The prophet Ezekiel was taken into exile with the first wave of Israelites that the Babylonians took captive in 598 BC. Ezekiel experiences God outside the boundaries of Israel in a refugee camp on the banks of the River Chebar, where the Babylonians interred him.
In this foreign land the prophet sees a bright cloud flashing fire and in its midst four living creatures that look like humans with hands, feet, and faces. One face is human, the other faces are an ox, lion, and eagles.
These faces have become symbols of the four gospel writers. These four living creatures have wings, They dart about like lightning. Beside each living creatures is a wheel that moves them in any direction whenever the spirit moves them. Above the creatures is a dome and the throne of God. In this splendor Ezekiel experiences the likeness of God’s glory and receives the call that from Sunday’s first reading.
God directs him to preach to the exiles. Whether the people hear or reject Ezekiel, they will know a prophet has spoken for God among them, even in this distant land.
For Ezekiel life in the refugee camp is like walking in a field of dry bones, but in his prophetic visions he imagines God’s spirit reconnecting the bones and bringing a faithful people to life again. God does not abandon the people.
Mark’s gospel sees John the Baptist and Jesus continuing the long line of faithful prophets who speak for God in Israel’s history. The measure of true prophecy is never its popularity or success. Ezekiel is to speak whether people listen or not.
God calls Ezekiel.
The voice said to me:
“O mortal, stand up on your feet,
and I will speak with you.”
When the voice spoke to me,
a spirit entered into me
and set me on my feet;
and I heard the Holy One
speaking to me.
The Holy One said to me, “Mortal,
I am sending you to the people
of Israel, to a nation of rebels
who have rebelled against me;
they and their ancestors
have transgressed against me
to this very day.
Their descendants
are impudent and stubborn.
I am sending you to them,
and you shall say to them,
‘Thus says the Lord God.’ Whether they hear or refuse to hear
(for they are a rebellious house),
they shall know that there
has been a prophet among them.”
Ezekiel 2.2-5
- Where do you experience God alive and with us today? What imagery conveys this experience?
- Whose prophetic voice inspires your hope for our human family? Who do you refuse to hear?