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Ezekiel was the third great prophet of the period of the Exile, alongside Second Isaiah and Jeremiah.
He came of a priestly family, and may have been a priest himself.
The description of his call in Babylon is strange – a hint of dazzling reflections on the river, the splendour of a storm, a fleeting glimpse of a chariot pulled by four living creatures whose likeness no-one had ever seen before, a brightness seated on a throne 'the appearance of the likeness of the Glory of God'.
Ezekiel is overwhelmed by the experience, but God speaks to him and commissions him to speak to the people whether they want to listen or not, and tells him to eat the scroll that he sees before him in his vision, so that he is equipped with God's words for his task. (Ezek 1-3).
Ezekiel had many trance-like experiences and was moved to perform many strange symbolic actions, as he tried to interpret the experiences the people were going through.
He was convinced that the God whose dwelling had been in the Temple at Jerusalem was there with them in Exile – Ezekiel saw in a vision that it was the people's wickedness which had driven God from the Temple to make himself known to them again in Babylon. (Ezek 8-11).
His wife died just before the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple, both symbols for him of the great losses to the Jewish people, individually and corporately, with the disappearance of their sanctuary (Ezek 24: 15- 27).
Ezekiel had to fight not just despair, but the feeling that it wasn't fair: the people felt that they were being punished for something that was not their fault ' the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge' (Ezek 18).
Ezekiel offered a new insight: each person is treated as an individual by God.
The Exile may be the consequence of national disobedience, but each person now has the responsibility to respond to the call to repentance which will determine the nation's future.
Some people have responsibility for others as well as themselves: like Ezekiel they are watchmen for the nation.
But if they carry out their task faithfully, they cannot be blamed for the failure of others to respond. (Ezek 3: 16-21; 33: 1-20).
The truth is that God is not defeated.
Ezekiel saw the possibility of God's promise being fulfilled – the line of David would again rule over his people (Ezek 24) Even more exciting was the description of the renewal God planned for his people as their apparent death would be revitalised by the Spirit of God into new life.
The vision of the dry bones in the valley coming to life again is one of the high points of his prophecy. (Ezek 37).
A new community began to emerge during Ezekiel's time, with a renewed emphasis on strict adherence to the Law, understandable perhaps with a group of people who wanted to preserve their national identity when surrounded by people of many other traditions.
The Book of Ezekiel shows a preoccupation with matters of ritual like cleanliness and observance of the Sabbath.
Some of the people prepared for the establishment of a rebuilt Jerusalem with detailed plans for a restored Temple. (Ezek: 40-48).
Around this time the history of the people was re-examined and edited, and the sayings of the prophets collected.
A new narrative dealing with the theological perspective of history from Creation to the giving of the Law on Sinai was prepared.
The Book of Ezekiel is complex, and its contents have not been edited into historical sequence.
It's value for us lies in the teaching about personal responsibility to respond to God's call to return to his way, and the hope of the renewal of God's people by God's Spirit.
Ezekiel was told to eat God's word, in preparation for his work.
One of the Collects we use on Bible Sunday encourages us to 'read, mark, learn and inwardly digest' the Scriptures, so that we may come to deeper understanding of the hope at the centre of our faith.
Advent is a good time to immerse ourselves in God's word, as we prepare for the coming of God's Word made flesh.