Although Ezekiel is written in the first person, the dominant perspective is not Ezekiel’s but rather the Lord’s. The prophet vanishes behind the message that he bears. For the first two-thirds of the book, that message is a harsh, unrelenting word of judgment. Ezekiel deliberately destroys every claim to self-sufficiency that Jerusalem might raise. With the fall of the city, the message changes to one of restoration and hope but, once again, the restoration depends in no way on Israel’s