Ezekiel's First Temple Vision (Ezekiel 8-11)

Ezekiel's first temple vision is profound not only for the vision of God it proclaims, but also for its analysis of the human soul. How might this vision be relevant today?

1. Directed by God, his Spirit and the words of the prophet. True religion is demonstrated not only in ethical conduct but also in worship acceptable to God. Authentic worship lets God be God on his own terms, not our terms. Anything else places the worshiper above the deity, which is the essence of idolatry. This is also a delusion. The elders in the dark and the women appear to be sincere in their ritual expression. However they were sincerely misguided. Instead of gaining God's favor, they only provoked his wrath and closed his ears. True worship is driven by God's Spirit and focuses on the reality of his person.
2. False worship leads to false morality. When people presume to define the character of God they also tend to redefine their own ethical standards. Abominations in the temple were accompanied by social acts of violence (Eze 8:17). Worship not only offers an opportunity to express one's fundamental relationship with God; it also shapes one's character. Unless the encounter with God produces a firmer determination to doing the will of God, the worship has not been conducted in spirit and in truth.
3. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God. The image of judgment in Ezekiel 9 is offensive to the modern reader. How can God decree the elimination of an entire population, including the innocent? But the fury of divine wrath must be perceived against the backdrop of his grace. Instead of responding to their special status as a chosen people (Ex 19:5-6) with gratitude and humility, the Israelites became arrogant, presuming upon the goodwill of their covenant Lord. But God will not be mocked. If he demanded the elimination of the Canaanites because of their depravity, then when the Israelites behave like Canaanites, they can expect no other fate (Dt 8:19-20).
4. God is sovereign over his own destiny. When God leaves the temple, he does not depart as a captive of some foreign invader, while trying to prove that he is still God. God abandons the city by his own decision, for his own reasons, in his own time and by his own means. Only the eyes of faith will recognize that the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians was not a sign of God's weakness or demise. Only the eyes of faith recognize that by voluntarily abandoning his temple, he has delivered his people over to the enemy.
5. God is not tied to any one place or temple (or church or ministry or methodology). God had indeed chosen Mount Zion as the site for his name to dwell, and for his glory to reside there in the temple as a visible sign of his presence (Ps 132:14). But God will not be boxed in by a house built with human hands. God's true abode is in heaven (1 Ki 8:25, 30, 36, 39, 43, 45, 49). For humans to insist that he reside only in the temple in Zion is deluding. Human rebellion and idolatry may cause him to leave his earthly palace. But he remains enthroned in the heavens, from where he is able to respond to all who call on him.
6. When God abandons his people, they lose all right to his favor and his protection. The turning point in Israel's history came not with the accession of Zedekiah or even the Babylonian capture of Jerusalem, but the departure of the glory of the King of heaven from his temple. According to Ezekiel's vision, historical events are indeed reflections of realities determined in the heavenly plane. To this day nothing has changed. To Paul the primary battles are still spiritual, and they are waged in the heavenlies (Eph 6:10-20). Once God has decreed the fall of the city and has departed from his temple, neither human strength nor angelic force could defend the city against his agent, the invader.

I Am Against You (Ezekiel 5:8)

"--therefore, here is what the Lord Yahweh has declared: 'I am against you! I myself! And I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations" (Ezekiel 5:8). "My eye will not have pity, Nor will I spare. On the contrary, I will hold you accountable for your conduct, While your abominations persist within you. Then you will know that I am Yahweh who smites" (Ezekiel 7:9).

1. Calling (1-3): The Call of Ezekiel.
2. Judgment (4-32):
1. God's judgment on Judah and Jerusalem (4-24).
• Against Jerusalem (4-5).
• Against the mountains (6).
• Against the land (7).
2. God's judgment on the nations (25-32).
3. Salvation (33-48): God's restoration of Israel.

I. God's Judgment: Against Jerusalem (Ezekiel 4-5)

God's reaction to the rebellion of his city is cast in the form of a challenge to a duel.

1. The combatants are identified. God steps forward as the challenger. Jerusalem is identified as his opponent (Eze 5:5). The announcement opens with an emphatic declaration, confrontation and challenge: "I am against you! I myself!" ("Behold me, against you, even I"). It may be like one person challenging another in man-to-man combat. This sharply contrasts "I am with you" (Gen 28:15; 26:3; 31:3), an expression of presence and support. This signifies God's repudiation of his patronly obligations to his people. This affirms orally what Ezekiel's sign-actions have communicated non-verbally, especially the siege model and the iron griddle (Eze 4:1-3). God has assumed the posture of an enemy, intent on destroying his own people. "I myself" reflects the emotional intensity of the challenger and focuses the audience's attention on him. There can be nothing more frightening than this!
2. God announces his goal: to execute judgment (punishment) on Jerusalem.
3. The site of the bout is identified and emphasized: "in your midst," in the very midst of the city. The city will be transformed from a place of refuge to an arena of combat.
4. The spectators are introduced. The duel will happen "in the sight of the nations." Since God's relationship with his people had never been a secret or private affair, it is fitting that those whose conduct Jerusalem had emulated should be called on to witness God contend with his people.

What are the implications of the message communicated by Ezekiel's dramatic performances?

1. Privilege must be accompanied by responsibility (Lk 12:48). Jerusalem had been appointed to a unique role among the nations. Only the nation she represented was party to a covenant relationship with God. Only she had experienced the revelation of his will. Only in her was his sanctuary to be found. But God's treasured possession, his kingdom of priests, his holy nation, had wallowed in the mud of rebellion, desecrated the sanctuary, and defiled itself. Instead of serving as a model of purity, she had won the international contest in wickedness. Her example serves as a stern warning that anyone who claims to have the name of God's own chosen people may become worse than those who are not God's people. Are Christians worse than non-Christians today?
2. Those who presume upon the light of God's grace must reckon with the darkness of his fury. The danger of perceiving God from only one side is always present and can lead to a romantic view of one's relationship with God. But God will not and has never condoned infidelity, rebellion, wickedness, abominations. God watches over his covenant with passion. Those who claim to be his people may not exchange him for another god without cost to themselves. To do so is to transform "See, I am with you" to "See, I am against you."
3. The relationship between God and his people is open to public view. God placed Jerusalem at the center of the nations so that they might witness the joy of a covenant relationship with God. God staked his reputation on her. Since she failed publicly, she must also bear her humiliation before the eys of the world. Thus, the nations will learn who God is: he is not only gracious but also passionate, demanding absolute and exclusive allegiance. While Jerusalem bears the insults of mockers, the pain extends to the heart of God. He too will ultimately feel the sting of the cynics' slander (Eze 36:20).
4. God, not some other god or anyone else, is the master of life and death. God not only wields a deadly sword but also has at his disposal a series of agents through which his sentences against a wicked nation are executed.
5. The word of the Lord is sure; he does not speak in vain. From the time God entered into covenant with his people, he had warned them of the consequences of infidelity. These warnings are about to be fulfilled, precisely as uttered. In 593 B.C. Ezekiel pronounced this word of judgment; in 586 his prophetic status was confirmed.

II. God's Judgment: Against the Mountains (Ezekiel 6)

The bad news continues.

1. God is grieved, heartbroken (Eze 6:9). There is an impassioned side of God's character. He is grieved. He gets angry.
2. The people were sincerely in error...while being sincere in their religious commitment. The people's hearts were adulterous and idolatrous (Eze 6:9). Idolatry is more than spiritual adultery; it is devotion to futility.
3. God is faithful to his covenant, to the very letter! Far from responding to human rebellion impulsively or arbitrarily, he reacts predictably, in accordance with his righteous character, and in keeping with the terms of the covenant. This affirms his unchanging nature. He is the Lord. He has spoken. He acts accordingly.
4. God never cancels out his grace no matter how severe his judgment. God may sweep across the landscape with the sword and visit the earth with manifold judgments, but he has always preserved for himself a remnant of those who would serve him.
5. We should see ourselves as God sees us. Despite our elevated status within creation as images of God (Gen 1:26-31; Psalm 8), nothing within us warrants God's love. The focus on our own innate goodness and on the positive self-images is delusory. To be chosen as an object for divine grace does not reflect on the goodness of the individual but on the character of the living God. A true encounter with God will provide more realism to one's self-understanding than our own self-delusion regarding our own goodness. In the face of God's unblemished purity, holiness and goodness, his unswerving faithfulness and his immeasurable grace, sinners begin to see sin for what it really is, an abominable evil that defiles our entire being. Apart from the recognition of our depravity, mercy has no room to work.

III. God's Judgment: Against the land of Israel (Ezekiel 7)

In addition to reinforcing many of the themes developed in the previous chapters, Ezekiel 7 adds several new dimensions to our understanding of the ways of God and the nature of humankind.

1. Cynicism and independence results from the loss of vision of God and of the sense of awe and wonder of his grace. In such a society without a real sense of God, revival must start with a renewed vision of and obeisance and submission to the living God, who will in any case have the last word on human history.
2. Those who sow the wind will reap the whirlwind (Hos 8:7). A society (or individual) may not violate the moral and spiritual will of God with impunity and expect to escape the consequences of their behavior. Those who practice evil bring ruin on themselves. If we pursue a course apart from God, we must know that God will ultimately call us to account and heap on us the due rewards of our deeds. God's punishment is neither arbitrary nor capricious. It is perfectly consistent with his declared standards of justice and in keeping with the offenses that we have committed.
3. Never be complacent or indifferent toward evil, even if God delays his visitation. Even as believers we are ever tempted to (a) assume that God overlooks sin and that he is obligated to visit us with his favor, and (b) relegate God's intervention in human affairs to a distant eschatological event (2 Pet 3:3-4). The distinction between the eschaton and the present is false. All who practice evil stand in danger of the judgment of God -- now. 
4. Depending on our false sense of security. God can undermine all the supports on which we may base our security. Under God's judgment the wealth of the rich turns to rubbish, the futility of idolatry is exposed, and the resources found in human institutions are annulled. God can turn their evil on the wicked in a moment, and when he does nothing will deliver them. Relief cannot be purchased. Deliverance cannot come from false gods. Those who seek shalom from people (their leaders) will be disappointed.
5. God can use for his own purposes--even those who do not acknowledge him. On the contrary, God exercises full authority over the most wicked of nations and uses them as instruments of wrath on his people. It is not that God delights in punishing his people, ungrateful through we may be. God treasures his covenant relationship with his people, and his harsh treatment is driven ultimately by a desire to draw them back to himself. But in the face of persistent rebellion by his own people, to their shame, violent and ungodly instruments may be called on to serve as agents of divine discipline (Habakuk 1-2).

References:

1. Block, Daniel I. The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, NICOT (New International Commentary on the Old Testament). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1997.
   
2. Wright, Christopher J.H. The Message of Ezekiel, BST (Bible Speaks Today). IVP, Downers Grove, IL, 2001.
   

Ezekiel's Response and God's Restrictive Instructions (Ezekiel 3b)

Eze 3:14-15 offers a window into Ezekiel's heart and mind.

1. He is bitter (Eze 3:14a). It expresses his mood and contrasts it with the sensation he had enjoyed after eating the scroll (Eze 3:3).
2. He is angry (deeply disturbed) (Eze 3:14b). Literally, he was "angry in his spirit." Apparently, Ezekiel is infuriated by the divine imposition on his life and the implications of God's commission for him. The prophet does share some of the hardened disposition of his compatriots.Rather than offering the prophet consolation, or promising his presence, God continued to pressure the prophet with his strong hand (Eze 3:14c).
3. He is deeply distressed (stunned) (Eze 3:15). The account ends with Ezekiel sitting for seven days in the midst of the exiles. The word means "to be desolate, appalled" with the range of nuances it conjures: silence, desolation, despair, distress, shock. What may have caused him to have such strongly negative emotions that left him in a wretched state -- socially ostracized, physically exhausted and emotionally disturbed?
1. The encounter with God.
2. The digestion of the scroll.
3. The charge to go and preach to an unresponsive audience.
4. The hardening of his forehead.
5. The sound of the throne-chariot,
6. The pressure of the hand of God upon him.

Thus he sat among his fellow exiles for an entire week, resisting the call of God, but feeling the relentless pressure of God's hand upon him. When called by God Jeremiah did not sit with others but sat alone (Jer 15:17). Ezekiel, however, does not sit alone, and this is his problem. To be used by God he must be weaned from his compatriots. But this separation, this distancing of the prophet from his people, does not come easily. For a week he struggles inwardly with God, with his calling, and with the message he is charged to proclaim. When he submits to God he is a man set apart, under orders from God. His calling (to prophetic ministry) was not only an invitation to be the spokesman for the glorious God; it also involved a sentence to a life of loneliness, alienation and desolation. Physically he lived among his own people, but spiritually he would operate in another realm, a zone governed by divine realities. In the end he emerges a conscript (compulsory service) for the kingdom of God, a man totally possessed of the Spirit of God.

In the 4 case scenarios (3:16-21), the following themes emerge:

1. Judgment. Those who reject God's word (covenant) fall under the judgment of God. Ezekiel's words emphasizes the accountability of the individual sinner (Eze 3:18-20). Thus, an individual cannot hold others responsible for his or her own guilt. Although Ezekiel's ministry will be concerned primarily with the nation's fate, Israel's salvation depends on the covenantal fidelity of individual citizens.
2. The wages of sin. The wages of sin is death. The wicked are by definition opposed to God and his word and to the covenant. Ezekiel's warning is to members of the authentic covenant community, those who have in the past trusted in God and submitted to his lordship. God's word through Ezekiel establishes the seriousness of perseverance in the faith. It is not how one begins the race that counts, but how one ends. 
3. The grace of God. The voice of the prophets symbolize the grace of God reaching out to those under the sentence of death. A backslider's righteousness will not be credited to him if he persists in sin, so the previous evil of the sinner will not be held against him if he repents of the error of his way. God is on the side of life, even for the wicked, rather than intent on death.
4. Responsibility. With the privilege of being a prophet comes an awesome responsibility for the people under their stewardship. To be negligent in the fulfillment of one's calling and duty is a capital crime. The prophet is to sound the horn not only when God sends the signal but as God dictates. The message of God is that sin and wickedness require a radical prescription: repentance and casting oneself totally on the mercy of God.
5. Faithfulness, not success. The messenger of God is called not to success but to faithfulness. God's calling is not "to save souls" (which is God's affair), but to proclaim the message he receives from the word of God. Faithfulness in service is measured not by effectiveness but by fidelity to the divine charge.

God's instructions and requirements for Ezekiel's job--which are restrictive measures--are:

1. Go home and shut yourself up in your house (Eze 3:24).
2. Your fellow exiles will tie you up with ropes, preventing you from circulating among them (Eze 3:25).
3. God will cause his tongue to stick to the roof of his mouth, rendering him speechless (Eze 3:26). This may be a divinely imposed silence, or a call for voluntary self-imposed silence. Yet Ezekiel does address his audience orally, delivering messages he receives from God (Eze 3:27). This suggests that there are temporary suspensions of his malady of speechlessness, or they may represent voluntary utterances of God's word (oracles/prophecies), since one of Ezekiel's primary roles is to function as Israel's accuser. Thus, his speechlessness cannot represent a prohibition on rebuking or pronouncing guilt.

Ezekiel's dumbness and God's explicit denial of intercessory liberty may also represent one or more means of God dealing with his resistance to his calling. For seven days Ezekial sat among his fellow exiles, resisting the call to be God's mouthpiece. This became a seven-year speechlessness (Eze 24:27): one year of divinely imposed speechlessness for one day of self-determined resistance. This formula of one year for one day resurfaces in chapter 4, Ezekiel's first recorded sign-act (Eze 4:4-6). From now on Ezekiel must stifle any impulse to side with his people, or to mediate on their behalf. Through his calling, God had served notice that the fate of the nation was sealed. The sentences of lamentation, mourning and woe cannot be withdrawn (Eze 2:10). By imposing this dumbness God denies him the freedom to avert the fall of Jerusalem either by appealing for a reprieve or calling the people to repentance. Inwardly he may weep for his compatriots and long for their salvation, but personal sentiment may not interfere with his official duty as a watchman/sentry.

Ezekiel's calling and initiation into prophetic office reiterates and strengthens the following:

1. God is present with his messenger. The glory of God, the visible sign of his divine presence appears at three stages in Ezekiel's call. But the glory symbolizes more than mere presence. It reminds the one who is called of the supreme majesty and sovereignty of the one who has called him, and by association the privilege of the vocation. In spite of the turmoil outside, God's servants may be secure in the knowledge that all is well for them in the hands of the ever-present Lord.
2. God's ways are often strange and inscrutable. The drama enacted in Ezekiel's house portrays the complete mastery of God over his servant. God first calls him to preach. Then he closets him away in his own house and ties his tongue. The messenger's role is like that of a puppet on a string. He dare not challenge the ways of God, or even call for an explanation, any more than clay may question the work of the potter (Jer 18:1-6).
3. Your mouth should not be interfered by your emotions. The messenger's heart may not interfere with his mouth. His resolve must match the determination of the one whose message he is to announce. The message may not be pleasant or palatable, or even comprehensible. But as God issues the orders, one must respond. At times, a spokesman for God must stifle his or her emotions and the inclinations of his or her heart, not letting personal preference interfere with divine obligation.
4. Bear the signs of your calling. The prophet bears in his own body the signs of his calling. Ezekiel is infused with the spirit of him whom he represents and is dedicated to the proclamation of his message.

Ezekiel's Commission (Ezekiel 2-3a)

In seeing visions of God (Eze 1:1) Ezekiel's encounter with God suggests important lessons about God. Similarly the commission narrative offers vital information on the relationship between God and those whom he calls into his service. Whoever would serve as a messenger of God must know or have a sense of the following:

1. The calling comes from God alone.The God who appoints his servants also i) defines the task, ii) chooses the field of service, iii) provides the message and iv) assumes responsibility for the outcome. The less evident the fruit of one's ministry, the more critical is a clear sense of calling.
2. A clear vision of the one who sends him or her. Unless the servant of God enters divine service with a sense of awe at the privilege of representing the glorious King of heaven and earth, and unless one is convinced of God's sovereignty over all the earth and over all of human history, the ministry will be burdensome, result in burn out and in one's undoing--especially when the opposition is strong and fruit is absent.
3. Empowered by the Spirit of God. Ezekiel was the prophet of the Spirit. Animated and energized by the infusion of God's Holy Spirit, he serves as a model to all who would stand in the Lord's presence and all who would enter his service.
4. Inspired by the message of God. The personalities of God's agents color the manner in which the calling is fulfilled, as it certainly was with Ezekiel. But the prophet is primarily accountable to God and the divine word. Merely hearing the message is obviously not enough, It must be digested, internalized, incorporated, embodied and lived. The medium becomes the message. The message derives not from private reasoning or logic, or from mystical reflection, but from revelation. Even so, prophetic "inspiration" does not cancel out or overwhelm natural abilities and qualities -- it uplifts and quickens them.
5. Divine equipping commensurate with the calling. God is aware of the challenges his servants face. When he assigns a task, he assumes responsibility for preparing them for that work. God's call to service is not made on the basis of gifts but vice versa; gifts are given on the basis of the assignment.
6. The calling is not to success but to faithfulness. Every aspect of vocational service remains under the sovereign control of God, especially the results. Apparent effectiveness is no proof of calling, nor even a sure criterion by which to measure faithfulness. The servant messenger embarks on his or her mission as an emissary of the divine King. That privilege alone should provide sufficient motivation for unconditional service.