BIBLE BOOK GUIDE
Ezekiel
48 chapters
In the midst of exile and unfaithfulness, the glory of the LORD departs—yet only temporarily—for He will judge the nations, restore Israel, and dwell among His people as their sanctuary and King.
Ezekiel
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Why this book was written
Ezekiel prophesied among the exiles in Babylon. He was appointed as a watchman to the rebellious house, announcing judgment for idolatry and covenant unfaithfulness (chs. 1–24). After the fall of Jerusalem, he brought comfort, assuring the remnant that God's glory would return, that Israel would be restored, and that the LORD Himself would dwell among them in a new temple and on a renewed earth (chs. 33–48).
Structure
- 1–3Ezekiel's Call and Prophetic Commission
- 4–24Judgment on Jerusalem and the Rebellious House
- 25–32Oracles Against the Nations
- 33–39Promises of Restoration: Shepherds, a New Heart, and Victory
- 40–48The New Temple, New Worship, and the Return of God's Glory
Major themes
The Glory and Holiness of the LORD
From the throne-chariot in chapter 1 to the return of the divine glory to the temple at the end, God repeatedly displays His transcendent holiness and calls His people to be set apart.
Judgment and Justice
The prophet pronounces judgment on Jerusalem, the nations, and the temple, because sin has reached its full measure and God will act according to His righteousness.
Identity and Obedience of the Prophet
God gives visions, words, and strange signs (such as swallowing the scroll, lying on his side 390 days) to shape Ezekiel as a watchman for the house of Israel.
Restoration and the New Covenant Promise
After judgment, God promises to give a new heart and new spirit, revive the dry bones, rebuild the temple, and cause life-giving waters to flow again.
Shepherding and Individual Responsibility
Chapter 34 condemns the false shepherds; the LORD Himself becomes the Good Shepherd who seeks the lost, and each person is judged according to his own deeds.
The Fate of the Nations and God's Sovereignty
Chapters 25–32 address Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, and Egypt, showing that all nations are under the sovereign rule of God.
How it points to Christ
Ezekiel foreshadows Christ in multiple ways: He is the Good Shepherd and the Davidic descendant (Ezek 34:23) and the center of the visions of the Glory of the Lord; His Spirit revives the dead bones (ch. 37), pointing to new life for sinners; the new covenant of cleansing water and new spirit (36:25–27) is fulfilled in Him; and the life-giving river flowing from the temple (ch. 47) points to the outpouring of the Spirit and the river of life in the new creation (cf. Rev 22:1).
Key verses
- 1:28Ezekiel's inaugural vision of the glory of the LORD establishes the book's central theme: divine glory that departs will also return.
- 3:17The watchman mandate defines Ezekiel's prophetic role: to warn the wicked faithfully, with personal responsibility for the warning given.
- 11:19God promises to give a new heart and a new spirit—a prophetic anticipation of the inward renewal later fulfilled in the new covenant.
- 18:31A call to make yourselves a new heart and spirit, grounding Ezekiel's theology of personal repentance and divine justice.
- 36:26–27The climactic restoration promise: God Himself removes the heart of stone, gives a heart of flesh, and puts His Spirit within.
- 37:14The valley of dry bones receives life when God's Spirit comes—prophesying the eschatological resurrection and restoration of God's people.
- 43:2The glory of the LORD returns to the new temple—the literary climax that resolves the departure seen in chs. 9–11.
- 48:35The city is named 'The LORD Is There,' fulfilling the book's theology that God's presence is the goal of all redemption.
People in this book
Questions for reflection
- ·How does the manifestation of God's glory in Ezekiel's vision shape your awareness of God's presence today?
- ·How does God's word, 'Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked?' (Ezek 18:23), challenge your view of repentance and mercy?
- ·How does the vision of the valley of dry bones (ch. 37) encourage you to declare God's power in situations that seem hopeless?
- ·'I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you' (36:26)—how does this promise motivate you to seek daily renewal by the Spirit?
- ·If the watchman does not warn the wicked, he is held accountable (3:18)—what does this say about believers watching over one another today?
Where Ezekiel fits in the Bible's storyline
This book appears in the 12-stop storyline at:
Where to start reading the Bible? See the full 12-stop storyline
Want to read Ezekiel start to finish? Open the reader for parallel Chinese/English text and ask anything as you go.
Start reading EzekielEzekiel
Chapter 28
1The word of Jehovah came again unto me, saying,
2Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet you are man, and not God, though you did set your heart as the heart of God;—
3behold, you are wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that is hidden from you;
4by your wisdom and by your understanding you have gotten you riches, and have gotten gold and silver into your treasures;
5by your great wisdom and by your traffic have you increased your riches, and your heart is lifted up because of your riches;—
6therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: Because you have set your heart as the heart of God,
7therefore, behold, I will bring strangers upon you, the terrible of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, and they shall defile your brightness.
8They shall bring you down to the pit; and you shall die the death of them that are slain, in the heart of the seas.
9Will you yet say before him that slays you, I am God? but you are man, and not God, in the hand of him that woundeth you.
10You shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, says the Lord Jehovah.
11Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
12Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say unto him, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: You sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, the sardius, the topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of your tabrets and of your pipes was in you; in the day that you were created they were prepared.
14You were the anointed cherub that covers: and I set you, so that you were upon the holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, until unrighteousness was found in you.
16By the abundance of your traffic they filled the midst of you with violence, and you have sinned: therefore have I cast you as profane out of the mountain of God; and I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
17Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness: I have cast you to the ground; I have laid you before kings, that they may behold you.
18By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your traffic, you have profaned your sanctuaries; therefore have I brought forth a fire from the midst of you; it has devoured you, and I have turned you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold you.
19All they that know you among the peoples shall be astonished at you: you are become a terror, and you shall nevermore have any being.
20And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
21Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against it,
22and say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against you, O Sidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of you; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.
23For I will send pestilence into her, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall fall in the midst of her, with the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.
24And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor a hurting thorn of any that are round about them, that did despite unto them; and they shall know that I am the Lord Jehovah.
25Thus says the Lord Jehovah: When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the nations, then shall they live in their own land which I gave to my servant Jacob.
26And they shall live securely in it; Yes, they shall build houses, and plant vineyards, and shall live securely, when I have executed judgments upon all those that do them despite round about them; and they shall know that I am Jehovah their God.