Bible Study Notes 11/11/2025
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(Much gratitude is given to Dr. Carol Kaminski for her Old Testament Survey course at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and the study materials that accompany and inform this teaching.)
The Prophet Ezekiel
Ministry 593 BC –
God calls the prophet Ezekiel during the last days of the southern kingdom and is among those deported to Babylon in 597 BC, along with the leading people of the city, including King Jehoiachin (2 Kgs 24:10-17; 2 Chr. 36:10).
- This means that Ezekiel is in Babylon while King Zedekiah is reigning in Jerusalem.
Although Ezekiel is called to speak to Judah during the last days of the southern kingdom, he lives in exile in Babylon. At the same time, it’s important to realize that E’s message is for the entire house of Israel, not simply Judah.
God’s word first comes to the prophet in 593 BC, the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s exile (Ezek. 1-2).
The central theme of the book of E is the divine presence:
Ø The prophet’s call begins with a vision of Yahweh’s glory;
Ø His greatest agony is seeing Yahweh’s departure;
Ø His deepest hope is the expectation of Yahweh’s return.
The recurring theme in Ezekiel is that Yahweh always acts to reveal and uphold his glory.
- The phrase “then they will know that I am the LORD” reverberates throughout his oracles and serves to emphasize that God will act so that his glory is made known.
A large part of Ezekiel’s ministry takes place prior to the fall of Jerusalem, which takes place while Zedekiah is on the throne (Ezek. 1-24).
In 592 BC God gives the prophet a vision of the abominations taking place in Jerusalem, which will result in the divine abandonment of the temple (Ezek. 8-10).
Ezekiel’s oracles against Judah culminate in 587 BC, the year prior to the destruction of Jerusalem (Ezek. 24:1) – his wife dies at this time, which is a sign that God is about to take away the temple in Jerusalem, which is a source of Israel’s pride and joy (Ezek. 24:15-27).
- E also announces God’s judgment against the nations (Ezek. 25-32).
After the 586 BC destruction, the prophet is told by a refugee that Jerusalem has been taken back (Ezek. 33:21).
Years later, E receives visions of the restoration of the temple and the return of God’s glorious presence (Ezek. 40-48) – E’s ministry continues years after the fall of Jerusalem.
God will restore his people after the judgment (Ezek. 36:22-38; 37:1-23).
- The return from exile is depicted as a resurrection from the dead (Ezek. 37).
- God will:
Ø raise up the true Davidic King (Ezek. 37:24-28),
Ø defeat Israel’s enemies (Ezek. 38-39),
Ø rebuild the temple (Ezek. 40-48),
Ø and cause his own glorious presence to return to Jerusalem (Ezek. 43:1-5).
Ezekiel’s Commission to Speak to a Rebellious People
In the beginning of his ministry, Ezekiel receives a direct vision of God’s glorious presence enthroned upon a divine chariot (Ezek. 1:4-28) and he fell on his fact (Ezek. 1:28; 3:23; 43:3; 44:4).
God speaks to Ezekiel and the Spirit of God enters him; he is lifted up by the Spirit and stands on his feet (Ezek. 2:1-2; 3:12, 14, 24; cf. Ezek. 8:3; 11:1, 24; cf. Ezek. 8:3; 11:1, 24; 43:5).
- Having been empowered by the Spirit, he is now ready to receive and obey the commission from the LORD God, whose glorious presence is with the exiles in Babylon (Ezek. 1:4-28; 3:12, 23).
- One day, God will put his Spirit in Israel (Ezek. 36:26-27; 37:1-14).
Ezekiel is called to warn the house of Israel of the judgment that will come upon them, but God tells the prophet that the people will not listen to him: “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me (Ezek. 2:3) – he is to speak anyway (Ezek. 2:5, 7; 3:11, 27; cf. Ezek. 12:2).
- He is given a scroll that has written on it lamentations, mourning, and woe (Ezek. 2:10), which is God’s word of judgment. READ Ezek. 3:4-7.
Ezekiel is called to be a “watchman” (Ezek. 3:16-21; 33:1-9; cf. Jer. 6:17).
- He is to be on the lookout for the enemy’s advances and to sound the alarm when Israel is about to be attacked AND speak only God’s words (Ezek. 3:26-27), although after the fall of Jerusalem, he will be able to speak his own words again (Ezek. 24:27; 33:22).
- He is to tell “the wicked" that they will surely die if they do not repent, but those who obey God’s laws (“the righteous”) will live (Ezek. 3:17-21; 18:1-28; 33:1-19); he is to say that if a person “walks in my statutes, and keeps my rules by acting faithfully, he is righteous; he shall surely live.” (Ezek. 18:9; cf. Ezek. 18:21-22).
We will learn that God’s law will bring Israel under condemnation and death, for we have now come to understand that sin is firmly entrenched in the heart of Israel (and in the human heart).
Ezekiel Exposes Israel’s Sin
In the first half of the book of Ezekiel, he exposes Israel’s sins in graphic detail (Chaps. 1-24).
Like other prophets, he is called to act in symbolic ways that confirm his preaching: God instructs him, for example, to build a model of Jerusalem and besiege it.
- He will be tied to the ground in the public square to bear symbolically Israel’s sin and God will ask him to eat bread baked with dung to show that Israel has become as one unclean (Ezek. 4:1-15).
- Ezekiel is asked to shave off his hair and beard, and burn a portion of them as a sign of coming judgment.
- He demonstrates that the inhabitants of Jerusalem will be judged by fire, the sword, and scattering (Ezek. 5:1-4).
God has set Jerusalem at the center of the nations, but: READ Ezek. 5:6.
- And God will judge Jerusalem in the sight of the nations.
Ezekiel further announces that God’s people have defiled his sanctuary through their detestable idols and abominations – consequently, God will withdraw from them (Ezek. 5:11).
Israel’s Idolatrous Practices
Ezekiel repeatedly reminds Israel:
Ø that they have acted wickedly by worshiping foreign gods;
Ø that God is grieved by their adulterous heart, one that has turned away from him and played the harlot;
God will smash Israel’s idols and cause their dead bodies to fall in front of their gods as a judgment (Ezek. 6:4-5, 13).
In the year 592 BC, (before the destruction of Jerusalem), God appears to Ezekiel and takes him in the Spirit on a tour of Israel’s sin and then Ezekiel’s direction:
Ø Idol worship is taking place in the temple (Ezek. 8);
Ø Ezekiel initially sees 70 elders participating in idolatrous practices, but God takes him into the inner court, where he sees 75 men with their back toward the temple “worshiping the sun toward the east” (Ezek. 8:16) - the place where God was to be praised is now where people are bowing down to the sun;
Ø Ezekiel is to announce the certainty and imminence of God’s wrath that is to fall upon Jerusalem because of all the abominations that are taking place in the house of God;
Ø Ezekiel witnesses the shocking onset of God’s fury;
Ø He sees six angelic executioners approaching the city with devastating weapons in their hands.
o He sees an angel dressed in linen with a writing case, who is instructed to “pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it” (Ezek. 9:4).
o For those who are not grieving, God instructs his executioners to slay old men, young men, women, and children with the sword (Ezek. 9).
o They are to begin the slaughter in God’s temple, starting with the 70 elders, but also to go throughout the streets of Jerusalem, striking down anyone they can find.
o Horrified at what he sees, Ezekiel cries out to God, saying: “Ah, LORD GOD! Will you destroy all the remnant of Israel in the outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?” (Ezek. 9:8).
o God tells Ezekiel that the iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is very great, that when he judges by the sword, he will no longer have pity, nor will he spare, and furthermore, when the people cry out to him with a loud voice, he will not listen (Ezek. 8:18; 9:10).
o THE VISION OF THE SLAUGHTER IS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED BY THE DEPARTURE OF GOD’S GLORY FROM THE TEMPLE (Ezek. 10)!
Ezekiel Has a Vision of God’s Presence Leaving the Temple
The central theme in Ezekiel’s theology is: He realizes that Israel’s abominable actions have caused the temple to be defiled (Ezek. 5:11; 8-10) and the impact Israel’s actions have on the divine presence of God.
- God will not share his glory with idols.
- Ezekiel sees the glory of God depart, moving from the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies to the threshold of the temple to the eastern gate of the city.
- With sadness, Ezekiel sees that “the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city” (Ezek. 11:23).
- This vision confirms the judgment given against Jerusalem in the Ezek. 9.
- This vision is mindful of the vision when he had seen God’s incomparable glory (Ezek. 1).
- This divine abandonment shows Jerusalem’s certain doom, when up until now, Jerusalem has been protected.
- W/o God’s presence, there is nothing distinctive about his people on earth (Ex. 33:16).
- The sin of God’s people can no longer be atoned for due to such blatant and willful rebellion against a holy God.
THE DEPARTURE OF GOD’S PRESENCE IS THE MOST TRAGIC MOMENT IN THE ENTIRE OT.
Jerusalem’s Harlotry is Worse than Samaria’s
The idolatrous practices that have caused the temple to be profaned and God’s glory to leave are further exposed in Ezek. 16 and 23.
Understanding the extent of Israel’s sin helps us to recognize the depth of God’s mercy.
Ezekiel reviews the history of Israel in detail:
- He uses an extended parable of Jerusalem as an adulterous woman to rehearse God’s dealings with his people from their earliest days.
- Ezekiel notes that their rise to fame from humble beginnings was due to God’s kindness toward them (Ezek. 16:1-14).
But God’s people played the harlot with other gods (Ezek. 16:15) and exposes their idolatrous and unrelenting practices:
Ø They sacrificed their own children to idols (Ezek. 16:20-21, 36; 20:31; 23:37).
Ø The whole land is filled with high places (Ezek. 16:25, 31).
Ø They have played the harlot with the Egyptians, the Assyrians, and the Chaldeans, and they have relied on foreign powers instead of the LORD God (Ezek. 16:26-29).
Ø Judah is a “brazen prostitute” because they received payment from her lovers (Ezek. 16:30, 33-34).
Ø Judah’s idolatrous practices were WORSE than those of Samaria and Sodom (Ezek. 16:44-59; cf. Gen 18:20-33) to the extent that she has made them appear righteous (Ezek. 16:51-52; cf. Jer. 3:11).
o Ezekiel declares to Judah that Samaria “has not committed half your sins” and that “because of your sins in which you acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you” (Ezek. 16:51-52).
Ezekiel develops the metaphor of harlotry further when speaking of Samaria and Jerusalem in Ezek. 23.
- He tells the story of two women, who were daughters of one mother:
ü Oholah is the elder sister and represents Samaria; Oholibah is younger and represents Jerusalem (Ezek. 23:1-4).
ü He begins with Oholah, who describes the northern kingdom, and who lusted after the Assyrians and Egyptians so that finally her nakedness was uncovered.
ü Her sons and daughters were taken away, and she was killed by the sword (Ezek. 23:5-10), which shows the demise of the northern kingdom in 722 BC.
ü He then describes the harlotries of Oholibah (southern kingdom) that are beyond those of her sister (Ezek. 23:11, 14, 19-21).
ü God is about to judge Jerusalem because his people have played the harlot with the nations and have defiled themselves with idols (Ezek. 23:30).
ü They have blood on their hands because of the sacrifice of their children and have entered the temple with blood on their hands (Ezek. 23:37-39).
ü They have committed adultery with foreigners and will be judged as an adulteress, for they are to be stoned to death by a crowd (Ezek. 23:45-49; cf. Ezek. 16:35-43) and God will use the idolatrous Babylonians as the instrument of his judgment.
ü Their sin is lodged in their human hearts, showing the inward condition of the heart.
God will cleanse Israel’s heart from idols and give them a NEW heart, one of flesh, replacing their heart of stone (Ezek. 36:26).
- Their transformation will be the result of transformative work of the living God and in the indwelling of his Spirit.
The Abominations of Jerusalem
God tells Ezekiel on several occasions that he is to make known to Jerusalem all her abominations (Ezek. 16:2; 20:4; 22:2; 23:36).
In the OT, a wide variety of sins are identified as “abominations” (term frequently used by Ezekiel) including but not limited to sins such as sexual misconduct (Lev. 18:6-23), sacrificing blemished animals (Deut. 17:1), sacrificing children to idols (Deut. 18:10), divination, witchcraft, interpreting omens, sorcery, casting a spell, calling up the dead (Deut. 18:9-12), and worshiping idols (Deut. 20:18; 27:15; 32:16), which can include the sun, the moon, and the heavenly host (Deut. 17:2-5.
On three occasions, Ezekiel is told to make known to Jerusalem all her abominations:
Ø Ezek. 16: Jerusalem’s abominations refer to her idolatrous practices;
Ø Ezek. 20: he reviews the history of Israel as a covenant people and highlights four sins in particular that they have committed throughout their history –
o Rebelled against God (Ezek. 20:8, 13, 21);
o Not walked in His statutes (Ezek. 20:13, 16, 18, 21, 24; cf. Ezek. 5:6-7);
o Constantly gone after idols (Ezek. 20:7-8, 16, 18, 24, 28-32);
o Repeatedly profaned God’s Sabbath (Ezek. 20:13, 16, 21, 24; cf. Exod. 20:8-11).
Ø In Ezek. 22, he gives a detailed list of the sins that have been committed in Jerusalem and the failure of Israel’s leaders –
o Shedding blood, idolatry, treating father and mother with contempt, oppressing the alien, failing to treat the fatherless and widow appropriately, profaning the Sabbath, acting slanderously, committing acts of lewdness, uncovering a father’s nakedness, violating a woman who is unclean in her menstrual impurity, sexual misconduct (with a neighbor’s wife, a daughter-in-law, or a sister), taking bribes, taking interest, oppressing others, and acting dishonestly for personal gain. (Ezek. 22:2-12).
o He concludes that the entire house of Israel has become like dross to be burned with fire (Ezek. 22:17-22).
o Ezekiel’s indictment includes Jerusalem’s priests (Ezek. 22:26), princes (Ezek. 22:27), prophets (Ezek. 22:28), and the people of the land (Ezek. 22:29).
Instead of the law bringing life, we see that it brings Israel under God’s wrath, so Ezekiel is to announce that God will pour out His wrath on them (Ezek. 5:13; 6:12; 7:8; 8:18:9:8; 13:13; 14:19; 20:33-34).
- Eventually, the Apostle Paul will conclude that the law brings wrath (Rom. 4:15), because those under it are unable to keep it (Rom. 3:19-20; 8:5-8; Gal. 3:10-11).
- God’s laws are good, holy, and righteous; they are intended to result in life (“if a person does them, they shall live,” Ezek. 20:11, 13, 21), but they result in Israel’s death and condemnation (Rom. 7; cf. 2 Cor. 3).
- In view of the judgement to come, God says to Israel: READ (Ezek. 18:31-32) – but people choose death rather than life.