Ezekiel Bible Studies
The End of the Age and Its Restoration

Purpose of Course: To examine the prophetic utterances of Ezekiel as they relate to the chosen people of God.

Theme of Ezekiel: "Ye shall know [to know (properly by seeing)] that I am the Lord. The phrase is used over seventy times in Ezekiel.

General Background for the Study of Ezekiel:

The chosen people of Israel began as a small group of people who found their way into Egypt and eventually became in bondage to the Egyptians. Finally, being freed from their bondage by the Egyptian pharaoh around 1250 B.C. the now great multitude of people settled in their Promised Land. The Children of Israel would find themselves caught between two great river civilizations, Egypt and Mesopotamia. They were constantly vulnerable to these great powers.

Once in the Promised Land, they were ruled by individuals who were called "Judges." Being a people closely tied to the law, the Torah, they were continually needing someone to settle their disputes and lead them in defending their boundaries. Being people of the Law given by God, their entire history would be a scared history, a nation founded upon the laws of God.

After a series of less than noble judges, the people demanded a king as the nations around them. Kingship became the rule of the land. Under Saul, David, and Solomon (primarily the latter two), Israel enjoyed its most prosperous time. Solomon died around 934 B.C. and the nation split into two separate domains: Israel in the North and Judah in the South.

The Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom in the 8^th century B.C. as they swept south all the way to Egypt. The southern kingdom of Judah was spared until the following century. At which time, the Babylonians conquered Judah and destroyed Jerusalem. Some of the royal court and other Jewish leaders were taken captive into Babylon. They were able to maintain their identity by a strong allegiance to the Torah and to the temple in Jerusalem.

During the 8^th to 6^th century B.C., Israel was the battleground for many invading armies. The great prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel gave their prophecies during this time. They were greatly used because Israel had developed a pattern of behavior that demanded their need. Israel would keep God before their face and the law would be the basis of their lives. They would fall away from God and turn to the gods of their neighbors. Falling away from God, they would become weak and experience the punishing weapons of invading armies. The punishment would bring them to their knees of repentance. Finally, they would experience redemption.

The prophets would always play a significant role in their call for repentance. They also emphasized that the troubles that the Children of Israel were experiencing from their enemies were because of their wicked, sinful ways. The prophets viewed current events in the light of human depravity. Catastrophic events such as earthquakes, invasion, and famine would be seen as a results of the rebellion of the people away from their God.

Ezekiel was part of the first deportation of 597 B.C. by the Babylonian. He found in Babylon a community of Judeans who believed that their rescue was imminent and the Temple could not be violated or destroyed. Ezekiel insisted that their view was wrong and that they were not yet deserving of God’s intervention to save them.

Although all the prophets often had visions and used strange ways to get their message to the people, Ezekiel’s prophecy is unique in the highly symbolic terminology such as the "wheel within the wheel" and "the valley of dry bones." He also used symbolic actions to proclaim his message such as remaining in a particular position for extremely long periods of time. His message is less consoling than it is a message of judgment. The apostasy of the people had caused God to bring about their exile.