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August 25, 2025

Visions from a Foreign Land: The Ministry of Ezekiel

by Jason Neill

Scripture reading: Ezekiel 36

In Lamentations, we read Jeremiah’s journal as he expressed his grief over the destruction of Jerusalem. Following Lamentations, we meet Ezekiel. The book of Ezekiel discloses the prophetic ministry of this man of God during what is commonly referred to as the exilic period, the period following the Babylonian invasion in 586 B.C.

The prophets of the Old Testament fall into three categories: pre-exilic, exilic, and post-exilic.

  • The pre-exilic prophets ministered before the Assyrian and Babylonian exile. These prophets included: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah.
  • The exilic prophets ministered during the exile. These prophets included: Ezekiel and Daniel.
  • The post-exilic prophets ministered after the exile. These prophets included: Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

The reason it is important to put the prophets in their proper category is that it helps us understand their context, their ministry, their message to the original audience, and in turn how we can apply it to our life.

For example, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem in three different phases.

  • In 605 B.C., he took hostages captive such as Daniel and his three friends (see Daniel 1).
  • In 597 B.C., he invaded again and took at least 10,000 hostages including Ezekiel and Jehoiachin (see 2 Kings 24:1-14; Ezekiel 1:1-3).
  • Lastly, in 586 B.C., he destroyed the city and the Temple (see 2 Kings 25; 2 Chronicles 36; Jeremiah 52).

In the aftermath of that second invasion, in 597 B.C., Ezekiel was carried away in captivity. It is during this time, we open the pages of Ezekiel’s prophecy and read, “In my thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God” (Ezekiel 1:1, NIV). This river was in Babylon. Taken from his home and now residing in a foreign land, God taps Ezekiel on the shoulder and calls him to preach his messages to his fellow exiles.

The book can be organized as follows:

  • God commissions Ezekiel as a prophet (chapters 1-3).
  • Ezekiel preaches judgment on Judah (chapters 4-24).
  • Ezekiel preaches judgment against other nations (chapters 25-32), and then a message of hope and restoration to Israel (chapters 33-48).

 

Authorship and Date: The title of the book comes from its author, Ezekiel, the son of Buzi (1:3). The beginning of his ministry took place in 593 B.C. (see 1:2-3) and concluded with his last recorded message in 571 B.C. (see 29:17).

Jesus in Ezekiel & Its Application:

In one of Ezekiel’s visions, scholars believe he saw the pre-incarnate Christ. Ezekiel writes, “Above the expanse that was over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking” (Ezekiel 1:26-28, ESV). This vision has striking similarities to the vision of Jesus in Revelation 1:13-17.

I think it’s human nature to blame others when things go wrong. However, Ezekiel 18:20 reads, “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself” (ESV). This passage affirms what we already know: we are all responsible for our choices. The consequences we face are the result of our choices. The important question is: are we making choices that honor God in our lives?