Ezekiel’s Visions: Divine Chariot and Dry Bones

A younger contemporary of Jeremiah, Ezekiel prophesied in Babylonia to the Judean exiles living there. The book spans the years from 593 to 571 BCE, from the time of the first deportations of Judeans to Babylonia until fifteen years after the destruction of the Temple in 586 BCE. In chapters 1–24, Ezekiel warned about the impending destruction, speaking about the sins of the people, God’s departure from the Temple, prophecy, and prophets. He taught that people are rewarded and punished for their own actions rather than those of their parents or children, and that sinners can change their fate by turning away from sin. Chapters 33–48 postdate the destruction. They speak of the restoration (the vision of the dry bones) and the eschatological war with Gog, and they lay out a blueprint of a restored Temple. Chapters 25–32 are a collection of oracles condemning the nations bordering on Israel. Ezekiel’s style is exceptionally literary, with elegant prose incorporating parables and allegories. His vocabulary is rich, his descriptions graphic, even lurid, and his message emphatic. He drew on the Torah, especially on Deuteronomy and the Priestly writings in Leviticus (Ezekiel was himself a priest). He described visions in which he saw God and in which he was transported to Jerusalem and to places in Babylonia. He also described symbolic, sometimes bizarre, visions that he saw and acts that he performed, biographical experiences such as the death of his wife, and disputations he had with his audiences.