ABR#14 Ezekiel

In 2009 I began to read the Bible alphabetically (see here for my rationale), reading each book at least three times and trying to get into the mind of the original author and readers as well as listen to God’s message for today. Here’s what I’ve discovered from reading Ezekiel.

God is angry with Israel for not treating him with due respect, so he is going to kill them all.

That, at least, is my first impression. Yes, God also issues similar pronouncements of doom against the surrounding nations, especially Tyre and Egypt. And yes, there are some more positive prophecies about the restoration of the nation and about individual responsibility. And yes, there are some mysterious and profound descriptions of an awe-inspiring God. But the overwhelming emphasis is on God's disgust and anger and his intention to destroy. There is little in the way of advice or instruction. Most of the prophecies are God's declaration about what he will do so that people will know he is God.

So my first question is how I am supposed to approach the book of Ezekiel. Here are some options:

a) This is not the inspired word of God, but the misguided ranting of some self-styled prophet; God would disown this book and prefer us not to read it.

b) This is the inspired word of God, who it turns out is a much nastier and more vindictive God than we thought.

c) This is partially the inspired word of God; amongst the dross of human misconceptions about God's intentions there are some nuggets of gold which give real insights into God's nature and his love. God wants us to ignore the unpleasant parts and seek out the passages which can inspire and encourage us.

d) The book of Ezekiel says what God wants it to say; he intends it to be read and taken seriously. This is the option which makes most sense to me, though it still leaves me wondering what God is trying to tell us today through this book. Perhaps he wants to remind us that he is more than a soft-hearted easy-going father-figure who smiles down on us benignly whatever mischief we get up to. We need to know that he is an awesome, frightening God who is angry when his love is rejected. We need to know that he is a powerful, active God who rules the fates of nations. And of course we need to know that he is a forgiving and more than fair God who is ready to restore the fortunes of those who amend their ways.

The book is a collection of written prophecies from around the time of the exile in Babylon. It also contains descriptions of various enacted parables through which Ezekiel put across his message – laying siege to a brick; shaving his head; burying his underwear; digging a hole through the wall of his home; shedding no tears over the death of his wife. As we would expect, all these prophecies share some common themes, but over the years Ezekiel seems to shift his emphasis from divine retribution to divine restoration.

The book also records a number of visions. The opening chapters describe Ezekiel's first encounter with God, surrounded by a heavenly retinue so strange that some have suggested Ezekiel was visited by an alien UFO. In later visions Ezekiel seems insistent that the glory of God was manifested in the same way as in his initial vision. Perhaps his most famous vision is of the valley of dry bones which came to life as Ezekiel prophesied, and were given the breath of life by the Spirit of God. It's good to know that the piles of corpses which God vowed to reduce Israel to are not the end of the story. Even dead nations can be resurrected.

The longest vision comes at the end of the book and describes in great detail a new temple and the rituals which take place in it. The angel who accompanies Ezekiel in this vision measures out all the buildings precisely so that Ezekiel can record the figures. He also shows Ezekiel a river of life flowing out from the temple. So the book ends on a much more hopeful note than the majority of its content. God is respected and worshipped. The holy place is at the centre of a restored nation with each tribe given a strip of land reaching from the sea to the Jordan river.

The reasons for the destruction of Israel and other nations are not spelled out in nearly as much detail as the manner of destruction. In fact it was only on a second reading that I began to notice the reasons at all. Mostly Israel had done wrong by worshipping idols, profaning the sabbath, and oppressing the poor. Tyre was rich and self-satisfied, but would ultimately be pulled down – a warning not to place our trust in how safe and secure our riches make us. The main fault of Tyre and Egypt (and Assyria) was their pride, with rulers thinking of themselves as gods. Surprisingly this is still a fault of people today, seeing themselves as 'god' of their own lives. "I'm in charge. I rule supreme over my life. I'm a self-made man/woman." We still need to acknowledge that God, not us, is God.

One of the repeated phrases, "so that they will know that I am the Lord", doesn't make sense to the modern mind. When once-great nations fall our reaction is not to say "this proves that God exists". And especially we wouldn't want to say that "this proves God exists and is a vindictive God who brings destruction and punishment". Perhaps in Ezekiel's day what people needed was a demonstration that God was in charge over seemingly powerful nations. But what's the message for us today? That ultimately right will be rewarded and wrong punished? (A key theme in some parts of Ezekiel.) Is the collapse of a nation meant to shake us into a realisation that there is a God after all, busy ensuring that justice is done? The trouble is we are more often drawn to sympathise with the innocent who suffer.

I must admit I'm having difficulty with the relevance of this particular aspect of the book. God seems to be motivated much more by wanting people to know he is God than by any thought for their well-being and prosperity. The best message I can take from this is that real well-being relies not on material blessings but on an acknowledgement of God as our creator, our Father, and the holy one who is worthy of our worship. God knows this and will not be satisfied with anything less.

In chapter 3 Ezekiel is given a scroll to eat. The contents are harsh words against Israel, but it tasted as sweet as honey in his mouth. This is not a bad description of the whole book. It contains plenty of unpleasant prophecies, but if we work hard to digest it and take it to heart we can find enough in it to delight us.

ABR#13 Mark

In 2009 I began to read the Bible alphabetically (see here for my rationale), reading each book at least three times and trying to get into the mind of the original author and readers as well as listen to God’s message for today. By the time I reached Exodus I had slowed down to the extent where the following book (Mark) has taken over four years to reach 'blog' status. Astute readers will notice that I have broken the alphabetical order. From the beginning I intended to read Mark earlier in the alphabet and Matthew later. This is to avoid tackling the three synoptic gospels in quick succession. So here’s what I’ve discovered from reading Mark.

The book is a story about one key person – Jesus – whom Mark immediately identifies as both Christ (= Messiah) and Son of God. It is very difficult to read the story as if hearing it for the first time. Many of the episodes are already familiar and I already know much about Jesus from other sources (and from experience), but I did my best to approach Mark with fresh eyes.

Jesus, a man from Nazareth, suddenly arrives at the Jordan river and is baptised by John. Before long he is making a name for himself all over Galilee as an inspiring teacher, healer and miracle-worker. He recruits followers who benefit from private teaching sessions and who are expected to do the same kind of work he is doing – teaching, healing and driving out demons. A turning point in the story is when Simon (also known as Peter) recognises Jesus as the Messiah. From then onwards the emphasis is on teaching rather than miracles. Jesus still teaches about the kingdom of God, but he also talks about his own role and how his enemies will treat him. He expects to suffer at their hands and be put to death. Arriving in Jerusalem he clashes with the religious authorities in all kinds of ways and is indeed arrested and crucified as if he were a common criminal. Mark concludes his book with a short teaser into what comes next – women find the tomb of Jesus empty and are told that Jesus has risen from the dead.

Do I find this Jesus an attractive personality? Would I like to hang around with him? He is a very formidable character, at odds with the authorities from day one, very critical, even angry, when they oppose him (for example, by focusing on the Sabbath rules and not caring about a sick man’s need for healing.) It can’t have been fun to be on the end of one of his tongue-lashings. The disciples didn’t always fare much better – “Don’t you get it yet!” he says in frustration when, for example, he finds them worrying about lack of food despite having witnessed two miracles of huge numbers being fed. At times the disciples do well (in their mission they banish demons and heal the sick) and at times they don’t come up to scratch (they can’t cope with the demon-possessed boy whilst Jesus and his three favoured disciples are up the mountain). Jesus seems most sympathetic towards the needy (lepers, paralytics, women with bleeding, dead girls) to whom he shows genuine tender concern. He is also sympathetic to the genuine open-minded enquirers, such as those asking "What must I do to be saved?" or "What is the greatest commandment?" even if the former didn’t rise to his challenge to put aside his wealth.

Mark is interested in telling the story of a man whose actions and teaching culminated in opposition, death and resurrection. Jesus dying and rising was the key element of the early Christian message, and Mark is preserving the stories of what led up to that. But what was the buzz of excitement before Jesus’s death? From the point of view of the sick he was a great healer and could make them well. For thrill seekers he was a man who made things happen (even if they were not sick themselves they could marvel at his ability to cure people.) Jesus downplayed this aspect of his life and work – he often instructed people to keep quiet about the healing miracles. But those miraculous signs helped give him an air of authority so that people were interested in his message – and that was what? 

Jesus's early teaching was simple: God’s kingdom is near; change your life. He expanded on this by telling stories (or drawing morals from situations he found himself in) showing the nature of this kingdom. For example, it demands a response; it grows secretly; doing God’s will makes you part of Jesus’s true family; accept it like a child; eating unclean food isn’t the problem, but what the heart vomits out is what corrupts life.  Sometimes Jesus himself is part of the message (the Son of Man is in charge of the sabbath not vice versa), especially in his later teaching which foreshadows his suffering and death. For his chosen followers Jesus was a man with answers, he could teach them a new way of life, though what he said was sometimes so awesome or so confusing that the disciples were left scratching their heads in bewilderment.

So basically Mark is saying here is a man who could heal the sick and perform miraculous signs, who delighted the crowds, antagonised the religious authorities, baffled and inspired his chosen followers, who, as time went on, became more aware of his impending rejection and death, and who willingly endured betrayal, torment and death as the ultimate act of serving others.

The style of the book is very episodic. I wonder whether Mark wanted it be something like an aide memoire for the early Christian community. He provides a compilation of the events and teaching Jesus is best remembered for. At times the context of a pithy saying is minimal but just enough to make sense of it. Yet this is more than just random episodes. There is a flow to the story. Most of the miracles and all the criss-crossing of the Sea of Galilee take part in the earlier chapters. The teaching about the suffering and significance of Jesus comes later. A good third of the book deals with the account of the final confrontation between Jesus and the authorities in Jerusalem, which on the face of it is a tragedy – a good man misunderstood and cruelly killed.

I found this book a strange one to get to grips with. Unexpectedly so. The gospels, surely, are at the heart of the Christian faith. Yet much of Mark seems to be about a very human figure – a popular speaker and a wonder worker. I can relate to the former. There are plenty of good examples of inspiring leaders who use words to change lives. There are few (if any) good role models of miracle-working leaders, so it is harder for me to relate to how the crowds viewed Jesus in that sense. But even with the miracles, I get the impression that this is a story about a man with mysterious powers rather than a man who is God incarnate, dying for our sins and rising again to show that death has been conquered.

Two things help me realise that Mark is writing about someone who is more than just an inspirational human role model. One is the opening sentence. Here Mark lets the reader in on the real identity of the one whose story he is about to narrate. The other is the final chapter. Even with its abrupt and unsatisfying ending, it contains enough to make it clear the story is not over. Jesus is alive!

Perhaps the struggle I have had with the down-to-earth nature of Mark's gospel is the very reason he wrote it. The good news about Jesus was already becoming widely known. Many already had a strong experience of him as a living Lord, as the Son of God, as the conquerer of death, as the saviour of all. These things were already a daily reality in the lives of Jesus's followers. Maybe what Mark wanted to do was fill in the gaps in their knowledge – to record the human ministry of Jesus in a way that would help his followers get to know their Lord more fully and more deeply.