Ezekiel 33:21-33

The Prophet, the Survivors, and the Exiles

In Ezekiel 24:27 it was announced to Ezekiel that the silence which began with his wife's death and the siege of Jerusalem would be ended when fugitives from the captured cities should arrive in Babylonia. This took place a year and five months (but see on Ezekiel 33:21) after Jerusalem fell, and Ezekiel began once more to receive and proclaim messages from God. This passage contains two of these. The first was directed against the wicked survivors who remained in the land of Israel and boasted that it would still be theirs. They were destined to perish, and the land to be utterly desolated, in order that God's wrath against their sin might be shown to the uttermost (Ezekiel 33:23). The second describes the changed attitude of the exiles towards Ezekiel. They were now interested in his words, discussing them in their gatherings, and listening eagerly to what he had to say. Yet their interest had more of curiosity than of earnestness. Not till the final punishment of the wicked survivors took place would they recognise Ezekiel as a prophet indeed (Ezekiel 33:30).