Prophet to the exiles in Babylon
c. 622–570 BC · Old Testament
The priest-prophet of the exile, whose vivid visions — wheels within wheels, the valley of dry bones, the new temple — declared God's holiness and faithfulness to the captives in Babylon.
Ezekiel was the son of Buzi the priest (Ezekiel 1:3). He was taken to Babylon in the second deportation, with King Jehoiachin in 597 BC. Five years later (c. 593 BC), at age thirty, while at the river Chebar with the exiles, God called him as a prophet. The call vision is one of the most spectacular in Scripture — wheels within wheels, four living creatures, a throne above with the appearance of a man, the glory of the LORD (Ezekiel 1). Ezekiel's prophetic ministry to the exiles lasted about 22 years. His messages can be divided into three periods. (1) Before Jerusalem's fall (Ezekiel 1-24, 593-587 BC) — declaring judgment was certain, refuting false hope. He performed dramatic prophetic signs — lying on his side for 390 days (Ezekiel 4), shaving his head (Ezekiel 5), digging through a wall (Ezekiel 12). (2) The fall of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 24-32, 587 BC) — on the very day Jerusalem fell, his wife died (Ezekiel 24:15-18), and he was told not to mourn — a sign for Israel that exile-grief itself would be silent. (3) After Jerusalem's fall (Ezekiel 33-48, 586-571 BC) — messages of hope, restoration, and the new temple. Several of Ezekiel's prophetic messages are unforgettable. The valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37) — God breathes life into a valley of bones to symbolize Israel's restoration. The new heart promise (Ezekiel 36:26-27) — 'A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you... I will put my spirit within you' — foundational for NT teaching on regeneration. The shepherds of Israel (Ezekiel 34) — God himself will shepherd his people, alluded to by Jesus in John 10. The new temple vision (Ezekiel 40-48) — a detailed vision of restored worship and the LORD's return to his sanctuary. Ezekiel was a priest as well as a prophet, which shapes his concern for holiness, temple, and ritual. His writing is full of vivid imagery, complex symbolic action, and overwhelming visions of divine glory. He was never recorded as smiling. He bore the burden of his message in his body and his marriage. Tradition holds he was killed by an Israelite prince he had rebuked.
Second deportation, 597 BC
Call vision
Lying on his side; shaving
On the day Jerusalem falls
Restoration vision
Foundation for new covenant
Detailed restored worship
Ezekiel's significance: (1) He prophesied to the exiles in Babylon — at the lowest point of Israel's history. (2) His new heart promise (Ezekiel 36:26-27) is foundational for NT regeneration. (3) The valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37) is the great vision of resurrection hope. (4) His shepherds-of-Israel passage (Ezekiel 34) is the OT background for Jesus' Good Shepherd discourse. (5) His vision of God's glory leaving and returning to the temple (Ezekiel 10; 43) framed Jewish hope for the LORD's return.
“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you... I will put my spirit within you.”— Ezekiel 36:26-27
“Son of man, can these bones live?”— Ezekiel 37:3
“Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.”— Ezekiel 37:9
Ezekiel was a priest-prophet to the Jewish exiles in Babylon from c. 593 BC to 571 BC. Deported in 597 BC, he was called as a prophet five years later at age thirty by a spectacular vision of God's throne. His ministry combined dramatic symbolic acts, vivid visions, and prophetic messages of judgment and restoration. He wrote the book of Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 37:1-14 — God brought Ezekiel to a valley of dry bones and asked 'Son of man, can these bones live?' Ezekiel prophesied, and the bones came together, were covered with flesh, and stood as a great army when God's Spirit breathed on them. The vision symbolized Israel's resurrection from exile — and points to ultimate bodily resurrection at Christ's return.
Ezekiel 36:26-27 — 'A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes.' This promise is foundational for NT teaching on regeneration — God himself gives the new heart and indwells believers by his Spirit.
Ezekiel 40-48 — Ezekiel received a detailed vision of a restored temple, with measurements, priestly regulations, and the LORD's glory returning to fill the sanctuary. Christians interpret this in various ways: (1) a literal future temple, (2) a symbolic picture of the church or new creation, (3) a fulfilled prediction of the post-exilic temple in some sense. All agree it depicts God dwelling among his people — fulfilled ultimately in Christ and consummated in the new Jerusalem (Revelation 21).