Who Was Ezekiel?

Keywords: UFO, unidentified flying objects, Bible, flying saucers, prophecy, Paleo-SETI, ancient astronauts, Erich von Däniken, Josef F. Blumrich, Zecharia Sitchin, Ezekiel, biblical prophecy, spacecraft, spaceship, NASA, Roswell, aircraft, propellant, extraterrestrial hypothesis, Jacques Vallee, interdimensional hypothesis, Project Blue Book, Condon Report, ancient history, Jesus, Judaism, Christianity, Middle East, end times, engines, rockets, helicopters, space travel, aliens, abductions, alien abductions, crop circles, extraterrestrials, astronomy, economics, biology, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Space Shuttle, Apollo, stars, planets, solar system, scriptures, design, fuel tank, aerodynamics, fuels, hydrogen, oxygen, wheels

Chapter 2

    Since we will analyze and evaluate Ezekiel's statements, his own person becomes the source for far-reaching conclusions. It is desirable to find out as much as possible about the kind, substance, and educational level of the personality that stands behind these reports. These characteristics contribute to the determination of the amount of trust to be accorded to the information. A report from a man who has never gone beyond the boundaries of his native community, his work, and his family has a weight different from that made by a man who must be described as educated and endowed with rich experience.  [p.8] 

    Direct information may be derived from his own reporting: The book begins in the year 593 or 592 B.C. Some five years earlier in 597, Ezekiel had been deported to Babylon with many other Jews by King Nebuchadnezzar. He lived in the community of Tel-Abib on the Chebar River (which was actually a canal) in Chaldea. Ezekiel was a priest. The fact that he was married is disclosed by the mention of the death of his wife four and a half years after the beginning of his prophecies. His father's name was Buzi.

    Further deductions—even more relevant to our objective—may be made indirectly from the general political situation of his time and from certain passages in his writings. The fact, for example, that Ezekiel was among those deported indicates that his family had a certain social status, because the deportations of the year 597 B.C. involved the most influential part of the population.

    Further, Tel-Abib was situated close to and south of Babylon. The assumption is therefore justified that Ezekiel had seen the great tower or at least had heard precise descriptions of that structure. It. is. also most probable that he had at least heard descriptions of the famed giant gate of the city as well as of the wide triumphal avenue leading toward it. Ezekiel knew the people of the country and had also doubtless seen enough of soldiers clad in their armor as well as the horse-drawn combat chariots.

    He probably was about thirty years old. Therefore he must have reached the age of about fifty at the time of the last prophecy recorded in his book. He had been raised in Jerusalem, and as a result of his exile he became very familiar with two significant cultures. Moreover, the writings reveal that he was quite familiar with the cultural and trade situation in the whole of the Near East including Egypt. Nothing in his reports is primitive or simplistic.

    The sum total of this information shows us a man of considerable experience who, as a member of an upperclass Jewish family had enjoyed the benefit of a good upbringing and education.

    It is not known when and where Ezekiel died, nor is it known where he was buried. His supposed though unconfirmed tomb is located near Al-Kifl, a settlement located, a little less than twenty-five miles (40 km) south of Babylon, according to the map "Lands of the Bible Today" (Reference 9).  [p.9]