Ezekiel lived during a time of international upheaval. In 612 the great Assyrian city of Nineveh fell to a combined force of Babylonians and Medes. Three years later, Pharaoh Neco II of Egypt marched north to assist the Assyrians and to try to reassert Egypt's age old influence over Palestine and Aram (Syria). At Megiddo, King Josiah of Judah, who may have been an ally of Babylon as King Hezekiah had been, attempted to intercept the Egyptian forces but was crushed, losing his life in the battle.
In 605 the Babylonians overwhelmed the Egyptian army at Carchemish, then pressed south as far as the Philistine plain. In the same year, Nebuchadnezzar was elevated to the Babylonian throne and King Jehoiakim shifted allegiance to him. When a few years later the Egyptian and Babylonian forces met in a standoff battle in southwestern Palestine, Jehoiakim rebelled against his new overlord.
Nebuchadnezzar soon responded by sending a force against Jerusalem, subduing it in 597 B.C. Jehoiakim's son Jehoiachin and about 10,000 Jews, including Ezekiel, were exiled to Babylon, where they joined those who had been exiled in Jehoiakim's "third year". Nebuchadnezzar placed Jehoiachin's uncle, Zedekiah, on the throne in Jerusalem, but within five or six years he too rebelled. The Babylonians laid siege to Jerusalem in 588, and in July, 586, the walls were breached and the city plundered. On August 14, 586, the city and temple were burned. Israel's monarchy was ended; the City of David and the Lord's temple no longer existed.
"Introduction to Ezekiel", pp. 1226 The NIV Study Bible, 1985 by The Zondervan Corporation.
Ezekiel was born to a priestly family. He would have served as a priest in The Temple in Jerusalem had it not been destroyed and he exiled to Babylon.
When I was thirty years of age, I was living with the exiles on the Kebar River. On the fifth day of the fourth month, the sky opened up and I saw visions of God. (It was the fifth day of the month in the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin that GOD's Word came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, on the banks of the Kebar River in the country of Babylon. GOD's hand came upon him that day.) Ezekiel 1:1-3 The Message.
Instead he was called by GOD to serve as a prophet to the people of Israel.
Then I heard a voice. It said, "Son of man, stand up. I have something to say to you." The moment I heard the voice, the Spirit entered me and put me on my feet. As he spoke to me, I listened.
He said, "Son of man, I'm sending you to the family of Israel, a rebellious nation if there ever was one. They and their ancestors have fomented rebellion right up to the present. They're a hard case, these people to whom I'm sending you - hardened in their sin. Tell them, 'This is the Message of GOD, the Master.' They are a defiant bunch. Whether or not they listen, at least they'll know that a prophet's been here. But don't be afraid of them, son of man, and don't be afraid of anything they say. Don't be afraid when living among them is like stepping on thorns or finding scorpions in your bed. Don't be afraid of their mean words or their hard looks. They're bunch of rebels. Your job is to speak to them. Whether they listen is not your concern. They're hardened rebels.
"Only take care, son of man, that you don't rebel like these rebels. Open your mouth and eat what I give you." When I looked he had his hand stretched out to me, and in the hand a book, a scroll. He unrolled the scroll. On both sides, front and back, were written lamentations and mourning and doom. He told me, "Son of man, eat what you see. Eat this book. Then go and speak to the family of Israel." As I opened my mouth, he gave me the scroll to eat, saying, "Son of man, eat this book that I am giving you. Make a full meal of it!" So I ate it. It tasted so good - just like honey. Ezekiel 2:1-3:3 The Message.
The Temple, the adoration of worship in the eyes of the Israelites no longer existed. Exiled from The Promised Land and with the annihilation of the Davidic kingdom, the Israelites had seemingly lost everything that had ever meant anything to them. A priest without a Temple, a people without a king, a nation without a country. But were they mistaken. The LORD their God, the Holy One of Israel, had never left or forsaken them. He would once again remind them that He is their source of strength, hope and life.
GOD grabbed me. GOD's Spirit took me up and set me down in the middle of an open plain strewn with bones. He led me around and among them - a lot of bones!
There were bones all over the plain - dry bones, bleached by the sun. He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I said, "Master GOD, only you know that."
He said to me, "Prophesy over these bones: 'Dry bones, listen to the Message of GOD!" GOD, the Master, told the dry bones, "Watch this: I'm bringing the breath of life to you and you'll come to life. I'll attach sinews to you, put meat on your bones, cover you with skin, and breathe life into you. You'll come alive and you'll realised that I am GOD!"
I prophesied just as I'd been commanded. As I prophesied, there was a sound and, oh, rustling! The bones moved and came together, bone to bone. I kept watching. Sinews formed, then muscles on the bones, then skin stretched over them. But they had no breath in them.
He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath. Prophesy, son of man. Tell the breath, 'GOD, the Master, says, Come from the four winds. Come, breath. Breathe on these slain bodies. Breathe life!' "
So I prophesied, just as he commanded me. The breath entered them and they came alive! They stood up on their feet, a huge army. Then God said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Listen to what they're saying: 'Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone, there's nothing left of us.'
"Therefore, prophesy. Tell them, 'GOD, the Master, says: I'll dig up your graves and bring you out alive - O my people! Then I'll take you straight to the land of Israel. When I dig up graves and bring you out as my people, you'll realise that I am GOD. I'll breathe my life into you and you'll live. Then I'll lead you straight back to your land and you'll realise that I am GOD.
I've said it and I'll do it. GOD's Decree.' " Ezekiel 37:1-14 The Message.
They had lost the outward forms of religion that they may begin to understand the inner life of worship that God desires. A priest ordained as a prophet. A prophet availing himself to God. Ezekiel breathed, lived and was transformed by the word of God, declared God's words to those who had lost hope. A Living God who would ultimately restore hope and life to His covenantal people.
He is Risen,
Sv ".+
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