Ezekiel

Ezekiel was a priest carried to Babylon in the deportation of 597 BC, called to be a prophet among the exiles by the river Chebar. His book opens with one of the strangest visions in Scripture: living creatures, wheels within wheels, and the likeness of the glory of the LORD on a throne. Ezekiel prophesied both before and after Jerusalem's final fall in 586 BC, and his message pivots on that event, first warning that judgment was certain, then promising that God would restore his scattered people.

The book is full of unforgettable scenes. Ezekiel acts out the siege of Jerusalem, lies on his side for months, and loses his wife as a sign to the people. He watches the glory of God depart from the defiled temple, delivers oracles against the surrounding nations, and is made a watchman responsible to warn the wicked. Then comes the great turn: God promises a new heart and a new spirit, breathes life into a valley of dry bones, and shows Ezekiel a vast new temple to which the glory returns.

Ezekiel insists that God's judgment and God's mercy both flow from his own name's sake: they shall know that I am the LORD echoes throughout. The book teaches personal responsibility before God, declares that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, and promises an inner transformation, a heart of flesh in place of stone, that the New Testament sees fulfilled in the new covenant.