Ezekiel--Son of Man

by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.

"And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee." (Ezekiel 2:1)

This is the first of more than 90 times in which the prophet Ezekiel is addressed by God as "Son of man." This seems quite remarkable, as this title also was Christ's favorite title (using it 80 times), always applying it to Himself.

In Christ's case, of course, it means "representative man," "perfect man," "heir of man, [and] all God's promises to man," "man as God intended man to be." As Son of man, Jesus as perfect man could take all the sins of sinful man upon Himself and redeem man.

David was the first to use the term when he asked: "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" (Psalm 8:4). That this was revealed to him in a Messianic sense becomes clear when it is quoted in the New Testament (Hebrews 2:6-9) and applied strictly to the Lord Jesus. The prophet Daniel also used the title in a Messianic sense when he saw "one like the Son of man," who came to "the Ancient of days" to receive "everlasting dominion" over all men (Daniel 7:13-14).

Evidently the title as given by God to Ezekiel must also have been intended somehow in a Messianic sense, so that Ezekiel is, in effect, a type of the coming Savior. Ezekiel was a godly priest and scribe, but the Lord Jesus Christ is our "great high priest, that is passed into the heavens"—in fact, He is our "high priest for ever" (Hebrews 4:14; 6:20) and is "the Word of God" to the world (John 1:1, 14; Revelation 19:13). It is significant that to Ezekiel was revealed more about the primeval fall of Satan (Ezekiel 28:11-19) and the glories of the coming kingdom (Ezekiel 40-48) than to any of the other Old Testament prophets. Truly, God "spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets," but now, He has "spoken unto us by his Son" (Hebrews 1:1-2). HMM

This article was originally published October, 2010. "Ezekiel--Son of Man", Institute for Creation Research, https://www.icr.org/article/5606/ (accessed December 18, 2024).