The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel The prophet Ezekiel was the son of the priest Buzi and was born in Judea. Together with King Jeconiah, he, among 10,000 Jews, was taken to Babylon in 597 BC. and settled in Mesopotamia on the Chebar River, a tributary of the Tigris River. To the prophetic ministry Ezekiel was

Prophet Ezekiel and his book.

The personality of the prophet Ezekiel.

“Ezekiel” translated means “God will strengthen, give strength.”

Ezekiel was a Jerusalem priest, the son of Busius, and in his homeland belonged to the city aristocracy. He fell into Babylonian captivity with Jeconiah and the first party of Israelites consisting of 10 thousand people around 597 BC. In Babylon, he lived in the town of Tel Aviv (not far from the Babylonian city of Nippur) near the river Khobar (Kebaru), which, in fact, was not a river, but a canal. According to legend, it was dug up by Jewish settlers by order of Nebuchadnezzar and used for irrigation, channeling water from the Euphrates River through it.
In captivity he was not constrained: he had a wife (she was a great consolation to him, but she died in the 9th year of captivity - around 587. God forbade him to mourn her - 24:16-23), had his own house (3:24) , received the Jewish leaders there and conveyed to them the will of God (8:1) [Mitskevich V. Bibliology]. Also, Jews gathered in his house to talk about faith and listen to his speeches.

Around 593, in the 5th year of the captivity, Ezekiel was called to prophetic ministry (1:2), apparently at the age of 30 (Num. 4:30).

In his book, Ezekiel indicates the exact dates of events, considering the beginning of his captivity as the starting point. The last date in the book is 571 (29:17), after which, apparently, he died soon. From the book nothing more is known about the life of the prophet.

Tradition (told by St. Epiphanius of Cyprus) says that Ezekiel was a miracle worker: he delivered the settlers of Tel Aviv from the angry Chaldeans, transferring them like dry land through Chebar. And also saved me from hunger. Tradition has preserved the name of the prophet’s hometown – Sarir. In his youth (testifies St. Gregory the Theologian) Ezekiel was a servant of Jeremiah, and in Chaldea he was the teacher of Pythagoras (St. Clement of Alexandria. Stromata, 1, 304). Tradition also describes the death of the prophet: killed by the prince of his people for denouncing idolatry, buried in the tomb of Shem and Arphaxad on the banks of the Euphrates near Baghdad [A.P. Lopukhin].

Unlike many other prophets, Ezekiel's ministry took place from beginning to end outside the Holy Land.

Ezekiel was a divinely inspired interpreter of the Babylonian captivity and its meaning in the system of Divine Providence for Israel. He most likely wrote (rather than spoke) most of his prophecies for distribution to the people (2:9). Only sometimes does the prophet speak (24:6; 8:1; 14:1). But in general, “his tongue was tied to his throat and he was dumb” (3:27). Much more often he resorted to symbolic actions.

Call to ministry.

God calls Ezekiel in the 5th year of captivity, around 592 BC. The last date indicated in the book is 571 (29:17). That. The length of the prophet's ministry was about 22 years.
Ezekiel's calling is described in chapters 1-3. Here we see an incredibly complex description of what he saw on the Chebar River, namely a vision of the likeness of the Glory of God. After the vision, the Lord calls Ezekiel to serve and says: “I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a disobedient people... with a hardened face and a hard heart...” (2:3-5). A hand stretches out to him, holding a scroll, which unfolds in front of him and on which is written: “weeping, and groaning, and grief.” The prophet receives a command to eat this scroll, and he ate it, and it was “sweet as honey” in his mouth. And again the Lord turns to the prophet: “Arise and go to the house of Israel, and speak to them in My words; For you are not sent to the nations with unintelligible speech and an unknown tongue, but to the house of Israel... and the house of Israel will not listen to you... do not be afraid of them and do not be afraid of them, for they are a rebellious house” (3:4-9).

After the prophet spends seven days in amazement, the Lord says that from now on he is the guardian of the house of Israel, that he will speak and reprove. If he convicts the wicked of his sins, and he does not turn away from his sins and perishes, then the prophet is clean from his blood. But if he does not tell him the words of the Lord, and he perishes, then his blood is on the prophet, the iniquity of the sinner will turn on him. The Lord makes the fate of the prophet dependent on the fate of those people to whom he is sent, and says that the fulfillment of what is entrusted to him is beyond his power, but to speak and prophesy, i.e. he must risk his life, even without any hope of being heard [Jer. Gennady Egorov. Holy Scripture of the Old Testament].

Purpose of service.

In determining the main purpose of the ministry of the prophet Ezekiel, it is necessary to identify two periods of this ministry, for in each of them the purpose changed. The first period was before the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple: the captives considered themselves innocent, did not realize the reasons for such a severe punishment for them, and hoped for a quick end to their suffering. Here Ezekiel rebels against vain hopes, predicts the destruction of Jerusalem, and shows that the Jews themselves are to blame for their troubles.

After the fall of the city and the Temple, Ezekiel tries to console his dispirited fellow tribesmen, preaching the imminent end of captivity, the future renewal of Jerusalem and the Temple, where the Lord Himself will then be.

Ezekiel was a “sign” to Israel (24:24) in words, in deeds, and even in personal trials (like Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah). But above all, he is a visionary. Although only four visions are described in the book, they occupy a significant place (chap. 1-3, ch. 8-11, ch. 37, ch. 40-48).

The origin of the book of the prophet Ezekiel.

The book was born, obviously, throughout the entire period of the ministry of the prophet Ezekiel: during his life he “wrote” (24:2), but finally collected it no earlier than the 27th year of captivity (29:17 is the latest date of the book).

Jewish tradition says that the book was collected and published by the great synagogue.

The wise Sirach refers to Ezekiel (49:10-11 – Ezek. 13:13, 18:21, 33:14, 38:22).

The book itself contains evidence of the authorship of Ezekiel: a first-person narrative, language with signs of Aramaic influence and the presence of Jews in captivity (in historical reviews of the language of biblical writers, special features are attributed to the period of the Babylonian captivity, which are also present in the writings of Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and also in Ezekiel), the content corresponding to the modern prophet’s era.

Features of the book.

1) One of the most important features of the book - its symbolism and description of unusual visions - is visible from the first lines: chapter 1 is written in an apocalyptic style. Ezekiel is considered the founder of Jewish apocalypticism.

Apocalypse is a type of prophecy that has the following features [holy. Lev Shikhlyarov]:

Special language: symbols, hyperboles, fantastic images;

Writing in moments of greatest suffering, catastrophes, persecution of faith, when the present is so bleak that all the aspirations of people turn to the distant future and even to the end of time (eschatology chapters 37-48).

Conveying the atmosphere of expectation for the speedy end of history, God’s judgment over the nations and the visible reign of Yahweh “on earth and in heaven.”

There is an opinion that apocalyptic allegories were invented for the sake of encryption from “outsiders.”

The book of the prophet Ezekiel anticipates the so-called. apocalyptic literature of later times (Dan., Rev.), replete with mysterious symbols, peculiar speeches (33:32), contemplation of the mysteries of the Lord in a state of “rapture,” parables (20:49), symbolic actions that Ezekiel performed more often than all other prophets (4:1-5:4, 12:1-7, 21:19-23, 37:15).

2) The priestly flavor of the book: love for the Temple, worship and ritual (chap. 8 and 40-44).

3) Seal of Babylonian origin:

The language is replete with Aramaicisms, revealing the decline of the Hebrew language, which reminds us that Ezekiel lived in a foreign country;

There is a controversial opinion that Ezekiel's cherubs appear under the influence of Assyro-Babylonian winged lions and oxen.

4) Sublime style (Ezekiel is even called the “Jewish Shakespeare”).

Symbolism of speeches and actions.

The Prophet Ezekiel widely and not partially, not fragmentarily uses symbols; he brings the symbolic image to the end and reveals the most perfect knowledge of the symbolized and the symbolized. For example, knowledge of Tire and shipbuilding (chap. 27), architectural design (40:5-ch. 43), the last war and a description of the military field with the bones of the fallen (ch. 39).

Sometimes its symbols are supernatural and divinely revealed (chapter 1), so you need to be very careful in understanding them; you cannot understand the book of the prophet Ezekiel literally. According to the testimony of the blessed Jerome and Origen, among the Jews the book of Ezekiel was forbidden to be read until the age of 30.

For its mystery and symbolism, Christian interpreters called it “the ocean or labyrinth of the mysteries of God” (Blessed Jerome).

Ezekiel is “the most amazing and highest of the prophets, a contemplator and interpreter of great mysteries and visions” (St. Gregory the Theologian).

Blzh. Theodoret called the book of this prophet “the depth of prophecy.”

Among apologetic scholars, there is a point of view according to which Ezekiel deliberately introduces symbolism in order to contrast it with the Assyro-Babylonian symbolism that surrounded the Jews in captivity. Orthodox interpreters do not agree with this, arguing that the symbols and images of Ezekiel, while of a biblical nature, are written in the Old Testament language, are explained from the Old Testament, and not with the help of pagan symbols.

And the prophet’s love for symbols, manifested both in style and in speech, is most likely explained by the specifics of his listeners, who did not want to listen. Therefore, Ezekiel does not stop at any images that are unpleasant to the ear, just to distract listeners from vice, just to frighten the lawless, just to get through (chap. 4, ch. 16, ch. 23).

Canonical dignity of the book.

The canonicity of the book of the prophet Ezekiel is evidenced by:

The Wise Sirach, who mentions Ezekiel among other sacred Old Testament writers (Sir.49:10-11 = Ezek.1:4,13:13, 18:21,33:14);

New Testament: often refers to Ezekiel, in particular the Apocalypse (chap. 18-21 - Ezek. 27:38; 39; 47 and 48 ch.);

In further Christian conciliar and patristic calculations, the book of the prophet Ezekiel takes its place in the canon of Holy books;

The Jewish canon also recognizes the book of Ezekiel.

Interpretations.

Origen: only 14 homilies have survived (not translated into Russian), the rest of his works on the interpretation of Ezekiel have been lost;

St. Ephraim the Syrian interpreted the book (but not all) in a literal-historical sense;

Blzh. Theodoret interpreted, but also not the whole book, and his work was not translated into Russian;

Blzh. Jerome interpreted the entire book historically and tropologically;

St. Gregory Dvoeslov wrote a mysteriously prophetic interpretation of chapters 1-3 and 46-47.

In Russian theological literature:

Article by F. Pavlovsky-Mikhailovsky. The Life and Work of the Holy Prophet Ezekiel (1878);

Article by archim. Theodora. Holy prophet Ezekiel. (1884);

Exegetical monographs for the first chapter:
Skaballanovich (1904) and A. Rozhdestvensky (1895).

Composition.

A) Four parts [Viktor Melnik. Orthodox Ossetia]:

1) prophecy about the judgment of Jerusalem (chap. 1-24);

2) prophecy about seven pagan nations (chap. 25-32);

3) prophecies written after the fall of Jerusalem in 587 (chap. 33-39);

4) prophecy about the new Jerusalem (chap. 40-48), written in the 70s of the 6th century.

B) Three parts [P.A.Yungerov]:

1) 1-24 chapters: 1-3 chapters - calling and 4-24 - speeches delivered before the fall of Jerusalem in order to show the legality and inevitability of death;

2) chapters 25-32: speeches against foreign nations after the fall of Jerusalem, delivered in different years of Ezekiel’s life;

3) 33-48 chapters: speeches and visions about the Jewish people after the fall of Jerusalem in order to console the Jews with the promise of future theocratic gifts and benefits.

IN) Five parts [Jer. Gennady Egorov]:

1) Vocation (chap. 1-3);

2) The denunciation of the Jews and the prediction of the fall of Jerusalem (4-24);

3) Prophecies about other nations (25-32);

4) The promise of return from captivity, the giving of the New Testament (33-39);

5)Vision of a new structure of the Holy Land, Jerusalem and the Temple (40-48).

G) Researcher E. Young, in addition to dividing into parts, made a detailed analysis of the content of the chapters of each part, which can be very useful when studying the book:

1)Prophecies spoken before the fall of Jerusalem (1:1-24:27):

1:1-3:21 – introduction – vision of the Glory of the Lord in the 5th year of the captivity, about 592 BC;

3:22-27 – second vision of the Lord’s Glory;

4:1-7:27 - a symbolic image of the destruction of Jerusalem: the siege (4:1-3), punishment for sins (4:4-8), symbolism of food as the consequences of the siege, what awaits the city and what is its fault (5: 5-17), additional prophecies about punishment (chap. 6-7);

8:1-8 – divinely inspired transfer to Jerusalem and contemplation of its destruction;

9:1-11 – punishment of Jerusalem;

12:1-14:23 – The Lord leaves the city for unbelief and following false prophets;

15:1-17:24 – the inevitability and necessity of punishment;
-18:1-32 – God’s love for sinners;

19:1-14 – lamentation for the princes of Israel;

2) Prophecies against foreign nations (25:1-32:32):

Ammonites (25:1-7);

Moabites (25:8-11);

Edomites (25:12-14);

Philistines (25:15-17);

Inhabitants of Tire (26:1-28:19);

The inhabitants of Sidon (28:20-26);

Egyptians (29:1-32:32);

3) Prophecies about restoration pronounced after the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar (33:1-48:35):

33:1-22 – about the New Testament, about God’s love for sinners; as well as official instructions about the prophetic mission;

34:1-31 – the time will come when the people will recognize the Lord and a true prophet will appear in their midst;

35:1-15 – devastation of Edom;

36:1-38 – revival of the Israeli people;

37:1-28 – about the prophet’s vision of a field of bones as a symbol of the resurrection of Israel and the world;

38:1-39:29 – prophecy about Gog and Magog.

Chapters 37-39 are a unified whole: after chapter 37 the question arises, can someone break the Jews' connection with God? The answer can be found in chapters 38 and 39: there will be such enemies, but the Lord will not abandon the Jews, for there is an eternal covenant with them, and God will destroy the enemies. Those. These chapters should serve as a consolation to the people.

38:8 describes the time of the appearance of enemies (as does 38:16) (cf. Acts 2:17, Heb. 1:1-2, 1 Pet. 1:20, 1 John 2:18, Jude 18). That is, when the last days come and Israel is established in its land (38:8), the promised Messiah will appear, and God’s Tabernacle will be among people (48:35), when the incarnate Son of God brings peace at the cost of the Cross, then the enemy will appear, who will try to destroy those for whom He died. But God will help you win.

The prophet Ezekiel speaks in Old Testament language, using appropriate imagery: he writes about the enemy after the promised redemption through a symbolic description of the great union that absorbed the forces of evil, playing up the contemporary union of states that sought to destroy the people of God (led by Gog). This union became a symbol of those who would oppose the Lord and His redeemed ones.

A symbol depicting the defeat of these enemies: Israel will burn the weapons of their enemies for seven years and bury their dead for seven months.

The nations united against Israel are interpreted ambiguously: perhaps Ezekiel means Gagaia (or Carchemish) when speaking of the head of the conspiracy, deriving from this name the names “Gog” and “Magog.” Perhaps these are the Moschi and Tibaren peoples. Or maybe Ethiopia, Libya, Homer (or the Cimmerians), Togarm (present-day Armenia).

Most likely, the prophet is not describing any historical event here, but simply means to comfort God's people by implying that God is much stronger than the most powerful enemy.

40:1-48:35 – a vision of the Church of God on earth, symbolically represented by the picture of the temple.
The prophet had to not only denounce, but also console. Therefore, it reminds us of the coming salvation. And being a priest, he uses the symbolism of priestly service, describing in detail the structure of the temple and worship.

This passage, like the entire book of the prophet Ezekiel, does not need to be taken literally (otherwise, say, from chapter 48 one can conclude that the temple must be outside Jerusalem).
The climax here at the end is in the words “The Lord is there.” These words express the essence of the time when God will be worshiped in truth.

The prophet does not say a word about an earthly temple in this place, about an earthly high priest: worship will be in spirit and truth.

That. here is described the messianic age when the Lord will dwell in the midst of His people. This is the place of the prophet's book - a sermon about Christ.

1)Vision of the Glory of the Lord and calling to ministry (1-3);

2) 13 diatribes against the Jews and symbolic actions depicting the fall of Jerusalem (4-24);

3) Accusatory speeches against the pagans: neighbors of the Jews (25), Tire (26-28, and in 28:13-19 the king of Tire is presented as the personification of the devil (cf. Is. 14:5-20);

4) Prophecy about Egypt (29-32);

5) Ezekiel’s new responsibilities after the fall of Jerusalem as consolation and reinforcement (33);

6) The Lord is the Shepherd of the reborn Israel (34);

7) About the punishment of Idumea;

8) About the revival of Israel (36);

9) The revival of dry bones as a prototype of the revival of Israel and the general Resurrection (37);

10) Apocalyptic prophecies about the enemies of the Church, about the extermination of the hordes of Gog (38-39, cf. Rev. 20:7);

11) About the new eternal Kingdom of God and the new temple (40-48; Rev. 21);

12) The prophecies of the last 14 chapters - about the last times - have common features with the mysterious visions of Daniel and the Apocalypse; they have not yet been fulfilled, so these passages should be interpreted with extreme caution.

Some visions, prophecies, symbolic actions.

Vision of the likeness of the Glory of God :

This was the first vision of the prophet Ezekiel. Immediately after this, God calls him to ministry. Described in the initial section of the book (chap. 1-3). The vision of the likeness of the Glory of God and the vision of the renewed Holy Land (in the final part of the book of the prophet) are extremely difficult to interpret.

This is how Bishop Sergius (Sokolov) describes what the prophet Ezekiel saw:

“The Prophet saw a large, menacing cloud moving from the north, around it there was an extraordinary radiance, inside - “like the light of a flame from the middle of a fire” and in it - the likeness of four animals with four faces and four wings and arms for each animal, with one head . The face of each was like that of a man (in front), that of a lion (on the right side), the face of a calf (on the left side), and that of an eagle (on the opposite side of the human face)” [Jer. Gennady Egorov. Holy Scripture of the Old Testament].

The prophet Ezekiel contemplates God Himself on the throne (1:26-28). Moreover, in contrast to similar visions of Isaiah (chapter 6) and Micah (the son of Iamlay - 1 Kings 22:19), the vision of the prophet Ezekiel is striking in its grandeur and symbolism.

As for the interpretation of this mysterious vision, after which the prophet Ezekiel “was amazed for seven days” (3:15), as mentioned above, one must be extremely careful and be guided by the teachings of the Church. Thus, according to the tradition of the fathers and teachers of the Church, by the four faces of animals and the eyes of unearthly chariots facing the four cardinal directions, it is customary to understand the omniscience and power of God, who rules the world through His servants - the Angels. And also the four faces are the four Evangelists.

The vault of heaven and the firmament are the firmament of heaven, which God created on the second creative day to separate the waters of heaven and earth (Gen. 1:6). The Throne of God was above or beyond this firmament. The rainbow is a symbol of God's Covenant with all mankind, not only with the Jews (Gen. 9:12).

The meaning of the vision in relation to the prophet’s contemporaries was to encourage, for the vision made it possible to realize the greatness and omnipotence of God, which is not limited by limits. This was to remind the captives that even in the land of resettlement they were under His authority and therefore must remain faithful to Him, not lose hope of salvation, keeping themselves clean from pagan wickedness. [Jer. Gennady Egorov].

The Church also sees a messianic meaning in this passage, according to which “he who sits on the throne” is the Son of God, the chariot is the Mother of God, which in church hymns is called the “chariot of the Intelligent Sun,” the “Fire-shaped chariot.”

After the vision, the Lord calls Ezekiel to serve. A hand reaches out to him, holding a scroll, which unfolds in front of him and on which is written: “weeping, and groaning, and sorrow” (2:10). The prophet receives a command to eat this scroll, and he ate it and it was “sweet as honey” in his mouth, despite the fact that such terrible words were written on this scroll.
M.N. Skaballanovich notes that in the book of the prophet Ezekiel there is a lot of material for biblical theology:

In particular, Chapter One provides important information on Christian angelology. The scientist claims that no one has spoken in such detail about cherubim;

The Prophet Ezekiel speaks about God like no one before him, revealing Him from the side of His “holiness” and transcendence. In the prophet Isaiah, God draws the heart to Himself and gives joyful hope. In the prophet Ezekiel, God makes human thought go numb before Him, but there is something sweet in this sacred horror. Also, Ezekiel is the first to so precisely distinguish between what in God is accessible to human understanding and what is not even accessible to name: chapter 1 describes God, and in 2:1 it says that the prophet saw only a vision of “the likeness of the glory of the Lord”;

The prophet Ezekiel contemplates “the radiance around God” (1:28). Skaballanovich says that only from this vision of Ezekiel is it possible to talk about God as Light;

God makes Himself known first of all as a voice, sound, indefinable by anything or anyone. The divine noise (“voice from the firmament” 1:25) is different from the noise of the appearance of the cherubim.

Philosophical and historical significance of chapter 1 of the book of the prophet Ezekiel: coverage of the Babylonian captivity as a sublime turning point in Old Testament history, which, along with the loss of paradise, the giving of the Sinai legislation and the end of the visible world, causes the appearance of God on earth, and differs from other appearances of God in that here He appears accompanied by cherubim.

Vision of the lawlessness of Jerusalem. Second Vision of the Glory of God :

The peculiarity of the book is that the prophet lives constantly in Babylon, but the action regularly takes place in Jerusalem. At the beginning of this vision, he says that the hand of the Lord took him by the hair and carried him to Jerusalem (Ezek. 8:3). There again the likeness of the glory of God appears to him. And so, he sees what is happening in the temple. He sees through a hole in the wall of the temple that in the temple, in hidden places, various animals are depicted, which were worshiped in Egypt and Assyria, he sees that there the elders of the house of Israel, known to him, perform incense for them. Then he sees how, after sunrise, these elders turn their backs to the altar of God and worship the sun. He sees women sitting at the gates of the house of the Lord and performing a ritual lament for the Canaanite god Tammuz. The prophet sees that everything is rotten from top to bottom. Then seven angels, six of whom hold weapons in their hands, and the seventh has writing instruments, go around the city: first, the one with the writing instruments marks with the letter “tav” on the forehead (i.e., a sign similar to the Cross) those who mourn about the abominations that are happening. After this, the remaining six angels, holding weapons in their hands, walk through the city and destroy all those who do not have this cross-like sign on their faces.

Then the prophet again sees the appearance of the Glory of God: as the prophet contemplates the idolaters and wicked leaders of the people, he sees the Glory of God departing from its usual place where it was supposed to dwell, between the Cherubim in the Holy of Holies. He first departs to the threshold of the temple (9:3), where he stops for a short time, then from the threshold of the temple he departs to the eastern gate (10:19) and from the middle of the city rises to the Mount of Olives, to the east of the city (11:23). Thus, the temple and Jerusalem find themselves deprived of the Glory of God. Here is a prediction of gospel events, of what will precede the establishment of the New Testament (Luke 13:34-35; Matt. 23:37). This is also the fulfillment of the Lord's warning given to Solomon and the people at the dedication of the temple (2 Chron. 7), as well as the warning of chapter 28 of Deuteronomy.

Those. the details of what will happen have already been set a long time ago, and when Ezekiel prophesies, he does not just announce something new, he recalls, sometimes literally repeating, what was said to Moses [Jer. Gennady Egorov].

Symbolic actions .

In addition to words, the prophet Ezekiel widely used preaching by deeds in his ministry. Thanks to this, his behavior bordered on foolishness, but it was a forced measure, applied by him at the command of God, when it was impossible to reach the people in any other way. His task was to convey the sad news about the upcoming long siege of Jerusalem and some of its details:

Prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem: Ezekiel places a brick in the middle of the village (chapter 4) and organizes a siege against it according to all the rules, with the construction of fortifications, a rampart, and battering machines. Then God tells him to lie first for 390 days on one side (as a sign of bearing the iniquities of the house of Israel) and 40 days on the other - for the iniquities of the house of Judah. God determines for him the measure of bread and water for these days as a sign of the measure of food in besieged Jerusalem (4:9-17).

God tells the prophet to “run the barber’s razor over the head and beard, then take the scales and divide the hair into parts. The third part shall be burned with fire in the midst of the city...the third part shall be cut up with a knife in its environs, the third part shall be scattered to the wind..." (5:1-2). This was done as a sign of what was to come for the inhabitants of Jerusalem: “a third part of you will die from the plague and perish from the city in your midst, a third part will fall by the sword in your neighborhood, and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and draw the sword after them.” (5:12).

Again the prophet hears the will of God: “go and shut yourself at home” (3:22), as a sign of the imminent siege of Jerusalem.

He breaks a hole in the wall of his house in front of everyone and takes things out - “this is a foreshadowing for the ruler in Jerusalem and for the whole house of Israel... they will go into captivity...” (12:1-16).

Proverbs.

1) Accusatory:

Jerusalem is compared to a grapevine (John 15:6), which is good for nothing, it can only be burned after harvesting, because it is of no value (chap. 15);

Chapter 16: Jerusalem is likened to a harlot, whom the Lord found abandoned as a child, “washed her with water, anointed her with oil, clothed her and shod her... adorned her... But she trusted in her beauty and began to commit fornication... and the Lord for this will judge her with the judgment of adulterers... and betray her her bloody rage and jealousy...";

Chapter 23: Samaria and Jerusalem are presented as two harlot sisters.

2) Prophetic (17:22-24): the parable of the cedar tree, the top of which is King Jehoiachin, from his descendants will Christ come. And “exalted” is Mount Golgotha ​​(Blessed Theodoret).

Prophecies spoken after the fall of Jerusalem .

After the fall of Jerusalem, the prophet Ezekiel changed the direction of his preaching. Even at his calling, the Lord gave him to eat a scroll on which bitter words were written, but which turned out to be sweet to the taste (3:1-3). So in the destruction of Jerusalem, after 573, the prophet tried to show sweetness to his people: after 573, Ezekiel talks about the prospects for the future, that God did not forever reject the Jews, that he will gather them and console them with many blessings. Here are some prophecies from this period:

-Prophecy about God the Shepherd and the New Testament:

Due to the fact that the Old Testament priesthood, called to be the shepherds of God’s people, forgot about its purpose (“you did not strengthen the weak, and you did not heal the sick sheep, and you did not bandage the wounded ones... but you ruled over them with violence and cruelty. And they were scattered without a shepherd..." 34:4-5) thus says the Lord God: “I myself will seek out my sheep and look after them... I will gather them from the countries and bring them into their own land, and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel... in good pasture... and I will give them rest... Lost I will find the sheep and bring back the stolen ones...” (34:11-16). Those. through the prophet Ezekiel, God reveals Himself in the new guise of God - the Savior who forgives sins. The image of the Shepherd was supposed to make a special impression on the people of God. The fact is that sheep in the east are an object of love and care (John 10:1-18), therefore, by comparing the Jews with sheep, and declaring Himself their Shepherd (34:12), the Lord makes them understand how much He loved them and how from now on God’s relationship with His people changes: God the Shepherd is no longer the Old Testament, but something new.

“And I will make a covenant of peace with them (34:25); ...and I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be cleansed from all your filthiness...and I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; And I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone, and will give you a heart of flesh, and will put My spirit within you... and you will walk in My commandments, and you will keep My statutes and do... and you will be My people, and I will be your God..." (36:25 -28).

Here, according to researchers, the prophet foreshadows the gift of the New Testament, the result of which should be a change in man: the law will become the inner content of life, the Holy Spirit will dwell in man as in a temple [Jer. Gennady].

In the context of chapter 34 of the book of Ezekiel, John 10 sounds new: the leaders of Israel lost their functions as intermediaries, the sheep were no longer subject to them. Therefore, only spiritual blindness prevented Christ’s listeners from understanding His preaching [Jer. Gennady Egorov].

But there remained among those listening to the prophet those who did not want to believe in the promises. The answer to these people of little faith was Ezekiel's vision of the mystery of regeneration (chapter 37). This chapter is understood ambiguously in theological literature. From a historical perspective, one can see here a prophecy that the people will return to their land, and from a prophetic perspective, an image of the future Resurrection. Chapter 37:3,9-10,12-14 is a parimia, and a unique one at that: it is read at Matins (usually parimias are not allowed at Matins) of Great Saturday after the Great Doxology.

Great Battle.

In chapters 38-39, the prophet Ezekiel first introduced the theme of eschatological battle into the Holy Scriptures: at the end of times there will be a great battle of the faithful with the enemies of the Kingdom of God (Rev. 19:19). In addition to the representative meaning (i.e., such a battle should really take place), there is also a teaching here, the main idea of ​​which was well formulated by the Evangelist Matthew: “The kingdom of heaven is taken by force, and those who use force take it away” (11:12).
The prophet most likely borrows the names of his enemies from legends about the warlike kings of the north: Gog - the Median king Gyges, Rosh - the king of Urartu Rusa, Meshech and Tubal - the tribes of the Caucasus and Northern Mesopotamia. They all represent a threat from distant lands.

Vision of the New Jerusalem (chapters 40-48).
This prophecy dates back to 573 (40:1). In the twenty-fifth year after our migration (40:1), the Spirit of God carried Ezekiel to Jerusalem “and set him on a very high mountain” (40:2). This mountain was not actually in Jerusalem, it is an image denoting that the ideal City of the Future is described here with the name “The Lord is there” (48:35) - i.e. there the highest goal of creation will be realized, there God will dwell with people. All the details given in the final part of the book have a hidden meaning.

From a historical perspective, these chapters were of great practical use: in the words of Jer. Gennady Egorov, the descriptions given served as instructions for those who returned from captivity when constructing a new temple and resuming worship. Ezekiel was a priest and remembered the old Temple.

But still, there is a much deeper hidden meaning here than just instructions for builders. This is a description of the Kingdom of God. It speaks of both Christ (43:10) and the return of the Glory of the Lord to the temple (43:2-4). The Revelation of John the Theologian borrows a lot from the text of Ezekiel, which means both sacred writers spoke about the same thing (for example, Rev. 4: 3-4).
The new temple has more slender forms, which indicates the harmony of the City of the Future: the outer wall is a perfect square (42:15-20) - an emblem of harmony and completeness, a cross on the four cardinal points means the universal significance of the House of God and the City.

The resurrected Old Testament Church meets the Glory of Yahweh coming from the east, from where the exiles were supposed to return. God forgives people and dwells with them again - this is a prototype of the Gospel Epiphany, but distant, because the Glory is still hidden from the eyes of people.
Service in the Temple is a reverent testimony that God is close, He, the scorching Fire, resides in the heart of the City.

The equitable distribution of plots of land signifies the moral principles that should underlie humanity's earthly life (48:15-29). The Gerim (foreigners)—the converted Gentiles—will also receive equal shares (47:22).

The “prince” is deprived of the right to own all the land, his power is now limited.

The Prophet Ezekiel is considered the “father of Judaism,” the organizer of the Old Testament community. But the City of God is something more, living water (47:1-9) is the mystical-eschatological plan of Ezekiel’s teaching: not only the order of the world in justice, but also a description of the Heavenly Jerusalem (Rev. 21:16).

The waters of the Dead Sea are stripped of their destructive power (47:8) to commemorate the Spirit's victorious power over imperfect nature and evil in the human race.
The structure of the New Testament land is accompanied by a clear liturgical charter (the same in the Apocalypse: elders, throne, worship). This speaks of the exceptional importance of worship in the new Heavenly reality, which is the harmonious worship and praise of God.

The central chapter of the book of the prophet Ezekiel is chapter 34. Here is an analysis of this chapter:
In the entire book of the prophet Ezekiel, the 34th chapter occupies a central place, because it is here that the Lord tells the prophet about the coming coming of the Messiah, the Shepherd of Israel. A number of wonderful biblical texts parallel this chapter, chief among them are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself that He is the Good Shepherd, contained in the 10th chapter of the Gospel of John. In addition, the Lord directs the apostles “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” and portrays the conversion of a sinner as the shepherd finding a lost sheep.
This prophecy begins with the denunciation of those who should have been shepherds of the people of God, but did not become such. The Lord says terrible things about shepherds who shepherd themselves and do not care about the condition of the people. A careful look cannot fail to notice how accurately the words of the prophet apply not only to the clergy of his day, but even more so to the high priests and scribes of the time of the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.
First of all, what is important for us is the similarity of God’s people to a flock of sheep. Characteristic of a number of psalms, for example the 22nd, 79th, 94th and 99th, it comes from ancient times, when the Lord, as a Shepherd, led His people out of Egypt. In the psalms, the concept of the Lord's flock is contrasted with deviation into idolatry. Subsequently, the New Testament repeatedly refers to this image. The Lord says about Himself: “I am the Good Shepherd,” and these words go back precisely to the prophecy of the 34th chapter of Ezekiel about the Messiah as a Shepherd. Thus, Christ says that He is the Shepherd of Israel predicted by the prophets. And further, placing the Apostle Peter in his ministry, the Lord commands him: “Feed My sheep.” Peter himself, in his First Epistle, conveys this commission to his fellows: “Feed the flock of God that is among you,” and his words also refer us to the 34th chapter of Ezekiel.
What the Bible says about the Church, about the people of God (Old and New Testament) as a flock, always implies that the Lord Himself, as in the days of the Exodus, will lead and care for His people. But in every era there are people whom He entrusts to do this. To a large extent, this assignment is related to the responsibility that God spoke about to the prophet Ezekiel in the previous chapter. The will of the Lord is not in death, but in the conversion and salvation of sinners, and the responsibility of prophets and shepherds is to reveal the truth of God to every person. But, unlike Ezekiel himself, the contemporary shepherds of God’s people do not accept this responsibility...
The task set before the shepherds is described by the prophet in verse 4, and since we are dealing with a cross-cutting theme running through both Testaments, it remains unchanged for all servants of the One God, both in the Old and in the New Testament. The Lord says that shepherds had to take care of the spiritual (and physical) condition of the flock: strengthen the weak, heal the sick and wounded, take care of the conversion of the lost. Instead, they care about their own well-being and honor, about the splendor of the Temple, about anything - except what is necessary. Each person, and especially the shepherd, is entrusted with giving God's love and mercy to others. It is clear that no one is able to do this perfectly, but the mystery of the presence of God where we are gathered in His name fills our imperfect mercy with His fullness and healing power. “You ruled them with violence and cruelty,” says the Lord, which means that the shepherds of Israel are blocking an important opportunity for the spread of God’s mercy in the world.
In essence, the shepherds of Israel replaced the service that the Lord entrusted to them with concern for maintaining the correct cult (and their own well-being), which was the only function of the pagan priests among the nations neighboring Israel. They forgot the main thing in the law: judgment, mercy and faith, while, in the words of the Lord Jesus, “this should have been held fast and not abandoned.” And the Lord says that it won’t happen like this anymore.
About how the Lord will shepherd His people from now on, He says: “I myself will find my sheep,” “I will be their Shepherd,” “I will feed them in righteousness.” Combined with the words that the Messiah will be the new and true Shepherd of the people, these words, like those of other prophets, are an implicit prophecy about the God-manhood of Christ. On the one hand, this will be done by the Messiah, a descendant of David, and, on the other hand, “I Myself,” God says about this.
Absolutely striking in comparison with the Gospel is the passage from verses 17 to 22, where the Lord says that He will judge between the sheep: “And I will judge between sheep and sheep.” Relationships (including conflicts) between people become the place of the presence and action of God Himself. In other words, He says the same thing in Matthew 25: “Whatever you did to one of these little ones, you did to Me.” With the coming of the Messiah, morally and spiritually indifferent relationships between people are no longer possible - the Lord is included in any such relationship. And this gospel thought, too, it turns out, was predicted by the prophet.
Then the Lord promises the coming of the Messiah, a descendant of David, who will be the Shepherd of the people of God. It is important in this promise that the Lord says: “And I will appoint one shepherd over them... My servant David.” The ministry of the New Testament shepherds, therefore, is not completely identical to the ministry of the Old Testament Levitical priesthood, because God leaves responsibility for the fate of the sheep with the Messiah. Taken away from the context, one cannot help but be amazed at how grandiose this Promise is. God Himself will be our Shepherd, He Himself will lead each of us to life, He Himself will heal our wounds and strengthen our infirmities. He Himself, and no one else! This incredible degree of God's closeness is first revealed in the book of the prophet Ezekiel.
Chapter 34 ends with the Revelation of the New Testament. The Prophet, as was customary, depicts him with apocalyptic images of a transformed world. The main thing in his words is that with the coming of the Messiah a New Covenant will be concluded, and this covenant will be a covenant of peace, reconciliation of us with God. In it, God's blessing will be bestowed on people's entire lives, and we will be given peace, freedom and security. God, as a Shepherd, will guide us and will be “our God.” Echoing the first words of the Ten Commandments (“I am the Lord your God”), this promise emphasizes that the New Testament will be no less in scope than the Sinai and at the same time will be its continuation and fulfillment. And the words “and they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them” connect this prophecy with the prophecy of Isaiah about the birth of the Child from the Virgin, whose name is “Immanuel, which means: God is with us,” and the narrative of the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew about the fulfillment this prophecy.

(A.V. Lakirev. The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel. Chapter 34. - www.bible-center.ru).

Troparion, tone 4:

Prophet of God Ezekiel, / foreseeing the gates closed by the Spirit / and the Flesh-Bearer, in the outcome of these, the only God who said, / pray to Him, we pray, / that He may open the door of His mercy / and save the souls of those who piously sing your memory.

Kontakion, tone 4:

Thou art a prophet of God, O wondrous Ezekiel, Thou didst proclaim the Lord's incarnation to all, this Lamb and creator of the Son of God appearing unto the ages.

(days.pravoslavie.ru; www.cirota.ru; www.loukin.ru; www.spb-guide.ru; biblsvet.narod.ru; www.rusarch.ru; images.icon-art.info; www.cathedral .ru).

Description of the fragment of the Burning Bush icon.
Below - on the left is Ezekiel’s vision of the closed gates... The Prophet Ezekiel says: “turn me (the Lord) to the path of the outer holy gates, looking to the east: and this gate is closed, and the Lord speaks to me: this gate will be closed, and will not be opened, and no one will will pass through them; for the Lord God of Israel will enter into them, and they will be shut up" (44:1-3). The gate facing the east, through which the Lord alone passes - according to the interpretation of the Holy Church and St. Fathers - the Most Pure Virgin Mary. “Ezekiel, O Virgin, the door through which Jesus passed through is seen.” “The Door of God was foreseen by the Prophet, through which He Himself passed alone, like the message, the Most Pure Virgin.” “As He saw You of old, Pure, Immaculate, the Prophet saw the gate to the unpassed light, and the knowledge of God’s dwelling place.” Under the image of these gates, which remained closed before and after the passage of the Lord, we understand the ever-virginity of the Mother of God; the reason that they are facing east must be seen in their purpose for the entrance of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is called “east” in Holy Scripture. “Now,” says St. John of Damascus, “the holy gates have been built on the east side, through which Christ will enter and go out—and these gates will be closed.”

Today we begin the book of another Old Testament prophet - Ezekiel. The peculiarity of Ezekiel’s mission is that he prophesies among the people who have already left Jerusalem, the Promised Land, and resettled in the lands of the kingdom of Babylon. Among the captive people, he continues to testify about Christ - about the coming Messiah, about the future paths of development of the Kingdom of Israel, about the fate of the world and the further historical fate of the Jewish people. Of course, this leaves a certain imprint on both the form and the content of his testimony, because the people, being in exile, experience difficulties and the wrath of God.

The story about the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel must begin from the moment Ezekiel was called to prophetic service. This is a very famous moment of the prophet Ezekiel's vision of the glory of God.

The vision of the prophet Ezekiel is very interesting, complex, mysterious. No one has seen anything like this, so it has always attracted the attention of mystics, people who look for hidden secrets in everything, some kind of “secret materials” to the history of the relationship between man and God. And they even tried to depict the vision of the prophet Ezekiel, although in my opinion, in principle, it is impossible to depict this, even to describe it in words (the prophet himself ultimately agrees that this is impossible).

Anyone interested can read this description in the 1st chapter of his Book: the entire chapter is devoted to a description of the vision of the likeness of the Glory of God. I will dwell on only one point: “And I saw as it were metal burning, as it were the appearance of fire within it all around, and under the arch that was over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance as if made of sapphire stone, and above the likeness of a throne there was like the likeness of a man above him.” The prophet’s constant emphasis on the words, firstly, “as if,” and secondly, “likeness,” immediately catches the eye. He does not say that what he sees is an undoubted reality, although in appropriate words and images he describes a completely real fact. And “as if” is quite appropriate here: he sees “something” and tries to describe this “something”. As in his time, the Apostle Paul, when he was caught up to the Third Heaven and saw and heard something there, said: “... but it is impossible for a man to retell what he saw there.”

So the prophet Ezekiel constantly emphasizes that he is just trying to convey what and how was revealed to him in the form of the likeness of the glory of God. Therefore, this vision and this image must be perceived very carefully.

Question: why, if it is impossible to adequately convey what the prophet Ezekiel saw, talk about it at all? And the point is to show; even what Ezekiel sees, that is, what is around God, is some semblance of His glory, inconceivable by human concepts. The spiritual world and what God reveals even around Himself is of a completely different dimension (as the Lord says in the prophet Isaiah, “My thoughts are not your thoughts”). It is actually impossible to understand and explain God. Neither the spiritual world, nor His. When a person is amazed at Revelation, he understands that he cannot contain or even hold in his mind the Revelation of the mysteries of God, being limited by the flesh, the capabilities of his mind, his creatureliness, sinfulness and weakness in the perception of spiritual things.

In the vision of the prophet Ezekiel there are obviously paradoxical things. In general, books, and especially the Bible, must be read carefully, reading the words, and not just trying to catch an image - this is not poetry, this is testimony, so every word there is full of meaning. It’s just that sometimes it is closed to us either due to some providential things from God, or due to our limitations, sinfulness, and the vanity of our mind. And we cannot comprehend some of the mysteries of God that the holy fathers comprehended.

So, the paradoxes of the prophet... For example, it is described how he sees creatures, which we will later call cherubs, he sees each with four faces - there are several of them, cherubs, each with four faces, and each moves where his face is looking. The prophet Ezekiel does not comment on this. With our logic, this is absolute nonsense. But the prophet describes this vision without feeling any incongruity. Trying to explain this, he is forced to enter into some kind of paradoxical presentation... Then the holy fathers, our Orthodox theologians will say that when we talk about God, we must remain silent. This is how apophatic theology will arise - in fact, every thing said about God is incorrect, it distorts: it is impossible to describe in word or thought what we can perceive in God, because He is infinitely higher than all our words and thoughts.

At least based on this paradox in the vision of cherubim, which have four faces and move where the face looks, it becomes clear that the prophet sees something completely beyond our understanding. This vision is described so that people do not try to somehow try to fit God into their realities.

Ezekiel may have seen the king of Judah (although this is not directly stated anywhere. He may have also seen the king of Babylon, since he was taken captive). And he could describe God, as many did, by resorting to the realities of the world - here is the king, the ruler: in these images he could describe (probably, the king of Babylon struck the imagination with his majesty, the majesty of the ceremonial).

But when describing his vision, the prophet Ezekiel does not resort to such images. He tries to describe in words and images that do not fit into formal human logic, emphasizing that God cannot be measured by our concepts. His testimony must begin with this: it was very important to show the captive people that all their ideas about God and what God wants are poor and wretched - they are just a shadow of a shadow of what really is. And in order to immediately raise the prophet to such a height and make him capable of paradoxical testimony, God reveals to him such a contradictory vision, which surpasses even the possibility of describing this vision.

As the prophet Ezekiel had to testify, we will say a little later. It was from this description of the prophet’s vision of the likeness of the glory of God on the Chebar River that the image of cherubim with four faces entered the Church. Cherub is a spiritual being, an angelic spirit that has something like wings. And, of course, angels are not how we portray them, they are some semblance of our ideas; what they really are, we cannot contain, the angelic world, the angelic essence exceeds the possibility of our understanding - not to mention God.

A vision of cherubim with the likeness of wings and the faces of an eagle, a calf, a man and a lion... It was with these faces that the prophet Ezekiel saw them, and they became symbols of the four evangelists who testified about Christ.

This is no coincidence. In general, there are no random things in the Church. The church is truly filled with mystery. Not superficial mysticism, not rational mysticism, but the deepest mystery. Some depths of this mystery will be endlessly revealed in the process of the eternal existence of humanity. And some will be revealed only when the darkness of this age has passed and everything is revealed in the light. Here is a well-known image from Scripture - the marriage of Christ with the Church: The Church is the bride, Christ is the Groom. Trying to reveal it, the Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Ephesians becomes exhausted and says simply: “This mystery is great.” He tries to reveal it, but with his mind, his spirit penetrating into some depths of the Wisdom of God, he understands that he cannot express it in words - and simply points to the depth of the mystery, realizing that it is impossible for a person to descend into this depth in his current state. Man has neither such humility nor such purity of mind to contemplate the depths of these mysteries.

In the Church, everything actually breathes them; nothing is accidental. Another thing is that we are trying to somehow explain all this to ourselves. And if we believe in the Church in simplicity, then everything is accepted on faith easily and simply. If we try not just to believe the Church, but first to understand, and then to believe and immediately explain everything to ourselves, then, of course, our mind, with such a superficial attitude towards the mysteries of God, becomes exhausted, we do not understand anything: why such a pile-up of random things like it seems to us, elements, customs, rituals, symbols? It can be made simpler. As a matter of fact, Protestants followed this path - and they became smaller and lost their deep dimension. They do not have that abyss of spirituality, plunging into which the heart and mind become exhausted from the incomprehensibility of what has been revealed and the greatness of the wisdom of God.

So, in the images of cherubim they saw a prophecy about the four evangelists. After all, it didn’t all work out so simply. When the Gospels written by the apostles appeared, the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John the Theologian, along with these there were others signed with the names of Christ’s disciples. There was even an apocryphal Gospel of Judas, but the Church said: “This is not ours - this is not the creation of the Holy Spirit, this is not about Christ, this is not church.” When the Church, by the Holy Spirit, selected what was really created by this same Spirit, and what was a human invention, it did not think about the vision of the prophet Ezekiel. But when the Church accepted and approved the four Gospels, then the same Holy Spirit, in the person of the first teachers of the Church, drew attention to the fact that these cherubim were indeed prophesying that there would be exactly four evangelists.

And it is on the testimony of these evangelists that the preaching of Christ will be established in the world - through their verbal testimony, through the power of their preaching throughout the world, Christ will reign in the minds and hearts of men.

And the revelation of the Church that the cherubim having four faces is the testimony of the four evangelists is not some kind of stretch, it is precisely an insight into the depths and secrets of the economy of God’s salvation. It can be said that, seeing this likeness of the glory of God, Ezekiel saw what he could contain. And God testified through him that one day the glory of God in the Person of Jesus Christ will be revealed in the world, and His reign will spread throughout the world through the testimonies of the four evangelists.

The symbols of these evangelists, the evangelists themselves, are depicted on the sails of the dome: when you enter an Orthodox church, you see the dome from the inside - it rests on four sails, where the evangelists are depicted. Behind each is his symbol: with the face of an eagle - for John the Evangelist, with the face of a calf - for the Evangelist Luke, with the face of a man - for the Evangelist Matthew, and a cherub with the face of a lion for the Evangelist Mark. The sails actually carry a dome, and the Lord Jesus Christ is depicted in it. And it turns out that these sails, these cherubs are, as it were, the foot of the Throne of God. The prophet Ezekiel describes this as the vault of Heaven, the vault above the head of Him whom he saw sitting on the likeness of a throne. That is, the architectural composition of the temple itself in a certain way corresponds to the vision of the likeness of the glory of God by the prophet Ezekiel on the Chebar River.

Holy Prophet Ezekiel lived in the 6th century BC. Born in the city of Sarir, he came from the tribe of Levi, was a priest and the son of the priest Busius. During the second invasion of Jerusalem by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, at the age of 25, Ezekiel was taken to Babylon along with King Jehoiachin II and many other Jews.

In captivity, the prophet Ezekiel lived near the Chebar River. There, in the 30th year of his life, the future of the Jewish people and all humanity was revealed to him in a vision. The Prophet saw a shining cloud, in the middle of which there was a flame, and in it - a mysterious likeness of a spirit-driven chariot and four winged animals, each having four faces: a man, a lion, a calf and an eagle. In front of their faces were wheels dotted with eyes. Above the chariot rose something like a crystal vault, and above the vault there was something like a throne, as if made of sparkling sapphire. On this throne is a shining “likeness of Man,” and around Him is a rainbow (Ezek. 1:4-28).

According to the interpretation of the Fathers of the Church, the most luminous “likeness of Man” sitting on the sapphire throne was a prototype of the incarnation of the Son of God from the Blessed Virgin Mary, who appeared as the Throne of God; the four animals represented the four evangelists, the wheels with many eyes represented parts of the world with all the nations of the earth. At this vision, the holy prophet fell to the ground in fear, but the voice of God commanded him to stand up and then announced that the Lord was sending him to preach to the people of Israel. From this time on, Ezekiel's prophetic ministry began. The prophet Ezekiel announced to the people of Israel, who were in captivity in Babylon, about upcoming trials as punishment for errors in faith and apostasy from the True God. The prophet also heralded the onset of better times for his captive compatriots, predicted their return from Babylonian captivity and the restoration of the Jerusalem Temple.

Two significant visions of the prophet are especially important - about the temple of the Lord, filled with glory, and about dry bones in the field, to which the Spirit of God gave new life. The vision of the temple was a mysterious prototype of the liberation of the human race from the work of the enemy and the establishment of the Church of Christ through the redemptive feat of the Son of God, incarnate from the Most Holy Virgin Mary, called by the prophet “the closed gates” through which only the Lord God alone passed (Ezek. 44:2). The vision of dry bones on the field is a prototype of the general resurrection of the dead and the new eternal life of those redeemed by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross (Ezek. 37:1-14).

The holy prophet Ezekiel had from the Lord the gift of working miracles. He, like the prophet Moses, divided the waters of the Chebar River with a prayer to God, and the Jews crossed to the other bank, avoiding persecution by the Chaldeans. During the famine, the prophet asked God to increase food for the hungry.

For denouncing one Jewish prince of idolatry, Saint Ezekiel was put to death: tied to wild horses, he was torn into pieces. Pious Jews collected the torn body of the prophet and buried him in the field of Maur, in the tomb of Shem and Arphaxad, the ancestors of Abraham, not far from Baghdad. Ezekiel's prophecies are recorded in a book named after him and included in the Bible.

I drew the attention of believers to the following words in the book of the prophet Ezekiel: if a righteous person, hoping for his own righteousness, dares to sin and dies in sin, he will be responsible for the sin and subject to condemnation; and a sinner, if he repents and dies in repentance, his previous sins will not be remembered before God (Ezek. 3:20; 18:21-24).