Ezekiel 1:1-3 Days of Ezekiel

We are introduced to Ezekiel and the days in which God spoke to him. We are given a few pointers as to the time and place. “The hand of the Lord was upon him there.”

I’m gong to start off by telling you that I am TERRIFIED of this book. The imagery and its implications are so FAR beyond me. I am going to be relying HEAVILY on the Spirit for direction as we walk along. I always have to rely on Him but here more than any other time so far. Today SHOULD be a little more straight forward, but I already find myself trying to figure out the timeline given and who is the one it is set by.

Straight away we are given a date. “The thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month” (verse 1a). Then we are given another marker for the time; “It was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin” (verse 2b). First, before asking my question, I have to admit that I read this the 13^th year MULTIPLE times until I started typing it directly from the text. It is the 30^th year, as we can all plainly see.

My questions now becomes, what event started the count? If we were counting from the beginning of Judah having vassal kings from Egypt and then Babylon, we could start with when Josiah’s son Jehoahaz was taken by Pharoah Neco to Egypt and his brother Jehoiakim was put in his place. But the math still doesn’t bring me to 30 years. Jehoiakim reigned for 11 years. His son, Jehoiachin, reigned three months and ten days. We are now in the 5^th year of Jehoiachin’s exile. That makes 16 years. FAR short of the 30 we are given.

Nebuchadnezzar began to reign, by history’s reports in the middle of Jehoiakim’s reign in the year 609 BC. This tracks with what we saw earlier in Jeremiah where Jehoiakim rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar in his nineth year. That means that Jehoiakim was a vassal to Egypt for the first four years, a vassal to Nebuchadnezzar for the next five, rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and was taken down in his eleventh. So, counting from Nebuchadnezzar’s date of taking the throne doesn’t track either. It puts the year at 11 or so.

Could it be that we are counting from Ezekiel’s date of birth? This is the only thing that makes sense to me. This also means that Ezekeil was born in Judah. I don’t know if he was taken in the first deportment or the second. He was at the very latest, taken five years ago with Jehoiachin.

Before Ezekiel was taken, he must have been a good priest. One who followed God with his whole heart. He was also a contemporary of Jeremiah. Not of the same age but of the same timeframe. Though, Jeremiah prophesied in Judah while Ezekiel prophesied in the land of Babylon. Was Ezekiel the recipient of Jeremiah’s letters telling the people to settle down in the land?

Daniel and Ezekiel were definitely contemporaries. They also both served the Lord while in exile. I wonder if they were taken at the same time. Maybe one of their accounts will tell us. It’s an answer I can wait for.

I just Googled Ezekiel and the experts say that the date mentioned is the age of Ezekiel when he started prophesying. I could have saved myself so much time if I had looked first. But then I wouldn’t have had the journey to the answer that I believe was directed by the Holy Spirit. Shortcuts can be nice but they rob us of the journey.

Now that we have made it through the first three verses of the book of Ezekiel, it’s time to buckle our seatbelts. It’s a bumpy ride from here!

Father God, THANK YOU for guiding me through this first ‘puzzle’. I’m glad I didn’t ‘cheat’ and ask Google for help before trying to walk the trail to the answer with You. This short journey gives me confidence that You WILL walk me through all the remaining journeys facing me in the future. Ezekiel is NOT the last book with complex images and ideas. I trust You to walk me through EACH of them! Thank You Father for that boost of faith, strange as someone else might think it. Maybe they Googled before I got there. Thank You for showing us all!