3.3 Ezekiel

Ezekiel was born in Judah in 622 BC. In 597 BC, Nebuchadnezzar took him and thousands of other Hebrews captive to Babylon.

Ezekiel 1:1-3 talks about the beginning of Ezekiel's ministry:

3 Ezekiel 1:1-3

1 Now in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Chebar, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

2 In the fifth of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity,

3 Yahweh's word came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and Yahweh's hand was there on him.

There are several theories about what the thirtieth year meant, but what makes the most sense is that it was the age of ministry. Likewise, Jesus did not begin his ministry until he was thirty. For Ezekiel, it was when God began to show him prophetic visions. Ezekiel's prophetic ministry began in 593 BC, about five years into the captivity.

Ezekiel's prophecies include judgments against Israel and surrounding nations, but in chapter 37, he talks about divine restoration, just as Isaiah and Jeremiah had done. He talks about returning the children of Israel as one people, no longer as two nations, but as one nation under one king.

In Ezekiel 37:24-28, God announced the coming of a New and Everlasting Covenant, a Covenant of Peace:

5 Ezekiel 37:24-28

24 My servant David will be king over them. They all will have one shepherd. They will also walk in my ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them.

25 They will dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers lived. They will dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children's children, forever. David my servant will be their prince forever.

26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them. It will be an everlasting covenant with them. I will place them, multiply them, and will set my sanctuary among them forever more.

27 My tent also will be with them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

28 The nations will know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is among them forever more.

The statements that David will be king, His servant, and prince forever refer to the kingship of Jesus Christ, the "Son of David." God says He will make a covenant of peace, a new and everlasting covenant with them.

Since this covenant was ratified by Jesus Christ's sacrificial death, resurrection, and ascension, followed by the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, we understand that it applies to Jews and Gentiles.