"Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of the LORD'S house, which looketh eastward: and behold at the door of the gate five and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.

Then said he unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city: Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh.

 

Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man. And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them. Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain.

 

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron: but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it. Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you, saith the Lord GOD. And I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you.

 

Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; but I will judge you in the border of Israel: And ye shall know that I am the LORD: for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither executed my judgments, but have done after the manners of the heathen that are round about you.

 

And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel? Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the LORD: unto us is this land given in possession.

 

Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.

 

Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

 

But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD. Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city. Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me. Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that the LORD had shewed me.

(Ezekiel 11:1-25 kjv)

The Book of EZEKIEL The name Ezekiel means "God strengthens" and is appropriate in light of the difficulties Ezekiel would endure. Ezekiel was, with Jeremiah and Zechariah, one of three prophets who were also priests. He was taken to Babylon from Jerusalem in the second deportation (597 B.C.) along with King Jehoiachin (2 Kgs. 24:8 -17; Jer. 22:24 -30). At the age of thirty (Ezek. 1:1), when a priest would normally begin his ministry, Ezekiel received his prophetic call from the Lord (593 B.C.).   He spent the rest of his life in Babylon, but he received visions of both contemporary and future events relating to Jerusalem. As might be expected a priest, Ezekiel was concerned about the pollution of the temple which existed in his time and the glory of the millennial temple of the future. The last date that Ezekiel records (Ezek. 29:17) is twenty-two years after his call. The main topics discussed in the book fall into three basic sections: those prophecies which stress the impending disaster of Jerusalem's fall (chaps. 1 -24); the judgments pronounced at surrounding nations (chaps. 25 -32); and the future hopes and trials of God's people (chaps. 33 -48).   The purpose of Ezekiel's book can be described as threefold: (1) to show that Judah and Jerusalem were being judged for their sin; (2) to encourage the exiles with prophecies of God's future blessing on Israel; and (3) to emphasize God's glory and His character as that which should be most important to His people. This third reason is expressed 'wet seventy-five times in the phrases "for mine holy name's sake" (Ezek. 36:22) and "they shall know that I am the LORD" (Ezek. 36:38). The key phrase in the book, "the son of man" (Ezek. 2:1), is used about forty-five tithes. It stresses the idea that one possesses the qualities and characteristics of his father. Consequently, when Jesus used the terms "Son of man" and "Son of God" to refer to Himself, He was showing that He had the characteristics of both deity and humanity. "The glory of the Lord" is also a prominent theme, being mentioned over fifteen times in the book (Ezek.3:12, 23; 8:4; 9:3; 10:4, 18, 19; 11:22, 23; 39:21; 43:2 [twice], 4, 5; 44:4). [Source for Introduction of chapter: Hebrew Greek Key Study Bible KJV edited by Spiros Zodhiates, Th.D. AMG Publishers, Chattanooga, TN 37422]