Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man.
The command is to speak an awful message of warning and reproof against sinners among his own people. It was given to Ezekiel as a prophet among the captives of Israel between the years 595 and 574. He began and closed his work just a little later than Jeremiah, and he belonged to the priestly family. The command came after God gave him wonderful visions of His own glory and impressed His great majesty upon him before his prophetic work began, for when one once gets a sight of God he does not fear the face of man, and God revealed His own glory that he might not fear to meet the sinners among his own people.
The prophesying was directed to the twelve tribes in captivity to proclaim the blessings offered to them. If they were ashamed of their iniquities, he was to show them the design of the house. Israel as a whole did not heed the message, though a remnant accepted the offer and returned after the seventy years of captivity.
The command is to speak an awful message of warning and reproof against sinners among his own people. It was given to Ezekiel as a prophet among the captives of Israel between the years 595 and 574. He began and closed his work just a little later than Jeremiah, and he belonged to the priestly family. The command came after God gave him wonderful visions of His own glory and impressed His great majesty upon him before his prophetic work began, for when one once gets a sight of God he does not fear the face of man, and God revealed His own glory that he might not fear to meet the sinners among his own people.
The prophesying was directed to the twelve tribes in captivity to proclaim the blessings offered to them. If they were ashamed of their iniquities, he was to show them the design of the house. Israel as a whole did not heed the message, though a remnant accepted the offer and returned after the seventy years of captivity.