Thoughts on the Book of Ezekiel

It’s been five years. At the beginning of the book of Ezekiel, it has been five years since Judah had gone into exile. In 597 BC, the Babylonian army laid siege against the city of Jerusalem and taken many into captivity. Those taken captive had to walk through the battlefield filled with the dead bodies of the Israelite army and make the long walk to Babylon. The king, his nobles, and some of the elites were all marched out of the city five years ago. Among those exiles was a young priest named Ezekiel. 

On the first page of his book, we find Ezekiel sitting on the banks of the river Chebar alone on his 30th birthday. This was the day that he was supposed to start his job in the temple. This was the day that he was supposed to begin ministering to the people of Judah. This was supposed to be the day that he was in the glorious presence of the Lord, but instead, he is in Babylon. His dreams of this day died five years ago. 

This feels like the end of not only Israel's story but Ezekiel’s as well. As a nation, they have run after idols instead of following God, they have run so far that Babylon took them into exile. It would only be a matter of time before the temple and the city of Jerusalem would fall. Surely, Israel has run too far, truly they have sinned too much. 

But this wasn’t the end of the story. 

As Ezekiel looks up, he sees a vision from God. From the west, he saw God on his mobile throne coming towards Babylon. In an instant, the message is clear: God is not giving up on his people. In fact, God's presence is following them into Babylon. God is chasing them into their exile. He loves them too much to leave them. In this chapter, God says to Ezekiel, “I don't need a building to dwell with you Ezekiel, I am going to raise your dead bodies to life and give you a new hope”. 

This book gives hope that one day, God would perfectly dwell with his people through his Holy Spirit. The hope that we would not ever again be separated from his presence because of the sacrifice that Jesus would do on the cross, forever closing the gap between us and God. Ezekiel shows us that we have a God who chases after us. When we run away from him he is hot on our heels.

While I was preparing to teach Ezekiel and during my week of lectures I couldn't stop thinking about God’s irresistible love. When I have made mistakes, when I have sinned, when I have tried to run from God and pursue my own plan, God has always been close. In the moments of my life where I thought, “I hope God didn't see that” the truth is, he sees everything and wants to forgive me and restore me. Never once did the invitation for me to follow him ever go away. 

There are other books of the Bible that talk about God's unrelenting love. They tell us that God is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. Ezekiel shows it. 

God is closer to you and me than we care to realize. Because of his Holy Spirit, God is always with us. What does it look like in our own lives to be like Ezekiel and realize that God's presence is not based on territory boundaries? To know that I don't need to get back to a place to experience God, I just need to turn and see that he is still with me. God sees every part of me and still wants to have me as his own. 

(A big part of the book is the enacted symbols that God asked Ezekiel to preform for his original audience. Here you can see some of our students acting out those signs for the class. This exercise helps the students get into the shoes of the original readers.)