Final answer:
Ezekiel was taken to Babylon in 597 BC as a result of Judah's resistance against the Neo-Babylonian Empire. This is understood within the biblical narrative as divine punishment for straying from the covenant with Yahweh.
Step-by-step explanation:
In 597 BC, Ezekiel was taken to Babylon. This deportation occurred as a punishment from the then powerful Neo-Babylonian Empire for resistance from Judah. The subsequent forced deportations, which included that of Ezekiel, were part of series of actions by the Babylonians due to rebellions, followed by the climactic destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 586 BCE.
The history of the Hebrews in this period is chronicled in the Hebrew Bible, which poses that the disasters befalling Israel and Judah were divine punishment for the abandonment of Yahweh. According to the biblical narrative, empires like Neo-Assyria and Neo-Babylonia were instruments used by Yahweh to discipline the Hebrews and lead them back to the covenantal path.