Chapter 24 is hard. Hard to swallow. Hard to understand. Not only did God take the life of Ezekiel's wife, He asked Ezekiel to withhold his tears. "No public mourning." (v. 16) No funeral, no graveside service, no flowers, no closure. Deny his sorrow, the natural reaction, and
the people took notice and they asked the same question we do: Why?
So I told them, 'God's Word came to me, saying, 'Tell the family of Israel, This is what God, the Master says: I will desecrate m Sanctuary, your proud impregnable fort, the delight of your life, your heart's desire. The children you left behind will be killed.
'Then you'll do exactly as I've done. You'll perform none of the usual funeral rituals. You'll get dressed as usual and go about your work. No tears. But your sins will eat away at you from within and you'll groan among yourselves. Ezekiel will be your example. The way he did it is the way you'll do it.
'When this happens you'll recognize that I am God, the Master.' (24:20-24)
Why? So that they would recognize God as Master. Ezekiel was the example and the one who bore the pain so that they might see the God who was calling out to them.
"....I took the life of the woman Ezekiel loved, his wife. And I instructed him not to cry. Through his strange behavior in the middle of grief, I was teaching My people that only in hopelessness will the mouths of the arrogant be closed. And only then will the glory, the sheer beauty, of My plan become visible.
"Seventy times in this letter I explain that I do all that I do for one purpose: that My people will know that I AM the Lord. To know Me in My holiness is to know yourself in your sinfulness. To know Me in My love is to experience life, to know that a party is coming. To know Me: that's My plan." (66LL)
If this was God's plan, how did it work out? Is this still His plan today or did He make a plan B because this was all just too hard? In the New Testament, we get a glimpse of how the plan unfolded and is unfolding still through the One who bore the pain so that we might take notice of God, the Master.
Another follower said, 'Master, excuse me for a couple of days, please. I have my father's funeral to take care of.'
Jesus refused. 'First things first. Your business is life, not death. Follow me. Pursue life.' (Matthew 8:21-22)
Through Ezekiel's pain, God called His people to know Him. Through Christ's pain, He calls us to know Him and to experience life.
2 comments:
Both of these chapters were hard. I'm still not used to all the whore language and visuals. It's hard to hear how God describes Judah's sin and the consequences that come from it.
I can understand why some people think the God of the Old Testament is mean and angry. If Ezekiel isn't read in the context of the preceding 25 books, it would be very confusing. Shoot, I'm having a hard time with it, and I understand the context.
I'll stand totally and relentlessly against you as they rip into you furiously. They'll mutilate you, cutting off your ears and nose, killing at random. They'll enslave your children - and anybody left over will be burned. (23:25-26)
A Message from God, the Master: I'm at the point of abandoning you to those you hate, to those by whom you're repulsed. They'll treat you hatefully, leave you publicly naked, your whore's body exposed in the cruel glare of the sun. (23:28-29)
...as you drink from the cup titanic with terror (23:33)
Not only is our God loving and merciful, He is holy, righteous, and just. I keep reminding myself that the Israelites were warned repeatedly. God's patience does run out at some point, and we are witnessing what that can look like. Frightening.
Definitely hard and weird to be reading all this. Never knew of all the details used for the sin us and this world falls into. Its sick. Makes me sick about my own sin. And then to think all sin are equal-one is not worse than another.
I have to keep reminding myself that this God is the same God as I know. The same God in the old and in the new testament. Then I ask how? But I can't just see the God as full of grace in the new but not in the old. I can't just see God full of anger and justice in the old and not the new. Everyday, trying to get to know the God I love and worship, more and more. It's definitely quite a journey this year!
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