The author is Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, who received his call as a prophet while in exile in Baby-lon (1:1-3). His ministry as a prophet demonstrates a priestly focus with his concern for the temple, priesthood, sacrifices, and the shekinah glory of God. What is known of Ezekiel is derived entirely from the book of Ezekiel itself. He was married (see 24:15-18), lived in a house of his own (cf. 3:24; 8:1) and, along with his fellow exiles, had a relatively free existence.
The book of Ezekiel contains many dates so that its prophecies can be dated with considerable pre-cision. Twelve of the 13 dates in the book specify the times when Ezekiel received his message from the Lord. The other date is of the arrival of the messenger who reported the fall of Jerusalem (33:21). Receiv-ing his call as a prophet in July, 593 B.C., Ezekiel was active for 22 years. His last dated oracle was re-ceived in about 571.
As with Isaiah and Jeremiah, the book of Ezekiel gets its name from its author, Ezekiel, which is the Hebrew yehezkeál and means “God strengthens” or “strengthened by God.”
Ezekiel’s focus is on condemnation (1- 32) for Israel’s sin and consolation (33-48) in view of what God will do in the future. Archer summarize the theme:
The theme of Ezekiel’s prophecy is that the fall of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity are necessary measures for the God of grace to employ if He is to correct His disobe-dient people and draw them back from complete and permanent apostasy. But the day is coming when Jehovah will restore a repentant remnant of His chastened people and es-tablish them in a glorious latter-day theocracy with a new temple.
Ezekiel’s ministry was to keep before the exiles the sins that had brought God’s judgment on them and to assure them of God’s future blessing in keeping with His covenant. Chap-ters 1-24 were written before the fall of Jerusalem to remind his fellow captives that God’s judgment on the city and Temple was surely coming. Chapters 33-48 contain prophecies of the still future restoration of Israel in the millennial kingdom.68
While the key concept may be found in the word “restoration,” the words “shall know that I am the Lord” occurs some 63 times. Other distinctive phrases that are repeated are “the word of the Lord came” (50 times), and “glory of the Lord” (10 times).
❝ 36:24-30. “For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your own land. “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. “And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. “And you will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God. “Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you. “And I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, that you may not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations.
❝ 36:33 -35. ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniqui-ties, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt. 34 “And the desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passed by. 35 “And they will say, ‘This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate, and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’
Chapters 36-37 speak of the blessings that will come to the mountains of Israel followed by the hope of restoration of Israel in the vision of the valley of dry bones, which outlines the clear process of restora-tion of Israel’s future.
Chapters 38-39 anticipate the great global conflict that will occur on the mountains of Israel but with Israel’s enemies defeated by God.
Ezekiel, son of Busi, a priest called to be prophet to Israel before and after the Babylonian captivity.
Christ, the Messiah, is pictured as a tender sprig that will be planted on a high and lofty mountain (17:23-24), a picture similar to that of the Branch in Isaiah (11:1), in Jeremiah (23:5; 33:15), and in Zecha-riah (3:8: 6:120. Ezekiel also speaks of Messiah as the King who has the right to rule (21:26-27) and who will minister as the true Shepherd (34:11-31).
Again, because the great length of this book, only the major sections will be outlined.