OLD TESTAMENT

A narrative on Ezekiel 2,3 –

FROM John Wayne to other characters like James Bond, the tough guy who wins through is a familiar figure of fiction. We need heroes like that, even if they are make-believe. We all face challenges, and we need the inspiration to overcome them.

Ezekiel is among the Old Testament prophets and belongs in the Babylonian exile. It is known that Jeremiah worked in Jerusalem at the same time (between 597 and 573 BC) and his message is similar to that of Ezekiel’s in places.

Ezekiel is the biblical tough guy more than the strong man Samson (Judges 13-16). Ezekiel is the dogged, never-say-die guardian of truth who sticks to his spiritual guns. Samson was like a grunting Sumai wrestler performing tricks, but whose personal and spiritual life was a mess.

It seems from this passage that Ezekiel was temperamentally independent, not easily swayed by others. But he still needed to be prepared for his assignment. He is warned that it will be hard, that he will face opposition, and that he will be ostracised (2:4-6; 3:4-9). Ezekiel must count the cost.

And so do we. We will know of many people offering themselves for neither a sinecure nor an ego trip. That is often rewarding, but it will also be tough. People called to witness in the secular world through ordinary jobs, for instance, find it no less demanding. Ethical issues can be fudged easily when we do not wish to rock the boat. We should count the cost from the beginning.

Ezekiel is given God’s word to sustain him in a vision and finds it “sweet”. (So did John, but it turned his stomach because God’s word is hard as well as nourishing; Revelation 10:9,10). Tough guys need the correct diet. We will not survive the battle without God’s sustenance; giving time to his word can be as enjoyable and is certainly as essential as a good meal.

(Podcast ends)

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MODEL SHEPHERD

Later, in Ezekiel (34:11-31), we come across what can only be paraphrased as the Model Shepherd. This is the Old Testament root of the familiar teaching of Jesus in John 10: “I am the good shepherd”. It tells us both about God and life.

In biblical times, sheep grazed on open hillsides and wandered over large distances. Flocks could get split up, and mixed with others. Rounding them up was not easy. Judah has been scattered, so God promises to “round them up” and bring them home to Jerusalem from Babylon.

This is a promise for people who belong to God in any age but who drift from him. He organises a rescue mission to bring us back to himself. He may use our conscience, other people or circumstances. Thank him for his love and patience; but mourn that it is ever necessary.

Notice, too, that punishment is reserved for those who led the sheep astray (v 16). Jesus also warned us of the peril of being the cause of other people’s spiritual divergences, whether by word or by example (Luke 17:1,2).

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.