Who was Ezekiel in the Bible?
Although Ezekiel’s visions and prophecies were clear and vivid, very little is known about the prophet’s personal life. He was among the thousands of young men deported from Judah to Babylon when King Jeroiakim surrendered. Until those tragic days, Ezekiel was being trained for the priesthood. But during the exile in Babylon, God called Ezekiel to be His prophet during one of Israel’s darkest times.
Ezekiel experienced the same kind of shocking encounter with God that Isaiah had reported 150 years earlier. Like Isaiah, Ezekiel was never the same after his personal encounter with God. Although God’s messages through both these prophets had many points in common, the conditions in which they lived were very different. Isaiah warned of the coming storm; Ezekiel spoke in the midst of the storm of the national defeat that devastated his people. He announced that even Jerusalem would not escape destruction. In addition, during this time Ezekiel had to endure the pain of his wife’s destruction. In addition, during this time he had to endure the pain of his wife’s death.
God’s description of Ezekiel as a watchman on the walls of the city captures the personal nature of his ministry. A watchman’s job was dangerous. If he failed at his post, he and the entire city might be destroyed. His own personal safety depended on the quality of his work. The importance of each person’s accountability before God was a central part of Ezekiel’s message. He taught the exiles that God expected personal obedience and worship from each of them.
As in Ezekiel’s day, it is easy for us today to forget that God has a personal interest in each one of us. We may feel insignificant or out of control when we look at the world events. But knowing God is ultimately in control, that He cares, and that He is willing to be know by us can bring a new sense of purpose to our lives.
How do you measure your worth? Are you valuable because of your achievements and potential, or because God, your Creator and Designer, declares you valuable. Do you know God? Do you know Jesus?
Are you certain that you are going to heaven? If the answer is no or your not really sure and there is something stirring inside you at this very moment to do this, then all you have to do is say a small prayer and you can be assured of your name being added to the Book of Life. Go to the prayer of salvation and pray the words out loud and believe in your heart and you will be saved.
Ezekiel’s story is told in the book of Ezekiel and 2 Kings 24:10 – 17
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Ezekiel was the Son of Man himself speaking to us from heaven before he came to this earth. Chapters 2 and 3 are his commission to earth!
Ezekiel is constantly referred to as “Son of Man.” Since this is a reference often used for Jesus, why is it that Ezekiel seems to be singled out for same designation?
Basically, the phrase “Son of Man” means something different in the book of Ezekiel than it does in the gospels.
In Ezekiel, “son of man” means “human being.” It’s a poetic Hebrew expression that’s used with that same meaning in several other places in the Old Testament, for example, in Psalm 8, where the ESV translates the Hebrew terms literally: “What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” The NLT expresses the meaning of these terms: “What are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?”
Since “son of man” means “human being” in Ezekiel, in the Common English Bible, that prophet is addressed as “human one”; in the Good News Bible as “mortal man”; in the New Century Version as “human”; and in the New Revised Standard Version as “mortal.”