Ezekiel's First Vision

 This week in Come Follow Me we are reading a few chapters in the book of Ezekiel.  Most of the podcasters I listened to kind of skimmed over Ezekiel's first vision in Chapters 1-2.  I did get helpful tidbits from different podcasts, the most helpful being Come Follow Me Insights with guest Gaye Strathearn. Here is what I gathered that was interesting to me.

The Main Message

Ezekiel's first vision is very bizarre.  He sees four mythical beasts carrying the thrown of God.  One key point that is easy to miss, is that the vision takes place in Babylon, where Ezekiel has been in captivity for 4 years already.  About the time of the vision, Ezekiel learns that the Jerusalem temple has fallen.  Ezekiel was a priest, so the fall of the Temple would have filled him with despair; after all, how can a Jew worship God without the temple?  The reader also has to remember that the people of this period, including the Jews, believed that Gods had set territories.  The Lord was, in their minds, the God of Israel the "place" as much as Israel the "people."  That is why, in Exodus,  the obvious presence of the Lord followed them in their wanderings in the wilderness, to signify that their God was leaving Egypt and claiming a new physical location. The vision of the four mythical beasts represents a empowered version of the ark of the covenant, i.e. the thrown of God.  The vision signified that the God of Israel was following his people from Jerusalem and would continue to watch over them in Babylon.

What about the 4 Beasts?

The beasts represented the power of God.  Each had 4 different heads: a human head, an eagle, a bull, and a lion. Ms Strathearn suggested these represent the different ways that people can have power.  

The human head represents intelligence since humans are the most intelligent of creatures.  

An Eagle represents the power to move, not only side to side, but up and down, and dominance over both land and water. 

The bull was the most powerful of all domesticated animals so it was often used as a sign of physical power.(Deu 33:17; Ps 22:12)

The Lion was, and still is, a symbol of political dominance. It was also a symbol of the tribe of Judah, as the name Judah or "Yehuda" means Lion.

If you put all the symbols together you get the message, "Judah is powerful, no matter where they are, and has the right to rule. 

The Other Elements

Whole books have been written about the others symbols in the vision, but here are a few that stood out to me.

The whole vision appears in the middle of a whirlwind of fire: (1:4) Of course this reminds the reader of the pillar of fire that lead the Children of Israel out of Egypt, and later became a sign of God's presence in the tabernacle. (Exodus 13:21-22 & 33:9).  The "whirlwind" in English is a translation of the terms רוּח סערה or ruach sarah (not related to the name Sarah). Ruach is a word that means breath, spirit, or wind.  It is what God breathed into Adam to give him life but which is used elsewhere just to represent wind.  Sarah means a violent storm. So this suggests both a violent physical storm, or an intense manifestation of the spirit.  

The animal's feet were like calf's feet, suggesting that the animals were kosher, or clean, even though lions and eagles weren't normally considered clean animals. Their wings holding up the thrown of God suggest the wings of the cherubim that reach over the ark of the covenant. 

The wheels are interesting.  Each beast had a wheel associated that seemed to be connected to the action or movement of the beast.  In vs 18 when it talks about the "rings," the actual word in Hebrew means "back".  Think of a wagon wheel that has a metal ring going around the circumference of the wheel.   When the Israelites came to their new home they were at a disadvantage because they were still in the bronze age, but some of their neighbors had discovered iron.  The Philistines had chariots with iron rims around the wheels that made them much more durable in a battle.  The wheels in the vision, though, are not ringed in iron, but are spotted with eyes. One can only presume that represented the idea that God is all seeing, but still, it is a very odd image. 

What about the image of a man on the firmament  the beasts are holding?  The first time we see the word "firmament" is in Genesis 1.  In ancient cosmology there were the waters of the earth, e.g. the oceans, lakes, and rivers, and the waters of the sky i.e. the source of rain and clouds.  Between those two water sources was a solid barrier called the firmament. The firmament would periodically open and allow the waters above the earth to fall down to the earth. The "firmament" in the vision that is blue seems to represent the sky, and the man who has the appearance of fire represents God.  The fact that this man had a rainbow around him reminds the reader of God's covenant with Noah that he would not destroy the people with a flood, or presumably, at all. In other words, a covenant that they would survive captivity. 

This post has gotten long so I will stop there.  My main point is, although this vision is really out there and weird, it is full of images that would have had symbolic significance to the people of that culture and time period. 

Jeremiah 30-52: Jesus knew Jeremiah

 As I was reading Jeremiah over the last two weeks I was surprised how often passages from Jeremiah sounded like passages in the New Testament.  New Testament writers don't ever name Jeremiah by name, but they were clearly familiar with his writings as they composed the New Testament.  I found a website that lists Jeremiah references in the New Testament. Here are some of my favorites.

Jeremiah 7:11
...Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your sight
Matt 21:13
He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.

Jeremiah 31:15
 Thus says the Lord, “A voice is heard in Ramah, Lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; She refuses to be comforted for her children, Because they are no more.”
Matthew 2:18
A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more

Jeremiah 31: 31-33
“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. 33“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Hebrews 10:16-17
This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts,
and write them on their minds,”
17 then he adds,

“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.

There are other ways the Jeremiah is a type of Christ.  In both Jesus' time and Jeremiah's time, the Jews were living under a vassal state. The temple was the center of worship, but was soon to be destroyed. Jeremiah, like Christ, was largely ignored by the Jewish community. Jeremiah, like Jesus, was captured, imprisoned, beaten and eventually died for speaking what he believed. 

Jeremiah 1-29: Marriage as a symbol

This week in Come Follow Me we covered Jeremiah 1-29. What impressed me about Jeremiah this week?  It seems to me that Jeremiah's dominant image is marital infidelity. Repeatedly Jeremiah states that Israel has gone chasing after harlots. Some of his images are way past PG rating.  He compares Israel to a "fed horse in the morning, everyone neighing after his neighbor's wife." (5:8) Elsewhere he says that "she has gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot." (3:6)  It is no wonder Jesus said, "a wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign" (Matt 16:4).  I don't think he was talking about personal adultery, but the kind of national adultery through idolatry described in Jeremiah.

I asked myself this week why the marriage relationship is used over and over to describe the relationship between God and his people. Often in this imagery God is the groom and Israel is the bride, but in Jeremiah, Israel is portrayed as the husband in some places, and the wife in others.  What was a marriage contract like in ancient Israel and how is that like the covenant relationship between the Lord and his people?   

As in most ancient cultures, men held the dominate place of power in a marriage. Men could be married to more than one wife, but women could only be married to one man. Men could have a wife killed for adultery but not visa-versa. It seems a bit lopsided, but there were benefits for the woman. A husband was responsible to care and provide for all his wives and children. Both husbands and wives had essential roles in the maintenance of the household and the ideal marriage was full of love and, if Song of Solomon is to be considered, passion. Marriage and family relationships were foundational to the whole culture. Family ties were stronger than any other kinds of social connections.

If we think symbolically and God is the husband, he is bound to take care of love his wife, Israel.  He is married to her for life as long as she is faithful to him and is obligated to take care of their children as well.  If God is the wife, she brings prosperity and increase to her husband, the House of Israel.  They serve and maintain her by performing temple worship and in return she makes their life pleasant and fruitful. 

It is interesting that the author of Jeremiah thinks of God as both the husband and the wife.  It shows a kind of respect for gender roles I wasn't really expecting to find in the Old Testament. 

ps

I try to read one chapter in Hebrew from the assigned Come Follow Me reading each week.  I must admit that I didn't make it to the end of my weekly chapter several times in the last five weeks while we were reading Isaiah.  This week, however, I decided to read Jeremiah 1, and was surprised when I zipped through the first 10 verses without having to look up definitions very often.  I guess, even in Hebrew, Isaiah is pretty hard going

Isaiah (5 of 5)

 Here we are finally on the last week of the study of Isaiah.  Today I want to focus on another passage that is often quoted by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

"Isaiah 58:6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that they break every yolk?
Is it not to deal thy bread to the poor that are cast out to they house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?" (Isaiah 58:6-7)

Members of the church love this passage because it coincides with their practice of fasting once a month and giving the money they would have spent on food to the poor.  The thing is, this is a very modern, very LDS interpretation of this passage.  What would a Jew in Isaiah's day think when they read this?

There is a fairly strong tradition of fasting in the Old Testament.  Moses fasted 40 days and 40 nights while talking with the Lord on Sinai (Exodus 34:28). Esther asked the Jews of Susa to fast before she went to talk to the king (Es 4:3). There were other accounts of people fasting when they were mourning or pleading for repentance. 

However, there was only one regular Jewish observance when the people in general were (and still are) required to fast, Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement.  I think that when the Lord says "Is not this the fast that I have chosen?" (58:6) he is referring to Yom Kippur. So what is Yom Kippur all about? Anciently the High Priest would make an offering for his own sins, and then two goats would be chosen. One goat would be sacrificed.  The Priest would confess the sins of the people on the head of of the other goat, and then it would be lead into the wilderness and set loose, symbolically taking the sins of the people with him.  (Lev 16).  During this process the House of Israel is supposed to "afflict your souls" which was interpreted as fasting. The ceremony was intended to make the people clean from the sins of the previous year so they could start a new year free from the burdens of sin.
(Lev 16:30).

It is interesting that Isaiah seems to be condemning the House of Israel for doing exactly what they were commanded to do, i.e. afflict their soul.  "Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul?" (Isaiah 58:5).  Isaiah is clearly using the same phrase here as in Leviticus to teach a point.  The ancient rituals were meaningless unless they were performed with faith and with intent to do good.  This passage teaches the Jews how to do this, and it seems that they listened.

In modern Judaism there are several holy days occurring in the fall that are called the High Holy Days.  They culminate in the week between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. At Rosh HaShanah each faithful member contemplates their sins of the last year and makes an effort to make amends and repent of anything they have done wrong. On the eve of Yom Kippur, they give charity to the poor and do other good works.  Then on Yom Kippur they refrain from eating, having sex, bathing or washing, wearing any kind of perfume, and wearing leather shoes. These things, though they seem a little random, represent all the things people started to do after the fall of Adam (the washing and wearing of perfume representing necessities arising from working by the "sweat of thy brow")  Some very devout groups wear special white robes on Yom Kippur, similar to ones worn by priest in the ancient temple that represent purity.  The holy day is a time to atone from all the sins of the past year and attempt to return to the state of purity that Adam and Even enjoyed in the Garden.  

The Law of Moses set up rituals that helped the people understand right and wrong, and that sins must be righted.  Many of these rituals were focused on making sacrifices at the temple. During the Babylonian captivity, the Jews had no access to the temple.  These passages about fasting show the expatriate Jews that, even though they could not perform the rituals that they were used to at the Temple, they could do the much harder and more important work of personal examination, repentence, and good works.  

Isaiah (4 of 5)

 I am continuing my plan to try to see the writings of Isaiah has contemporaries might have seen them.  This week we are looking at Chapters 50-57.  It is hard to eliminate preconceptions for these chapters, especially chapter 53, because it is so easy for a Christian to see it as a prophecy of Jesus' life and death. Some of the phrases are so familiar, "Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." (v. 3) and "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed" (v. 5).  If you are a Jewish person, and not thinking this is Jesus, than how do you see this?  I guess there isn't really a consensus, but here are some theories I heard this week.

1. It could be talking about Hezekiah.  I got this from a "Book of Mormon Central: Know Why" segment.  They drew attention to the fact that Hezekiah got gravely sick and was about to die, but asked for the Lord to extend his life. He then went on to be a righteous king who saved Israel from the attacks of Ephraim and Syria. That kind of works, but it seams like kind of a stretch to me.

2. It is talking about Jerusalem.  This, I believe, is a better match, especially since in the previous chapters it says, "Shake thyself from the dust; arise and sit down, O Jerusalem; loose thyself from the band of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion." (52: 2). Other clues in the text suggest that these chapters refer to the time when the Babylonian captivity has come to and end and Cyrus is letting the Jews return to Jerusalem.  In 52, the people seem to be rejoicing to be able to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple, but in 53 they realize the extent of the destruction of their beloved city and center of worship. Chapter 53 could be, then, an admission that it is the people's fault that the city was destroyed, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." (vs 6.) In other words, Jerusalem fell because of the wickedness of Judah, specifically their worship of other gods.

3. These chapters foretell a future Messiah. During Jesus' time, there was, clearly, and expectation that a Messiah would come and free Judah from captivity.  These chapters are, doubtless, part of the origin of that belief.  In Isaiah 54, there is a suggestion that eventually Israel will triumph and live in prosperity  "And I will make they windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all they borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children." (54:12-13).  These chapters, I think, were given to help those in Babylonian Captivity have hope that some day they would live in a land of peace where they could worship their god.  I think Jews believe, and rightly so, that this day of peace hasn't happened yet, but is still a hoped for ideal. 

The last take away from this week's reading is that I believe the writers of the New Testament included details specifically to show the fulfillment of prophecies, particularly Isaiah 53.  If you think about a real human life, and all the things that are done from sun up to sun down every day, there is no way for a writer to include every detail. It was 40 years after the death of Jesus before the first Gospel was written.  They had plenty of time to sift through all that happened in the three years of Jesus' ministry and pick out the details they thought were most important.  The Gospel writers were primarily writing to fellow Jews.  They wanted to convince them that Jesus was the promised Messiah.  What better way than to show the similarities between his life and the Suffering Servant from Isaiah 53?  They purposely put in the details from his life and death that matched the details in this passage.  That is why, when I read it, I can't help but see Jesus. This doesn't mean it wasn't a prophecy of Jesus, it just means we all got a little help from the Gospel writers to see that it was a prophecy of Jesus.