Book 26 - Ezekiel

Jerusalem has fallen. The temple has been destroyed. Large portions of the population have been taken into exile. Ezekiel’s voice comes from within the exile, not from the city itself.

What kind of book is this?

Ezekiel is a prophetic book made up of visions, symbolic actions, speeches, and poetic imagery.

It is not written as a continuous narrative. The book moves between:

• Vision reports

• Messages addressed to Israel

• Oracles against surrounding nations

• Reflections on responsibility, failure, and restoration

Much of the language is graphic, strange, and intentionally unsettling. Ezekiel relies heavily on visual imagery rather than straightforward explanation.

Who is speaking?

Ezekiel is a priest turned prophet.

He is among the first wave of Israelites taken into exile in Babylon, years before Jerusalem is fully destroyed. His background as a priest shapes much of the book’s focus on the temple, worship, and communal responsibility.

Ezekiel frequently dates his visions and messages, anchoring them to specific years of exile. This gives the book a strong sense of historical placement, even when the content itself feels symbolic or surreal.

Historical setting

Ezekiel speaks during the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BCE.

The audience is a displaced community living far from their homeland, temple, and political identity. Many are confused, angry, or in denial about what has happened.

Some still believe Jerusalem will quickly recover. Others believe the destruction proves God has abandoned them entirely. Ezekiel addresses both assumptions.

What Ezekiel talks about

The book covers several broad topics:

• Explanations of why Jerusalem fell

• Criticism of leadership, corruption, and false hope

• Emphasis on individual responsibility rather than collective blame

• Judgments against surrounding nations

• Visions of future restoration and renewal

A major theme is accountability. Ezekiel repeatedly pushes back against the idea that people are simply victims of their ancestors’ failures.

It also contains some extremely vivid and uncomfortable imagery. The visions can feel confusing or extreme where symbolic actions are described without explanation. Metaphors are often drawn out and graphic.

The book does not pause to clarify how literal or symbolic each vision should be understood. That ambiguity is part of what makes Ezekiel challenging to absorb.

How the book is structured

Ezekiel is often divided into three general sections:

1. Messages before Jerusalem’s fall, focused on warning and responsibility

2. Oracles against foreign nations

3. Visions of restoration after the destruction

The transitions between sections are clearer than in Jeremiah, but the imagery becomes more intense as the book progresses.

Spotlight: The Valley of Dry Bones (Ezekiel 37)

One of the most well-known passages in Ezekiel appears in chapter 37 and is often referred to as “the valley of dry bones.”

In this section, Ezekiel describes a vision. He is brought to a valley filled with human bones. The bones are not just dead, but dry, scattered, and long abandoned. God asks him a question: “Can these bones live?”

Ezekiel is told to speak to the bones. As he does, they begin to come together. Bone connects to bone. Flesh and skin form over them. Breath enters them, and the bones become living people standing on their feet.

The passage is presented as a symbolic vision, not a historical event. Within the book, it appears during a period when the people of Judah are displaced and convinced their national story is over.

Even for people who have never read Ezekiel, the imagery is familiar. Phrases like “dry bones,” “breath of life,” or the idea of something long dead being restored appear in music, sermons, speeches, and everyday language. The image has taken on a life of its own outside the book.

This scene is one of the clearest examples of how Ezekiel communicates: through striking, sometimes unsettling visions meant to be seen and remembered, not necessarily explained in detail.