Ezekiel
Prophet of the Exile
c. 622-570 BCE
Father
Buzi
Biography
Ezekiel was taken to Babylon as a young man in the 597 BCE deportation alongside Jehoiachin. At thirty — the age Levitical priests traditionally entered service — he received his prophetic call in the most visually intense theophany in the Hebrew Bible: the vision of the divine chariot-throne with its four living creatures, its wheels within wheels, and the glory of the LORD above it (Ezek 1). Ezekiel's ministry divided into three periods: (1) before Jerusalem's fall (593-587 BCE), prophesying the city's inevitable destruction despite false prophets' assurances; (2) at the time of the fall (587-585), confirming the judgment; (3) after the fall (585-570), pivoting to hope and restoration. The dramatic pivot corresponds to his wife's death (Ezek 24), which he was forbidden to mourn publicly as a prophetic sign. Ezekiel's prophetic actions were dramatic and personally costly: lying on his side for 390 days symbolizing Israel's punishment, baking bread over dung, shaving his head with a sword, dramatizing siege and exile with props. His oracles are rich in visions — the four living creatures, the glory departing from the temple, the valley of dry bones (Ezek 37), the prophetic rebuke of Israel's shepherds (34, feeding directly into Jesus's "I am the good shepherd"), and the restored temple with living water flowing from it (Ezek 40-48). Ezekiel's new covenant imagery parallels Jeremiah's: God will give a new heart and a new spirit (Ezek 36:26); he will take out the heart of stone and give a heart of flesh. The dry bones vision is the classic OT image of resurrection — the prophetic word and the divine breath together reanimating the dead.
Key Events
597 BCE
593
587
573
c. 570
Key Verses
“the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God”
“I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you”
“Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD”
“water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east”
Spiritual Significance
Ezekiel is the prophet of exilic hope — the one who sees the departing glory (Ezek 10) and, decades later, the returning glory (43). His dry bones vision is the classic OT resurrection image. His temple vision prefigures the eschatological sanctuary of Revelation 21-22.
Typological Connection
The dry bones resurrection prefigures Christian resurrection (and is echoed in Matt 27:51-52 — bodies of saints raised at Christ's death). The river from the temple (Ezek 47) parallels Revelation 22's river of the water of life. The Good Shepherd of Ezek 34 is fulfilled in Jesus (John 10).
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths
Priestly theological precision; visionary depth; personal obedience to costly commands; sustained hope in the midst of exile.
Weaknesses
Severity of prophetic signs sometimes pushed hearers away; a somewhat austere personal presentation.
Lessons
Visions of God's glory sustain ministry in exile. Prophetic signs — even costly ones — preach what words cannot. The departed glory returns; resurrection follows the exile of death.