WHILE the character of Ezekiel's ministry does not differ essentially from that of his predecessors, it presents some exceptional features of a very instructive kind. The mere fact of his being an exile accounts for much that is peculiar in his method of working and his conception of his office. To say that he was no prophet at all, but merely a pastor exercising the cure of souls amongst those who came under his personal influence, is an exaggeration, but it is the exaggeration of a truth. His insistence on the independence of the individual soul before God, and his comparison of himself to a watchman responsible for each person who perishes through not being warned of his danger, suggest that the care of the individual must have occupied a larger place in his work than was the case with the preexilic prophets. At a time when the unity of the nation was broken up, and the new kingdom of God had to be born in the hearts of those who embraced the hope set before them by the prophets, it was inevitable that a religious teacher should devote much of his attention to the conversion and spiritual direction of individuals. ... On the one hand he was sent to "them of the Captivity"; and on the other hand he was a prophet to the whole house of Israel. Thus he had two audiences . . . and for the most part they are identified to such a degree that in addressing the exiles or their elders he fancies himself speaking to the idealized nation, whose members were then scattered far and wide over the world. . . .
A perusal of the book shows that it has been carefully planned with an eye to literary effect; and if the prophet had simply worked out his conceptions in the solitude of his chamber, the result would hardly have differed much from what we actually find.
—From Hastings' "Dictionary of the Bible."
