Old Testament prophetic books often begin with a “call narrative.” A call narrative describes how God chose and sent a prophet to serve in this role (for example, Jeremiah 1:4–19).
This account showed that the prophet’s message was legitimate. It made clear that the prophet spoke as the Lord’s ambassador (a representative sent with authority). The call narrative also introduced important themes that the book would explain more fully later.
In Ezekiel, the call narrative focuses on the Lord’s coming judgment on his people.