Ezekiel lived during the time of the Babylonian exile (586 BC). Some say things weren't so bad there in Babylon. When King Cyrus (who we learned about in our study of the book of Ezra, way back in July 2012*) allowed them to return to their homes, many decided they'd rather stay in Babylon.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York's brilliant web site has a great article (and fabulous images which I can't post here because of copyright) on Babylon. Here is a portion which mentions the "biblical prophets" of whom Ezekiel was one:
At this time, Babylon is thought to have been the largest city in the world. Its population was surely very cosmopolitan: Nebuchadnezzar continued the Assyrian practice of moving large groups of people across the empire, in order to break up potential centers of opposition, to provide labor, or both. In the case of the state of Judah and the city of Jerusalem, such acts earned him biblical infamy. The powerful language used against Babylon by the biblical prophets would eventually be incorporated into Christian visions of the Apocalypse (18.65.8). By contrast, Babylonian kings saw and presented themselves as pious figures,
Reference:
Seymour, Michael. “Babylon.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/babl/hd_babl.htm (June 2016)
There's even an hour-long video about the Cyrus Cylinder on the Met's site. All very exciting stuff.
And so we turn to the Bible and read how it all began Ezek 1:1 from the Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) and the Contemporary English Version (CEV) - sourced from Bible Gateway's fabulous website:
Now [when I was] in [my] thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was in the midst of captivity beside the river Chebar [in Babylonia], the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.
I am Ezekiel—a priest and the son of Buzi. Five years after King Jehoiachin of Judah had been led away as a prisoner to Babylonia, I was living near the Chebar River among those who had been taken there with him. Then on the fifth day of the fourth month of the thirtieth year, the heavens suddenly opened. The Lord placed his hand upon me and showed me some visions.
Figure 1: Chebar River (Iraq)
Reproduced from: https://www.google.com.au/search?q=chebar+river+iraq&rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBAU810AU810&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=QYaPhm0ZxuNk-M%253A%252CrRzdAFIvuPSbxM%252C_&usg=AI4_-kQR5rr5OWW19sFpcbovrf7PBynw2g&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwimxaDin7_eAhWMPI8KHYVUASsQ9QEwAnoECAYQBA#imgrc=iHZ_mNGJ0Cf3QM:
So, let's see what this book will reveal to us in November 2018. Happy reading. We look forward to hearing from you.
Julie Swannell
* You can check out the blog posts from July 2012 by typing "Ezra" into the Search bar on the Web Version of our blog site.
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