Ezekiel

Ezekiel's stunning inaugural vision by the Kebar River in Babylon: four living creatures with four faces, wheels within wheels covered with eyes, and above them a throne of sapphire with a figure like glowing metal — the glory of the Lord. Ezekiel falls facedown.

God commissions Ezekiel to speak to rebellious Israel, warning that they are stubborn and hard-hearted. God gives him a scroll written on both sides with words of lament, mourning, and woe — and tells him to eat it.

Ezekiel eats the scroll and it tastes like honey. God appoints him as a watchman for Israel — responsible for warning the wicked or sharing in their guilt. The Spirit lifts him up and he sits overwhelmed among the exiles for seven days.

God commands Ezekiel to perform dramatic sign-acts: build a model of Jerusalem under siege, lie on his left side for 390 days and his right for 40 days representing years of Israel and Judah's punishment, and bake bread over dung as a sign of unclean food in exile.

God tells Ezekiel to shave his head and divide the hair: one third burned, one third struck with a sword, one third scattered to the wind — representing Jerusalem's fate. A small portion tucked in his garment represents the remnant. God's anger is described in terrifying terms.

God pronounces judgment on the mountains and high places of Israel where idolatry was practiced. The idols will be shattered and their worshipers will fall among them. Yet a remnant will survive, and in exile they will remember God and loathe their sinful past.

The end has come. God declares the final day of judgment on the land of Israel. Wealth will be thrown in the streets, the temple will be profaned, and violence fills the land. No prophet's vision or priest's teaching can save them now.

The Spirit transports Ezekiel to Jerusalem's temple where he sees escalating abominations: an idol of jealousy at the entrance, elders burning incense to images of crawling creatures, women weeping for Tammuz, and men worshiping the sun. The corruption is total.

God commands six executioners and a man with a writing kit. The scribe marks the foreheads of those who grieve over Jerusalem's abominations — they will be spared. The rest are slaughtered without mercy, beginning at the sanctuary itself.

The glory of the Lord — the same vision from chapter 1 with cherubim and wheels — begins to depart from the temple. God's presence moves from the Most Holy Place to the threshold, then to the east gate. The departure of God's glory is the most devastating event in Israel's history.

Ezekiel sees corrupt leaders in Jerusalem planning evil. God strikes one dead as a sign. The exiles are told they are actually closer to God than those in Jerusalem. God promises a new heart and a new spirit — removing the heart of stone and giving a heart of flesh.

Ezekiel acts out exile by packing his bags and digging through a wall at night. He eats bread with trembling and drinks water with anxiety. These sign-acts are for the rebellious house who keep saying the visions are for the distant future — God insists: none of My words will be delayed.

God condemns false prophets who prophesy from their own imagination, whitewashing a flimsy wall that will collapse. He also confronts false prophetesses who practice divination. Their lies give false hope and prevent the wicked from turning back.

Elders come to consult Ezekiel but have set up idols in their hearts. God refuses to answer them. Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in the land, they could only save themselves — not the nation. Personal righteousness cannot substitute for national repentance.

Jerusalem is compared to a vine — but unlike a fruitful vine, its wood is useless for anything. Not even good enough for a peg, and now it's charred by fire. God will make the land desolate because of their unfaithfulness.

An extended allegory: Jerusalem was an abandoned newborn whom God rescued, raised, and married in lavish splendor. But she used her beauty for prostitution with every passerby — worse than Sodom and Samaria. Yet God will remember His covenant and establish an everlasting one.

Two eagles and a vine: a riddle about international politics. The first eagle (Babylon) planted a seed (Zedekiah), but the vine turned to a second eagle (Egypt). God condemns Zedekiah's broken oath and promises to plant His own cedar sprig on a high mountain — a messianic image.

God demolishes the proverb about fathers eating sour grapes and children's teeth being set on edge. Each person is responsible for their own sin — the righteous will live, the wicked will die. God takes no pleasure in death and calls everyone to repent and live.

A funeral lament for Israel's princes, using images of a lioness whose cubs (kings) were captured, and a vine once fruitful now withered and burned. The chapter mourns the end of Judah's royal dynasty.

God recounts Israel's history of rebellion — from Egypt through the wilderness to the promised land, every generation rebelled. Yet God withheld judgment for His name's sake. He promises a future purging and restoration in a new exodus greater than the first.

God unsheaths His sword against Jerusalem. The sword is sharpened and polished for slaughter. Nebuchadnezzar stands at a crossroads using divination to decide whether to attack Jerusalem or Ammon — the lots fall on Jerusalem. The crown will be removed until the rightful ruler comes.

A comprehensive indictment of Jerusalem as a bloody city. Princes, priests, prophets, and people are all corrupt — violence, extortion, profaning holy things, and oppressing foreigners. God searched for someone to stand in the gap but found no one.

The allegory of Oholah (Samaria) and Oholibah (Jerusalem) — two sisters who became prostitutes in Egypt from their youth. Oholibah is worse, lusting after Assyrian and Babylonian lovers. God will turn these lovers against her in graphic judgment.

On the very day Babylon besieges Jerusalem, God tells Ezekiel to boil a pot symbolizing the city's bloody corruption. Then God takes Ezekiel's wife — the delight of his eyes — and commands him not to mourn publicly, making his grief a sign to the exiles.

Oracles against four neighboring nations who rejoiced over Jerusalem's fall: Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia. Each is condemned for gloating over Judah's destruction. They too will know that God is the Lord through His judgment.

An oracle against Tyre, the great Phoenician trading city. God sends Nebuchadnezzar against it like waves of the sea. Tyre will become a bare rock where fishermen spread their nets — a prophecy remarkably fulfilled in history.

A detailed lament over Tyre's splendor as a great trading ship. Every luxury and trading partner is catalogued — a remarkable economic snapshot of the ancient world. But this magnificent vessel will sink beneath the waves, and all who traded with her will mourn.

The king of Tyre is addressed as one who was in Eden, adorned with precious stones, a guardian cherub on God's holy mountain. His heart grew proud because of his beauty. This passage is often interpreted as describing Satan's fall alongside Tyre's literal king.

An oracle against Egypt: Pharaoh is a great dragon in the Nile that God will hook and drag out. Egypt will become desolate for forty years then be restored as a lowly kingdom — never again a source of false confidence for Israel.

The Day of the Lord comes for Egypt and its allies. God will break the arms of Pharaoh while strengthening Babylon's arm. Egypt's proud power — its cities, armies, and alliances — will be shattered, and they will know that God is the Lord.

Egypt is compared to Assyria, once a magnificent cedar of Lebanon, taller than all trees, envied by Eden itself. But its heart became proud and God cut it down. Egypt will share the same fate — a warning against national pride.

A lament over Pharaoh as a dragon caught in God's net. Egypt descends to the pit, joining other fallen powers — Assyria, Elam, Meshech-Tubal — all lying slain. A haunting tour of Sheol where mighty empires rest in shame.

After Jerusalem falls, Ezekiel is reinstated as watchman. God declares: I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked but rather that they turn and live. A survivor arrives confirming Jerusalem's destruction, and Ezekiel's mouth is opened to speak freely again.

God condemns the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves instead of the flock. He will rescue His sheep personally and raise up one shepherd — His servant David — to tend them. A covenant of peace and showers of blessing will follow.

An oracle against Mount Seir (Edom) for its ancient hatred of Israel and its gloating over Jerusalem's fall. Because Edom said these two nations will be mine, God will make Edom a perpetual desolation.

God will restore the mountains of Israel — not for their sake but for His holy name. He will sprinkle clean water on them, give them a new heart and new spirit, remove the heart of stone, and put His Spirit within them. One of the most important regeneration passages.

The famous Valley of Dry Bones: God leads Ezekiel through a valley of bones and asks, Can these bones live? Ezekiel prophesies, the bones reassemble, flesh covers them, and breath enters — they live! God promises to reunite Israel and Judah under one king, with His Spirit among them forever.

Gog from the land of Magog leads a massive coalition against restored Israel. God Himself fights back with earthquake, plague, fire, and hailstone — a dramatic end-times battle demonstrating His power before all nations.

The defeat of Gog continues: his armies are destroyed so thoroughly that Israel burns their weapons for seven years and buries their dead for seven months. God's glory is displayed to all nations, and He pours out His Spirit on Israel, never hiding His face again.

Fourteen years after Jerusalem's fall, Ezekiel is transported to Israel and shown a vision of a new, perfectly measured temple. A man with a measuring rod details every gate, court, and chamber — the vision of restoration takes architectural form.

The detailed measurements continue into the inner temple: the Most Holy Place, wall decorations of palm trees and cherubim, and a wooden altar described as the table before the Lord. Every detail reflects divine order and beauty.

The measuring continues with priests' chambers where they eat holy offerings and change garments. A clear distinction between holy and common space is maintained. The outer dimensions of the entire temple complex are given.

The climactic moment: the glory of the Lord returns to the temple from the east — the same direction it departed in chapter 10. God declares this is His throne forever. The return of God's presence reverses the devastating departure and completes the restoration vision.

The east gate is shut because the Lord entered through it — no one else may use it. Rules for priests are established: the Zadokite line alone will minister before God. Levites who went astray are demoted but not rejected — a picture of grace with consequences.

The land is divided with a sacred district for the temple, priests, and the prince. Rules for offerings and festivals are established. The prince has responsibilities for maintaining worship — a humble, servant-leadership model.

Regulations for the prince's worship, sabbath offerings, and daily sacrifices. The prince enters by the east gate vestibule but exits a different way. Land inheritance rules prevent the prince from oppressing the people — power is checked.

Water flows from under the temple threshold, growing from ankle-deep to a river that cannot be crossed. Wherever the river flows, everything lives — even the Dead Sea teems with fish. Trees along its banks bear fruit every month with leaves for healing. A vision of paradise restored.

The land is divided among the twelve tribes in parallel horizontal strips, with the sacred district at the center. The city has twelve gates named for the tribes. The book ends with its most beautiful statement: the name of the city from that time on shall be The Lord Is There — Yahweh Shammah.