Sean Goan sees the book of Ezekiel, characterised by prophecies based on four strange visions, as one of the most interesting and challenging in the Old Testament.
Ezekiel is the only prophet to have received his calling outside the land of Israel. The prophet was a priest in the Jerusalem temple at a time of considerable political and religious upheaval. The Babylonians were the dominant world power but the leaders in Judah were hoping, through alliances with Egypt, to escape their clutches. Jeremiah had warned them that this strategy would end in disaster but he was ignored. In 597, to show their power and dominance, the Babylonians took many of the citizens of Jerusalem into exile and replaced the king with one of their own choosing. Among those sent into exile in Babylon was Ezekiel whose calling to be a prophet is described in chs 1-3 of his book. He explains an experience he had as a “vision of the likeness of the glory of the Lord” (1 :4-28). God speaks to him calling him “son of man” and telling him to prophesy to “rebellious Israel” and with these phrases two of the characteristic features of the book are established. The Prophet is a mere mortal (the meaning of the term son of man) and the Israelites who have been called into covenant with God are only rebels who have not sought to do God’s will. His vocation as a prophet is then described using the symbolism of a scroll:
“It was then I saw a hand stretched out to me, in which was a written scroll which was unrolled before me. It was covered with writing front and back and on it was written: Lamentation wailing and woe! He said to me: Son of man, eat what is before you; eat this scroll then go, speak to the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth and he gave me the scroll to eat…and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. He said: Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak my words to them.” (2:9-3:4)
The paradox of Ezekiel’s mission is summed up in this imagery. The word of God he has to preach involves much lamentation and woe as he points out to rebellious Israel that it is their own sinfulness that has brought them to this crisis. However he will also preach a word of hope that looks forward to a new day when the faithful Israelites will return to a restored temple.
These two aspects of his preaching are reflected in the structure of the Book. Chapters 4-24 are made up of oracles up to the time of the final destruction of the temple by the Babylonians in 587. These are hard-hitting pronouncements of judgement on Israel for her unfaithfulness. The next part of the book (25-32) is made up of prophecies against the nations that played a part in Israel’s downfall or that were willing to take advantage of her weakened position. After that the message changes dramatically to one of hope and consolation as the prophet contemplates God’s plan for his people now that Jerusalem and its temple have been destroyed. Finally the last section of the book (40-48) is a vision of a new Israel worshipping at a new temple in Jerusalem.
The Four Visions
Ezekiel’s visions are found at important moments in the book and represent a new way of presenting the prophetic message. While beforehand the tendency was simply to begin a prophecy with: “Thus says the Lord”, in Ezekiel God’s pronouncements are preceded by dramatic visions that communicate the divine message in a new way. The visions happen because the “hand of the Lord” comes upon the prophet and in this state he is allowed to see the divine plan unfold in a symbolic representation. This way of revealing God’s intention will soon develop into a genre of its own known as “apocalyptic” i.e. the drawing aside of the veil. When the era of the prophets is over it is followed by the age of apocalyptic and the finest example of this writing in the OT is to be found in the book of Daniel.
The Vision of God (1: 1-3:15)
In this vision which marks the opening of his book, Ezekiel describes how he saw a storm coming from the north and in the midst of the storm he saw four living creatures with bizarre appearances each with four faces and four wings. Accompanying the creatures were gleaming wheels within wheels and above these was a throne on which was seated one who had the appearance of a man. All of this he describes as the likeness of the glory of the Lord and that is as near as we come in the OT to someone claiming to see God. The symbolism of the vision expresses a theme that is important throughout the book: the glory and transcendence of God which is, at one and the same time entirely beyond human knowledge and yet has been revealed to Israel. As part of the vision, Ezekiel is given the scroll to eat and feels that the spirit has seized him. The whole experience leaves him in a stupor for seven days.
The Vision of Jerusalem (8:1-10:23)
This vision is the description of a great turning point in the history of Israel. Since the time of Solomon some 400 years earlier the temple of Jerusalem has been thought of as the dwelling place of God on earth. Traditions had grown up which regarded it as God’s inviolable sanctuary that would endure forever. However, Jeremiah had warned against such presumption and now with this vision of Ezekiel it becomes clear why the Jerusalem temple cannot endure. The Spirit of God brings the prophet to the temple and shows him several ways in which it is being desecrated: idol worship by the elders, women participating in the rites of the Babylonians, sun worship by the priests. All of this means that the wrath of God will be unleashed against the city and its temple. However before this the glory of the Lord must depart and the prophet is allowed to witness this event. Once again the description is of bizarre creatures and gleaming wheels and a throne. It departs from the city and stands on the Mount of Olives to the east. The symbolism is designed to show that while the glory of the Lord did indeed rest on the house of God, this presence could no longer remain because of the sins of Israel. With his departure the way is cleared for the inevitable destruction of the sanctuary.
The Valley of the Bones (37:1-14)
Probably the best known of the visions in Ezekiel, this belongs to that part of the book that seeks to give hope to the exiles. After their darkest hour, a new day is dawning and this will be the work of the Lord who gives life to all living things. Once again Ezekiel is brought out “in the spirit of the Lord” and he sees an enormous collection of dry bones, the very epitome of lifelessness. The only way they can be brought to life is by the breath of God (in Hebrew the same word ruah is used for spirit and breath) and that is what happens. The valley of the dry bones becomes a place where a vast army stands upright. The vision is then explained as God raising his people out of their graves in order to bring them back home. Those who have been without hope now find themselves renewed by the spirit of God that has breathed life back into them.
The New Temple in Jerusalem (40-48)
In this the longest and most detailed of the visions the catastrophe of the destruction of the temple is finally undone. Ezekiel is brought to a high mountain from which he can see the new city and temple that the Lord is building. As he witnessed the glory of the Lord leaving the temple, so now he witnesses the return. The vision not only describes a new place of worship but also a renewed sense of the life-giving presence of the God who dwells there. The water that from flows from the temple has the power to transform even the Dead Sea. There is healing for the people in the leaves of the trees that grow along its bank and there is constant and abundant nourishment in their fruit. The vision shows how when God is truly at the centre of the lives of his people then they flourish and grow.
In his own time Ezekiel described the disastrous destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in terms of the glory of the Lord departing from the city (11 :22). Likewise in showing the faithfulness of God who will restore his people and bring them to life again he describes the glory of the Lord returning to the Temple (43:1-6). The suffering that the people endured with the Babylonian captivity was understood by Ezekiel as a punishment for sin; however if the people were to be obliterated altogether what would that say about their God? So the prophet argued that while each individual must accept responsibility for his or her sins, the God of Israel also had to act for the sake of his name. Thus God would act to save his people who were as good as dead, he would bring them to life through the Spirit which would be breathed into them.(Ezek 37, 39:27-29). From the restored temple where the glory of God abides would flow the waters of life bringing abundance of growth and healing (47:1-12). Though the destruction of Jerusalem was a catastrophic event the prophet saw in it a new stage in the development of the unique relationship between Israel and its God. In this way Ezekiel made a profound contribution to the theology and faith of Israel and his message inspires hope to this day.
This article first appeared in The Word (January 2004), a Divine Word Missionary Publication.
