Ezekiel: God’s Prophet in Exile
Lesson 1 Notes: Ezekiel 1–2
Gaining Perspective through Glimpses in Ezekiel
Our Approach to Ezekiel
Themes arising from Israel’s history—rejection, repentance, return, reconstruction, restoration—echo throughout our study this year. Israel’s history incorporates not only Old Testament books recording factual details but also God’s timely words spoken to His people through His commissioned prophets.
Focus Verse
“Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.” (Ezekiel 1:28)
Outline
• Gaining Perspective through Glimpses in Ezekiel • Ezekiel’s Vision of God’s Glory – Ezekiel 1 • Ezekiel’s Commission as God’s Messenger – Ezekiel 2
Engage
Have you ever felt desperate or deserted? Do you think God sees you, hears you, or helps you when you feel this way? Many times, life’s struggles come as self-imposed difficulties or result from the choices of others. God is not distant or removed from our trials and trauma. Nor does He sit idly by when people face the consequences of their sin. Sin’s wreckage does not strip away God’s compassion for sinners, even as His righteous judgment falls. The all-powerful God takes the initiative to warn of sin’s cost and call sinners to Himself. Hardship offers an invitation to respond to God. When we offer Him our brokenness in humble repentance, God raises us up to know Him and even speak for Him.
God’s hand came upon an exiled priest named Ezekiel, who was displaced and disillusioned beside a river in the Babylonian Empire. The heavens opened as God communicated His presence and power through an astoundingly intense vision of His glory. The ominous scene flattened Ezekiel. God called Ezekiel to speak to His exiled people, raising him up as His chosen and empowered prophet. God did not leave His rebellious people without a faithful witness as they experienced His promised judgment and awaited more. God seeks and speaks to rebellious people. Ezekiel’s experience reflects God’s heart. God persistently reaches toward wayward people, calling them to Himself even as they experience sin’s consequences.
Gaining Perspective through Glimpses in Ezekiel
Our Approach to Ezekiel
From Daniel to Malachi, God’s redeeming love for His people resonates through these prophetic voices, declaring His consistent and persistent devotion to a people who have turned against Him. At times, God acts in tough love, doing what is necessary to bring His loved ones back to Him. In the end, God fulfills the promises He has made since the beginning of humanity.
While the book of Ezekiel itself merits a stand-alone study, two lessons from Ezekiel’s 48-chapter book provide a helpful launchpad for the entire People of the Promise: Exile & Return study. Ezekiel sets the stage for us, recalling the reasons for Israel’s exile and God’s promise to restore His people. These two lessons set the context for our Old Testament study that details God’s work through His people during and beyond their exile. First, we will explore Ezekiel 1–2, which covers Ezekiel’s awe-inspiring vision of God’s ever-present glory and his commission to a difficult role as God’s prophet. Second, we will jump ahead to Ezekiel 36:16–37:28, where we will consider Ezekiel’s visions foretelling God’s promises of restorative work within His people. God’s ongoing investment in His exiled people reveals His unconditional love and faithfulness to accomplish everything He promises.
An Introduction to Ezekiel
The book of Ezekiel contains God’s timely message, delivered through His prophet, for His exiled people. Ezekiel’s 48 chapters include visions, prophecy, symbols, and many details that may seem strange to today’s readers. However, this book offers rich expressions of God’s majesty, His redemptive plan, and His ultimate good for His people.
The rest of Ezekiel’s book captures the outworking of the vision and commission we are studying this week. Ezekiel demonstrated the faithfulness of a humble servant who simply spoke what God declared to be true, including God’s rightful authority to judge sin. Although the book contains many sobering predictions of coming judgment,¹ Ezekiel’s challenging mission and messages also offer hope. He criticized Israel’s leaders for failing as shepherds of the people, but he promised a new shepherd from David’s house will rule.² God prophesied through Ezekiel that His people would return to their homeland after exile.³ He offered a beautifully symbolic picture of the spiritual restoration of God’s people.⁴ Ezekiel also described reconstruction of God’s temple and restoration of worship, likely pointing to the future time when God reigns on earth.⁵
¹ Messages of coming judgment: Ezekiel 4–32
² New shepherd: Ezekiel 34
³ Return to homeland prophesied: Ezekiel 36
⁴ God’s people restored: Ezekiel 11:14-25; 37–39
⁵ Worship reinstated: Ezekiel 40–48
Who Is Ezekiel?
His role: God commissioned Ezekiel, an Israelite priest, to warn His exiled people and give them hope beyond the exile.
His message: God righteously judges sin but remains faithful to His people so the nations will know He is Lord.
Images to remember: Creatures, wheels, and throne (chapter 1); the valley of dry bones (chapter 37)
Sin brings consequences. Because the Israelites disregarded God and rebelled against Him, He sent enemy nations to take them captive. First the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to Assyria in 722 BC.⁶ Then the Southern Kingdom of Judah fell to the Babylonians, culminating in Jerusalem’s fall in 586 BC.⁷ God sent prophets, including Ezekiel, to help His people make sense of their dire circumstances. The term “Israelites” often refers to the people from both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. Though the divided kingdom suffered under different nations, God sent all His people into exile because of their sin. Our study enters Israel’s history during the Babylonian exile as God continued to speak to His people and work out His plan for them.
⁶ Israel’s fall to Assyria: 2 Kings 17:1-23
⁷ Judah’s fall to Babylon: 2 Kings 24–25; 2 Chronicles 36
Ezekiel’s Vision of God’s Glory – Ezekiel 1
The Author and Setting – 1:1-3
The book opens, “In my thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.” God’s Word came to Ezekiel on a date etched firmly in his mind. The time stamp Ezekiel provided indicates that he came to Babylon in one of the waves of captives deported prior to Jerusalem’s fall.⁸ God positioned different prophets with unique roles, revealing His desire to bring His people restoration and wholeness. A contemporary of Jeremiah and Daniel,⁹ Ezekiel had a different role than Daniel, whom God positioned within the palace as a leading administrator in Babylon. God called Ezekiel to a long and painful process of warning but also offering hope to the exiled people themselves.
Like modern-day refugees or hostages, the Jews found themselves in Babylon, separated from their homeland, the Jerusalem temple, and everything that felt normal. Psalm 137 expresses the pain of the displaced Israelites: “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.” God’s people hung their harps on foreign trees, unable to sing their familiar, joyful songs. Though many Israelites exiled in Babylon eventually chose to settle there, many fondly remembered their past and grieved. However, God saw His people in their disoriented state and continued to speak to them.
The word of the Lord came in a powerful vision to Ezekiel, a 30-year-old man whose heritage destined him to serve as a priest in the Jerusalem temple. Instead, he found himself beside the Kebar River, likely a manmade irrigation canal. Though sidelined as an exiled priest, God called Ezekiel to serve as a prophet. The last phrase in verse 3 bursts brightly through circumstances that otherwise appear hopeless: “There the hand of the Lord was on him.” Stranded in a foreign land but upheld by God, Ezekiel received his divine summons to serve as God’s spokesman.
Ezekiel’s prophetic ministry began with a majestic vision of God’s glory. The Bible records other messengers who glimpsed God’s glory.¹⁰ In every case, the prophets struggled to adequately describe the sensory details they saw and heard. Certainly, the symbolism within those visions can be difficult to interpret. Ezekiel’s vision uniquely roils with kinetic energy—constant movement and activity he could scarcely capture—in sharp contrast to Isaiah’s more static vision of God in His temple. Ezekiel’s vision seems more troubling than comforting, focusing on God’s coming judgment. Yet the fast-moving details within Ezekiel’s vision reveal powerful truths about God. His vision emerges with three distinct elements: the four living creatures, the wheels, and the throne of God’s glory.
⁸ Exile: 2 Kings 24:8-16
⁹ Daniel: Ezekiel 14:14, 20
¹⁰ Visions of God’s glory: Exodus 33:12-23; Isaiah 6:1-4; Revelation 4
The Four Living Creatures – 1:4-14
Ezekiel saw a windstorm with flashing lightning coming from the north. For Israel, only enemies came from the north.¹¹ This foreboding storm represented not a human enemy but God Himself. The ominous sights and sounds conveyed God’s power and looming disaster as He now came against His people in just judgment.
Ezekiel saw four living creatures he could scarcely describe, much like the heavenly creatures in John’s vision in Revelation 4.¹² The creatures, later identified as cherubim,¹³ had four wings, calf-like feet in gleaming bronze, and human hands under their wings. Scripture reveals cherubim as heavenly guardians and celebrants of God’s holiness.¹⁴ Powerful and present beings, cherubim honor God. These creatures had a combination of angelic, human, and animal-like features and four faces, each relating to a different order of creation:
• Human being—the highest order of creation, bearing God’s image • Lion—the mightiest among the wild animals • Ox—the most magnificent among domestic animals • Eagle—the mightiest among the birds
These mysterious, terrifying creatures could dart in multiple directions without turning. Verse 12 tells us the creatures went straight ahead, wherever the Spirit would go. Brilliant light, like fire or burning torches, accompanied their decisive movements.
¹¹ Enemies from the north: Isaiah 14:31; Jeremiah 1:13-15; 4:6; Joel 2:20
¹² John’s vision: Revelation 4:6-9
¹³ Cherubim: Ezekiel 10
¹⁴ Guardians of God’s holiness: Genesis 3:24; Exodus 25:18-22; 26:1; 1 Samuel 4:4; 2 Kings 19:15; Psalm 99:1
The Wheels – 1:15-21
As Ezekiel watched the creatures, he saw something else. He described the strange details of four large wheels on the ground beside the four creatures. Sparkling like topaz, each wheel intersected another wheel, perhaps situated at a right angle. The spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels—rising, moving in all directions without turning, and standing still. The high rims of the wheels were covered with eyes.
What do we make of these strange details? While the symbolism remains mysterious, these images clearly reflect God’s character and attributes. God’s omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence uphold His righteous judgment. Effortlessly everywhere, God sees everything and has unlimited power to accomplish anything He desires. God is unrestricted by human limitations.
The Throne of God’s Glory – 1:22-28
Something glorious appeared above the creatures and wheels. Ezekiel tried to describe the noise accompanying this scene. When the creatures moved, he heard flapping wings and sounds like thunderous rushing waters, the voice of the Almighty, or an army’s tumult. The sensory elements of Ezekiel’s vision were vivid and overwhelming.
Ezekiel saw what appeared like a sparkling expanse or vault and a glorious figure like a man sitting on a brilliant throne. The throne looked like lapis lazuli (likely sapphire) and the man glowed like fiery metal, surrounded by brilliant light. The radiance around the man was like a rainbow on a rainy day.
God often communicates with people in pictures:
• Fire often represents judgment.¹⁵ • The sparkling vault or expanse reflects the Genesis creation account.¹⁶ • A rainbow serves as a reminder of God’s covenantal grace confirmed to Noah after the worldwide flood.¹⁷
This scene certainly depicts God’s authority, power, and sovereignty—His rightful place as humanity’s judge.
¹⁵ God’s fiery judgment: Genesis 19:24-26; 1 Kings 18:38-29; Matthew 13:40-42; 1 Corinthians 3:13
¹⁶ Expanse: Genesis 1:6-8
¹⁷ Rainbow: Genesis 9:13
Our Powerful and Present God
The Doctrine of God the Father
Ezekiel’s glorious vision of Almighty God prepared him to speak for God to His exiled people. Even a glimpse of God’s majesty renders mere humans utterly humbled and speechless.¹ God’s glory encompasses the comprehensive beauty, worth, and majesty of His infinite and perfect character. How can we understand who God is? The Bible tells us God reveals His glory through creation.² He showed His glory to His people many times throughout the Old Testament,³ including to an exiled priest who needed to understand and communicate God’s promises, power, and presence.
God’s inexpressible glory exalts Him far above us in every way. However, God has revealed sufficient glimpses of His glory to call all humanity to ceaseless worship, humble submission, and eternal gratitude. God reminded Ezekiel He is moving everywhere and His presence cannot be limited to a familiar place or favorable circumstances. God’s character and glory stand behind His righteous judgment. Most amazingly, the glorious, eternal, all-powerful God made Himself known in His Son. Jesus Christ radiates God’s glory and exactly represents His Father.⁴ Our great and powerful God remains present with His people.
Without understanding God’s power, holiness, presence, and glory, we fail to recognize our personal accountability to Him. Understanding God’s glory helps us recognize the wonder of His compassion toward our helpless estate and our need to turn to Christ for salvation. The God who transcends us in every way reaches to us, despite our sinfulness. In eternity, God’s children will fully grasp and eternally praise their glorious God and exalted Savior.⁵ How does Ezekiel’s vision open your eyes to God’s unlimited power, rightful authority, and abiding presence?
¹ Humbled before God: Genesis 17:3; Isaiah 6:1-8; Acts 9:4; Revelation 1:17
² God’s glory in creation: Genesis 1; Psalms 8; 19:1-2; Romans 1:18-25
³ God’s glory revealed to His people: Exodus 24:16; 33:18-23; 40:34; Leviticus 9:23; Isaiah 6:1-5
⁴ Jesus Christ reveals God’s glory: Matthew 17:1-13; John 1:1-18; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 1:3
⁵ Eternal praise: Romans 11:36; 2 Peter 3:18; Revelation 7:12
Ezekiel saw God’s glory, not on Mount Sinai or in Jerusalem’s temple, but right there in Babylon. God had not abandoned His people, though their persistent rebellion promised even more judgment. Ezekiel described what he saw as “the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.” The sensory expressions, spiritual significance, and practical reality of his people’s plight before this great God left Ezekiel undone; he immediately fell face down. How can any sinner stand before such a God?
Ezekiel’s Commission as God’s Messenger – Ezekiel 2
The ominous yet awesome vision of God’s glory left Ezekiel in a humbled and helpless heap on the ground. Ezekiel’s almost involuntary response to God’s greatness represents a posture few can comprehend. A proper view of God decimates human pride and self-defense. However, God had plans for the flattened Ezekiel.
Experience Enabling – 2:1-2
While Ezekiel lay collapsed and acutely aware of his smallness before God, God spoke clearly to him: “Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.” The term “son of man” here basically means “human” and appears in the book of Ezekiel around 90 times. The Gospels record that Jesus regularly expressed His humanity using this term. Jesus’s use of the title also points to Daniel 7:9-14, in which “one like a son of man” goes before the Ancient of Days to receive unique authority.
God’s command to Ezekiel raises an important question: Who can stand before God? The psalmist wondered the same thing in Psalm 24: “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart.” Who has clean hands and a pure heart? Without God’s intervention, no one can stand before Him.
Though Ezekiel could not stand before God as commanded, God’s own Spirit enabled him to do so. God’s compassionate response to human helplessness shines through this scene. Ezekiel stood before God and heard Him speak, but not in his own power. God does not compromise His holiness as He enables the incapable. No one can stand before Holy God. However, in grace, compassion, and mercy, God raises up people to stand before Him, hear Him speak, and go out with His message.
Express God’s Truth – 2:3-5
Aware of God’s glory and enabled by His power, Ezekiel received God’s calling to deliver a troubling message to a rebellious people. Ezekiel’s glorious vision humbled and prepared him as God’s servant and messenger. God sent Ezekiel to the Israelites, His chosen people, who now lived exiled in Babylon and were obstinate and stubborn like their ancestors.
Ezekiel did not have to invent what to say or imagine how to act. Ezekiel would simply declare, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says.” This phrase appears repeatedly throughout the book. Ezekiel would deliver God’s words to God’s people, empowered by God’s Spirit. The people’s refusal to listen could not change Ezekiel’s God-given message. Human acceptance does not validate God’s Word, which stands immovably true because of who God is. Ezekiel’s message would stand even when the wayward Israelites rejected his words. Ezekiel and all believers are to speak God’s words and trust God’s Spirit to do what only He can do.
Expect Rejection – 2:6-10
What would such obedience bring to Ezekiel’s life? Did God promise a smooth path for the exiled prophet? God offered Ezekiel a clear explanation of the rejection awaiting him. God warned Ezekiel against people-pleasing, something most of us struggle to overcome. Ezekiel did not need to fear the people nor their words against him. Their rejection could not change what mattered most—God’s prophet had been among them. God’s provision of prophet after prophet, even amid unfolding judgment, reveals His heart of compassion for people who rejected and rebelled against Him.
God would give Ezekiel the words to say and strength to stay the course. Though he would sit among briers, thorns, and scorpions, he must faithfully deliver God’s words to His people. God added a personal warning to Ezekiel not to succumb to rebellion but to open his mouth and eat what God gave him. A scroll appeared with words of lament, mourning, and woe written on both sides. The message God gave him to deliver was not happy. Ezekiel would eat the scroll, taking in the words God gave him to speak.¹⁸ He would stand with and for God and confront the rebellion embedded within the hearts of the exiles.
God does not hold back hard truth as He calls His people to wholehearted commitment to Him. God does not leave us to figure things out on our own. God gives His Word to His people. He empowers them to stand and speak through His Spirit. God seeks and speaks to rebellious people. Israel’s story—and ours—reveals persistent rebellion and God’s consistent faithfulness.
¹⁸ Scroll ingested: Ezekiel 3:1-3
Take to Heart
Hold Fast
God called Ezekiel as a prophet to His exiled people in Babylon. Ezekiel’s ministry started with a grand but ominous vision of God’s glory that set the tone for his prophetic role. Recognizing his own unworthiness and that of his people before Almighty God, Ezekiel fell helplessly to the ground. God’s Spirit raised him to his feet as God commissioned Ezekiel to take His message to an obstinate people who would refuse to listen. Ezekiel’s path would be difficult, but God’s Word would be his stronghold. He simply had to deliver God’s message boldly and trust God’s Spirit to accomplish what human effort could not.
Ezekiel’s ministry demonstrates God’s compassion for His wayward people and the unhindered progression of His redemptive plan. God’s purifying discipline sent the Israelites to a foreign land, but their sin could not stop His eternal purposes. God’s glory and sovereignty prevail over history and daily life. God did not abandon His people in their disappointment. He continued to speak to them through faithful prophets. No matter what happens in the world, God’s plan and purposes prevail.
Apply It
Like Ezekiel, we often find ourselves in situations that do not fulfill our dreams. Our missteps, the actions of others, and the course of life can send us where we never planned to go. How do you respond when you face surprising circumstances that leave you feeling stuck or hopeless? God showed Ezekiel His presence and power while he sat by a strange river in an unfamiliar land. The events that upend our lives do not take God by surprise but offer an opportunity for His deeper work. How will you seek God’s purpose in your unfulfilled aspirations? Perhaps your marriage or job does not match what you imagined it would be like. The loss of a spouse or an uninvited medical diagnosis can leave us feeling stunned. Unexpected conflict or unplanned obstacles may seem to choke our path. What unanswered questions and unexpected course changes do you face today? How will you trust God’s bigger purposes? As we yield ourselves to God, He works in us and through us in ways that exceed our expectations.
Before Ezekiel uttered one prophetic word or completed one prophetic action, God shifted his gaze from his current pain to God’s inexhaustible glory. God is more powerful and present than we imagine. Ezekiel’s vision confirmed God’s rightful authority to bring judgment upon His people. Sometimes our limited view of our earthly horizon eclipses the truth about God’s power and glory. How has God enlarged your understanding of who He is and humanity’s accountability to Him? Do you study the Bible not just to solve your problems but to gaze at God and learn about Him? Life’s challenges come into proper perspective when our view of God is big. How will you intentionally fasten your gaze on God and His glory today?
We cannot understand God’s presence and power until we accurately assess our own position before Him. The book of Ezekiel’s opening scene confirmed God’s greatness but flattened Ezekiel. However, God did not leave Ezekiel paralyzed in helplessness but simultaneously called him to stand and enabled him to do so. God must work in us what He requires of us. On our own, we would remain useless to Him. But in grace and mercy, through His Son, God enables us to stand in His presence, hear His words, and contribute to His cause. How have you experienced God’s greatness? Do you realize your position before Him? If you are God’s child by faith in Christ, God raises you to stand in His presence and fills you with His Spirit. What does this mean in your life today?
The Israelites’ unrepentant sin and failure to respond to God’s gracious warnings resulted in their exile in Babylon. God told Ezekiel that despite his diligent messages, the people would remain obstinate and hard-hearted. Ezekiel was to listen to God and speak for Him whether the people listened or not. Like Ezekiel, believers have a message of hope to share that people often refuse to hear. The validity of God’s message cannot be measured by humanity’s response. As God’s ambassadors, we need not sugarcoat the gospel to make it palatable and acceptable. With grace and diligence, God still calls His people to speak His truth boldly inside and outside the Church, with gracious words and a heart of love. While many may reject the gospel, some will believe. Those who listen to God and speak for Him are called to faithfully proclaim the truth, leaving the results to Him. How do you respond when people reject you, your message, or your Savior? How firmly do you believe in the power of the gospel? An undeterred determination to speak God’s truth, in the power of His Spirit, represents every believer’s privilege and opportunity.