Like Jeremiah, Ezekiel was a priest. Unlike Jeremiah he was he was exiled to Babylon. From Daniel 1:1, Jeremiah 52:28-30, and 2 Kings 24:8-16 we get the following chronological events concerning deportations to Babylon. In 606/605 B.C. the prophet Daniel was taken to Babylon along with some members of the royal family and other young men recognized for their intelligence. In 597/596 B.C. a large number of Jews were deported to Babylon and Ezekiel was among them. In 587/586 B.C. Jerusalem was destroyed along with the Temple and most of the people that weren’t killed were taken to Babylon. In 583/582 B.C. another group was deported, probably in response to Gedalia’s assassination.
The Bible Project Summary for Ezekiel is in two parts. Here is the link for Part 1 covering chapters 1-33 and the link for Part 2 covering chapters 34-48 may be found here.
One phrase that is found over and over is “you will know that I am the LORD,” or “they will know that I am the LORD.” As judgment comes upon the people it confirms what the earlier prophets have said. You will notice Ezekiel’s message to those who were taken into exile agrees with what Jeremiah said, they were there because of their sin. Psalm 137 was written by one of those in exile,
1By the rivers of Babylon—
there we sat down and wept
when we remembered Zion.
2There we hung up our lyres
on the poplar trees,
3for our captors there asked us for songs,
and our tormentors, for rejoicing:
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”
4How can we sing the Lord’s song
on foreign soil? [1]
Ezekiel like Jeremiah will use symbolic acts to reinforce his message. In Ezekiel chapter 5 he is instructed to cut all the hair on his head. For most this wouldn’t seem like a difficult thing to do but for a priest it was forbidden. Lev. 21:5 states,5“Priests may not make bald spots on their heads, shave the edge of their beards, or make gashes on their bodies.”[2] This would be seen as shameful for a priest. Dividing his hair into three bundles then burning one bundle, cutting up one bundle and throwing one bundle into the wind to scatter it is interpreted in Ezek. 5:12. A third of the people would die from plague and famine, a third would die from the sword and a third would be scattered. But verse 3 says Ezekiel was to take a few strands of hair and secure them in his robe. There is always a remnant because God is always faithful to His promise to provide a savior from the line of David.
Ezekiel 5:10 is difficult for us to accept, is it hyperbole? Ezekiel wasn’t in Jerusalem to write from personal experience, but only what God told him would happen. Jeremiah, however, was there to see what was happening and he recorded similar things in Lamentations 4:10. In Deut. 28:53-57, written almost 1,000 years earlier, God had told Moses what would happen if his people did not obey and now it has come to pass.
But just as Isaiah and Jeremiah look for a future Messiah who will bring salvation to God’s people so does Ezekiel offer hope to those in exile. See Ezekiel 34:11-16, 23-31.
[1] Christian Standard Bible. 2020. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] ibid
