Advent Day 6: Enslaved

Ezekiel ben Buzi was born in Jerusalem during King Josiah's reign.  He was a priest, as was his father before him.  He was taken into captivity by the Babylonians at age 25.   

Ezekiel led a life of relative ease in Babylon.  He was allowed to marry, to have a home and had a family.   As a man of high education, he had a broad knowledge of not only national traditions but of international affairs and history.  He was well versed in general matters of culture, literature and even of shipbuilding.

God was still very displeased with the captives.   They continued in their Godless ways, and happily participated in worship of the foreign gods.  Ezekiel was 30 years old, five years a captive, when he received the prophetic call on his life.  His record of that first vision is filled with vivid and frightening descriptions.  

Ezekiel was told by God to act out many of the messages he gave him in prophetic symbolism.  When his wife died, God forbade him to grieve.   He was told to shave his head and beard.   This was strictly forbidden in Levitical law because shaving was often a part of pagan practices.

But it was not just the people that Ezekiel spoke prophecy to.  God also spoke messages to the priests who had neglected the people's needs.  He spoke against their tendency to take advantage of the weak and to extort from the wealthy.

Even though there were repeated warnings of further desolations for God's people, Ezekiel was also given visions and messages of hope and restoration to share with the captives.   God described to him the measurements of the second temple, to replace the one that was destroyed during Babylon's occupancy.  After seeing Solomon's Temple destroyed it must have been great comfort to hear that the temple would be rebuilt.

God also spoke of a day when the captives would be freed and return to Judah and reclaim their rightful heritage.  He used the example of a valley filled with the dried bones of skeletons which were brought to life.  God proclaimed: 

 “11 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 indeed cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”  Ezekiel 37:11-14

Ezekiel 36:26  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Song: New Heart (Acoustic Cover) by Mosaic    Hannah Abogado