The Book of Ezekiel

In the beginning of 2020, I began a study on the book of Ezekiel in my weekly Bible study class, and I was nervous.  We had just finished a 3-year, in-depth study of the books of Daniel and Revelation in this order, and I felt I was being nudged toward studying Ezekiel – a very un-sexy Bible book. After Revelation, anything else would be almost… anticlimactic!

Though I had read Ezekiel before, admittedly, it was hard to understand… I didn’t understand it, and it was hard just getting through the first few chapters.  Realizing that I was feeling intimidated by the book, I decided to return to my Socratic method of studying the Bible – I remembered my feelings of intimidation by Revelation and now, I’m comfortable and conversant with it – I was hooked by Chapter 1!

My first question about Ezekiel was, Why is the book placed prior to Daniel in order, when chronologically-speaking, it takes place after?

My second question about Ezekiel was, Why would God go to Babylon to get a prophet to preach to the people of Jerusalem?  And, I came to understand, the audience was Babylon, not just the Jews in Babylon!

Has anyone else made this observation? Please send me a note with your own thoughts using the form below.