By R.A. Mathews

He was special to God, a man who lived six centuries before the birth of Christ. The Lord called him “son of man” over 90 times. 

In fact, in the Old Testament, God doesn’t call anyone else “son of man.” (Although Gabriel does use it once with Daniel.) 

Who is this special man? Most Christians don’t know anything about him, and yet his words couldn’t be more important to us in the year 2025 with the chaos of wars swirling across the globe.  The man is Ezekiel, who lived in a time of war when the Babylonians were conquering everything in sight, leading captives away into slavery. But who was Ezekiel: 1) a Jewish king who fought the Babylonians, 2) a Jewish priest captured by the Babylonians, 3) a Jewish historian who warned of the Babylonian invasion or a Babylonian king called by God to protect the Jews?

I’ll give you a hint: If you remember how things went in Jerusalem with the Babylonians, that will be very helpful. 

If you don’t remember, it went badly. The Babylonians ultimately conquered the Jews and led them away in chains. So you can eliminate No. 4: a Babylonian king called by God to protect the Jews.

Look at your remaining choices and take a guess — who was Ezekiel, called “son of man” over 90 times?

You need a bit of history to know where you are in the Bible at 600 B.C. Here’s a super-fast six-sentence summary. Stay with me.

Abraham was chosen by God in roughly 2,000 B.C. and migrated to the Promised Land. His grandson took the Israelites to Egypt due to a severe famine, and that’s where the Hebrews were eventually enslaved by the Egyptians. Moses led them to freedom, and they arrived back at the Promised Land after 40 years of wandering. I’m almost done.

The Hebrew invasion to drive out the inhabitants of the Promised Land didn’t go well. Some 500 years later, at roughly 1,000 B.C., King David finally subdued all their enemies. But peace didn’t last long: after the reign of David’s son, Solomon, civil war split Israel into two nations. And that’s where things got very, very dicey — the Assyrians brutally conquered the northern half, still called “Israel,” in about 722 B.C. and, roughly a century later, the Babylonians began invading the southern half, called “Judah,” and began taking captives.

At first, the Babylonians took elite Jews and Ezekiel was one of them. The answer is No. 2: a Jewish priest captured by the Babylonians.

If you open your Bible in the middle, you’ll be at Proverbs. Now take the right side and divide it into thirds. The first third should take you to Ezekiel. Or you could use your Bible’s directory. Your choice.

The first four words of Ezekiel state, “In the thirtieth year…” 

The thirtieth year of what? No one agrees, so Ezekiel’s book begins with intrigue. Then the Jewish priest immediately writes of his captivity — Ezekiel is far from home, living in the land of the Chaldeans. This area is probably present-day southern Iraq.

Ezekiel tells of how God showed him the evil in Jerusalem and how it would not go unpunished. Indeed, the Babylonians eventually sieged and viciously conquered Jerusalem in 586 B.C. 

When Ezekiel learned of this in his vision, he cried out, falling with his face to the ground. “Will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel” (Ezekiel 11:13).

But God assured the priest that He would not abandon His faithful. Here’s one of the most beautiful passages of Scripture:

“I will give them one heart, and a new Spirit . . . And they shall be my people and I will be their God” (Ezekiel 11:19-20).

But for those who go after detestable things, the Lord said, “I will bring their deeds upon their own heads… ” (Ezekiel 11:21).

God repeated that warning to Ezekiel, “I will bring their deeds upon their heads” (Ezekiel 9:1-11).

What were your deeds today? Yesterday?

I worked with a woman years ago who constantly screamed at her child. “You’ll be sorry,” I said to her. “She’s going to scream like that at you.” But the woman didn’t see what was obvious until it happened. 

Every day, in every interaction, whether in your home, your work, or as you live your life, God sees what you do. 

“I will bring their deeds upon their heads.”

Does that fill you with joy or with fear?

If you don’t like who you’ve become, tell the Lord you’re sorry. Jesus led with the message that repentance is essential and so did John the Baptist, Peter, and Paul.

Simply put, God loves you and wants to help you. “Call to Me and I will answer” (Jeremiah 33:3).

You can change. Repentance is the key.

The Rev. Mathews (BA, MDiv, JD) is the author of the “Reaching to God” series. Contact her at Hello@RAMathews.com.

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