OLD TESTAMENT

Narrative – Ezekiel 1

THE number of closed-circuit TV cameras in public places has mushroomed. Used both for crime deterrence and detection they create the impression of Big Brother watching us. We are always in view.

And so we are to God. That is what Ezekiel perceives in this vision of the cherubim and their wheels. For the prophet and his contemporaries this was not frightening, it was encouraging.

The exiles were in Babylonia, far from Jerusalem. God, in their understanding, was in Jerusalem if he was anywhere, but how could he hear them, let alone help them, from 600 miles (900 km) away as the crow flies?

The vision in Ezekiel 1 shows how. God’s rapid response unit is not restricted by space or time. He does not have tunnel vision or short sight. He is everywhere at once, and nothing escapes his gaze. Omnipresent.

When you go into a strange, hostile place, God is just as much there, and just as powerful, as he was the evening before in the church prayer meeting. When you travel miles (literally or metaphorically) from a church, where Christians may be thin on the ground, God just blinks, shifts gear, and gets there ahead of you.

This vision also reminded the exiled Judeans of God’s holiness (the light and fire of vv 4,13, and of the sparkling gems of v 16), and of his strength and wisdom (the animal heads are of strong beasts and the human head speaks of understanding, v 10).

They would recall the cherubim from Isaiah’s vision 200 years earlier (Isaiah 6), as we should from John’s vision in Revelation 4:6-8. These angels, in their constant attendance on God, model for us the life of worship and service that we should always be living. God never changes; he is the same yesterday, today and for ever (Hebrews 13:8). We need that reminder as we move into new places, new phases, during our ‘exile’ in a God-ignoring world.

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AN OVERVIEW OF THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL

THE Book of Ezekiel is all part of God’s rich tapestry as he uses all means to drive his points home. Parts of Ezekiel will be shocking and puzzling, but one in which the prophet would be at home in the Tate Gallery. If you bear in mind the principles of art appreciation, readers of this Old Testament Book will get a lot out of it.

The Context is the decade between Nebuchadnezzar’s first major incursion into Judah and the destruction of Jerusalem, c. 597-587 BC. Ezekiel was one of the first exiles to be transported like slaves across the Near East. There, he is called to prophesy to his fellow prisoners, and tells them what’s happening back home.

A contemporary of Jeremiah (who stayed in Jerusalem), Ezekiel brings a similar message to explain why God has allowed the defeat, and a similar long-term hope that reconstruction will occur. Keep that as a theme for the exhibition, but take each canvas, story and performance on their own. They could enlarge your vision of God, and deepen your understanding of yourself.

Essentially, the Book of Ezekiel uses vivid symbolism to convey God’s teaching.