 – 32
IV. Restoration & Salvation of Israel – chapters 33-48
A. Hope of Restoration – 33:1 – 39:29
B. The New Israel – 40:1- 48:35
