We are going to visit Temple B'nai Israel on Thursday next week, so we'll do *all* our Ezekiel material next time (Tuesday). For this class, please read my study questions on Ezekiel. Then read Chapters 1-12, 33, and 37 of Ezekiel itself.What do you find here that suggests that Ezekiel's message was a burden? Are there any passages that particularly well reflect hope, beauty, faith in the triumph of justice, or anything else that makes that burden worth bearing?
10 comments:
When looking at the Burdens that Ezekiel has to bear I see a similarity to Isaiah. In chapter 3 verse 7 Ezekiel is told that the people he is going to tell the message to are hard-hearted. The people will not listen to the message Ezekiel is going to tell them. This burden is similar to Isaiah’s and furthermore it would be depressing to know in advance that people will not listen to what you have to say. Ezekiel has to deal with many of the same burdens the other prophets do. For instance in Chapter 5 v 11 Ezekiel has to criticize the religious practices of the people, people are not ready to listen to someone criticize the way they worship. And creditors would also not like Ezekiel’s message more than once does he cite usury as a transgression. One aspect where Ezekiel’s message is a burden worth bearing comes in the way Ezekiel calls for the fair treatment of all people. His words are uplifting for oppressed people, in Chapter 18 v 30, it says how people will be judged according to his ways. People have a responsibility for their own actions and should not be judged for the actions of other family members.
- God basically comes out and tells Ezekiel that this is not going to be an easy job. (Chapter 2:6) “And thou, son of man, be no afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed by their looks, though they be a rebellious house.” The book continues to talk about punishment in the form of famine, pestilence, and by the sword in chapter 5. There are some really disturbing images when they discuss punishments. (Chapter 6:5) “And I will lay the dead carcasses of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars.” This kind of message and image has to be burdensome. It does not only talk about the desolation of humans, but of the land as well.
- It is a burden worth bearing because Ezekiel knows that God is behind him and sees Gods glory in chapter 3:23. He knows that if the people change they can be saved. (Chapter 11:20) “That they may walk in my statutes and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” In chapter 37, there is more good news. It talks about making one nation, cleansing sinners, and a new covenant. Happy Blogging!!!
I agree that Ezekiel 3:7 explains the burdens of Ezekiel's message well. I also agree that 3:23 shows why the message is worth bearing.
Some more burdens can be found in chapter 7, as Ezekiel tells the Israelites that "The end has come upon the four corners of Israel." This, along with the rest of the chapter, explain the tough message that Ezekiel must give to a people that really do not want to listen. Ezekiel's message here is very bleak, and one might not understand why Ezekiel would want to give this message.
Chapter 37 gives the best examples of why the burden is worth bearing, In verses 1-14, Ezekiel is told by the Lord that Israel and Judah will be restored, just as the dry bones were resurrected to life. In verses 15-22, the action of the two sticks joining together is representing the reunification of Judah and Israel under one king. I can't tell if this is a prophecy of the messiah or not, but I am leaning towards that it is.
There is a great burden placed on Ezekiel when God tells him that he is to be a watchman over his people and that he is to warn them of their impending doom. Chapter 33 verses 18-21 “If I say to the wicked man, You shall surely die; and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his wicked conduct so that he may live; that wicked man shall die for his sin, but I will hold you responsible for his death. If, on the other hand you have warned the wicked man, yet he has not turned away from his evil nor from his wicked conduct, then he shall die for his sin, but you shall save your life.” …
Having this kind of responsibility is a hard burden to bear. Ezekiel doesn’t just have to deliver a hard message, but God is holding him responsible for the deaths of those people whom he did not warn. This makes his job of telling people who will not listen to him even harder. Why would you want to try so hard when you get no response? God is saying in essence that it doesn’t matter how hard it is to give this message, you must do it.
This message is worth bearing because there is hope for these people. In Chapter 33 verse 11 God says, “I swear I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, but rather in the wicked man’s conversion, that he may live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! Why should you die, O house of Israel?”
Chapter 37 also tells of why Ezekiel’s burden is one worth bearing. Tim describes it well, so I won’t repeat what has already been said…but it definitely stuck out in my mind.
I think that chapter 7 is a great example of how Ezekiel’s message is a burden. It talks about disasters, the end of days, and what will happen. This would be very hard to tell people because it goes into such detail. Ezekiel has to tell people that they will have God’s anger upon them.
A message of hope is in 33.11. “Say to them: ‘As I live’, says the Lord, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?” I think this shows that God is passionate about his people. No he doesn’t want them doing bad things, but that doesn’t mean he likes to punish them for doing that. It is just like a parent spanking a child and saying that it hurts them more than the child. He wants his people to do well and turn away from the bad stuff because it is not worth it.
Ezekiel makes a series of denunciations against his fellow Judeans, warning them of the certain destruction of Jerusalem, in opposition to the words of the false prophets. Obviously this will be a burden to him, and this is a similar burden to the many prophets before him. This scenario seems to repeat itself quite often in the bible… especially with the prophets. So this raised a question with me. I know we talked about a certain part of the bible, in which the writer intentionally repeated certain themes so they could be internalized. My question is could this be happening in the books of the prophets?
Ezekiel first explains that the Israelite exile is a punishment for disobedience, and he then offers hope to the exiles, suggesting that the exile will be reversed once the Israelites return to God. There is a message of hope here. No matter what man does God will always be there for him with an unconditional love.
In our reading of Ezekiel, the burden he carried is the same as earlier prophets. He had to tell the people they were not following God's Laws. He endured physical trials that were extreme such as lying in one position for a year, eating bread, and shaving his head.
I think the idea of Ezekiel being transported in Rapture by God and shown how badly the people were acting and the idolatry was so bad.
This was very striking. Now that Ezekiel saw the doom of the people, he wrote it down and the people would listen, right?
There were a lot of good examples of burdens and things that made Ezekiel's burden worth bearing in the assigned reading. Many have already been discussed, but here's some that I found:
I thought that Chapter 33, verses 31-32 would have made Ezekiel's job a sad, burden-filled one. "My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they express devotion, but their herats are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing more than on who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice."
--This would have been tough for Ezekial, for even when it looked on the outside like people were listening to him and agreeing with what he had to say, Ezekial knew that inside their hearts were still hard and that nothing he would say would cause a turn-around in their lives. I think a lot of missionaries and evangelists feel this same frustration and sadness today--knowing that many people who can hear them and agree with them will never take their message fully to heart.
It seems that most of the verses that made Ezekiel's burden worth bearing have been mentioned, but my favorite instance was in Chapter 37, verses 22-27, right after the stick analogy. God said he would bring together the two tribes, or sticks, once again. They would be one nation under one king. This must have been great to hear--not only that God would once again be happy with his people but that the two long-split kingdoms would be one again, in peace, forever. Anyone see some foreshadowing? The time of the Messiah again mentioned in the books of the prophets?
Once again God sends out a prophet to people who seem not to want it. Ezekial is sent to the rebelious nation of Israel. In 2:5-6 he is told by the Lord that Ez. must give the message to the Israelites but not to fall into their rebelious ways, "you will live among scorpions". The Lord tells him not to be afraid. This had to be a great burden in itself, honestly I would be really scared.
Later Ez. has to take upon himself the sins of the Israelites. In 4:4 he has to lay on his side for the same number of days that the Israelites have been rebels, 390.
But again in all of this there is always hope. Because no matter how big the cross is to bear good always always comes out of it. Towards the end of Ch 12 we see that the Lord has sent Ez. into exile. The people didn't respond but thought that Ez. words were to be fulfilled years in the future. It must of been a great relief that his prophecies were sent out to be true right away. This proves to many that he was right and thought maybe we should start changing there ways now and not to wait.
One of my favorite stories in Ezekial is the story of the dry bones. I feel that this surley shows the elements of a burden for Ezekial. The imagery of Isreal being like dry dones is very impressive. He breaths breath into the bones and flesh, but yet there is no hope. Ezekial 37: 11 says " Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Isreal. They indeed say, Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!" This is very tragic and burdensome for Ezekial. The people of Isreal just don't seem to get it.
I also think this verse is very beautiful becasue it is hopeful much like alot of the prophets writtings. The chapter goes on to say that God will raise people from their graves and breath spirit into them. They will live again and be full of the Lord.
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