Isaiah chapter 26 - Ezekiel

The twenty-sixth chapter of Isaiah has the book of Ezekiel written all over it. Beginning with verse five:

“For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.” (Isaiah 26:5)

The subject of the first twenty-four chapters of Ezekiel is the impending fall of the city of Jerusalem as the judgment of God falls upon the city for because of the sins of the people. The ‘he’ of our verse above is none other than God, and the ‘city’ is none other than the city of Jerusalem. Ezekiel himself even portrays the siege and fall of Jerusalem as he fulfils his God-given assignment in Ezekiel chapters four and five. In chapters six and fourteen of Ezekiel we find that the most offensive sin of Jerusalem is idolatry.

As Isaiah laments the sin of his people in his chapter twenty-six, he specifically mentions idolatry.

“O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.” (Isaiah 26:13)

Isaiah’s prophecy then moves on to speak of the removal of the people from their land and their deportation to a distant land. This is the subject of Ezekiel’s chapters eleven and twelve.

“Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth.” (Isaiah 26:15)

Finally, in Isaiah 26:19 we see wording reminiscent of the ‘Valley of Dry Bones’ prophecy in Ezekiel chapters thirty-seven and thirty-eight.

“Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” (Isaiah 26:19)

This is Isaiah chapter twenty-six, and Ezekiel is the twenty-sixth book of the Bible. They are connected.