Ezekiel’s Message of Judgment – Intro to Ezek. 1–33: The first major section of the book of Ezekiel is an unstinting portrayal of God’s judgment, communicating this message in seven parts. First, in chapters 1–3, God calls the prophet and gives him the message he is to bear through a shattering vision of the Lord’s Glory. Second, in chapters 4–7, a series of sign-acts and oracles of judgment convey the inevitability of Jerusalem’s destruction. Third, in Ezekiel’s second vision of the Glory (chs. 8–11), Ezekiel watches as God withdraws the divine presence from Jerusalem. Fourth, the prophet makes clear in a variety of parables, sign-acts, and oracles that the present generation and their leaders are responsible for the tragedy that has befallen them and their city (chs. 12–19). Part five (c…