Ezekiel

About the Book of Ezekiel

Ezekiel was from the tribe of Levi. He knew all about the work that the priests in Israel did. But he could not do a priest's work in God's house (the temple) in Jerusalem. He was living in Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar had taken many important people from Jerusalem. He had taken them to his city, Babylon. God had let him do this because Israel's people had worshipped other gods.
God chose to speak to Ezekiel and God made him a prophet. Bible students think that God began to give him messages in the year 593 BC. Ezekiel became God's messenger to Israel's people. He spoke to all the Jews who lived in Babylon.
Some Jews remained in Jerusalem. They thought that they were important. They thought that they were better than the Jews in Babylon. (Nebuchadnezzar had taken some of them there.) God said that Ezekiel must speak to the people in Babylon. He said that he would punish the people in Jerusalem. That was because they had not obeyed his rules. The prophet Jeremiah had already said this to the people in Jerusalem. But they would not listen to Jeremiah.
The Bible says that the Lord God rules all the earth. Ezekiel believed this. He believed that God was holy. And he gave great honour to God. The Israelites in Babylon listened to Ezekiel. They believed that he was God's prophet. Sometimes God spoke to Ezekiel in dreams. Or he said that he must do strange things. Ezekiel had to explain the dreams to Israel's people.