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In the account from Ezekiel, we see both being used to describe the image of God. Now in today’s context, the rainbow doesn’t necessarily evoke the same emotions as it would in Ezekiel’s time. As you will recall the rainbow has a very powerful history. Unlike today where it brings to mind 6 year old girls and My Little Pony the rainbow was initially a reminder of God’s love and mercy. It was (and still is) a reminder of the covenant that God made with His people that no matter
how angry he was at their actions, no matter what terrible acts they did, He would not destroy them as he had during the great flood.
This is where the account of Ezekiel’s call begins. The Israelite people, to whom Ezekiel belongs, feel as though they have been betrayed by God. They are now in exile, they have been taken away from the land that they had been promised and they are pretty dang ticked with God. These are the people to whom Ezekiel is called to minister.
One of the big differences that we see here with Ezekiel is that he is called to be a prophet to his own people. It’s not like Jonah who is carried away to
Whether or not the Israelite people want to hear this message, God is ensuring that they are made aware of the fact that he cares for them and is looking out for them. He sends Ezekiel to preach a difficult message; a message that the Israelite people don’t want to hear. We know that God isn’t a bearer of light, fluffy messages. He doesn’t offer platitudes and consolation. He speaks the truth and through his prophets he provides a message that is, more often than not, quite difficult to hear. The thing is, though, that he does it because of love. The appearance of the rainbow in the beginning of this account is not just a coincidence. It’s a reminder to Ezekiel, to the Israelite people, and heck, to us too, that He is a God of love. He is capable of doing great damage, He can destroy the whole world with the snap of his fingers, but that’s not what he wants to do, He wants to save us.
Now let’s look at what God has to say about the House of Israel, because believe you me, it is nothing good. He calls them stubborn, rebellious and impudent. Now, you will remember that Ezekiel is a part of this group, right? It’s the same as if someone where to come up to you (or me) and say “Canadians are all a bunch of lazy bums. They don’t ever listen to what is told to them. They are completely ridiculous.” My first reaction is to rise up and defend my people, whether the allegations are true or not, but Ezekiel doesn’t really even get the chance to do that. God is straight up revealing fact. Not only that, but he is admonishing Ezekiel to not follow in that same path. Ezekiel is given the choice: will you choose to follow your people, or will you choose to follow me?
This is a message that I would imagine you can relate to quite well, I say this because this is a message that I relate to. In my heart of hearts I know what the bible says. I know the message that God is asking me to carry forth…even when I pretend that I don’t. I also know what everyone else is saying, and more often than not the two messages run completely parallel to each other. Ne’er the two shall meet. As we hear in this account, and from the words of Jesus himself; sharing the word of God with your own people is nearly impossible. One of our desires as humans is for acceptance from our peers. We’ve all done our share of stupid things in order to be accepted by people we wanted to be our friends. What we rarely do is to speak up against what is being done, even if we know that it’s wrong. We are afraid of what people will think of us, but there is also the very real possibility that no one will listen to us anyways. What makes us any better than everyone else? When the whole rest of society is saying one thing, and we’re saying the exact opposite, what could possibly make one person’s way of thinking better, or more correct, than what the majority of people would have you believe?
Obviously, as you could guess, Ezekiel does as God commands him. He believes in God rather than in the rebellious ways of his own people. He follows God’s command to preach a message filled with lament and mourning and woe, knowing that it will bring sweetness to his people.
It is ultimately the last part of this section that brings about the biggest sense of sympathy for Ezekiel. For his entire life he has belonged to the House of Israel. He has followed what they did and identified himself as belonging to them. Now, following a comparatively brief encounter with God his whole world is flipped, turned upside down and he is forced to reconsider everything that he has ever believed. And we see that he is angry and he is bitter. He is forced to return to his people, knowing that they have greatly displeased God, that they don’t want to listen to God, and more than likely that they won’t listen to him either. It’s a sucky position to be put in. But where I feel the most pain for him is in the very end of v. 15 where he just sits for 7 days, completely overwhelmed by what has just happened. He can’t talk to anyone about what has just happen because they won’t understand. Not only will they not understand, but they’re the very reason why he has been put in this position. I am a very interpersonal thinker. I process best when I am able to talk to someone and hear what I am thinking as someone else would. I like to hear other people’s opinions and process that in the context of my own life. To not be able to do that would leave me completely overwhelmed as well. To be stuck inside my own head for days on end without anyone to share my thoughts with would nearly ruin me, it’s a difficult time for Ezekiel as he struggles with his thoughts about his people and his God.
Ezekiel’s account reminds us more than anything of the difficulty that we will face as we live out our Christian lives in our current society. As you and I both know, it is increasingly difficult to be a Christian as is spelled out in the bible. It is awfully hard to love your neighbor as yourself when you are trying to gain as much money and stuff as possible in order to one up your neighbor. It is hard to serve your neighbor when you are trying to work your way up the company ladder and appear greater than those around you. We, like Ezekiel, are not given an easy choice. We can say we are Christians and rebel against his word, doing what we like and what is easier, similar to the House of Israel or we can follow the more difficult example of Ezekiel. With the knowledge that what we are doing is difficult, and is not something that our closest friends and family will ever be able to understand, we can proclaim God’s word, we can live our lives in a Christian manner, even though we know it will be difficult and overwhelming.
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