In exile, Hebrews found hope in Prophet Ezekiel’s visions
The prophet's visions after the fall of Jerusalem led to the creation of a new Jewish identity.
A prophet during the Babylonian exile, Ezekiel’s hopeful visions gave rise to a Jewish identity that extended beyond geographical and political borders.
With the fall of Jerusalem and forceful deportation of citizens from Judah to Babylon, the Hebrew nation was shocked and in a spiritual crisis. Why had God allowed this catastrophe to happen? How could Torah observance, including worship at the Temple, be sustained when the Temple lay in ruins? Would this mark the end of the great story of Israel?
These and other questions were addressed by the prophet Ezekiel, son of a Zadokite priest who ministered to refugees during the exile. As a “sentinel for the house of Israel” (Ezekiel 3:17), Ezekiel had repeatedly warned of God’s pending penalty
