Week 4: Prophet Ezekiel

The Babylonians seized the city of Jerusalem.

With the Prophet Elisha, the people had to choose God. With Isaiah, God warned the people that danger was on the horizon and they had to turn away from wrongdoing. With Jeremiah, the Lord heavily critiqued the people’s disobedience. God was warning them about what was outside waiting on the doorstep. 2 Kings 17:7-20 lists the grievous nature of Israel at the time Babylon came. Verse 15 says, “…they followed worthless idols, and themselves became worthless….” What you worship informs your self-worth. They always had worth to God as his children, but they couldn’t see that because they were worshipping idols instead. 
Babylon seized the city of Jerusalem. You can read all about it in 2 Kings 24:10-17. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took all the high-ranking officials, military officers, soldiers, and royalty into exile. He left all the poorest people in a vacant city of ash. Among these exiles was a 25-year-old Ezekiel, who was training to be a Priest in the Temple. The Book of Ezekiel takes place five years after this event when Ezekiel was supposed to step into his priestly role.

Calling of Ezekiel:

Right God ,Wrong Place

Today’s Readings:

Ezekiel 1

Ezekiel 2:1-15

Ezekiel stands by the Kebar River in Babylon. The Kebar River is where the Hebrew refugee camp was. This is a disappointing day for him. Of course, being an exile doesn’t help, but more so, he is supposed to be starting his priestly duties in the Temple around this time. His whole life had been oriented towards this, but now he is 550 miles from a stripped Temple and captured. Suddenly, Ezekiel looks up and sees a fantastic vision of the Glory of God! 

Have you experienced this before? Do you feel that you should be farther along than you are or be in a completely different place? The feeling of being misplaced can be very jarring. But the comforting thing about this passage is that God shows up in the midst of Ezekiel feeling this way. And God doesn’t just show up, he SHOWS UP! All of Ezekiel 1 is just an attempt at a description of God. Surrounded by fantastical creatures, cosmic wheels, and bright lights, Ezekiel can barely see the one seated on the throne! 

Let’s pause for a second. Let’s acknowledge a few things. 

One. It can sound like a cliche to say: “When you feel down, God shows up.” A lot of times, it might not feel like that. Certainly, for the Hebrews, it didn’t feel like that in exile. Yes, they massively screwed up and allowed this to happen, but it’s doubtful that they felt the weight of God in the chains that carried them away to another land. Just because we are feeling down doesn’t mean God will appear to us in a fantastical vision. God isn’t a cheerleader for our emotions. 

Two. Much of the Book of Ezekiel’s first section asks, “Why is God’s glory in Babylon?” This is a great question to ask yourself in a challenging situation. Training your eyes to see God in “Babylon” is essential to keeping your faith. This passage describes the Glory of God as moving on wheels. (Wheels with eyes, but still wheels nonetheless.) So, where was God coming from? The ancient Hebrew expectation would be that God dwelled in the Temple above the Ark of the Covenant. Later in Ezekiel 8-11, God shows Ezekiel a vision of those who were left in Jerusalem worshiping huge idols in God’s Temple. Because of this, God is driven out of his Temple and heads towards Babylon. (The fate of Jerusalem has been sealed in that the second wave of exile will happen.) So, Ezekiel’s first vision of God comes from God leaving the Temple in Jerusalem. For Ezekiel, the priest, this would have been a tragedy.

Three. Let’s use some sacred imagination. There were other priests ahead of Ezekiel. Many of those other priests were taken in the first wave of exile by Nebuchadnezzar. Remember, he took all the ruling class and people with influence. That included the Levites, the priestly tribe. In other words, God had options of who to appear to, all of whom would have understood what they were seeing. 

But God saw Ezekiel, sad and lonely by a river. 
But God saw Ezekiel, learning from his Father, the priest. 
But God saw Ezekiel in his mother’s womb.
But God saw Ezekiel before time began and called him to be a prophet for the environment and time he would find himself in. This means that while Ezekiel thought he was being trained as a priest, he was really being trained as a prophet. He was always supposed to handle Holiness and display divinity. It just wasn’t the way he thought it would happen. 

Ezekiel was disappointed, but he didn’t discount God.

Not like the people had. God is also working on us and calling us forward. The venue doesn’t matter. 
Even though Ezekiel found himself in a foreign land, he witnessed how God was still on the throne. Even though God had left the Temple, he had left it to be with his people in their most challenging moments, even though they rejected him. 

The radiance of God doesn’t hinder him from drawing near to you in your time of need. More importantly, it shouldn’t hinder you from drawing closer to him. He is still drawing close to you even if your decisions caused your position. 

Ezekiel was the first “performance artist”. He was sent to the people and told to act in unconventional ways. God told him to act strange because strange had become the new normal. But Ezekiel had been trained for this as a priest. He had been trained to be “set apart.” God knew exactly who he was showing up to. 

Mackie, Tim, and Jon Collins. “Ezekiel Part 1.” BibleProject.Com, https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/ezekiel-1-33/. Accessed 9 March. 2024.

Padgett, A. G. (2023, September 3). Background of Ezekiel. Enter the Bible. https://enterthebible.org/courses/ezekiel/lessons/background-of-ezekiel