Introduction Ezekiel ministered at a time that Israel was going through its dark days in the exile, the

fall and destruction of Jerusalem also took place at that time. Ezekiel is actually Jeremiahs contemporary though he considered Jehoiachin as the legitimate king. According to the book of Ezekiel 1:1-3, Ezekiel was called to be a prophet on July 13, 593, the last dated event in his ministry took place on the tenth day of the first month of 573, Ezekiel 40:1.1

During the exile period, it was really difficult for the Israelites to re-adjust especially those in the elite class having been used to a life of luxury. The experience was really bitter for them but with time they started adapting to their new environment and situation. They began to build their own houses, marry and raise families and even plant gardens. By and large, the exiles settled and life returned to normalcy. They established their own business, joined the army, took up jobs in the imperial administration and the Babylonian market and were also involved in some Babylonias renowned building projects. They became comfortable and others were even wealthy and so were also obliged to pay taxes. As a result, some stayed back in Babylonia when the exile came to an end thereby making Babylonia one of the most important centers of Jewish life outside of Judah for many centuries.

The Prophet

Thomas Leclerc, Introduction to the Prophets (New York:Paulist Press, 2007), p.278.

Ezekiel is said to be the son of Buzi, he was a priest and prophet whose ministry spanned from 593 to 573, about twenty years in Babylonia. His name means God strengthens and he was also married but it is not clear whether or not he had children. The wife died while they were still in exile.

Ezekiels identity as a priest is very prominent; he criticizes the idolatry taking place in and defiling the temple and reports the departure of the lord from the temple in Jerusalem, Ezekiel 10-11. He expressed concern for cultic purity and impurity on the one hand and the holiness of God on the other hand.

His Call Ezekiel describes how God appears to him in a vision in chapter one, God appears only in his glory, that is he sees only the glory of the lord, not God personally and this appears to him in such a way that he is just incapable of conveying it in human language. God hands Ezekiel a scroll written on front and back with a message of lamentation and mourning woe, indicating the content of his prophetic message to Israel. God commands him to eat the scroll, which though filled with words of doom, tastes like honey in his mouth 3:3. God then warns him that though the people would resist him, he would have to be hard with them as well.

Ezekiel as an Intercessor

One of the primary roles of a prophet is intercession. Different passages in the bible describe the prophet as one who defends the people against the onslaught of Gods punishing righteousness. To carry out this task, the prophet employs three forms: prayer, moral blackmail, and moral pressure. Prophetic intercession often succeeded in its purpose and moved God to relent of punishment. However, in Ezekiels case, we see that intercession has its limits, he shows clear that the righteous cannot save the wicked, the sin of Jerusalem had become so great that not even the three most righteous people in Israels history could avert the coming punishment, Ezekiel 14:12-20. In the same vein, Ezekiel shows that God is no longer touched by moral blackmail, a form of intercession where the prophet tries to convince God that punishing his people would only harm His reputation among other peoples. God has decided otherwise, because Divine mercy rather encouraged them to greater infidelity instead of bringing about a true change of heart in the people. God would enact devastating judgment against Israel, Ezekiel 20:3335.

Similarly, God is no longer moved by moral pressure, a strategy in which the prophet pleads with God to be true to the covenant, the covenant, which might have restrained God and protected the people would now become the backdrop on which God will indict and punish the people. It is the people as a whole who have broken their covenant with God. The consequences are inevitable and unavoidable; God will no longer be bound to a broken covenant. With Ezekiel, classical prophetic intercession has run its course.

Issues of Concern to Ezekiel Idolatry: What has brought punishment on the people is their idolatry and infidelity. Chapter eight describes this idolatry and cultic defilement in realistic terms while chapters sixteen and twenty-three present them in allegorical terms, portraying Israels cultic sin as playing the whore with Baal and with idols, Ezekiel 16:31b-34. It is idolatry, above all else, that is an abomination to God and that profanes the 3

holy name of Yahweh, the Lords Sabbaths, and the land in which God dwells. Idolatry, Ezekiel maintains, has been with Israels sad history.

Injustice: Ezekiel also indicts Judah and Jerusalem for the sin of injustice in addition to the most grievous sin of idolatry. The people have practiced extortion and committed robbery, they have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the alien without redress, Ezekiel 22:29. Ezekiel accuses the people of bloody crimes, violence and oppression, extortion, bribery and unjust interest, he singles out the princes and rulers as corrupt, violent and oppressive, 22:25; 45:8. The cumulative effect of all this sin in both the cultic and social realms, in public and in private, cries out for satisfaction. God will certainly punish the people for this.

The consequences of these sins the people have committed are the destruction of the city and their being taken into exile. Yahwehs throne left the temple and the city because of the peoples sins. The people have abandoned God; now God takes leave of the city and the people of Jerusalem and Judah are left on their own.2

Ezekiels Message of Hope Though Ezekiel seriously criticizes Judah and Jerusalem just like his contemporary Jeremiah, he also offers a message of hope for the future. Ezekiel has a vision of a day when Jerusalem and its people will be restored. Three themes categorizes his vision of the future, they are: God the shepherd, the vision of the dry bones and the rebuilt Temple and the city. The metaphor of the king as shepherd is taken up by Ezekiel in Chapter thirty-four. Here, he condemns the corrupt, selfish and faithless leaders/kings of Israel.
2

C.f Thomas Leclerc, Introduction to the Prophets (New York: Paulist Press, 2007), p.293.

For this reason, God Himself will take over the leadership of the people of Israel. The failure of Israels shepherds leads God to take over as shepherd. Equally, the vision of the dry bones represents the whole house of Israel, as good as dead but would be restored. Israel and Judah shall be restored as one people together, the house of David will be restored to leadership and the covenant reestablished: They shall be my people and I will be their God. Ezekiel 37:27. Ezekiels vision of a restored Israel helps us see clearly his priestly interest. Throughout the book, the pollution of the Temple and the defilement of the cult were presented as the reasons for the fall and exile. Thus, the restoration of the Temple and the reestablishment of a proper cult make a nice conclusion to the book and a stirring vision for a restored nation.

Conclusion As prophet and priest in exile, Ezekiel makes a very tremendous impact in the prophetic and priestly traditions of Israel. His work makes its greatest impact on the book of Revelation; the two books share the same world view. In both books, God sends against sinners sword, famine, pestilence, and wild animals, Ezekiel 38-39; Rev 6:8. Similarly, in both books, the righteous are marked on their foreheads for deliverance, Ezekiel 9:4; Rev 7:3. So we see that Prophet Ezekiel is very significant to us in our study of Israels prophets and the influence he made in later Christian writings and canonical books.