Like Jeremiah, Ezekiel also knew how to communicate a vision so that everyone understood it and everyone knew what to do. That is the mark of a good communicator. The following thoughts help in reflecting on this:
- His vision was memorable and his words were striking.
God instructed the prophet how to communicate the vision. He told him what things to use for it – for example, bricks, iron plates, his own body, ropes, ingredients for bread, human excrement, and cow dung. God's instructions were so radical that even Ezekiel felt repelled by them. Only this way would no one forget what the prophet's message was.
- His vision was measurable and his words were full of insight.
Ezekiel spoke very specifically about future events. He did not give any vague, ambiguous word about how God wanted people to follow him, should they decide to cooperate. He spoke urgently and in detail about how long Israel had strayed from God, about the siege of Jerusalem, about how long the exile would last, and about what conditions would look like once God carried out his long-threatened punishment.
- His vision was motivating and his words were a spur to action.
Ezekiel did not speak merely to announce judgment. He wanted to move the Israelites to repentance and to return to God. He spoke about how shameful life under a foreign ruler would be and how terrible it would be to have to submit to his power. He gave them a reason to act.
Ezekiel 1:1-3
1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
2 In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity,
3 The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him.