Shortly before Ezekiel appears on the scene, in the last quarter of the seventh century, the hitherto dominant Assyrian empire collapsed with astonishing speed, enabling small states in the Levant such as Judah to regain their freedom and rebuild. (The Levant is the land area bordering the eastern Mediterranean.) Under Assyrian rule, the Northern Kingdom of Israel had become an Assyrian province, and Judah, with territory reduced, was a vassal state. These were the times of the prophets Hosea, Micah, and Isaiah, who had the task of explaining to the people that what was happening, however horrific, was the work of the Lord, that the events did not necessarily mean the end of Israel, and that the divine work demanded a faithful response.
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