Ezekiel has often been called the father of Judaism. His influence on the future development of Israel's religion was, at least for several centuries, greater than that of any of the other prophets. His conception of holiness, which stands in sharp contrast to Isaiah's, became dominant in the period that followed his people's return from Babylonian exile. For Ezekiel, holiness was a quality present in both things and people. Holy objects would be profaned whenever anything common or unclean was brought into direct contact with them, a belief that led to a sharp distinction between the secular and the holy and gave new meanings to such items as the observance of dietary laws, payment of tithes, and observance of the Sabbath. Violation of any of these rules would constitute a profanation of that which was holy or sacred. This interpretation of rules and regulations pertaining only to the Israelite religion served to strengthen the spirit of nationalism and thus to increase the antagonism that already existed between Jews and non-Jews.
Ezekiel's conception of the final triumph of the Israelite people over all of their enemies and the complete destruction of foreign nations contributed much toward the development of the religious doctrines that played such prominent roles in the religion of post-exilic Judaism. The idea that the whole human race is divided into two classes, known as the righteous and the wicked, and that the righteous can be identified as the ones who live in strict conformity with all of Yahweh's laws, while the wicked are those who do not obey these laws, is derived from Ezekiel's teachings. Although this position was not accepted by all of the post-exilic Jews (some parts of the Old Testament were written for the specific purpose of refuting it), nevertheless this doctrine appealed to a large number of people and served to characterize in a general way the attitude of late Judaism.
