Historical Circumstances Behind The Book Of Ezekiel

In order to completely understand the book of Ezekiel, we must first look at the historical circumstances surrounding this book. According to The Jewish Study Bible, the prophetic book of Ezekiel spans a time period ranging from 593BCE to 571 BCE. This time period both predates and postdates the destruction of the First Temple. The kingdom was split into two communities, one in Judah and one in Babylonia. The Judeans had to deal with the destruction of the temple and all that came with it, including trying to preserve their identity with the lack of a true king and the temple itself. Ezekiel is sent by God in order to alert the people in exile of their sins and warn them about this impending destruction. The whole book is written by the prophet
In the first couple of lines of the first chapter, the author writes "the word of the Lord came to the priest Ezekiel" (Ezekiel 1:3). This is the standard way in which the Old Testament introduces prophetic oracles, the only difference being that it is not written in the first person which is unique only to this book. Since it is believed that Ezekiel wrote this whole book himself, this may suggest that he wanted to create some sort of narrator to introduce himself rather than just starting in the first person as just a line later we see a shift in perspective to the first person. Later in the chapter, the way in which Ezekiel describes what he is witnessing shows us the reverence he has towards the Lord God. He chooses to describe the figures that appear in front of him from bottom to top instead of from top to bottom. He first described the creatures and the chariot and then finally described the Lord God. This could symbolize that he was already bowing in reverence and looked up slowly when he was approached by
One of the excerpts of this part of the book that stood out as unique is when Ezekiel ate the scroll which God handed to him. God said, "Mortal, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll that I give you." I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey to me" (Ezekiel 3:3). Why would any sane man eat what is basically a paper scroll with ink on it? How does the scroll taste like honey to him? One answer is that eating the scroll is a symbol of his dedication to the mission that God has given him. The fact that he thought that the scroll tasted like honey, may tell us that he was happy and willing to accept this calling from God, which is the exact opposite emotion that other prophets, like Moses experienced when having the burden of an entire nation put on their