Ezekiel

Ezekiel meaning the strength of God, is one of the four greater prophets in the Old Testament. Ezekiel was the son of a priest named Buzi. Not much is known about Ezekiel's childhood; much more is know after the age of twenty-five. Ezekiel was taken captive in the captivity of Jehoiachin, about eleven years before the destruction of Jerusalem. He was one of the many members of a community of Jewish people who settled on the banks of the Chebar, a river of Babylon. Ezekiel began prophesying in 595 B.C, and finished prophesying in 573 B.C. Ezekiel prophesied for a period that lasted about twenty-two years. Ezekiel was a married man but little else is known about his family life, he also had a house in his place of exile. His wife died a sudden death during the siege of Jerusalem. He lived among the top of his companions in exile, and their elders consulted with him on all matters.

Ezekiel lived in a time of international crisis and conflict. Assyria was the world power in the area under the rule of Tiglath-pilesar III. In 724 B.C Israel raged war upon Assyria, and Israel was no match for Assyria. In 627 B.C the last of the able Assyrian ruler, Ashurbanipal died. Right after the death of Ashurbanipal, Babylon under Nabopolassar wanted independence from Assyria. In 612 B.C the Assyrians under Nineveh surrendered to the rising Babylonians. In 605 B.C the Babylonians were at war against the Egyptians. The Babylonians won and they established themselves as the leading power in the area. During all of this Judea allied with the Babylonians and with this Judea kept her independence. During the last century before Judea was destroyed it was ruled by four rulers and of those rulers, all but Josiah were wicked. Josiah was committed to God and led Judea to him. All the others did not heed the warnings of Ezekiel and Jeremiah from God, and the rulers of Judea chose to rebel against God. God punished Judea by sending Nebuchadnezzar's army to crush the nation of Judea and flatten the city of Jerusalem.

God appeared first to Ezekiel in a storm cloud; God was seated on a throne surrounded by cherubim. He commanded Ezekiel to go to an "impudent children and stiffhearted" and He gave Ezekiel a scroll to eat, showing Ezekiel complete identification with God's Word. After Ezekiel returned to the people in Tel-Abib, God spoke to Ezekiel again, telling Ezekiel to be a "watchman" as a reminder of his responsibility to His people. God did not allow Ezekiel to speak for the next seven and a half years so that Ezekiel could not speak unless it was a message from God. Ezekiel's ministry began with a many performances of symbolic acts, all these acts was a symbol of God's warnings of the coming fall of Jerusalem and the scattering of its people. Chapters 8-11 contained an extended vision where Ezekiel was in a temple in Jerusalem where he saw hateful worship practices. Ezekiel strongly marked woes on the false prophets and prophetesses that were leading the people astray. Even with this he did not excuse each individual from his or her responsibility to God. God told Ezekiel not to mourn when his wife died during the taking of Jerusalem to show the people that God's sympathy for His disobedient people was running out. Chapters 25-32 contains messages against the surrounding nations. This is unusual because usually a prophet's task was to warn his own people, these messages served as warnings that all people could not escape punishment if they did not acknowledge Him. After the fall of Jerusalem, Ezekiel changed the basis of his messages. There was no longer need for warning of punishment. Instead, the devastated nation needed encouragement and be told that there was hope for the future. Beginning with chapter 33, there are mainly