a. Daniel was among the first group of captives taken to Babylon in 605 B. C. [cf. Daniel chapter 1]

b. Ezekiel was taken to Babylon with the second group of exiles in 598 or 597 B. C. If Ezekiel 1:1 is understood to mean that Ezekiel was 30 years old when he began prophesying five years later, he would have been 25 years old when he was taken as a prisoner away from his homeland [Ezekiel 1:1 (NKJV) Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the River Chebar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.] This second "captivity" is described in 2 Kings 24:14 (NKJV) Also he carried into captivity all Jerusalem: all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths. None remained except the poorest people of the land. Yet it was to be another eleven years before the final fall of Jerusalem in 586 B. C.

c. The last dated prophecy in Ezekiel is found in Ezekiel 29:17 (NKJV) And it came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came to me, saying, This would be the 27th year of Ezekiel's captivity in Babylon -- 570 B. C.

a. Chapters 1-32 are gloomy passages about God's judgment. The sadness of the time is illustrated by Ezekiel 24:16-17 where Ezekiel says, "Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke; yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, nor shall your tears run down. 17 "Sigh in silence, make no mourning for the dead; bind your turban on your head, and put your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips, and do not eat man's bread of sorrow." (NKJV).

b. Chapters 33-48 are promises of future glory.

c. At the time Ezekiel began his prophesying, Jerusalem was still standing. False prophets were claiming that the captivity would be short-lived. The first 24 chapters of Ezekiel deal with the time before the final fall of Jerusalem in 586 B. C. After the exiles heard the news of Jerusalem's destruction, Ezekiel became a comforter of his dispirited people.

d. Ezekiel stresses his role as the Lord's spokesman. The phrase "the word of the Lord" is found 60 times in the book of Ezekiel. His message was from God.

1. They had brought these terrible consequences upon themselves because of their unfaithfulness to God. Worshiping idols had cost them dearly because they refused to repent.

2. Look at Ezekiel 5:5-10 (NKJV) "Thus says the Lord GOD: 'This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the nations and the countries all around her. 6 'She has rebelled against My judgments by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against My statutes more than the countries that are all around her; for they have refused My judgments, and they have not walked in My statutes.' 7 "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'Because you have multiplied disobedience more than the nations that are all around you, have not walked in My statutes nor kept My judgments, nor even done according to the judgments of the nations that are all around you'; 8 "therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'Indeed I, even I, am against you and will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations. 9 'And I will do among you what I have never done, and the like of which I will never do again, because of all your abominations. 10 'Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments among you, and all of you who remain I will scatter to all the winds.

3. The Jews in exile needed very much to understand that they were not just unfortunate victims of accidental history. God had executed His judgment in their midst.

4. We'll come back to study the point more fully later but notice the great foundation truth taught in Ezekiel 18:20 (NKJV) "The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

1. The people needed to KNOW GOD [Ezekiel 6:7 (NKJV) "The slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the LORD."]

2. The Jews had thought that God would never allow such a disaster to befall them. They had thought that their idolatry didn't really matter. God was their God and He would continue to protect them from their enemies. They had to be made to understand how foolish this thinking was.

3. Robert Taylor wrote, "The book of Ezekiel shows the utter folly of idols. The Son of man showed Israel what idolatry had cost them. The long and sad exile permanently cured Israel of idol worship. That was one of the profitable fruits that accrued from the captivity period." (Living Messages . . .OT, 296)

1. False prophets were saying that the exile would last only a short time. The Jews were told they would return quickly to Jerusalem and live in peace [Jeremiah 29:8-9 (NKJV) For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. 9 For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the LORD.]

2. Ezekiel 13:9-10 (NASB) "So My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will have no place in the council of My people, nor will they be written down in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel, that you may know that I am the Lord GOD. 10 "It is definitely because they have misled My people by saying, 'Peace!' when there is no peace. And when anyone builds a wall, behold, they plaster it over with whitewash;

3. Ezekiel determined that the people must know the truth. Jerusalem must fall to a siege and the people must suffer [Ezekiel 4].

1. Psalms 137 (NKJV) By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept When we remembered Zion. 2 We hung our harps Upon the willows in the midst of it. 3 For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song, And those who plundered us requested mirth, Saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!" 4 How shall we sing the Lord's song In a foreign land? 5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget its skill! 6 If I do not remember you, Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth; If I do not exalt Jerusalem Above my chief joy. 7 Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom The day of Jerusalem, Who said, "Raze it, raze it, To its very foundation!" 8 O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed, Happy the one who repays you as you have served us! 9 Happy the one who takes and dashes Your little ones against the rock!

2. God was still the God of Israel. Israel's enemies would face God's judgment [Ezekiel 25-32]

1. Ezekiel 34:23-24 (NKJV) "I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them; My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24 "And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.

2. This promise was fulfilled in the establishment of the spiritual kingdom of Christ. No literal David reigns on a literal throne in Jerusalem, but the Lord's house has been established on Mount Zion [Isaiah 2:2-3 (NKJV) Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the Lord's house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. 3 Many people shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.]

1. Ezekiel chapters 40-48 must be understood as prophecies of the Messianic Age. These blessings represent the glorious riches of the grace of God given to Christians. (Charles Pledge, Getting Acquainted with the OT, II, 195). One cannot consistently force an application of these promises to a literal restoration of Israel.

2. God's faithfulness is shown in the fact that a faithful remnant of His people were preserved so that He could bring the promised seed of Abraham into the world. Although God allowed Israel to fall and Jerusalem to be torn down, His people did not cease to exist in the world. The Messiah still would come through the descendants of this generation.