JESUS IN THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL
Ezekiel opens beneath a sky that refuses to stay closed. By the river Chebar, in exile and ash, the heavens are torn open and the glory of the Lord comes rushing down on wheels within wheels, fire enfolded in fire, life pulsing with order and purpose (Ezekiel 1:1-28).
This is not chaos; it is majesty on the move. Here we see Christ before Bethlehem—the sovereign Son who is not confined to temples or borders, whose throne is mobile, whose reign follows His people even into captivity. Jesus is already there, ruling from the whirlwind, reminding the exiles that displacement does not mean abandonment.
Again and again Ezekiel is addressed as “son of man” (Ezekiel 2:1). The title humbles the prophet, but it also lifts our eyes forward. When Jesus takes this name upon His own lips, He gathers Ezekiel’s weakness into His strength. The Son of Man who stands Ezekiel on his feet by the Spirit (Ezekiel 2:2) is the same Son of Man who will one day stand humanity upright by His cross. What Ezekiel hears in fragments, Jesus embodies in fullness—God speaking not only through a man, but as Man.
Then comes the valley—dry bones scattered beneath a silent sky (Ezekiel 37:1-14). No pulse, no sinew, no hope. Yet the word is spoken, the Spirit is summoned, and life returns. This is resurrection language long before an empty tomb. Christ stands here as the Life-giver, the One who does not merely improve what is broken but resurrects what is dead (John 11:25). Israel’s restoration foreshadows a greater miracle still: sinners made alive, graves turned into gateways, breath returning where death had settled in too long.
Ezekiel sees a shepherd promised, a king from the line of David who will feed the flock, seek the lost, and bind the broken (Ezekiel 34:23-24). This is Jesus unmistakably—the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep (John 10:11). He is not the hired hand, not the distant ruler, but the shepherd who enters the field, bears the wounds, and gathers the scattered. In Ezekiel, the promise is spoken; in Jesus, the promise walks among us.
The book closes with a river flowing from the temple, deepening as it goes, bringing life wherever it touches (Ezekiel 47:1-12). Trees bear fruit every month; leaves heal the nations. This river flows again in Revelation, issuing from the throne of God and of the Lamb (Revelation 22:1-2).
The temple is no longer stone and shadow—Christ Himself is the dwelling place of God with man. Ezekiel names the city “THE LORD IS THERE” (Ezekiel 48:35). In Jesus, that name becomes flesh. God is not merely there—He is with us.
BDD
