Who was Ezekiel in the Bible?

Son of Buzi; a priest and one of the four great prophets. He was carried into captivity with Jehoiachin, about B.C. 600, eleven years before the destruction of Jerusalem, and laboured among the captives about two years. He faithfully fulfilled his duties, sternly rebuking at times, and yet holding out gracious encouragements. His prophecy is full of symbo and imagery: he not only stated some of his parables, but acted them, that they might be seen as well as heard. His style is vigorous and rapid. Ezekiel's personal history is further referred to under his prophecy.

Of the prophet on whose book we enter we know few circumstances, none save the scanty personal particulars which he gives in the course of his prophecies, bound up with them and expressive of their character. We are told that he was a priest, son of Buzi; also of his wife and her sudden death, a sign to Israel; and of his residence at Tel-abib by the Chebar in the land of the Chaldeans. He speaks of Daniel his contemporary, in his own day famous for righteousness even as Noah and Job.*

But there are no writings in the Bible more characteristic, and none more used in furnishing imagery for the last book of the New Testament, the widest and deepest of all prophecies. Ezekiel and Jeremiah with Daniel are the prophets of the time of the captivity, not certainly without points of contact and the surest elements of sympathy, but as diverse in their tone and style and objects as they were in outward lot, and in the circumstances which God employed to give form to their predictions. It was the place of Jeremiah to be left with the poor in the land, and afterwards to be taken away with those who faithlessly fled to Egypt for a security they might have enjoyed in submission to their Babylonish master where they were; and so he wept and groaned with the beloved but unworthy remnant to the last. It was for Daniel to be carried captive in the third year of Jehoiakim when Nebuchadnezzar verified the solemn warning to Hezekiah; though in Babylon God did not leave Himself without witness, and showed where wisdom and His secret alone lay, even when He had raised up the Gentile empires and made His people Lo-ammi. Ezekiel was one of those carried into captivity in the subsequent reign of Jehoiakin, son of Jehoiakim, when the king of Babylon swept away all the better sort from the land, and our prophet among the rest. There remained but one step lower, the calamitous reign of Zedekiah, that the anger of Jehovah might, cast them all out from His presence, because of manifold provocation and incurable rebellion. In view of this time, though also leaping over the times of the Gentiles of which Daniel treats, and dwelling richly on Israel's restoration at last, Ezekiel prophesied among the captives in Chaldea.

According to Ez. 1:3 the prophet, together with King Jehoiachin, and many noble of the people of Judah had been brought to Babylon in the second deportation in 597 BC. This event is described in 2 Kings 24:14 and 2 Chron. 36:10.

Ezekiel originated from the priestly family of Aaron (Ez. 1:3). There are various explanations for the not very precise date in chap. 1:1, which says "in the 30th year". One explanation is that Ezekiel is talking about his own age (compare with Num. 4:3; 1 Chron. 23:3). Ezekiel was married; his wife passed away on the day Jerusalem was assaulted (chap. 24:1. 18). After he was taken captive he lived in his own house in Tell-Abib by the river Chebar and he was esteemed by the Jews who had been taken into captivity, for they went to see him more than once (Ez. 8:1; 14:1; 20:1).

These verses introduce to us a very remarkable man, who was alike a priest, a poet, and a prophet of no mean order. The meaning of his name, Ezekiel, it whom God will strengthen," is instructive when we remember what he himself passed through as a captive. It was as being directly sustained by God, that he was able to identify himself with the sorrows of the guilty nation whose judgment he first predicts with great detail, and whose final deliverance and exaltation by the hand of God, he describes with the utmost precision.

Josephus states that Ezekiel was a youth when carried away captive, but whether such was the case we have no certain means of being assured, and the general character of his writings would scarcely bear out the supposition. He was contemporary with Jeremiah and Daniel, and his prophecy would appear to open about the fifth year of his captivity, B.C. 594. This we learn from Ezek. 1:2. You will remember that Jehoiachin, king of Judah, was carried into captivity in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar, along with a great many of his subjects. Thus the record stands. "And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it. And Jehoiachin, the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said. And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. And he carried away Jehoiachin, to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon" (2 Kings 24:11-16).

Our earlier meditation concerned an old man, John, on the isle of Patmos, and the visions given to him, recorded in the Book of Revelation, were not only an encouragement for him but for ourselves also. He, like ourselves, was told of things which "must shortly come to pass." The present study concerns a young man, also in difficult circumstances. It seems he was one of the captives carried away by Nebuchadnezzar in the deportation of Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24:11-16) and was thus contemporary with Jeremiah and Daniel. His prophecy begins in the 5th year of this captivity and therefore precedes the final sack of Jerusalem under Zedekiah which came about 12 years later. His service was to show why it was necessary to deal severely with Israel for their sins, and it is evident that his condemnations are much more severe than Jeremiah's. On the other hand his prophecies of future glory as seen in Ezekiel 40-48 are also much more complete than Jeremiah's. To fulfil this ministry he was granted this most amazing vision in the opening chapter. His name means "the strength of God," and how he needed (and we also need) that kind of strength!

A simple reading of Ezekiel 1 may seem to present insurmountable difficulties. The message comes to us in the language of prophetic symbol, and we have to interpret the symbols in the way Scripture uses them elsewhere. Without pretending to explain every detail, a great deal thus becomes clear as we patiently go down the verses. We notice the heavens were opened, exactly as in Revelation 4. Instead of being occupied with, and distracted by, external circumstances, he lifts up his eyes and sees what God is doing, and what an encouragement this is at all times (2 Cor. 4:18)! Thus he sees visions of God, precisely as did John in Revelation 4 and 5. Then the prophet sees, as we shall see, the divine resources which are more than adequate to bring to pass all God's gracious designs. There is blessing, but also judgment upon every element contrary to God's righteousness and holiness. We read the "word of the Lord came expressly upon him." As a priest his normal service was to minister to the Lord. Now, in this special situation, the Lord ministered to him in precisely the same way as He ministers to us in our day. The word of the Lord "came alive" to him in a very special way, a new revelation. We do not need any new revelation today but we do need to get the real gain of what has already been laid up for us in the precious pages of God's holy Word. And finally the hand of the Lord was upon him as was the case with John in Revelation 1:17. This touch of power and love enabled both John and Ezekiel, with attentive hearts and minds, to hear and communicate the Lord's mind for His people.

As we proceed in the chapter it is possible to get some aspects of the passage quite clearly. Ezekiel saw a whirlwind coming out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself. When we recall that Ezekiel prophesied about 5 years before the final downfall of Jerusalem it is evident the Lord was speaking about the forthcoming invasion of the Babylonians. The prophet explains that it was the hand of God which was moving them. Our God is a consuming fire and God was to deal with the sins of the nation in a very complete way, the city overwhelmed, the temple destroyed, and the glory of God to depart. reluctantly, but nevertheless absolutely. From this time God's seat was to be removed from Jerusalem and we have the commencement historically of the times of the Gentiles. How painful this must have been for those divinely taught who knew that the children of Israel were God's chosen people! Little wonder we find expressions of the deepest feeling in the three contemporary prophets of this time, Jeremiah with his Lamentations, Daniel with his tears, and Ezekiel with his terrible denunciations! We notice that in this vision the fire infolds itself, infolding in contrast with unfolding. Presently God's judgments in Ezekiel's (and indeed in our own) day will be unfolded for all to see and what devastations will He accomplish in this poor world! But in the meantime God's secret is with them that fear Him (Psa. 25:14). Surely, says the prophet Amos (3:7), the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets. Judgment however is God's strange work (Isa. 28:21) and the judgments here, as after, are anticipatory of final blessing. Jeremiah speaks of this particularly in Jeremiah 31:31-34 in connection with the New Covenant, and also in his prophecies relative to the 70 years captivity in Babylon (Jer. 25:11-12; 29:10), promises which Daniel laid hold upon in Daniel chapter 9 verse 2. Ezekiel looks forward to final blessing, especially in chapters 40 to 48, with the building and function of the Millennial temple. The promise of chapter 43:1-5, fulfilled in Psalm 24:7-10, could perhaps be mentioned in this regard. But there is something even more wonderful in this passage upon which we must now dwell. Present chastisements and future glory are themselves tremendous considerations, but is there no support and encouragement for faith in the meantime? Indeed there is, and it is found in the four living creatures, the cherubim. These are the executors of God's government, and the detail is complementary to the picture already given in Revelation 4. It is to be remembered that God's gracious designs, as well as the programme of chastisement and judgment, is to be accomplished in a warfare not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, against the universal lords of this darkness, against spiritual (power) of wickedness in the heavenlies (Eph. 6:12). The faces of these creatures, in picture language, tell us of the divine resource. Man speaks of intelligence and wisdom, the lion of strength (it turneth not aside for any), the ox of patient continuance till the work is done, and the eagle of speed in movement. When we bring in such divine resources it is easy to see how easily the battle is won. To quote the thought of another, God can out-think, out-do, out-last and out-manoeuvre every device of the adversary, and we can readily understand how these living creatures went "straight forward," they "turned not when they went." Our God is quietly and effectively moving on to His clearly stated conclusion. Furthermore, the various details which are given in this chapter not only inspire the soul with the awfulness of having to do with God, bringing terror indeed for all who oppose, but also bring courage and comfort to those who know their God. For, as we draw to the close of this chapter, the connection of this chapter with our meditations in chapter 4 of Revelation is clearly stated. Above the heads of the living creatures was a firmament, described here as the colour of the terrible crystal, possibly a reminder of Exodus 24:10. Above the firmament was a throne (v. 26) certainly a reminder of the throne of Revelation 4. Finally, upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness of the appearance of a Man above upon it, and I think we all know who that sets forth, the One who at the present moment is waiting and who presently will come as King of kings and Lord of lords with universal dominion.

Now as Jeremiah prophesied long after Isaiah in the closing throes of the expiring monarchy of Judah, his mournful mission and messages from Jehovah lay up to the last in the land, till he was carried away by the unbelieving leaders of the remnant into Egypt. But Ezekiel was carried into captivity with Jehoiachin by Nebuchadnezzar, and given his place with others at Tel-Abib on the river Chebar. It was in the "thirtieth year" (he does not say of what epoch, but it would seem of Nabopolassar's era), the fifth of the Jewish king's captivity, that he saw the vision of Ezek. 1. It was the throne of the Lord Jehovah in unsparing majesty seen in Chaldea and judging Jerusalem and His sanctuary there. What a solemn change, not reigning, but vengeance on His house and city!

In the prophecy of Ezekiel we have left the touching ground we were on in Jeremiah. He was within with the judgment hanging over the guilty city, and under the oppressive sense of the evil which brought on the ruin, bearing a testimony which, as to apparent result, was of no avail, though it maintained, in personal sorrow of heart according to human measure, the glory of God.

Ezekiel had been carried into captivity with the king Jehoiachin; at least, he was one of those made captive at that time, and he habitually dates his prophecies from that period — an important thing to remark that we may understand the revelations made to him. For himself there is no more question either of dates or of kings, of Judah or of Israel. The people of God are in captivity among the Gentiles. Israel is looked at as a whole; the interests of the whole nation are before the eye of the prophet. At the same time the capture of Jerusalem under Zedekiah had not yet taken place. This occasions the revelation of that king's iniquity, the measure of which was filled up by his rebellion. For Nebuchadnezzar attached value to the oath made in the name of Jehovah. He counted upon the respect due to that name, and Zedekiah had not respected it.

Ezekiel was not a youth, as generally supposed, when he was deported to Babylon, for the matured character of a priest which appears in his writings and his full and intimate acquaintance with the temple service render such a supposition highly improbable. Jewish tradition declares that he exercised already the prophetic office before he was carried away.

The subversion of the kingdom of Judah and the deportation of her king, princes, priests, and people were effected by the Chaldeans on three separate occasions. In the year 599 B.C. Jehoiachin, second last king of Judah, after a brief reign of but three months, was taken captive along with the principal people of the land, including Ezekiel (2 Kings 24). Seven years previously Jehoiakim, with Daniel and other members of the royal family, had been removed to the proud and haughty court of the Gentile in Babylon. The third captivity (2 Kings 25) eleven years after the second, and eighteen years after the first, completed the ruin of Judah. Our prophet was located on the banks of the river Chebar, 400 miles from Babylon.

The most distinguished of the Judah exiles flocked again and again to the prophet's dwelling at Tel Abib (Ezek. 8:1; Ezek. 16:1; Ezek. 21:1; Ezek. 33), and there the burning and eloquent lips of the exiled seer and priest uttered the word of the Lord. The prophecies contained in the book were proclaimed during a period of twenty-two years (Ezek. 1:2), although the prophet's forced exile lasted twenty-seven years (Ezek. 29:17). Christ, Daniel, and Ezekiel are the only persons termed "Son of Man" in the Scriptures, the latter nearly one hundred times.

Banks of the Chebar, Mesopotamia, about 557 B.C.