My next entry in this whole Ezekiel series will be cover the first chapter of the book. But before we get there, I wanted to note a few things about Ezekiel’s ministry, particularly the climate he was called to minister in and the roles God called him to take on as a prophet.
The Climate of His Ministry
I’ve already covered some of this a couple entries back, but it’s worth revisiting. Ezekiel had been carried off to Babylon in 597 BC as part of the first deportation (second if you count the smaller deportation in 605 which included the prophet Daniel). There was another deportation in 587 when Babylon finally crushed the southern kingdom of Judah and destroyed the temple of the Lord. The first part of Ezekiel’s ministry was from about 593-587 and was directed to the exiles who had been taken in 597. These people had naturally suffered much trauma. They had been relocated far away from their homes and from loved ones who had been left behind. Yet amidst such harsh realities, there was still a glimmer of hope in some. No matter how bad things were for them, Jerusalem could never fully be destroyed. Or so they thought. When the city was destroyed with many more exiles to show for it, that glimmer of hope was shattered.
The fall of Jerusalem resulted in spiritual and psychological trauma for the exiles. They simply couldn’t believe it. The temple and city of their God had been destroyed. Were the Babylonian gods more powerful than the God of Israel? Had he been shamed as they had by a superior force? Was there any future left for them as a people? Where was God? Does he even have the ability to rescue them from the apparently superior Babylonian deities? How should they make sense of this catastrophe? ”Ezekiel, then, was called to serve God in the midst of a shattered and shell-shocked people, a context not far removed from many contexts of mission today.” (Christopher Wright) Psalm 137 remembers Jewish life in exile:
By the water of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.
On the willows there we hung up our lyres.
For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill!
Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!
Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!”
O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us!
Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!
Ezekiel’s call was to preach to people who felt abandoned by their God.
The Roles of His Ministry
Ezekiel was called to be a pastor to his people. The trauma of exile and of Jerusalem’s fall took many forms for the displaced people of God. Some rejected their faith outright. Others maintained baseless optimism. There were those who protested that God’s judgment was unfair. And some sank into despair. As pastor, Ezekiel labored to bring his people to a right understanding of their situation. They needed to understand that they were going to be in exile for a while, that their judgment was just, yet also that God’s judgment would one day end. A restoration would come. ”The emphasis on newness is overwhelming: a new shepherd, new hearts, a new spirit, new breath, new unity. Ultimately only the language of resurrection (37:1-14) can really do justice to the river of hope being poured out over the languishing dead bones of the exiles.” (Christopher Wright)
Ezekiel was also called to be an evangelist. As a watchmen meant to warn the people, his warnings were to prompt them into repentant action. Aspects of this included:
-Conviction of sin. Ezekiel was ministering a very entitled people who felt proud of their heritage and who felt that they had “an absolute and eternal right to the privileges of land, city and temple.” (Wright) Some of the people adamantly refused to acknowledge that they were sinners and thus had brought judgment upon themselves. Because of this, Ezekiel gives perhaps the most graphic depictions of sin found in Scripture (chapters 16, 20, 23) in order to shock them out of their false innocence.
-Apologetics. Particularly, Ezekiel engaged in what’s called theodicy, or the field of apologetics that addresses the seemingly unjust actions of God. (A classic example of theodicy is answering why a good God would allow evil in the world.) Many of the exiles were grumbling and complaining that God was not fair to inflict such judgment upon them. Ezekiel needed to correct these false assumptions.
-Divine Grace. Ezekiel complements his horrific depictions of sin with some absolutely beautiful depictions of grace. Israel had continually sought to be like the nations around them (20:32), but God would have none of it. Through his judgment, he would redeem them. For his own sake he be merciful to his people. Christopher Wright beautifully sums this up: “Yahweh will gather and cleanse his people, do some radical heart surgery, and grant his own Spirit to enable full obedience. The great gospel language of the New Testament is hardly more inspiring, and indeed owes some of its most precious imagery to Ezekiel’s eloquence.”
-Appeal for Repentance. When conviction of sin has settled in the heart, the next step is to repent. Ezekiel reminds the exiles that repentance will result in salvation. (18:21-23) Confessed sins are sins that will not be remembered.
-Assurance of Life. God’s grace is freely and abundantly offered for all who turn to him and repent. For those who did, God promised to bring them back to life. (37:12-14)
The darkness was great for the exiles, but the God who spoke brought light into the darkness at creation wouldn’t let the story end there for the people he loved. This kind of darkness needs a greater light than stars can give, and he was prepared to give it. When God speaks, darkness scatters. That brings us to the first chapter of Ezekiel’s prophecy.
