Ezekiel - Introduction

In the Bible, there are five major prophetical books and twelve minors. The major prophetic books are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentation, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Though Lamentation only had five chapters it is listed among the five major prophetic books because of Jeremiah, its author. The twelve minor prophetical books are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Mica, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Calling it a major or minor prophetic book is not an emphasis on its importance but its length. Hence the term major or minor is just an indication of the length of the book. 

Having completed the book of Jeremiah, Ezekiel is the next book we will spend our time reflecting on. If you had read the book, you would have realized that it’s a book full of allegories, symbols, parables, and even proverbs. Many of the passages seem mysterious, challenging, and complicated and require lots of thinking. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why we avoid the books. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Ezekiel is perhaps the least-read book in the Old Testament. But we are coming to this book for our devotion, not for an intellectual dissection of the book. We seek to hear what God will say to us as we diligently meditate on it, part by part.  

While Jeremiah was the last of the prophets in Jerusalem before the fall, Ezekiel was a prophet God used to minister to the people while they were in exile. He is the author of the book. He was the voice God used to remind the people of the reasons for the calamities they were experiencing. He was the instrument of encouragement for God’s discouraged people in a very dark time of their history. For 22 years he ministered to those distressed people to show them the light at the end of the tunnel.

Like Jeremiah, Ezekiel was both a prophet and a priest. At age 25 he was carried into exile with the elites of Judah. This took place 11 years before the fall of Jerusalem. His first assignment among the exile was to remove the false notion concerning an early return to their promised land. While Jeremiah stayed with the Jews in Jerusalem, Ezekiel lived with the people in their Babylonian captivity. Though in captivity, unlike Ezekiel, Daniel served in the king’s court. There is much more to say, and we will discover them as we move along.  To the Jews, Ezekiel has a message of hope that God would His promise to restore their land, their city, and their temple. He revealed God’s plan for their future.  To us Christians, God’s dealing with the Jews is a prophetic timetable where we get our bearing on God’s eschatological schedule. Let’s brace up for a tough but rewarding journey.