Nephi’s Guide to Studying Ezekiel

The book of Ezekiel is loaded with imagery. In just the first five chapters, we encounter four-faced creatures, wheels rimmed with eyes, an edible book, filthy barley cakes, and burning hair. In all, the book contains more than 90 symbolic images. How is a reader to make sense of them?

Nephi didn’t have Ezekiel’s words. Ezekiel lived at the same time as Nephi and came from the same culture, but he wrote his prophecies in Babylon, where he lived in captivity, beginning several years after Nephi’s family left Jerusalem.

But Nephi’s father, Lehi, also experienced symbolic visions, and Nephi described his process of understanding one of them. After his father shared a dream full of symbolic imagery with the family, Nephi says:

After I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord.

1 Nephi 11:1

An angel showed Nephi symbols from his father’s dream one at a time, asking if he understood them. Nephi responded honestly, answering in one instance, “I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things” (1 Nephi 11:17).

Later, when his brothers complained that their father’s words were indecipherable, Nephi asked, “Have ye inquired of the Lord?” (1 Nephi 15:8). He affirmed that God would answer their prayers if they prayed with humility, faith, and diligence (1 Nephi 15:11).

For a reader of Ezekiel, Nephi’s approach would include the following steps:

1. Curiosity: Genuinely care what the symbols might mean.
2. Faith: Believe that God can help you understand, and ask Him to help you.
3. Pondering: Spend quiet time thinking about each symbol.
4. Integration: Build on what you already know about God.

Nephi also said that he “did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning” (1 Nephi 19:23). Even where Ezekiel explains his symbols, the explanation is generally localized and specific to his people. A modern reader adopting Nephi’s approach will look for ways each symbol applies to them personally.

Today, I will approach the symbolic content of Ezekiel with curiosity and faith. I will take the time to ponder some of those symbols and to consider their significance in my life.