Ezekiel Overview

I. Introduction

1. Ezekiel 1:1–3 “In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin), the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the Lord was upon him there.”

Author: Ezekiel

Born into a priestly family in or around Jerusalem.

Likely a prophetic student of Jeremiah’s, another priest-prophet.

Similar message (Sword, Famine, Pestilence).

Similar vocabulary. 70% overlap in lemmas used between the two books.

Both from Jerusalem.

Both of priestly families

Jeremiah is known to have had a school of prophets under him.

Ezekiel quotes Jeremiah in three instances.

Jeremiah wrote a letter to the exiles in Babylon, which Ezekiel likely received.

One Jewish Targum actually calls Ezekiel the son of Jeremiah, since Ezekiel’s father’s name, “Buzi,” means “despised.” Perhaps this was a reference to how the exiles thought about Jeremiah (Jer 1:3).

Ezekiel knew of Daniel, who was in Babylon, and mentioned him in three places. Daniel does not reference Ezekiel.

When Ezekiel was 25 years old, in 598 BC, he was part of Nebuchadnezzar’s second deportation from Jerusalem and taken to an agrarian settlement of Jews.

He turned 30 in AD 593, when he would have begun serving as a priest. This is when his visions began.

Setting:

The Chebar or Kebar Canal was an agricultural canal that left the Euphrates river near Babylon, watered the land between the rivers, and then re-entered the Euphrates 60 miles south near Ur.

The largest city in the course of the canal was Nippur. Ezekiel identifies his home being near Tel Abib (Ezek 3:15).

The Chebar canal was dug with forced labor by prisoners of war. Whether Jews were present for its digging or settled there afterward is unclear.

Jews and other captives were brought in to farm the land between the rivers. Not a penal environment. They were made to work the land but were allowed to share in its produce.

Structure

Ezekiel’s book is arrange mostly chronologically, with one thematically arranged section as the only exception. Most prophecies dated.

First prophecy in 593 BC. Final prophecy in 571 BC

Overall, a Chiasm

Initial Vision of God’s Glory (Ch 1-3)

Judgement against Judah and Jerusalem—God leaves the Temple (Ch 4-11)

Images and Examples of Judah’s sin (Ch’s 12-24)

Judgment against foreign nations (Ch’s 25-32)

The fall of Jerusalem and the Temple (Ch 33)

Images of Judah’s Restoration (Ch 34-39)

The future temple—God moves back in (Ch’s 40-48)

From Ch 33 and forward, the book deals with events in the prophet’s future and mostly in ours as well.

Themes:

The Glory of God is the major theme of Ezekiel.

Indescribable. Uses “like” or “having the appearance of” 33 times in Ch 1.

Overwhelming. Ezek 1:28, 3:23, 43:3, 44:4.

The glory of God in Ezekiel’s vision closely mirrors the visions of John in Revelation 4.

The Universal sovereignty of God.

God’s glory appears in Babylon, which should surprise us.

He is expected in the temple, but he has left because of the sin of Judah.

He is with the remnant of His people in exile (Good and bad figs).

He is enthroned above the earth and can pass judgment over all the nations (Chapters 25-32).

The individual responsibility of the people of God.

First lesson: Watchman (Ezek 3:16-27).

Explicitly not the sins of the fathers (Ezek 18).

Watchman reprises before the fall (Ezek 33:1-20).

“Then they will know that I am the Lord.” Occurs 72 times in the book.

The main reason for why God is bringing Judah through the captivity.

It works. They are never polytheists again.

Ezekiel is rightly classified as apocalyptic prophecy.

Judgement and restoration.

Fanciful imagery.

Spiritual Guide.

II. Body

Ezek 1:4-14, the Living Creatures.

A storm of gleaming metal in the cloud is the first image, and then creatures begin to emerge.

Four “living creatures,” similar but slightly differently imagined than in Rev 4:6-8.

Seen as representative of OT and NT imagery.

OT: The camp of Israel in Num 2.

The tribe of Judah, Lion

The tribe of Ruben (man)

The tribe of Ephriam (Ox)

The tribe of Dan (Eagle)

Four tribes that camped nearest the Levites and tabernacle, which stood as aggregate representations of three tribes each in the four cardinal directions around the tabernacle.

NT: Irenaeus saw in them the four gospels:

Matthew (Lion)

Mark (Ox)

Luke (man)

John (Eagle)

The four gospels emphasizing four aspects of Christ. These came to represent the gospels in medieval church art for centuries.

The chimera of these four beings is a common Babylonian representation of angelic beings. In fact, they are everywhere in Babylonian temple engravings.

Did the imagery around Ezekiel influence his reception of the visions?

Did the Babylonians just accurately also know what Cherubim looked like?

“Straight ahead without turning.”

Vs 12, 17, 23.

The idea behind the text is that the universe moves in response to the will of God. He remains unmoved.

Frame of reference shifted.

Ezek 1:15-21, The Wheels

Wheels on the ground under, by the living Creatures.

Wheels with eyes everywhere, like the living creatures of Rev 4.

Similar imagery:

Dan 7:9.

1 King 7:27-30.

1 Chron 28:18.

The Spirit of God moves the wheels and cherubim as a unit.

Ezek 1:22-26 The expanse over the creatures

Expanse of the heavens.

Similar to Exodus 24:10.

Sound of the glory of God on the move.

Psalm 29:3-4.

Psalm 68:33.

Rev 10:3-4.

Rev 19:6.

Ezek 1:26-28. The one on the throne.

The one seated on the throne is too bright to look at.

This personage is a guide for Ezekiel throughout the book, a characteristic of apocalyptic prophecy.

Ezek 8:1-3.

Follows on in Chapters 8-11, 40-43.

This enthroned being is obviously meant to be a Theophany. Which person?

It is my assumption that any time a physical manifestation of God appears in human form, it is the second person of the trinity.

The Angel of the Lord.

Here, compare with Rev 1:12-18.

Specifically Christ in Rev. Similar appearance to Ezek 1.

Notice that Ezekiel’s response in Ezek 1:28 is the same as John’s in Rev 1:17.

The call to stand up and write (Rev 1:19) mirrors Ezekiel 2:1-2.

Jesus is, in Ezekiel, as he is in Revelation, the divine tour guide through the apocalyptic visions of the prophet.

Ezekiel’s use of “likeness” or “appearance” is probably due to his inabilty to describe what he saw, but it is reminiscent of other passages that talk about Christ.

Col 1:15.

Hebrews 1:3-4.

Ezekiel’s call Ezek 2:1-3:15.

Matches the themes of the calls of Isaiah and Jeremiah.

The Word of the Lord will go forth, despite the fact that it will not be heeded.

God will rescue his prophet from the attempts of His people to harm him.

God will make them more stubborn than the people to whom they are sent.

Middle Knowledge (Ezek 3:4-7).

Ezek 3:12-15 In the aftermath of Ezekiel’s call and divine encounter, he is utterly exhausted.

III. Conclusion/Application

Our experience of encountering Christ is usually without this level of physical revelation. Does that lead us to treat Him too lightly? Christ is not less glorious now.

We, in our pride, often consider ourselves the hero of our own stories. What does the concept of the Universe moving around a stationary throne chariot of God do to you?

The Spirit animated Ezekiel and caused him to accomplish the will of God where he was, in his “normal” setting. What does that look like today?