Introduction
Ezekiel was a prophet chosen by God to minister to the Israelites who had been exiled to Babylon, and to warn them of impending judgment on Jerusalem because of the people’s idolatry and wickedness. He was a priest who was born in Jerusalem and taken captive by the Babylonians in 597 BC. Five years later at the age of 30 he was called to minister to the Israelite captives in Babylon. Ezekiel was given strange and interesting visions concerning the coming destruction of Jerusalem and God’s plans for the restoration of Israel. The theme of the book of Ezekiel is, “the knowledge of God.” In God’s revelation to Ezekiel the phrase, “Then they will know that I am Yahweh(God),” is used 65 times. This knowledge is expressed throughout the book as God presents His judgments, explains the reasons for the judgments, and then justifies His decisions. An example is in the 9th chapter, God gives His judgment where every person in the city who does not protest against the idolatry and wickedness is to be killed. Women and children are included in this slaughter which causes Ezekiel to strongly object. The Lord responds by saying, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is filled with blood and the city is full of perversion; for they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see!’ “But as for Me, My eye will have no pity nor will I spare, but I will bring their conduct upon their heads,” (Ezek. 9:9-10). He adds further justification in chap. 11, “Thus you will know that I am the LORD; for you have not walked in My statutes nor have you executed My ordinances, but have acted according to the ordinances of the nations around you,” (Ezek. 11:12). In passages such as this, God’s wrath and justice are revealed through His judgment, and He gives His rationale by which we gain a healthy fear of the powerful and almighty God. Many Christians tend to downplay God’s wrath and focus only on His love. Proper knowledge of God is to understand Him as He is expressed in all of His attributes. In other words, God’s “love” is balanced by His “justice.” His wrath is brought forth through His judgments on the wicked and disobedient. A basic knowledge of Scripture reveals that God’s judgments did not end in the Old Testament, His greatest judgment and wrath is yet to come as revealed in the book of Revelation. For believers, God’s wrath has been satisfied by the sacrifice of Christ, and they are at peace with Him. For unbelievers, they are enemies of God because of their unredeemed sin and rejection of His son which will bring God’s wrath down upon their heads. Reading the Book of Ezekiel with its revelation of God’s thoughts concerning His judgments and wrath should bring comfort to the believer, and absolute terror to the unbeliever.
The visions witnessed by the prophet Ezekiel are among the most colorful, frightening, and interesting. Some of them, such as the Four Living Beasts push the mind to its limits as it tries to comprehend the imagery. Just like the visions of Zechariah, the visions of Ezekiel provide a glimpse behind the veil that separates the physical world and the spiritual world. These visions often presented physical images of spiritual realities that the prophets struggled to explain. The reader is advised to read the description of the visions slowly and to read them repeatedly in order to grasp the images presented.
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