Chapter 32:1-16 covers the period March, 584
b.c., one year and eight months after Jerusalem fell.
In these verses there is also recorded a lamentation
over Egypt, which was to be crushed at the hands of
Babylon.
Ezekiel had been silent since the day the siege
had begun. This covered a period of about three years.
The visions of chapters 26-31, most of which came
within that three-year period, and were directed
against Tyre and Egypt, must have been written, not
spoken. Ezekiel’s first utterance, after receiving the
news of the fall of Jerusalem, was that the wicked left
in Judah would be exterminated. Five years later
Nebuchadnezzar took 745 more captives.
Chapter 33:30-33 records Ezekiel’s popularity
with the exiles. He charmed them with his speech, but
they continued unrepentant.
Chapter 34 records the indictment of the
shepherds, or leaders, of Israel. The responsibility of
the captivity of Israel is blamed directly on the
greedy and cruel kings and priests who had led the
people astray. Against this background Ezekiel sees a
vision of the Future Shepherd of God’s people in the
coming Messiah, under whom they shall nevermore suffer
and “there shall be showers of blessings.”