Jeremiah becomes a prophet to Judah	Daniel taken captive to Babylon	Ezekiel taken captive to Babylon	Ezekiel becomes a prophet to exiles	Judah falls; Jerusalem destroyed	Ezekiel's ministry ends	Babylon overthrown by Cyrus	First exiles return to Judah
627 B.C.	605	597	593	586	571	539	538

660	650	640	630	620	610	600	590	580	570	560	550	540	530	520	510	500	490
Kings of Babylon				Neo-Babylonian Empire
						605   Nebuchadnezzar   562					560-556 Neriglissar
									562-560Evil-Merodach			556 Labashi Marduk
												556-539 Nabonidus
													553-539 Belshazzar
Judah's Las Kings (Southern Kingdom)							Jehoiachin (Coniah/Jeconiah) 3 months
					Jehoiakim 609-597		Zedekiah 597-586					Zerubbabel  538
					605          70-year Jewish Captivity        536 3 Stages of captivity								538 Decree of Cyrus
													536 Temple started
					605 Daniel and friends								534 Temple stopped
						597 Ezekiel and ten thousand captives							520 Temple resumed
							586 Destruction of Jerusalem						516 Temple finished
Ezekiel and His Contemporary Prophets (Southern Kingdom)			627                     Jeremiah                 574
							593   EZEKIEL  559
							605                   Daniel                  536
660	650	640	630	620	610	600	590	580	570	560	550	540	530	520	510	500	490

1.      The Wood of the Vine (Ezek. 15:1–8) Symbolized the way in which Judah had become useless to the Lord and now served no other purpose than to be burned up in judgment.
2.      The Foundling (Ezek. 16) Illustrated the nation’s betrayal of God’s love and compassion.
3.      The Eagles and the Cedar (Ezek. 17) Illustrated the foolishness of King Zedekiah, whose rebellion would bring Nebuchadnezzar’s troops to destroy Jerusalem.
4.      The Fiery Furnace (Ezek. 22:17–22) Explained the way in which God was going to purify His people through the “heat” of the seige of Jerusalem.
5.      The Two Harlots (Ezek. 23) Symbolized the spiritual adultery of Israel and Judah.
6.      The Cooking Pot (Ezek. 24:1–14) Symbolized the way in which God was going to “turn up the head” on Jerusalem in order to cleanse it of its impurities.
7.      The Shipwreck (Ezek. 27) Illustrated the judgment that was going to fall on Tyre.
8.      The Irresponsible Shepherds (Ezek. 34) Signified the worthless leaders of Jerusalem and how God would deal with them.
9.      The Dry Bones (Ezek. 37) Symbolized the spiritual renewal of the nation of Israel.

The Temples of the Bible

(1) Solomon’s Temple. The construction of this temple by Solomon was a fulfillment of David’s desire to build a “house for the Lord”- a desire which he ws never to realize in his lifetime (2 Sam. 7:1–29). The temple ws built after the death of David and dedicated by his son (1 Kin. 8:1ff). This temple was destroyed by the armies of Nebuchadnezzar at the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B. C. (Jer. 32:28–44).

(2) Zerubbabel’s Temple. This is the one under construction during the ministryof the prophet Zechariah. It was completed and dedicated in 516 B.C. (Ezra 6:1–22). It was constructed under the direction of Zerubbabel (Ezra 3:1–8; 4:1–14) who was a descendant of David (1 Chr. 3:19). This temple was desecrated in 169 B.C. by Antichus Epiphanes.

(3) Herod’s Temple. Restoration of Zerubbabel’s temple began in 19 B.C. under the administation of Herod the Great. The temple was nearing competion in A.D. 70, after nearly 90 years of renovation and enlargement, when it was destroyed by the Romans. Since this time there had been no temple in Jerusalem.

(4) The Present Temple. There is a temple in which the Lord reigns at present. According to 1 Cor. 6:19 and 2 Cor. 6:16–18 the present temple of the Lord is the heart of the believer. There the Lord reigns until the day when the Messiah will return and set up His earthly kingdom and the millenial temple.

(5) The Temple of Revelation 11. This temple will be constructed during the Tribulation by the Antichrist. It is mentioned in 2 Thess. 2:4 as the site for the abomination of desolation mentioned by Daniel the prophet (Dan. 9:2) and Jesus (Matt. 24:15). This temple will be destroyed with the kingdom of the Antichrist (see Rev. 17; 18)

(6) The Millennial Temple. This is the temple that is described in detail in Ezek. 40:1–42:20. It is this temple that the prophet Zechariah has in view in 6:12, 13. It will be built by the Messiah Himself, who will rule in it as the righteous Priest-King of His own millennial kingdom (6:13).

(7) The Eternal Temple of His Presence. This temple is presented in Rev. 21:22. John says there will be no physical temple in the eternal kingdom because “...the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” This temple will be the greatest of all and it will be the focus of the eternal kingdom as it is presented in Rev. 21; 22.

Prophet's Own Time

Captivity and Restoration

Inter testament Period

Christ's First Coming

Christ's Second Coming

New Heaven New Earth

 

Ezekiel

Served as a prophets to the exiles in Babylon from 593-571 B.C.

CLIMATE OF THE TIMES	Ezekiel and his people are taken to Babylon as captives. The Jews become foreigners in a strange land ruled by an authoritarian government.
MAIN MESSAGE	Because of the people's sins, God allowed the nation of Judah to be destroyed. But there was still hope - God promised to restore the land to those who remained faithful to him.
IMPORTANCE OF MESSAGE	God never forgets those who faithfully seek to obey him. hey have a glorious future ahead.
CONTEMPORARY PROPHETS	Daniel (605-536 B.C.), Habakkuk (612-589 B.C.), Jeremiah (627-586 B.C.)

Dates in Ezekiel

	REFERENCE	YEAR	MONTH	DAY	MODERN RECKONING	EVENT
1.	1:1   1:2   3:16	30  5  "At the end of	4  - seven days"	5  5	July 31, 593 B.C.	Inaugural vision
2.	8:1	6	6	5	Sep. 17, 592	Transport to Jerusalem
3.	20:1-2	7	5	10	Aug. 14, 591	Negative view of Israel's history
4.	24:1	9	10	10	Jan 15, 588	Beginning of siege  (2Ki 25:1)
5.	26:1	11	-	1	Apr. 23, 587  to Apr. 13, 586	Oracle against Tyre  (26:1)
6.	29:1	10	10	12	Jan. 7, 587	Oracle against Egypt
7.	29:17	27	1	1	Apr. 26, 571	Egypt in exchange for Tyre
8.	30:20	11	1	7	Apr. 29, 587	Oracle against Pharaoh
9.	31:1	11	3	1	June 21, 587	Oracle against Pharaoh
10.	32:1	12	12	1	Mar 3, 585	Lament over Pharaoh
11.	32:17	12	-	15	Apr. 13, 586  to Apr 1, 585	Egypt dead
12.	33:21	12	10	5	Jan. 8, 585	Arrival of first fugite
13.	40:1   40:1	25  "14 years after the	1 fall of the city"	10	Apr. 28, 573	Vision of the future

The Blueprint

A. MESSAGES OF DOOM (1:1-24:27) Ezekiel's call Visions of sin and judgment  Punishment is certain	While Jeremiah was prophesying in Jerusalem that the city would soon fall to the Babylonians, Ezekiel was giving the same message to the captives who were already in Babylon. Like those in Jerusalem, the captives stubbornly believed that Jerusalem would not fall and that would soon return to their land. Ezekiel warned them that punishment has certain because of their sins and that God was purifying his people. God will always punish sin, whether we believe it or not.
B. MESSAGES AGAINST FOREIGN NATIONS (25:1-32:32)	Ezekiel condemns the sinful actions of seven nations. The people in these nations were saying that God was obviously too weak to defend his people and the city of Jerusalem. But God was allowing his people to be defeated in order to punish them for their sins. These pagan nations, however, would face a similar fate, and then they would know that God is all-powerful. Those who dare to mock God today will also face a terrible fate.
C. MESSAGES OF HOPE (33:1-48:35) Restoring the people of God  Restoring the worship of God	After the fall of Jerusalem, Ezekiel delivered messages of future restoration and hope for the people. God is holy, but Jerusalem and the Temple had become defiled. The nation had to be cleansed through 70 years of captivity. Ezekiel gives a vivid picture of the unchangeable holiness of God. Wee, too, must gain a vision of the glory of God, a fresh sense of his greatness, as we face the struggles of daily life.

Ezekiel Overview