Old Testament Notes

            Ezekiel, the priest, one of the four greater prophets, the others are Daniel, Isaiah and Jeremiah, was among the Jewish captives taken to Babylon after the siege of Jerusalem in 598-597 B.C. His life and prophesies are described in the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel. On the fifth year of the Babylonian exile he became a prophet. First, he saw a bright chariot borne by fantastic creatures; God, sitting on the chariot, told Ezekiel the "words of lamentation and mourning and woe" which he was to deliver to the rebellious Israelites. He prophesied during the following 22 or more years. In the beginning people did not trust him, but after his prediction of the fall of Jerusalem (in 586 B.C.) and the destruction of the Temple they began to take him seriously. He was one of the great prophets and he presented his people with hope when he also predicted the return of the exiled and the rebuilding of the Temple.
See: Duccio di Buoninsegna. Maestà: The Prophets Ezekiel.
Raphael Ezekiel's Vision.
Mikhail Vrubel. The Vision of the Prophet Ezekiel.