So my overall feel about this book is that (1) God is royally pissed, (2) the Israelites really don't get it and wouldn't know a warning if it hit 'em in the face, and (3) even in the midst of total destruction and utter chaos, God still provides hope for those who actually love and serve him.
I need someone to explain to me the whole 'Son of Man' thing. I can understand why God called Ezekiel this, being a son of a man and all; but why call him this over and over again, what's the significance? Then someone has to explain to me why this phrase was suddenly associated with the messiah and why Jesus used it on himself. After reading Ezekiel I saw some references to the Christ (such as 34:11-24), but none of these references were around the 'son of man' phrase. So I just don't understand the association or significance. Someone with more knowledge, please explain!
There a lot of verses and chapters in here that remind me a lot of the language used in Revelation, specifically in chapter 37:27, chapter 30-41, and chapter 47. It makes me wonder if when the Jews heard this language again when John wrote his revelation that their minds would automatically say: 'hmm, hey, I recognize this stuff.' In Ezekiel, the prophets were telling them how glorious life would be when they finally returned out of exile (that caused by sin and idolatry), that God would make his home with them (48:35 Yahweh Shammah). In Revelation, John is telling the persecuted Christians how glorious life would be when they finally enter their true exile (that caused by sin), and that God would truly and forever make their home among them (Rev 21:3).
The whole message to Tyre in Chapter 27 & 28 actually taught me a bit of history. I understood that Tyre was destroyed by Alexandre the Great, but I hadn't know that it was attacked by the Babylonians first (which apparently they did in 586). However, the way God talks about it, it makes it seem that Tyre will be completely destroyed by the first attack, which it wasn't. In fact, God says to the King of Babylon in chapter 29:11-21 that since he didn't really actually destroy the city, He'll give the King Egpyt instead. It's funny to me because it just seems that a lot of the justice you're seeing in this book is quick, swift and brutal; yet in Tyre's case, Nebuchadnezzar didn't succeed, so God's waiting till the Persians try it out, and then finally Alexandre, then justice is finally served. Delayed punishment. I wonder if Daniel had anything to say about this?
In chapter 28, verses 11-19, God talks about the King of Tyre in a very metaphorical and poetic way. I've heard these verses used to describe the fall of Lucifer and have nothing to do with the king. I can see how that argument can be made with language like 'you were in Eden, the garden of God', 'You were the perfection of wisdom and beautify', 'anointed you as a mighty angelic guardian', 'you had access to the mountain of God'. If this language is to be taken literally as the story of Satan, we can see in the later verses why Lucifer actually fell because of his pride, greed and violence. However, what if this language actually is literally about the King of Tyre instead, then why all this figurative language? Why say that this man was in Eden? It almost sets this man up as this wonderful creation when he's just a man, another fallen creature like the rest of us. It's hard for me to just let this be about the King, but that it might have a laced double meaning. What's your thoughts?
Finally, I can't leave Ezekiel without talking about chapter 37, the valley of dry bones. This is one of the only "childhood"-ish stories I've ever heard out of the major prophets (or at least this major prophet). The whole thing is God's poetry at His finest, and the more I read of the bible, the more I realize God is an artist and poet, but since the normal person doesn't really understand art and poetry, we kinda gloss over these aspects of God's personality. I understand the point of this vision is that God can make something out of nothing, that he can take the small remnant of Israel of make it into a great nation. And in our lives, He can take our own valley of dry bones, our sin our pain our selfishness our laziness our apathy, and he can make something beautiful out of it, something huge and great. John 14:12, 'I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.'
Now, what's next?
No comments:
Post a Comment