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7.10 Ezekiel -- the Book

Unlike many other prophetic books, which are sometimes just compilations of sayings in no definite order, Ezekiel has a simple structure.  We can outline it by using just three section headings (see NIV Study Bible, pp. 1229-30):

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        1.  Judgment upon Israel: chaps 1-24
        2.  Judgment upon the nations: chaps 25-32
        3.  Consolation for Israel: chaps 33-48

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        "Ezekiel is unique among the Old Testament prophets for his orderly sequence of dates for many of his oracles" (Taylor, John.  Ezekiel: An Introduction and Commentary. The Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, Downers Grove: IL: Inter-Varsity, 1969, p. 36).

 

We are given 14 dates, and the material is presented in the order of events and oracles, except for some of the oracles against other nations.  Every date is reckoned from the beginning of the 597 BC exile -- which was the time when King Jehoiachin and Ezekiel himself went into captivity (NIV Study Bible, p. 1283).  

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