Volume III
The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel.
With John Brown’s marginal references, notes and reflections · Vol. III, p. 1311
Ezekiel was also a priest; and prophesied among the captives in Chaldea while Jeremiah prophesied in Judea and Egypt. His predictions, especially the first and last nine chapters, are extremely figurative. But if we search them with reverence, humility, and diligence, we may from them find much encouragement to our faith and hope in God; even as in natural things we may reap much benefit from those, the nature, connections, and influences of which we do not well understand. We have in them (1) His divine call to his prophetical office, i.-iii. (2) His visions and messages of reproof and threatening to the Jews, iv.-xxiv. xxxiii. (3) His predictions of ruin to the enemies of the Jews; particularly the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, Philistines, Tyrians, Egyptians, and Turks, xxv.-xxxii. xxxv. xxxviii. xxxix. (4) Promises of mercy to the Jews after their captivity in Babylon and their present dispersion; which are likewise typical of the glorious privileges of the gospel church, xxxiv. xxxvi.-xlviii.
[Ezekiel and Jeremiah were both priests; were contemporaries, and prophesied mostly of the same events. Ezekiel, however, was carried captive to Babylon, and dwelt on the banks of the Chebar, a tributary of the Euphrates. Jeremiah remained in Judea, so that, in each country, God had his faithful witness. The prophecies of Ezekiel extend to a wide field, including not merely the Jews, but also the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, Philistines, Tyrians, Egyptians, and the northern nations, governed by Gog, designated the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Like the other prophets, he sets forth under various emblems the times and the glories of Messiah. He began to prophesy in the fifth year of his captivity, and continued in the faithful discharge of his duties for about twenty years. C.
Ezekiel was among the captives taken to Babylon with Jehoiachin in B.C. 599, when Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and carried away the treasures of the temple. His residence was at Tell Abib, on the banks of the river Chebar, in Mesopotamia. His prophetic mission began in the fifth year of his captivity (B.C. 594), and continued, so far as we have any record, to the twenty-seventh year (see ch. 29. 17). Ezekiel was a priest, and had studied deeply the ritualistic and symbolic lore of his people. He also appears to have been minutely acquainted with the sacred rites and strange idolatry of those among whom he dwelt. His brilliant imagination was thus prepared for decking his prophetic visions in a gorgeous symbolism without parallel elsewhere in Scripture. The events of his life are unknown, and we have no record of the date or manner of his death. P.]