Is EZEKIEL Relevant Today?

By Michael Griego on March 6, 2026 • ( 0 )

Some people think the BOOK of EZEKIEL is about the future. Some think it’s about World War III and Armageddon. It’s actually about Israel’s disobedience and God’s dealing with them and their enemies. ◊

Once again, the world is abuzz about the Middle East, specifically Iran and Israel. Like clockwork, during these times people bring up their fears, concerns, and renewed speculations about the end of the world. Besides confused views of the BOOK of REVELATION, what often also comes up are extrapolations of the BOOK of EZEKIEL.

Try an interesting test. Ask any Christian in your family, or a friend, or friendly co-worker the following question:

What is the BOOK of EZEKIEL about in the Bible?

Odds are pretty good that they will answer in any of the following ways:

“I have no idea.”
“It’s about the end times, I think.”
“It’s about the Antichrist and Russia (or anyone) destroying Israel, I think.”
“I’m not sure. It might be about World War III and what’s going on with Iran.”
“It’s an Old Testament prophet talking about the foreseeable future.”

Only the last response is accurate.

It’s actually not as complex as many pastors, teachers, and authors make it.

There is no modern-day Russia (or Iran) in Ezekiel. There is no Antichrist in Ezekiel. There is no Armageddon in Ezekiel. It’s not about World War 3. In Chapters 38 and 39, the Gog and Magog war is not happening today. (These chapters do not make any sense in a modern context that many pastors try to twist into modern end times schemas.)

Ask anyone who tells you otherwise to point out the specific verse(s) in context and make logical connection.

It can’t be done.

See the BOOK of EZEKIEL as a prophetic vision in the context of actual historic events lived out 2,500 years ago. It is rich in symbolism and history of God’s active hand in the judgment, restoration, and protection of His chosen people, during the time of Ezekiel and shortly thereafter, as part of God’s long-term plan for an everlasting kingdom for all people, including Gentiles.

That’s it.

Who Was Ezekiel?
Ezekiel was a young Hebrew contemporary of Jeremiah and Daniel. About 600 years before Jesus was born, Ezekiel was told, by God directly, to deliver a very specific message to the religious leaders of Israel living in Jerusalem of the southern kingdom of Judah.

It was a strong and damning word of condemnation and prediction of a very imminent destruction by the surrounding Babylonian nation, led by King Nebuchadnezzar.

The prophecy of Ezekiel also speaks of the restoration of the Hebrew nation after their destruction and dispersion, and their ultimate return to the land, under Persian authority, after their exile (70 years), to rebuild their destroyed city and temple. The temple was rebuilt in 515 BC.

So, Ezekiel is a prophetic book about the soon coming destruction of Jerusalem (as promised, it did happen in 587 BC), and the dispersion of the Jewish people for 70 years of exile under Babylonian rule. This is covered essentially in Chapters 1-24.

In Chapters 25 to 32, and 35, it also lays out a detailed list of all their surrounding enemies who get their own prediction of destruction. In Chapters 36 and 37 there is a promise and vision of restoration of the people back to their Jewish homeland. In Chapters 38 and 39, there is a dramatic story of an evil scheme/confrontation by an enemy (Gog/Gogites) and God’s rescue during the subsequent Persian rule. These chapters (38 and 39) actually correspond to the story of Esther and the evil Haman, the Gog, in the BOOK of ESTHER. It is not about Russia (“Rosh!”) preached by many well-meaning but misguided preachers today.¹

All of this transpired well before Jesus Christ came on the scene. Ezekiel Chapters 40-48 cover a figurative vision of an enormous temple representing the future indwelling Spirit of God in the hearts of His people, Jews and Gentiles (all the nations), replacing the need for temples, sacrifices, and land, after the physical and spiritual world-changing resurrection of Christ.

Ezekiel In Context
Ezekiel is universally recognized by most of the major religions. He is acknowledged as a Hebrew prophet in the Christian, Jewish and Islamic faiths. He was born in Jerusalem in 622 BC during the reign of King Josiah, who implemented many Hebrew reforms from pagan practices that had crept into the culture.

Recall that the entire Hebrew nation arose from one man, Abraham (see GENESIS 12) around 2000 BC. Abraham was promised by God in a holy covenant that his ancestors would someday and somehow be a blessing for all families of all nations in the world. His son Isaac begat Jacob (later named Israel), whose son Joseph (1 of 12) led the entire family of 70 people to Egypt (see Genesis 37-50).

Hundreds of years later, another Hebrew named Moses (see EXODUS 1) around 1500 BC, freed his people out of Egyptian slavery and led them to the land promised by God (see DEUTERONOMY 11:24) which was finally delivered as promised by God (see JOSHUA 21:43-45) in the 14th century BC.

Note that God spoke directly to Abraham and Moses.

Then recall that the new nation spread out into Canaan was initially ruled by leaders and “Judges” (see BOOK of JUDGES). Eventually, against their better judgment, the people sought to become like surrounding nations with formal kings. God gave them what they wanted and King Saul, King David, around 1000 BC, and David’s son King Solomon were set on the Jewish throne and eventually a spectacular Temple (see 1 KINGS 5-8 and 2 CHRONICLES 2-7) was built.

After Solomon’s demise, so divided and sinful were the Hebrew people that they split their nation into a Northern Kingdom (called Israel with its capital city, Samaria), and a Southern Kingdom (call Judah with its capital city, Jerusalem). Over the next few hundred years, both Kingdoms degraded in culture and pagan practices of worship. The Northern Kingdom (Israel) was destroyed in 722 BC by the Assyrian nation. The Southern Kingdom (Judah) was captured in a series of attacks and sieges starting in 605 BC by the Babylonians and ending ultimately in the complete decimation of Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple in 586 BC.

With that context, in 597 BC we find Ezekiel captured and deported to Babylon over 1600 miles away with thousands of fellow Hebrews who were living in Jerusalem. Now at age 30, in 593 BC, he is being called to be a watchman for Israel (Ezekiel 3:17) delivering God’s renewed warnings and prophetic word of the coming destruction of Jerusalem, which occurred within a decade.

Note that God was also talking to young Jeremiah and Daniel as prophets during this same time as Ezekiel.

God’s Blessings and Curses in Context
The Jewish/Hebrew nation was very different from other nations in that they were given very specific instructions in how to live as God’s people with special rules and laws for upholding their distinction from surrounding pagan nations.

For God had very specific plans to deliver that promised blessing to all peoples and nations. We know now that this blessing was God’s incarnate gift, Jesus Christ, to restore His creation back to Himself.

But God’s plan involved very clear instructions to the Hebrew nation. Way back in the Old Testament’s BOOK of DEUTERONOMY, God’s instructions to them was very conditional upon their obedience:

If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God… (Deuteronomy 28:1-2)

A list of blessings then follows which are substantial (see Deuteronomy 28:3-14). Almost sounds heavenly! But there is also a dire warning of curses that will befall the Hebrew nation if they are disobedient:

However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these promised curses will come on you and overtake you… (Deuteronomy 28:15)

The list of curses is staggering (see Deuteronomy 28:16-68).

The Revelation of Jesus Christ in Context
In light of this Biblical historic review, we can see the full context of Israel’s disobedience and understand just how far the Hebrew/Jewish nation had fallen.

We can now review the BOOK of EZEKIEL and its prophetic visions, language and imagery that align in stark comparison to the BOOK of REVELATION, another apocalyptic book that again lays out God’s final judgment against yet another generation of Jews that committed the ultimate act of disobedience to God in their rejection and murder of the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ.

The punishment for that vile act of Jewish disobedience was prophesied by Jesus himself over 600 years after Ezekiel (see Matthew 24) and resulted in that same rebuilt Temple being fully destroyed by the Romans in AD 70.

Do you read and study the Bible or just listen to what people tell you?
___________________________
He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.” As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. He said: “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day.” – Ezekiel 2:1-3

¹Note: here are a couple of articles that present perspectives that many Christians have never heard before: Gog and Magog, Part 1: From Saul and Agag to Mordecai and Haman (2024), and Haman, Hamas, and the Headlines: getting Gog & Magog Wrong . . . Again (2023), by Robert E. Cruickshank, Jr.