The book of Ezekiel is fascinating. There is content in Ezekiel that is unlike any other book of the Bible. Of particular interest is the first three chapters where we find the prophet’s inaugural vision where he sees heavenly beings and the presence of God moving to and fro on the face of the earth. The description of this scene is quite unusual and therefore very challenging to interpret. It’s so challenging, in fact, that in the Jewish tradition it is forbidden for laypeople to read the book without the supervision of a trained Rabbi!
While there are parts of the book of Ezekiel that we are just not about, there are other parts that are quite clear. One thing that is clear about the book of Ezekiel is its historical context. All throughout the book the reader encounters a number of dates. In fact, the very first verse of the book records a date thereby establishing the historical context for the prophet. We learn from this first verse that Ezekiel prophesied in a very challenging context. He was among the exilic community that was being driven from their homes to a land of slavery.
This was immensely shameful for the exiles. Being driven from their homes meant that God had abandoned them because of their repeated rebellion against him and his teaching. They rejected him. When they obeyed the stipulations of the covenant, God’s blessing, provision, and protection was with them. When they violated the covenant, however, they were vulnerable to attack and missed out on the pleasure and privilege it was to be in God’s very presence. So what’s the significance of this? Once again, this was a time of brokenness and public shame for the people of Israel.
Do you know what’s interesting right in the midst of these circumstances? The fact that Ezekiel was a priest. Do you know what this means? This means that even though God was punishing Israel for their disobedience, he hadn’t abandoned them! As a priest, Ezekiel himself represents access to God. It is not by chance that God sends a priest to prophecy in their presence when he could have sent a vocational prophet.
This fact tells us that that there is never a time in this life when we don’t have access to God. Even in this moment of public shame, disobedience and rebellion, God is there speaking to us. He speaks in the midst of our hurts and woundedness. Not only this, but even though we reject him, he offers himself back to us over and over again. It’s never too late.
One last thing about Ezekiel. In the inaugural vision that I mentioned before I noted that God’s presence is moving to and fro on the face of the earth. This image challenged Jewish theology of Ezekiel’s day. The Jews of that time believed that God’s presence was fixed in the Temple. If they wanted to find God, they had to go to the temple. Now that the temple was going to be destroyed by the Babylonians they thought that they could no longer access the presence of God. Ezekiel’s vision, however, says otherwise. In Ezekiel’s vision, God revealed that he is not fixed in one place. Rather, he moves where he wishes and can be accessed from anywhere.
For us today, this is as much good news as it was for the Jews during Ezekiel’s time. There’s nothing that we can do, nothing too shameful, that keeps God from offering himself to us. Not only this, there is no where we can go that God can’t meet us.
