Prophet Ezekiel in Exile
600 BC
📂 BIBLICAL
📖 About This Event
Ezekiel, a priest and prophet, ministered to the Jewish exiles in Babylon. His prophetic ministry began in 593 BC, five years after the first deportation and just before the destruction of Jerusalem. Ezekiel's calling vision (Ezekiel 1) is one of the most extraordinary in all of Scripture: he saw a whirlwind from the north with flashing fire, four living creatures with four faces each (man, lion, ox, eagle), wheels within wheels covered with eyes, and a throne of lapis lazuli above them. This vision of God's glory would become the model for John's vision in Revelation 4.
Ezekiel's ministry was marked by dramatic symbolic actions. He lay on his side for 30 days to bear the iniquity of Israel and 40 days for Judah. He baked bread on human dung (substituting cow dung at his own request) to symbolize the defiled bread the exiles would eat. He shaved his head and divided his hair, burning a third, striking a third with the sword, and scattering a third to the wind—symbolizing the fate of Jerusalem's inhabitants. He cut his beard and divided the hair similarly.
Ezekiel's most famous vision is the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37), in which God breathes life into a valley of dead bones, symbolizing the restoration of Israel. This vision of spiritual resurrection prefigures the New Covenant and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Key Scripture: Ezekiel 1-3; Ezekiel 37; Ezekiel 36:26-27; John 20:22; CCC 79
📜 Key Facts
Date
600 BC
Category
Biblical
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