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Ezekiel the Prophet of Captivity
Ezekiel the Prophet of Captivity
During the final days of Judah and Jerusalem, Babylon took a second group of citizens away as slaves (597bc). Among this group was a young man named Ezekiel. We think he was about 25 when this happened. Being of the priestly family, he would have entered into the priesthood at 30 and served the LORD for 20 years. Instead, in 593bc, as he turns 30 (cp. Ezek. 1:1), he finds himself being called as a prophet of the LORD. Interestingly, the last vision he has is when he is 50 (cp. 40:1). He has the dubious job of convincing those of the captivity that they would be there the full 70 years that were decreed by Jeremiah.
God warns him that the people are hard-headed and will not listen. God promises to make him as hard-headed! In order to strengthen him for this job, God lets him see a vision of the glory of God’s presence. It is like nothing he has ever seen, not even in the courts of Babylon! The mythical lion type figures of Babylon are nothing compare to the living creatures that serve the LORD. The glory of the king of Babylon is as nothing compared to the glory of the living LORD.
Ezekiel will spend the early years (as recorded for us in the first 24 chapters) as a prophet of doom and gloom. He not only foretells the continued captivity of the people, he announces the complete overthrow of the Judean kingdom and the destruction of the city/temple. He, like Isaiah and Jeremiah before him, will show that the LORD is not a tribal-local god, but the sovereign creator God of the whole earth. As such, God rules over the kingdoms of earth, including Babylon. Then, Ezekiel finishes his writing as foretells the glory of the return of the people and the rebuilding of their country. This happened but only after they spent the full 70 years in captivity. This happened when God raised up the Persians to destroy the great kingdom of Babylon. This was around 536bc. and Ezekiel would have then been around 85 if he was yet alive. (The scriptures provide no information concerning his death).
Serving God was not always comfortable. God often changed the whole life and career of men like Ezekiel. Their reward would be found in the heavenly realm and not here on earth. Their faithfulness unto the LORD called for them to give up their comfort and earthly hopes. Ezekiel was faithful unto God. He delivered God’s word to a hardheaded and rebellious people. He live out his life as an outcast and stranger in a foreign land. We need to remember that we have been called to faithfulness.
Hugh DeLong
