Ezekiel

Ezekiel, whose name, Yehezq'el signifies "strong is God", or "whom 
God makes strong" (Ezek. i, 3; iii, 8), was the son of Buzi, and 
was one of the priests who, in the year 598 B.C., had been 
deported together with Joachim as prisoners from Jerusalem (IV 
Kings, xxiv, 12-16; cf. Ezek. xxxiii, 21, xl, 1). With the other 
exiles he settled in Tell-Abib near the Chobar (Ezek. i,1; iii, 
15) in Babylonia, and seems to have spent the rest of his life 
there.In the fifth year after the captivity of Joachim, and 
according to some, the thirtieth year of his life, Ezekiel 
received his call as a prophet (Ezek. i, 2, 4 etc) in the vision 
which he describes in the beginning of his prophecy (Ezek. i,4; 
iii, 15). From Ezek. xxix, 17 it appears that he prophesied during 
at least twenty-two years. 

Ezekiel was called to foretell God's faithfulness in the midst of 
trials, as well as in the fulfilment of His promises. During the 
first period of his career, he foretold the complete destruction 
of the kingdom of Juda, and the annihilation of the city and 
temple. After the fulfilment of these predictions, he was 
commanded to announce the future return from exile, the re-
establishment of the people in their own country and, especially, 
the triumph of the Kingdom of the Messiah, the second David, so 
that the people would not abandon themselves to despair and perish 
as a nation, through contact with the Gentiles, whose gods had 
apparently triumphed over the God of Israel. This is the principal 
burden of Ezekiel's prophecy, which is divided into three parts. 
After the introduction, the vision of the calling of the prophet 
(Ezek. i-iii,21), the first part contains the prophecies against 
Juda before the fall of Jerusalem (Ezek. iii, 22-xxiv). In this 
part the prophet declares the hope of saving the city, the 
kingdom, and the temple to be vain, and announces the approaching 
judgment of God upon Juda. This part may be subdivided into five 
groups of prophecies.