A guide to Ezekiel

Who wrote Ezekiel, and when?

Ezekiel son of Buzi, a priest. Prophesied about 593–571 BC in Babylon.

Ezekiel son of Buzi was a priest from Jerusalem who was deported to Babylon in 597 BC, in the group taken with King Jehoiachin, about ten years before the city was destroyed. He received his call as a prophet in 593 BC beside the Chebar canal, and the book dates its messages carefully, running to 571 BC. He was married, and lost his wife during his ministry. The book presents itself as his own account, and most scholars agree that it comes substantially from Ezekiel himself, with some later arrangement by his followers. Its unusual visions and precise dating make it one of the most clearly structured of the prophetic books.

Who was Ezekiel written to?

The Jewish exiles by the Chebar canal in Babylon, before and after Jerusalem fell.

Ezekiel spoke to fellow exiles living in settlements in Babylon, far from home and unsure what God was doing. They had been taken with the king and the leading families, and many expected to return soon, encouraged by prophets who promised that Jerusalem would never fall. Ezekiel's early years were spent telling them the opposite: the city would be destroyed because of its idolatry, and God's glory had already left the temple. After news of the fall reached them in 586 BC, his audience changed from hopeful to broken, and his message shifted to comfort and rebuilding. Later readers include anyone whose faith has been shaken by loss and who wonders whether God has left.

What was happening at the time?

Ezekiel was taken to Babylon in 597 BC, ten years before the city fell. His visions and strange sign-acts (lying on his side, cooking over dung, not mourning his wife) warned that Jerusalem would be destroyed because God’s glory had departed from a defiled temple. After the fall his message turned to hope: a new heart, a new spirit, resurrected bones and a restored temple filled again with glory.

Why was Ezekiel written?

So that “you shall know that I am the LORD”: God vindicates his name in judgment and in restoration.

Ezekiel keeps repeating one aim: that people would know that the LORD is God. It shows God's holiness in judgment, as his glory leaves a defiled temple and Jerusalem falls, and in restoration, as he promises a new heart and a new spirit, gathers scattered bones into a living army, and returns to fill a new temple. It also stresses personal responsibility: each generation answers for its own choices (see chapter 18). The book wants readers to stop blaming God, to receive the new heart he offers, and to expect his glory to return. In the wider story of the Bible, Ezekiel's promise of the Spirit within (see chapter 36) points toward Pentecost, and his river of life and final temple shape the closing chapters of Revelation.

How to read Ezekiel today

Ezekiel can feel strange, so start with the parts that carry the story. Read chapters 1 to 3 for the vision and the call, chapter 18 for personal responsibility, chapters 33 to 37 for the turn to hope, and especially chapter 37, the valley of dry bones. Then explore the rest. Watch for the refrain about knowing that he is the LORD, which appears dozens of times, and for the movement of God's glory: leaving in chapters 8 to 11, returning in chapter 43. Do not force the vision of the temple in chapters 40 to 48 into a single interpretation; Christians read it in several ways. As you read, pray for a new heart and a willing spirit, the very gift chapter 36 promises.

The key verse in Ezekiel

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Passages worth knowing in Ezekiel

• Ezekiel 1

  The chariot throne

  God’s glory is mobile and present even in Babylon.

• Ezekiel 10

  The glory departs

  God leaves the temple before it is destroyed.

• Ezekiel 18

  The soul who sins shall die

  Each person answerable for their own choices; God takes no pleasure in death.

• Ezekiel 34

  The shepherds of Israel

  God himself will shepherd his sheep; behind John 10.

• Ezekiel 36:22-32

  A new heart and a new spirit

  The promise Jesus echoes to Nicodemus.

• Ezekiel 37

  The valley of dry bones

  Can these bones live? Israel raised from the dead.

• Ezekiel 47

  The river from the temple

  Life flowing wherever the water goes.

The main themes of Ezekiel

• The glory of God
• Judgment for idolatry
• Personal responsibility
• New heart and Spirit
• Restoration
• The LORD is there

An outline of Ezekiel