Ezekiel Meaning The Strength Of God example essay topic

Ezekiel meaning the strength of God, is one of the four greater prophets in the Old Testament. Ezekiel was the son of a priest named Buz i. Not much is known about Ezekiel's childhood; much more is know after the age of twenty-five. Ezekiel was taken captive in the captivity of Jehoiachin, about eleven years before the destruction of Jerusalem.

He was one of the many members of a community of Jewish people who settled on the banks of the Che bar, a river of Babylon. Ezekiel began prophesying in 595 B. C, and finished prophesying in 573 B.C. Ezekiel prophesied for a period that lasted about twenty-two years. Ezekiel was a married man but little else is known about his family life, he also had a house in his place of exile. His wife died a sudden death during the siege of Jerusalem. He lived among the top of his companions in exile, and their elders consulted with him on all matters. Ezekiel lived in a time of international crisis and conflict.

Assyria was the world power in the area under the rule of Tiglath-pile sar. In 724 B. C Israel raged war upon Assyria, and Israel was no match for Assyria. In 627 B. C the last of the able Assyrian ruler, Ashurbanipal died. Right after the death of Ashurbanipal, Babylon under Nabopolassar wanted independence from Assyria.

In 612 B. C the Assyrians under Nineveh surrendered to the rising Babylonians. In 605 B. C the Babylonians were at war against the Egyptians. The Babylonians won and they established themselves as the leading power in the area. During all of this Judea allied with the Babylonians and with this Judea kept her independence. During the last century before Judea was destroyed it was ruled by four rulers and of those rulers, all but Josiah were wicked. Josiah was committed to God and led Judea to him.

All the others did not heed the warnings of Ezekiel and Jeremiah from God, and the rulers of Judea chose to rebel against God. God punished Judea by sending Nebuchadnezzar's army to crush the nation of Judea and flatten the city of Jerusalem. God appeared first to Ezekiel in a storm cloud; God was seated on a throne surrounded by cherubim. He commanded Ezekiel to go to an "impudent children and stiff hearted" and He gave Ezekiel a scroll to eat, showing Ezekiel complete identification with God's Word. After Ezekiel returned to the people in Tel-Abib, God spoke to Ezekiel again, telling Ezekiel to be a "watchman" as a reminder of his responsibility to His people. God did not allow Ezekiel to speak for the next seven and a half years so that Ezekiel could not speak unless it was a message from God.

Ezekiel's ministry began with a many performances of symbolic acts, all these acts was a symbol of God's warnings of the coming fall of Jerusalem and the scattering of its people. Chapters 8-11 contained an extended vision where Ezekiel was in a temple in Jerusalem where he saw hateful worship practices. Ezekiel strongly marked woes on the false prophets and prophetesses that were leading the people astray. Even with this he did not excuse each individual from his or her responsibility to God. God told Ezekiel not to mourn when his wife died during the taking of Jerusalem to show the people that God's sympathy for His disobedient people was running out. Chapters 25-32 contains messages against the surrounding nations.

This is unusual because usually a prophet's task was to warn his own people, these messages served as warnings that all people could not escape punishment if they did not acknowledge Him. After the fall of Jerusalem, Ezekiel changed the basis of his messages. There was no longer need for warning of punishment. Instead, the devastated nation needed encouragement and be told that there was hope for the future. Beginning with chapter 33, there are mainly messages of hope. The vision of the valley of dry bones shows the future resurrection of the nation.

The prophecies concerning God of the land of Magog gives assurance that God would protect His people from their enemies. The prophecy of Ezekiel is divided into two sections with the destruction of Jerusalem being at the center of it all. Chapters 1-24 talks about Jerusalem before the fall, and chapters 25-48 is after the fall of Jerusalem. In Chapters 1-24 Ezekiel prophesies that Judah will fall and Jerusalem will be destroyed, and the Jew will be taken away into captivity, because Israel has turned away from God and towards idolatry and all the other sins. In chapters 25-32, Ezekiel prophesies about the destruction of foreign peoples and the destruction of enemies of Judah. In chapters 33-39, Ezekiel gives comfort to those that are in captivity.

Now lastly, he prophesies of the restoration of Jerusalem and the Temple, and also the return of God's spirit, or presence to the people. Much has been said about Ezekiel's personality. He has been called neurotic, paranoid, psychotic, psycho, and schizophrenic because of his weird behavior. For example, he laid on one side for 390 days and on the other side for 40. Shaved off his hair, and one could not possibly understand his visions. To all the people Ezekiel was strange but God did not believed, In God's eyes, Ezekiel was truthful, forgiving, obedient, and had endurance.

He was dependable, patience, faithful, and tolerant. Ezekiel was truthful in all that he spoke because all of his words were from God. Ezekiel was forgiving and tolerant of God when God decided to take Ezekiel's wife away to make a point. Ezekiel was very obedient as he obeyed God's every single command including not mourning when his wife died.

God gave Ezekiel lots of endurance because he prophet ized for over twenty-two years. With his endurance, showed he was always dependable and faithful. All God needed to do was tell Ezekiel what to say or do, and Ezekiel would complete the task without complaint. Ezekiel was very patient even though God did not allow him to speak for seven and a half years and he complied with that. Ezekiel's death is unknown, but an ancient Jewish tradition states that Ezekiel was killed by his own people because of his preaching. Ezekiel's body is believed to be buried on the banks of the Euphrates, in the modern-day city of Kill, just south of the ancient city Babylon.

The tomb is said to have built by Jehoiachin.