Ezekiel

Ezekiel, a priest carried to Babylon before Jerusalem's fall, became the great prophet of the exile. Through dramatic visions and acted-out signs he confronted his fellow exiles with God's holiness and, after the city fell, lifted their eyes to a promised restoration.

Visions by the river Chebar

Among the captives by the river Chebar, Ezekiel saw the heavens opened — wheels within wheels, living creatures, and the glory of the LORD enthroned above them (Ezekiel 1). Commissioned as a "watchman unto the house of Israel" (Ezekiel 3:17), he was made accountable to warn the people.

Sign-acts and judgment

Ezekiel enacted his message in startling ways — lying on his side, shaving his head, refusing to mourn his wife — to portray the coming siege. He saw the glory of God depart from the temple (Ezekiel 10) and insisted that "the soul that sinneth, it shall die" — each person accountable before God (Ezekiel 18:20).

The valley of dry bones

After Jerusalem fell, Ezekiel's message turned to hope. In his most famous vision a valley of dry bones came together, took on flesh, and lived by the breath of God — a promise to revive a "dead" Israel: "I will put my spirit in you, and ye shall live" (Ezekiel 37:14).

A new temple

The book closes with an expansive vision of a restored temple and a renewed land, from which flows a life-giving river, and a city named "The LORD is there" (Ezekiel 48:35) — a picture echoed in Revelation's New Jerusalem.