Yechezkel, in whose prophecies the exodus from Egypt is intertwined with contemporary reality and the future rebirth of the people, gave almost no information about himself.
According to fragmentary records, it can be understood that he was born ten years before the death of the righteous king Yoshiyau, came from a family of kohanim, lived in Yerushalayim, and at the age of twenty began to serve in the Temple. He dreamed of being rewarded with Divine revelation, and the Heavens answered his request - they opened the spiritual worlds to him. However, they were not ordered, like other prophets, to address the people.
Yehezkel got married and thought that his destiny was to serve in the Temple and teach people. But life, full of holiness and comprehension of the secrets of the Torah, changed in an instant: King Yegoyakim rebelled against Nebuchadnetzar, was taken to Bavel and died on the road. And three months later his son Jeconiah was taken into exile. Among those seven thousand who were driven away from Yerushalayim with him was Yehezkel.
After a grueling journey - first north to the Prat River, and then along it to the southeast - the sons of Yehuda ended up in Bavel. The city, considered one of the wonders of the world, was filled with images with human faces, the bodies of bulls and the wings of birds, and on its high towers sacrifices were made to idols. How could it be compared with Yerushalayim, in which the Temple stood, the walls of the houses were illuminated not only by solar, but also by spiritual light, and in the mornings, during the morning sacrifice, the song of the Levites was heard in the streets?
He was not the only prophet who warned of an approaching tragedy: at the same time he prophesied Irmeyag. But they were not ready to listen to their words either in Yehud, where they continued to prepare for war, or in Bavel, where they lived in the hope of an early defeat of the Chaldeans. However, those of the exiles who saw Yehezkel as a mentor began to prepare for the arrival of many captives and - so that the people could endure - to create schools for teaching children the Torah, community centers, councils of sages and courts.
The national tragedy changed the attitude towards the prophets who predicted the defeat of the uprising and the troubles that it would entail. They began to call Irmeyaga "father", and the prophecy of Yehezkel was recognized as true. And it was revealed to him that the land of Israel would be desolate while the people were in exile, and would blossom when the time of deliverance drew near. If earlier he was transferred in a vision to Jerusalem to witness the terrible crimes that are committed in the city, then a few years after the fall of the capital, he was shown the House of God, which would be re-erected on Mount Moriah. And he walked through its courtyards, entered the holy premises and the holy of holies, and remembered the dimensions of all buildings and objects.
Yechezkel died fifteen years after the destruction of Yehuda and was buried near Tel Aviv, on the banks of the Prat River. Thirty-six years after his death, Bavel fell, and two years later the Persian king Koresh allowed the exiles to move beyond the Yarden and restore the devastated country. And fifty-four years after the death of Yechezkel - despite all the difficulties - the Temple was rebuilt (although due to lack of funds and labor, it could not be built in accordance with the plan of the prophet).