avatar
Cole Feix
avatarCole Feix3 min read  

Podcast: The Book of Ezekiel

(Photo: Unsplash)

Check out the So We Speak podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Ezekiel is one of the strangest of the major prophets. His life became his message, and he prophesied through the worst period of Israel’s history. But Ezekiel’s message wasn’t all lament and woe. Captured by the glory of God, he foretells the restoration and redemption of Israel, a time when they will have new hearts and spirits to live with God forever.

To understand the prophets, one must read them as “contextual parable tellers” – that is to act out a message with a visual action or prompt from God. Isaiah and Jeremiah also do this. This is how their lives reflected their messages. For example, Jeremiah smashed clay pots as a demonstration to Israel if they did not repent (Jeremiah 19).

Ezekiel was a contemporary of King Josiah who reformed the worship of Israel. Ezekiel was exiled to Babylon from 597 to 571 BC and viewed the exile as one away from the land of Israel. However, Jeremiah remained in Israel during the Babylonian exile. They were viewing the same events from two different perspectives.

The book of Ezekiel is outlined below:

  • Ch. 1-24: Coming Judgment

  • Ch. 1-2: Vision of God’s glory

  • Ch. 8-11: Judgment in the Temple

  • Ch. 16: Jerusalem the Prostitute

  • Ch. 24: Leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem

  • Ch. 25-32: Oracles against the Nations

  • Ch. 33-48: Kingdom and Restoration

  • Ch. 36: New covenant – new heart and spirit

  • Ch 37: Valley of Dry Bones

  • Ch. 40-48: Vision of the new Temple (Ch. 43: The glory of God returns to the Temple)

Two major themes emerge from this book: God’s holiness and majesty and God’s plea for Israel to return.

Underneath the sense of God’s holiness and majesty in this book, we understand and appreciate God’s sovereignty over the nations and Ezekiel’s individual life. God’s sovereignty is not just corporate, but it is personal.

Finally, God’s desire is for Israel to return to him. This plea is recorded 65 times in Ezekiel. Ultimately, as New Covenant believers, we know we can only have a relationship with Christ through his blood and by his intercession. Just as God wanted his people to be with him, we see this same desire in the heart of Christ.

Jesus’ prayer echoes this beautifully:

“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me…” (John 17:24).

If the Father and the Son both strongly desire to be with their people, we are eternally secure and not even Israel’s exile into Babylon could stop their sovereign God from being faithful to his promises.

Brittany Proffitt lives in Dallas, TX, holds a BA in Religion, and is a student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Give

Subscribe to the Daybreak Devotions for Women

Be inspired by God's Word every day! Delivered to your inbox.

More from Cole Feix

  • avatarCole Feix
    featureImage

    Podcast – Villains of the Bible: Haman

    Check out the So We Speak podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.Historical BackgroundHaman is a character in the Book of Esther during the Babylonian Exile. Esther serves as the background of the book of Nehemiah and Ezra. King Darius (from Daniel and the Lion’s Den) had a son named Xerxes, and this is the king who ruled during the time of Haman. Xerxes had just been defeated in a major battle and returned to Babylon.As Esther is selected to be the new queen, we meet Haman the Agagite (Esther 3).

    3 min read
  • avatarCole Feix
    featureImage

    The Temptation of Hunger and Fullness

    In my last post, we focused on the significance of Jesus going into the wilderness—a time of fasting and prayer, a period of deep spiritual focus. Luke tells us:"And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days, and when they were ended, he was hungry."This was an extended fast, mirroring great fasts of the Old Testament—Moses on Mount Sinai and Elijah on his j

    12 min read
  • avatarCole Feix
    featureImage

    For They Shall Be Comforted

    Scripture often contains statements that are counterintuitive to how we think in our human nature. For example: • Life begins when we die (Philippians 1:21). • We are called to do good to those who sin against us (Matthew 5:44). • Salvation is not of works, but of grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). God does not see things as we do (Isaiah 55:8-9). And when we understand how these promises and commands benefit us as Christians, perhaps our perspective will shift from one of possible bewilderment to one o

    3 min read
  • avatarCole Feix
    featureImage

    Why Wilderness Experiences Matter

    Christians have long valued the story of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness as being significant for their own journey of faith and struggle. The story begins with these words from the Gospel of Luke:"And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for 40 days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry" (Luke 4:1-2).The first question we want to ask is—why? Why would Je

    14 min read
  • avatarCole Feix
    featureImage

    The Sacredness of Quietude

    One of the things I love about the first three months of the year is the slow pace of living. After the hustle and bustle of December, the starkness of January can hit hard. But within these first three months, I find myself resting much more. There is more time to read my Bible. There is more time to work on hobbies. And there is a sacredness of quietude. When I think about maintaining quietness in my life and my spirit, I reach for three books that have helped me tremendously on this topic. Th

    7 min read
See all from Cole Feix

Editor's Picks

avatar

Cole Feix

More from Cole Feix

  • avatarCole Feix
    featureImage

    Podcast – Villains of the Bible: Haman

    Check out the So We Speak podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.Historical BackgroundHaman is a character in the Book of Esther during the Babylonian Exile. Esther serves as the background of the book of Nehemiah and Ezra. King Darius (from Daniel and the Lion’s Den) had a son named Xerxes, and this is the king who ruled during the time of Haman. Xerxes had just been defeated in a major battle and returned to Babylon.As Esther is selected to be the new queen, we meet Haman the Agagite (Esther 3).

    3 min read
  • avatarCole Feix
    featureImage

    The Temptation of Hunger and Fullness

    In my last post, we focused on the significance of Jesus going into the wilderness—a time of fasting and prayer, a period of deep spiritual focus. Luke tells us:"And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days, and when they were ended, he was hungry."This was an extended fast, mirroring great fasts of the Old Testament—Moses on Mount Sinai and Elijah on his j

    12 min read
  • avatarCole Feix
    featureImage

    For They Shall Be Comforted

    Scripture often contains statements that are counterintuitive to how we think in our human nature. For example: • Life begins when we die (Philippians 1:21). • We are called to do good to those who sin against us (Matthew 5:44). • Salvation is not of works, but of grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). God does not see things as we do (Isaiah 55:8-9). And when we understand how these promises and commands benefit us as Christians, perhaps our perspective will shift from one of possible bewilderment to one o

    3 min read
  • avatarCole Feix
    featureImage

    Why Wilderness Experiences Matter

    Christians have long valued the story of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness as being significant for their own journey of faith and struggle. The story begins with these words from the Gospel of Luke:"And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for 40 days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry" (Luke 4:1-2).The first question we want to ask is—why? Why would Je

    14 min read
  • avatarCole Feix
    featureImage

    The Sacredness of Quietude

    One of the things I love about the first three months of the year is the slow pace of living. After the hustle and bustle of December, the starkness of January can hit hard. But within these first three months, I find myself resting much more. There is more time to read my Bible. There is more time to work on hobbies. And there is a sacredness of quietude. When I think about maintaining quietness in my life and my spirit, I reach for three books that have helped me tremendously on this topic. Th

    7 min read
See all from Cole Feix