Ezekiel was a prophet in exile. Along with other Israelites, he had been captured and sent to Babylon. In Jerusalem, Ezekiel would have been a priest serving in the temple. In Babylon, he was among “them of the captivity,” and he “sat where they sat” (Ezekiel 3:15), hundreds of miles from the beloved house of God and with little hope of returning. Then one day Ezekiel had a vision. He saw “the glory of the Lord” (Ezekiel 1:28)—not back in the temple at Jerusalem but there in Babylon among the exiles. The wickedness in Jerusalem, he learned, had become so severe that God’s presence was no longer there (see Ezekiel 8–11; 33:21).

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And yet there’s something hopeful about Ezekiel’s message. Despite how far the covenant people had fallen, God had not totally abandoned them. If they would “hear the word of the Lord” (Ezekiel 37:4), what was once dead could be revived. Their “stony heart” could be replaced with “a new heart” (Ezekiel 36:26). And in the future, the Lord would establish a new temple and a new Jerusalem, “and the name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there” (Ezekiel 48:35).

For an overview of the book of Ezekiel, see “Ezekiel” in the Bible Dictionary.