News of Jerusalem's fall reaches Ezekiel
A survivor arrived among the exiles in Babylon with the news: the city has fallen. From then on Ezekiel's message turned from judgment to hope.
In the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, one who had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, “The city has been defeated!”
Ezekiel 33:21 (World English Bible)
For years the exiles had refused to believe Jerusalem could fall. Now Ezekiel's warnings were proven true, and he began to speak of a new shepherd from David's line, a new heart and spirit, and the restoration of the land.
Places
Dating notes
The 10th month of the 12th year of the exile (Ezekiel 33:21), early 587 BC.