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Ezekiel MormonThe Jews were blessed to have prophets throughout their 70-year captivity in Babylon.  Now they were a Jewish community in a larger, foreign culture.  They were able to engage in business and enterprise in Babylon, and for the most part, were able to live their religion.  Exceptions show up in the scriptures with the stories of Daniel.

The Lord had some goals regarding the Jews in captivity.  Firstly, they needed to understand why destruction had fallen upon them.  Second, they needed to be preserved as a people.  Third, they needed to fulfill their role as the salt of the earth, spreading faith and law throughout the world.

The Lord had placed Jeremiah in the royal courts of Jerusalem, Daniel in the royal courts of Babylon (and later, Persia), and Ezekiel among the exiled Jews.  Ezekiel was the prophet on the watchtower, warning the Jews that the kingdom of God is made up of individuals, and individual choices and personal commitment were important.  He called individuals to repentance and gave them hope for a return and rebuilding of their beloved temple.  Ezekiel was of the lineage of Zadok, the line of high priests.

Ezekiel was a visionary and had the difficult job of explaining his vision in terms others could understand.  This is difficult especially in describing visions of heaven and visions of the future, especially of the last days with its modern inventions.  Prophets used comparisons and symbolism to try to explain what they saw, so the modern student does not need to take these descriptions literally, but to visualize them symbolically.

In his vision, Ezekiel saw four creatures, each of which had four faces. “They four had the face of a man, . . . a lion, . . . an ox . . . [and] the face of an eagle” ( Ezekiel 1:10 ). The Apostle John had a similar vision. In his vision, the creatures were described as being “like a lion, . . . like a calf, . . . [having] a face as a man, and . . . like a flying eagle” ( Revelation 4:7 ). The Prophet Joseph explained that the four beasts in John’s vision were representative of classes of beings (see D&C 77:3 ). The faces of the creatures in Ezekiel’s vision seem to represent the same thing. The following interpretation, from an ancient Jewish commentary, is in harmony with that view: “Man is exalted among creatures; the eagle is exalted among birds; the ox is exalted among domestic animals; the lion is exalted among wild beasts; and all of them have received dominion, and greatness has been given them, yet they are stationed below the chariot of the Holy One” ( Midrash Shemoth Rabbah 23; in D. Guthrie and J. A. Motyer, eds., The New Bible Commentary: Revised, p. 667).


Mormons have no interpretation for the wheels Ezekiel saw in vision.


The Lord has not given Mormon prophets all the interpretations of the things Ezekiel saw.  Thus, we’re not responsible to know those things.

Ezekiel saw God upon His throne and used the best descriptors he could to explain the brilliance and glory of the Lord.

The Jews were still a stiff-necked people, so Ezekiel was a watchman for a people who often rejected him.  Still, if he had held his peace and had not spoken out, their sins would have been his responsibility because he failed to warn them.


Since Ezekiel was taken to Babylon in the first captivity (most likely), he was able to prophesy regarding the third and most destructive attack, and to warn Judah of the upcoming destruction.  Ezekiel 5 talks of dividing and cutting of hair.  This was symbolic of what would happen to the Jews in the three incursions of Jerusalem by Babylon.  One third of Jerusalem would be burned, and one third of her inhabitants would perish.  One third would be carried off, and some of them would suffer death or oppression on the way to, or in, captivity.  Ezekiel also prophesied of the cannibalism that would occur during the siege.  History repeated itself when Jerusalem was encircled by the armies of the Roman forces of Titus in 70 A.D.

As recorded in Ezekiel 8, the prophet saw the Egyptian dieties that the priestly class of Jerusalem worshipped in the dark.  The pattern of worship was to honor idols of animals in the dark, but darkness also refers to the way the priests tried to keep their idolatry a secret.  Ezekiel 8:14 refers to the “death of Tammuz.”  This speaks of an idol, a god of the spring, whose death occurs symbolically with the heat of the summer.

In Ezekiel 8:16, the prophet speaks of the priests who should worship facing the temple, but who have turned away from the temple to worship the sun.

In Ezekiel 9, the prophet explains that the righteous in Jerusalem had a mark on their foreheads which preserved them from destruction.  It is not just association with God’s kingdom that preserves individuals; it is individual righteousness.

In Joseph Smith’s inspired translation of the Bible, he corrected Ezekiel 14:9 to read: “And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have not deceived that prophet.”

Like other prophets who prophesied of Israel’s destruction, Ezekiel also foretold the gathering and sanctification of Israel in the last days.  He said this gathering would be accomplished through revelation (see 20: 35 ) and would be accompanied by manifestations of the Lord’s power (see 20: 33–34 ).  In chapter 21 Ezekiel explains that the righteous often suffer with the wicked.



As with other prophets who preceded him, Ezekiel was commanded to practice some odd, symbolic behaviors, so the people would take notice and ask about them.  One such was not to mourn the death of his wife.  When the people inquired, Ezekiel prophesied the destruction of the temple.


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