Introduction to the Book of Ezekiel & Ezekiel Chapter 1 Study:
The Book of Ezekiel Introduction:
AUTHOR : The Prophet Ezekiel himself…
DATE : 595-572 BC…
MAJOR THEME: YHWH’s direction of events in heaven and on earth...His revelation of Knowledge to all the nations is another predominant theme running throughout the book...He is the Judge, but He is equally desirous to be gracious and merciful...
BACKGROUND: The holy prophet Ezekiel (Commemorated on July 23), whose name means “God strengthens”, was of the tribe of Levi...He grew up during the reign of King Josiah of Judah (640-609 BC), but his prophetic ministry spanned the years 595 to 572 BC...More than any other prophet, Ezekiel was called by YHWH to involve himself personally in the divine word by acting it out in prophetic symbolism...He was a contemporary of the prophets Jeremiah and Daniel…
EZEKIEL 1:1-27:
1:1: St. Gregory the Great comments that after establishing the time and place in history, the Prophet Ezekiel mystically “shows forth the Lord,” for in Christ’s thirtieth year He was baptized and the heavens were opened… (reference Matthew 3:17)...
1:3-4: St. Gregory writes that Ezekiel recognized the Incarnation of the Only Begotten when he saw the hand of the Lord...The amber signifies Christ, who “tempered” His divinity by taking on humanity, that humanity by grace might take on divinity…”Like amber in the fire, YHWH is made man in persecution…”
1:5-9: Ezekiel identifies the four living creatures as cherubim (Ezekiel 10:9-16), the guardians of the throne of YHWH (Exodus 25:10-22; 3Kg 6:23-28)...Like those of St. John’s vision (reference Revelation 4:6-9), they are seen by the Fathers to typify the Four Evangelists, while their unity in the spirit illustrates the spread of the Gospel…
1:10: St. Gregory the Great comments that the man is Matthew, because he begins his Gospel with Christ’s genealogy (Matthew 1:1)...The lion is Mark, “because of the crying in the wilderness” (Mark 1:1)...The ox is Luke, “because he started with a sacrifice (Luke 1:8)...The eagle is John, who “stretched toward the very substance of divinity” (John 1:1)...
1:13: The burning coals, says St. Gregory, are “holy men”...The lamps signify the light of the Gospel, (reference Judges 7:16)...
1:14-21: The wheels signify Holy Scripture, and the wheel within the wheel illustrates the “New Testament lay hidden by allegory in the letter of the Old Testament” (GrgGt)...
1:22: St. Gregory sees in the wings an image of the virtues of the righteous…
1:25: The man on the sapphire...throne prefigures the Incarnation of the Son of God from the Virgin Mary…
1:27: The rainbow images the new covenant (see Genesis 9:13-15)...
“World events and Bible prophecy seem to be converging, the convergence of prophetic events are underway...It seems Ezekiel is where we need to be right now with the current events taking place between Russia and Israel, at this moment in time...Remember when I mentioned Revelation 8, and about La Palma Volcano it’s getting worse...Go checkout Revelation 8, and see where it says ⅓ of the ships and sea life will perish or be destroyed…We have tons of ships sitting out in all of our ports worldwide nothing like this has ever happen before...If La Palma crashed into the ocean it can generate a massive tsunami...Now I’m just relying messages, and we are all capable of forming what we think, this is not about doom or gloom, but what’s really coming…
-JPCE Spiritual Talk