Prophet Ezekiel - life story and predictions

The prophecies of Ezekiel stand somewhat apart from others. Firstly, because, if you believe history, this person is quite real, while there are doubts about some others. The priest's son was a priest in the temple of Yahweh (the name of God the Father in the Bible) in Jerusalem.

He was highly revered among the people; This is evidenced by the fact that for some time among his students was the great ancient Greek philosopher and scientist Pythagoras. Secondly, he is the only one of the prophets who, judging by his description, happened to see... a spaceship!

When Ezekiel was still young, an important event occurred in the history of his people - the Jewish king Joachim decided to throw off the yoke of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II. But the uprising was not successful; Jerusalem was soon besieged, Joachim was captured and executed.

And Nebuchadnezzar took 10 thousand people with him to Babylonia as hostages. Ezekiel was among them.

Those taken captive were settled near a tributary of the Euphrates - Khabuur (or Khovar) in Chaldea. In the fifth year of his captivity, as the Bible tells, Ezekeel was called to be a prophet, having witnessed an unprecedented event, which will be discussed below.

In the book of the prophet Ezekiel, which forms one of the parts of the Old Testament, we read:

… “And it came to pass in the thirtieth year in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, while I was among the exiles by the river Chebar, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God...

And I saw: and behold, a stormy wind came from the north, a great cloud and a swirling fire, and a radiance around it.

And from the middle of it, as it were, the light of a flame... And... there was the likeness of four living creatures, and what was their appearance: their appearance was like that of a man;

And each has four faces, and each of them has four wings;

Popular articles: Pastor Malthus's prophecies about the end of the world in 2029

And their legs were straight legs, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of a calf, and they sparkled like shiny brass..."

It is clear that the future prophet is shocked, he can hardly find words to somehow describe what he saw.

Who is the prophet Ezekiel?

Like all his fellow Israelites, he longed for his native mountainous area with springs and green fertile valleys, but he was forced to live on a desert plain near the Chebar River.

Nebuchadnezzar was generous and allowed the Israelites to build their own houses, keep servants and engage in crafts.

But life in a foreign land was unbearably difficult. The Lord saw the priest Ezekiel among the people of Israel and called him to prophetic ministry.

What does the name Ezekiel mean?

The name Ezekiel in Hebrew means God strengthens. This is not a random interpretation. This name is given to a person chosen by God himself.

In Babylonia, Ezekiel, who was about thirty years old at that time, built himself a house, got married, served as a priest, encouraged good deeds in his sermons, and threatened punishment for sins.

He suffered from homesickness, helped his co-religionists strengthen their spirit, and he himself worried about the same suffering of his relatives. The slave position oppressed him.

He hoped for a miracle, he waited for a command from above, and it happened.

In 613, after 26 years of captivity, the Lord himself appeared to Ezekiel and commanded him to become a prophet, call the Israelis to repentance and foreshadow sad events, thereby saving the Israeli people from disasters.

This was a high purpose. Becoming a prophet meant conveying to people, at the special inspiration of the Holy Spirit, words of edification, consolation, and predicting the future.

This also meant becoming a proclaimer of the will of God, his desire to punish for sins and reward for good thoughts and deeds. This also meant the exaltation of the prophet himself among people, his high responsibility before people and God.

One fine day, early in the morning, Ezekiel left the house and headed to the river. Suddenly, he noticed an unusual person walking to the side in a brightly burning flame.

Everything around was illuminated by the sun's glow. The man did not walk, but seemed to float.

Ezekiel looked closely and saw that the man was being carried by a strange winged creature known as a tetramorph.

This winged creature simultaneously possessed four different forms: man, lion, calf and eagle. They symbolized the guard of the four corners of the throne of God and the four limits of heaven.

The Beginning of a Great Ministry

Returning home, Ezekiel (the prophet) spent seven days struck by thunder. He could not only eat food, but even speak. He was brought back to life only by the voice of God that sounded again. The Almighty commanded him to be the guardian of the house of Israel, so that He would express His will through him. From this day began the great ministry of the prophet, part of which was responsibility for the people to whom he was sent.

It is important to note that before he felt qualified to be a teacher of his people, Ezekiel found it necessary to endure the physical suffering that so abundantly befell the Israelites. To this end, he slept for 430 days, placing on himself a brick on which the word “Jerusalem” was inscribed with his hand. Not satisfied with this, he shaved his head and ate exclusively cakes baked with cow dung. Only after this did he begin to prophesy.

Visions of Ezekiel

Ezekiel was very surprised at such an unusual vision and was delighted. He managed to notice that during the procession all four faces of the tetramorph did not turn.

Later he wrote: The likeness of their faces is the face of a man and the face of a lion on the right side of all four of them; and on the left side the face of a calf in all four and the face of an eagle in all four.

The Almighty is Christ in tetra-morph. Novgorod fresco. XV century

Ezekiel fell on his face at such a wonderful vision. And he heard a human voice. The Lord spoke to him: Stand on your feet, and I will speak to you.

And a spirit entered into Ezekiel, and again he heard the words of the Lord: I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a disobedient people. Whether they will listen or not, I don’t know, but you must preach repentance to them.

And the Lord extended his hand, and in it lay a scroll. He unfolded it - the scroll was covered with instructions. Ezekiel realized that these were the groans of the Israelites, a description of their grief, their tears and groans.

Ezekiel unwittingly took this scroll and... ate it. He immediately felt honey sweetness in his mouth.

It was no coincidence that the Lord gave such a scroll to Ezekiel. Jerusalem fell because neither the kings of Israel nor the people themselves heeded the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah, who lived at that very time.

Why such misfortunes? Because the king of Israel Zedekiah, a wicked, evil man, entered into an alliance with the Egyptians, because the people of Israel supported him.

Moreover, Jeremiah (Ezekiel echoed him in his predictions) also prophesied that the king of Israel, Zedekiah, would become the last king of Israel and would be captured by the Babylonians.

He will also be taken into slavery, but first he will be blinded. Zedekiah did not like these predictions. The people of Israel did not like them, and Jeremiah was sent to prison.

But everything happened as Jeremiah predicted. Nebuchadnezzar entered Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, and took the noble Israelis captive.

Zedekiah was brought to him, and he ordered him to be blinded in the presence of his captured sons. For all these wicked acts of Zedekiah, the Lord took up arms against the people of Israel and demanded repentance from them.

Hence the scroll handed over to Ezekiel with groans and tears. And the Lord was very dissatisfied with the behavior of the Israeli kings and the entire people, who were unable to defend their freedom.

Hence the appeal to Ezekiel, turning him into another prophet.

Vision of the prophet Ezekiel. Artist Raphael

Mysterious scroll

But let's return to the pages of Holy Scripture. Having seen the miracle shown to him, the prophet Ezekiel fell and lay, not daring to raise his face, when he suddenly heard the voice of God above him, commanding him to go to his compatriots who had violated His commandments and were punished for this with slavery.

Raising his head, the chosen one of God saw a scroll extended to him by a mysterious hand. Three words were inscribed on it: “Moaning, crying and grief.” The same heavenly voice ordered Ezekiel to eat this scroll, after which, lifted from the earth by the Holy Spirit, he heard behind him the sound of the wings of the seraphim and their voices praising God.

What predictions did Ezekiel make?

This meeting was like the second birth of Ezekiel. He became a prophet, he rose above the people and began to instill obedience and repentance in his relatives.

He asked them to turn to God, tell about their sins and ask for mercy and forgiveness. Otherwise, he proclaimed, the Lord would bring down terrible disasters on the heads of the Israelis, and in this rage the Lord could destroy both Jerusalem and the entire kingdom of Israel.

Ezekiel further predicted the destruction of Idumea and Egypt. The Lord will punish their people because they rejoiced at the destruction of Jerusalem.

Ezekiel, at the command of the Lord, announced to the Israelites that they would return from captivity in seventy years and begin rebuilding their beloved city and begin to rebuild their temple.

And he also predicted the coming of a new ruler of Israel, a new king of the Israeli people, David.

What should he compare the “cart of God” to if not a chariot?

But not a simple one, but a flying one... By the way, it is worth mentioning that ancient Indian literature - “Mahabharata”, “Ramayana” - also talks about “heavenly flying chariots”.

Revelation of the Resurrection of the Dead

Ezekiel's most famous sermon is about the resurrection of the dead. One day he had a vision again. He went out onto the plain and saw that everything around was strewn with human bones.

These were the remains of the children of Israel. These were the bones of his relatives, friends, acquaintances and strangers to him. At such a terrible sight, Ezekiel was very sad.

And again the Lord appeared before him and began to say: Son of man! these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say: our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost, we are cut off from the root.

Therefore prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and bring you, My people, out of your graves and bring you into the land of Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and bring you, My people, out of your graves, and put My spirit into you, and you will live, and I will place you in your land, and you will know that I, the Lord, have said this. - and did it.

Tetramorph. Fresco of the Meteora monastery. XVI century

Image of the four evangelists on the altar of the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Heilbronn

In the future, this many-sided creature - a tetramorph - will become a symbol of the four evangelists, will be the form of their traditional image: Matthew in the form of an angel, Mark in the form of a lion, Luke - a calf, John - an eagle.

Everyone will have wings behind their backs, and they will hold the Gospel in their hands.

This vision, as the Holy Fathers later explained, was truly a symbolic prototype of the four evangelists who enlightened the whole world with an evangelical sermon, imbued with the mind of man, the strength of a lion, the obedience of a calf, possessing a high fellow of spirit, like an eagle.

In one of the significant visions with which God visited the exalted Ezekiel, he received a revelation about the resurrection of the dead.

Son of man! will these bones live? I said: Lord God! You know it. And he said to me: Prophesy against these bones and say to them: The bones are dry! listen to the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will put breath into you, and you will live. And I will cover you with sinews, and I will grow flesh on you, and I will cover you with skin, and I will bring spirit into you, and you will live, and you will know that I, the Lord, did this.

When Ezekiel prophesied thus, there was noise and movement. The bones began to come closer together, veins appeared on them, everything was overgrown with flesh and skin, but there was no spirit in them.

And then the Lord breathed on the dead and his spirit entered into them, and they rose to their feet. It was a very large horde.

Ezekiel's prophecy about the resurrection of the dead was later perceived symbolically as a desire to gain freedom for the Israeli people.

From the prophecy it followed that this freedom would be granted to them by the Lord himself. This prophecy was also interpreted as a call for the unity of the Israeli people, the restoration of its integrity, and it will happen again at the second coming of the Savior, then the resurrection of the dead will happen again.

Icon of the Vision of Ezekiel. XIV century

Notes

↑ 12
[www.pravoslavie.ru/put/55255.htm HOLY PROPHET EZEKIEL]
↑ 123
[days.pravoslavie.ru/Life/life4281.htm HOLY PROPHET EZEKIEL]
[azbyka.ru/dictionary/08/zakon_bozhiy_111-all.shtml Prophet Ezekiel]
[omsk-eparhiya.ru/main/Jitiya/7/21.htm Life of the Holy Prophet Ezekiel]
[krotov.info/yakov/history/bio_pre_undefined/iezekiil.htm DICTIONARY OF SAINTS]
[lib.eparhia-saratov.ru/books/01a/al-dr_mileant/oracular/17.html Book of the Prophet Ezekiel]
[www.odos.ru/odos.php?id=1194 Prophet Ezekiel and his book]
[krotov.info/library/13_m/myen/1_8_208.html Men A. The Age of the Prophets]

Sample of Ezekiel's Prediction Sermon

Here is a sample of Ezekiel’s sermon-prediction, which the Lord inspired him with: I will save My sheep, and they will no longer be plundered. And I will appoint over them one shepherd who will feed them, my servant David.

I will release them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day. I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold will be on the high mountains of Israel.

I will feed My sheep and I will give them rest. I will find the lost, and return the stolen, and bandage the wounded, and strengthen the sick, and destroy the fat and violent; I will shepherd them with righteousness.

And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David will be a prince among them. And I will make a covenant of peace with them and remove fierce beasts from the land, so that they will live safely in the steppe and sleep in the forests.

I grant them and the surrounding area of My hill a blessing. And I will bring forth a glorious planting among them, and they will no longer perish from hunger in the land or suffer shame from the nations.

And they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are My people, says the Lord God, and that you are My sheep, the sheep of My pasture; You are men, and I am your God, says the Lord God.

Ezekiel also prophesied about a coming disaster, an invasion from the north of such ferocious people, whom he called in one general word Gog, who was supposedly a king from the land of Magog.

Hence the transfer of the word Magog to an entire nation, that is, Gog and Magog were perceived as representatives of one of the warlike nations.

His prophecy also spoke of the terrible atrocities that these conquerors would bring to the land of Israel. It was difficult to surprise the inhabitants of the kingdom of Israel, as well as the inhabitants of Syria and Mesopotamia, with cruelty; they saw severed heads and people with their skin torn off, their eyes gouged out and impaled.

But Ezekiel predicted even worse atrocities.

As the Holy Fathers and historians testify, Ezekiel’s prophecy turned out to be true. Around the second half of the 7th century BC, a ferocious army of conquerors who came from the northern lands swept across the lands of the Middle East.

Presumably these were Scythians. In the Bible they were called by the symbolic name Gog and Magog.

These conquerors burst into villages and killed everyone left and right, burned houses, seized loot and disappeared. Their behavior did not comply with any reasonable standards even of that barbaric time.

It was impossible to buy them off; they did not recognize any laws. The senseless ferocity and cruelty of the Scythians left after their invasions a painful memory, the taste of blood, the suffering of others was more valuable to them than gold.

The peoples of Gog and Magog surrounded the camp of the saints. Miniature from the 17th century.

The battle of the Holy Roman Emperor and the Teutonic Order against the peoples of Gog and Magog. Drawing from a 14th century manuscript. Turin

Death of Ezekiel

Little is known about the end of the life of the prophet Ezekiel. The Bible Encyclopedia notes that he prophesied for 27 years.

And his prophecies did not always find understanding among the Israeli people. His statements and denunciations were too frank, they were too offensive.

One day he accused one of the Jewish princes of idolatry.

This caused such anger in the latter that he ordered his guards to seize the prophet, whom he considered a wicked man, and put him to shameful execution. No forgiveness for him.

According to legend, this happened in 571 BC. Ezekiel was seized by the Israelis, embittered by his prophecies, brought to the square and tied to horses in front of a crowd of people.

There was not a single person who would stand up for him. Everyone was so frightened by his denunciations. At the executioner's signal, the horses rushed in different directions.

After some time, they tore Ezekiel’s body to pieces and dragged him, already dead, through the city.

His tomb was supposedly built by one of the last Israeli kings, Jehoiachin, who was also captured by the Babylonians and experienced all the horrors of slavery in a foreign land. The tomb was located near ancient Babylon.

True, there is another version of the death of the prophet, a more peaceful one. He died quite decently surrounded by his family; his wife passed away much earlier.

Ezekiel. Fragment of the ceiling painting of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo

The Ascension of Christ on a tetramorph. VI century

Notes[ | ]

↑ 12
HOLY PROPHET EZEKIEL
↑ 123
Ezekiel // Jewish Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron. - St. Petersburg, 1908-1913.
Ezekiel // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
“Facial features change according to the form characteristic of the inner face, the spirit. Already at the very exit from Eden, the soul has a certain shape, which is reflected on the face. All physiognomies have their prototype in the four primitive types, to which they approach or from which they deviate, depending on the degree occupied by each soul in the intellectual or moral field. These four primitive types are the four images that Ezekiel outlined above the mysterious chariot” - Zohar // Jewish Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron. - St. Petersburg, 1908-1913.
↑ 123
HOLY PROPHET EZEKIEL
Prophet Ezekiel
Lives of the Saints of Rostov, 1903-1916.
Dictionary of Saints.
Book of the Prophet Ezekiel Archived copy dated May 26, 2015 on the Wayback Machine
Prophet Ezekiel and his book
Aral-Paigambar
Men A. The Age of the Prophets