Ezekiel 6, Judgment Against the High Places

Ezekiel has been prophesying about the coming destruction of Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 6:1-7, High places destroyed

The word of the LORD came to me: 

"Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel; prophesy against them and say: `O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign LORD. This is what the Sovereign LORD says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. Your altars will be demolished and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will slay your people in front of your idols. I will lay the dead bodies of the Israelites in front of their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars.   

Wherever you live, the towns will be laid waste and the high places demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and devastated, your idols smashed and ruined, your incense altars broken down, and what you have made wiped out. Your people will fall slain among you, and you will know that I am the LORD.   

Ezekiel is now instructed to give a clear prophecy against the country of Israel. The destruction of Judah will include people murdered around their altars in the high places where they worshiped idols.

The Hebrew gillul is translated "idol" in verses 4, 5, 9 and 13 of chapter 6. The word is intended to be disgusting; it means "dung ball" or "dung pellet" (Alexander, p. 776.)

Ezekiel 6:8-10, A remnant remembers

"`But I will spare some, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the lands and nations. Then in the nations where they have been carried captive, those who escape will remember me--how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their detestable practices. And they will know that I am the LORD; I did not threaten in vain to bring this calamity on them.   

A remnant of idolaters will be spared and will remember their sins. Throughout the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah, there is always a promise of a future surviving remnant that will repopulate Israel. This is true in the prophecies of Ezekiel also.

Ezekiel 6:11-12, Alas!

"`This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Strike your hands together and stamp your feet and cry out "Alas!" because of all the wicked and detestable practices of the house of Israel, for they will fall by the sword, famine and plague. He that is far away will die of the plague, and he that is near will fall by the sword, and he that survives and is spared will die of famine. So will I spend my wrath upon them.   

Ezekiel is to noisily cry "Alas!" and react to the disaster coming on Jerusalem. One-third will die by illness, one-third killed by soldiers, one-third die by starvation. (In the New Testament, a somewhat similar division of judgments shows up as horsemen in Revelation 6:1-8.)

Ezekiel 6:13-14, Slain among their idols

And they will know that I am the LORD, when their people lie slain among their idols around their altars, on every high hill and on all the mountaintops, under every spreading tree and every leafy oak--places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols. And I will stretch out my hand against them and make the land a desolate waste from the desert to Diblah--wherever they live. Then they will know that I am the LORD.'"  

The judgment against the idols in the hills will make it clear whom the people should really worship.

The identification of Diblah is not known. It is possible (says Alexander, p. 776) that in an ancient manuscript the Hebrew letter resh (r) was accidentally miscopied into a dalet (d). The two Hebrew letters are very similar and are easily confused. 

Since the northern Syrian city of Riblah is far from the southern desert, then (following Alexander's suggestion) the prophecy makes it clear that a large region of ancient Israel is to be desolate. Regardless of the identification of Diblah, it is clear that Israel will be destroyed.

Ezekiel 5, Shaved Hair and Beard

Ezekiel has been told to set up a model of Jerusalem and then lie on his side next to it, counting off days for each year of Israel's sins.

Ezekiel 5:1-4, Shave your head and beard

"Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber's razor to shave your head and your beard. Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair. When the days of your siege come to an end, burn a third of the hair with fire inside the city. Take a third and strike it with the sword all around the city. And scatter a third to the wind. For I will pursue them with drawn sword.   

But take a few strands of hair and tuck them away in the  folds of your garment. Again, take a few of these and throw them into the fire and burn them up. A fire will spread from there to the whole  house of Israel.   

Ezekiel is to shave his beard and hair. The hair will represent the people of Jerusalem. When the days representing the Jerusalem siege have been completed, one third of the hair is burned up, one third is struck with a sword, one third is scattered to the wind. But a few strands are saved. Thus the destruction of the city and the salvation of a small remnant are portrayed.

In the ANE, shaving one's head was a sign of mourning, see Ezekiel 27:30-31 and Amos 8:10. (It was similar to pulling out one's hair, Isaiah 22:12.) But a priest, like Ezekiel, was prohibited by the Mosaic Covenant from shaving his head or beard (Leviticus 21:5.) This is not the only time that Ezekiel is told to do something that violates his upbringing as a priest.

Ezekiel 5:5-10, More unruly than the pagan nations

"This is what the Sovereign LORD says: This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. Yet in her wickedness she has rebelled against my laws and decrees more than the nations and countries around her. She has rejected my laws and has not followed my decrees. 

"Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: You have been more unruly than the nations around you and have not followed my decrees or kept my laws. You have not even conformed to the standards of the nations around you.   

"Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will inflict punishment on you in the sight of the nations. Because of all your detestable idols, I will do to you what  I have never done before and will never do again.  Therefore in your midst fathers will eat their children, and children will eat their fathers. I will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your survivors to the winds.   

The judgment against Jerusalem is coming. In the indictment, YHWH says that not even the other nations have stooped to the things Israel has done.

Ezekiel 5:11-14, Thirds

Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your vile images and detestable practices, I myself will withdraw my favor; I will not look on you with pity or spare you. A third of your people will die of the plague or perish by famine inside you; a third will fall by the sword outside your walls; and a third I will scatter to the winds and pursue with drawn sword.

"Then my anger will cease and my wrath against them will  subside, and I will be avenged. And when I have spent my  wrath upon them, they will know that I the LORD have spoken  in my zeal. "I will make you a ruin and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by.   

The distribution of hair is explained. One-third of Jerusalem will perish by plague or famine, one-third killed by invading soldiers and one-third will be fleeing refugees.

Ezekiel 5:15-17, Reproach and taunt

You will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and an object of horror to the nations around you when I inflict punishment on you in anger and in wrath and with stinging rebuke. I the LORD have spoken.

When I shoot at you with my deadly and destructive arrows of  famine, I will shoot to destroy you. I will bring more and more famine upon you and cut off your supply of food. I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep  through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I the  LORD have spoken." 

This destruction of Jerusalem will be horrible and visible to the nations around Jerusalem.

These results are promised in the Covenant Law in Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26. (In Leviticus 26. in the last few verses, 44-45, there is still a promise of faithful commitment by YHWH to His people.)

Ezekiel 4, Lying On His Side

Ezekiel was given a scroll to eat. After eating it, he is put under obligation both to lie mute, prohibited, for a time, from speaking, and also, when compelled, to finally speak God's messages.

Ezekiel 4:1-2, A model of the city

"Now, son of man, take a clay tablet, put it in front of you  and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp up to it, set up camps against it and put battering  rams around it.   

Ezekiel is to set up a model of Jerusalem under siege.

Ezekiel 4:3-6, A day for each year

Then take an iron pan, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.   

"Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the house of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the house of Israel. 

"After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the house of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year.   

After creating the model of Jerusalem, Ezekiel is first to take an iron pan and create a wall between himself and the city. Duguid argues that this represents a barrier between the city and God, signifying God's refusal to listen to the coming cries from the city. There are other prophetic passages where God says something similar, a refusal to listen to cries to him: Isaiah 59:2, Jeremiah 7:16, Ezekiel 8:18, Amos 5:23, Habakkuk 1:2, Zechariah 7:13.

Ezekiel is to lie next to his model of the city, first on his left side, then on his right side. He is to lie on his left side 390 days, representing 390 years and then 40 days on his right side, representing 40 years. Mackie suggests that the 390 days represents 390 years of the temple's existence from the time of Solomon. Alexander notes that the 390 days is also very close to the (literal) time remaining in the siege of Jerusalem.

The Septuagint has numbers 190 and 150 in place of the Masoretic Text's 390 and 40. Alexander argues that the Septuagint numbers reflect a later editorial change that attempted to track time from the fall of Israel (722 BC) to the fall of Jerusalem (578 BC, roughly 150 years) followed by another 40 years in Babylon before the return to Jerusalem (539 BC.)

Ezekiel will bear the guilt of Judah, as the scapegoat of Israel (Mackie, see Leviticus 16:6-10.)

Ezekiel 4:7-8, Tied up

Turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm prophesy against her. I will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your siege.   

Ezekiel is to face the direction of the siege and speak out against Jerusalem. Ezekiel will be tied up during this time, so that he cannot turn around.

Mackie calls this "street theatre" -- Ezekiel acts out, physically, a picture of his message.

Ezekiel 4:9-12, Prepare yourself

"Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the days you lie on your side. Weigh out twenty shekels of food to eat each day and eat it at set times. Also measure out a sixth of a hin of water and drink it at set times. Eat the food as you would a barley cake; bake it in the sight of the people, using human excrement for fuel."   

Ezekiel is to prepare, in advance, food for the time in which he is tied up. To cook the food he is to use human feces as fuel!

The bread described there is a sign of the starvation suffered by the people in Jerusalem. (This is not a recommended way to build good bread -- indeed, it is the opposite of that -- Mackie points out the absurdity of using verse 9 for marketing bread, see the bread advertised here.) The amount of daily water rations, a sixth of a hin, is probably less than a quart.

Ezekiel 4:13-15, Defiled food

The LORD said, "In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I will drive them."   

Then I said, "Not so, Sovereign LORD! I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have never eaten anything found dead or torn by wild animals. No unclean meat has ever entered my mouth."   

"Very well," he said, "I will let you bake your bread over cow manure instead of human excrement."

Ezekiel objects to using human excrement as fuel. Apparently this makes the food ritually unclean. God agrees to allow him to use cow manure instead of human excrement.

Ezekiel 4:16-17, Famine

He then said to me: "Son of man, I will cut off the supply of food in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair, for food and water will be scarce. They will be appalled at  the sight of each other and will waste away because of their sin. 

The people faraway in Jerusalem, besieged by the Babylonians, will be forced to ration water and food.

Ezekiel 3, The Obligation of the Scroll

God has handed Ezekiel a scroll.The scroll has writing on both sides, writing that carries "lament, mouring and woe" (Ezekiel 2:9-10.) Its message will be a very painful one for Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 3:1-3, Eat the scroll

And he said to me, "Son of man, eat what is before you, eat  this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel." So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.   

Then he said to me, "Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it." So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.   

Ezekiel is commanded to eat the scroll he was given. He does so, and it tastes as sweet as honey.

In the New Testament, the prophet John is given a scroll to eat before he too prophesies (Revelation 10:8-11.)

Both Mackie and Duguid see in Ezekiel many references to Eden or its reversal. Here the scroll is not attractive but tastes good, the opposite of the fruit in the garden in Genesis 3:6. And here Ezekiel is commanded to eat; in the garden of Eden Adam and Eve were forbidden from eating.

Ezekiel 3:4-9, Hardened and obstinate

He then said to me: "Son of man, go now to the house of  Israel and speak my words to them. You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and difficult language, but to the house of Israel-- not to many peoples of obscure speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you. 

But the house of Israel is not willing to listen to you  because they are not willing to listen to me, for the whole house of Israel is hardened and obstinate. But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder  than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house."   

Ezekiel is being sent to a people who speak the same language as he does. But that does not matter. They will still not listen. And so Ezekiel will be hardened to be able to stand up to them.

Ezekiel 3:10-11, Go!

And he said to me, "Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you. Go now to your countrymen in exile and speak to them. Say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says,' whether they listen or fail to listen."   

Ezekiel must go speak, regardless of the outcome.

Ezekiel 3:12-15, A loud rumbling sound

Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound--May the glory of the LORD be praised in his dwelling place!--the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud rumbling sound. The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me.

I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Abib near the Kebar River. And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days--overwhelmed.   

Ezekiel is then lifted up and carried away to the exiles living in Tel Abib, near the Kebar River. The Spirit (and the winged creatures) seem to be the method of transportation. (Is this a physical transportation? Or a vision?) Along the way, Ezekiel is angry and bitter; when he arrives he is overwhelmed with his message and sits among the refugees for seven days. Alexander suggests that since seven days was a standard time for mourning, Ezekiel is being "commissioned to proclaim Judah's funeral dirge."

Ezekiel 3:16-21, Duties of a watchman

At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of  Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked man, `You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil  ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself.   

"Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. Since you did not warn him, he will die for his sin. The righteous things he did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin, he will surely live because he took warning, and you will have saved yourself."  

Ezekiel is to be a "watchman", one posted at the walls of a city to warn of impending trouble. This is a serious and very demanding duty. He will be held accountable for the outcomes of others' lives, unless he has taken steps to give appropriate warning.

Ezekiel 3:22-27, Tongue, bound and unbound

The hand of the LORD was upon me there, and he said to me, "Get up and go out to the plain, and there I will speak to  you."

So I got up and went out to the plain. And the glory of the LORD was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown.  Then the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. He spoke to me and said: "Go, shut yourself inside your house. And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes; you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people. I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, though they are a rebellious house. 

But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says. 'Whoever will listen let him listen, and whoever will refuse let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house. 

In verse 26, Ezekiel is not allowed to "rebuke" (Hebrew: mochiach) or mediate for the people. As Mackie points out (in the seventh Bible Project Ezekiel class video, beginning at the 11th minute) this is a strange concept -- Ezekiel is not allowed to pray for the people of Jerusalem. The judgment is coming and will not be turned back. At this time, faraway in Jerusalem, the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 7:16-19 and Jeremiah 11:9-14) is being told the same thing.

Ezekiel's mouth and tongue will be kept still for a time, but then he will be given things to speak. Ezekiel has an obligation to speak out, regardless of the outcome.

Ezekiel 2, Go to Israel

Ezekiel has seen a strange sight, a wheel with creatures, and above the wheel and icy plane and above that plane a throne with a bright dramatic being, YHWH, sitting on it. Now God speaks.

Ezekiel 2:1-5, Speak to them

He said to me, "Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you."   

As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my  feet, and I heard him speaking to me. He said: "Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their fathers have been in revolt against me to this very day. The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD  says.' And whether they listen or fail to listen--for they are a  rebellious house--they will know that a prophet has been among them.   

Ezekiel is addressed as "son of man" (Hebrew ben adam, literally "son of human".) This is a strange phrase which appears (says Alexander, p. 761) ninety times in Ezekiel and twice in the book of Daniel. The term does not appear elsewhere in the Old Testament. In Daniel 8:17, the term is used to address Daniel. In Daniel 7:13, the phrase is in Arabic, not Hebrew, and represents a human messianic figure. 

Ezekiel is to be sent to Israel, to speak to them. Regardless of their response, Ezekiel is at least communicating God's message.

Commentators note that the Israelites are described as "a rebellious nation" but the Hebrew word translated "nation" is goyim, which is a plural. It is possible that both Israel/Samaria and Judah are referenced here. Duguid argues that there is a deliberate reversal of roles here: the Gentiles are called "a people" while Israel is called "nations."

Ezekiel 2:6-8, Briers, thorns, scorpions

And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house. 

The persistent stubborness of the people of Israelites is a theme of this book. Ezekiel is warned that the people will not listen, but he is not to be afraid. Mackie says that we are to recall the curse of Adam (Genesis 3:17-19) in this passage.

Ezekiel 2:9-10, A scroll

You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you." 

Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.  

Ezekiel is told not to be rebellious like the people of Israel. He has a message to give them. Indeed, it is handed to him on a scroll. The scroll has writing on both sides, writing that carry dark and painful words. Ezekiel will be made to internalize (literally) the message of that scroll.

Ezekiel 1, Four Living Creatures and a Throne

We begin the scroll of Ezekiel, a prophet who lived at the end of the sixth century BC, during the beginning of the Babylonia exile. 

Ezekiel 1:1-3, By the Kebar River
In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.   

On the fifth of the month--it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin--the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians. There the hand of the LORD was upon him.   

Ezekiel's vision begins in Babylon, during the exile. The vision begins in first person and then shifts to third person, describing Ezekiel's environment prior to details of the vision. One might suggest that verses 2 and 3 form an editorial comment by one who arranged the scroll. The author expects that the reader knows about King Jehoiachin or can look him up in the other scrolls.

The fifth year of Jehoiachin is around 593 BC. Jerusalem has not yet fallen to Nebuchadnezzar's army. The phrase "thirtieth year" probably refers to Ezekiel's age. He would have been allowed to serve as a priest in the temple when he turned thirty but now, when he reaches that precious milestone, he is instead faraway on the outskirts of Babylon. The Kebar River, says Ralph Alexander, "flowed southeast from the city of Babylon."

Ezekiel 1:4-11, A windstorm

I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north--an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was that of a man, but each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had the hands of a man.

All four of them had faces and wings, and their wings touched one another. Each one went straight  ahead; they did not turn as they moved. 

The third person narrative shifts to first person, with a dramatic image, a cloud of flashing fire, lighting and four living creatures. Apparently the four living creatures, arranged around the glowing metal, each has four wings and four faces? 

The center of the fire looks like "glowing metal", a translation of chashmal, a rare Hebrew word that became "elektron" in the Septuagint and eventually (see here) the Hebrew word for electricity.

Ezekiel 1:10-11, The faces

Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face  of a man, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out upward; each had two wings, one touching the wing of another creature on either side, and two wings covering its body. 

The four faces (that each had?) were those of human, lion, ox and eagle. Two of the wings of one creature spread out and touched the wings of two others, so one might imagine a four sided bright cloud with sides formed by these four creatures. Similar (but slightly different) visions appear in Isaiah 6:1-4 and, in the New Testament, in Revelation 4:6-8.

Ezekiel 1:12-14, Four living creatures

Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went.   

The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it. The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.   

The four living creatures seemed to go in any direction, without turning their heads. They are bright lights, with fire and lightning and the creatures themselves seem to move back and forth like lightning.

Ezekiel 1:15-21, Full of eyes

As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces.  This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like chrysolite, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel.   

As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not turn about as the creatures went. Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around. When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels  would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with  them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

Below each creature is a wheel. Each wheel "intersected a wheel". The wheels have very large rims that are "full of eyes." The wheels and creatures move in sync with this bright shining thunderstorm. It is apparently significant that "the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels" (whatever that means.)

Ezekiel 1:22-28,  Icy expanse

Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what  looked like an expanse, sparkling like ice, and awesome. Under the expanse their wings were stretched out one toward  the other, and each had two wings covering its body. When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings,  like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army. When they stood  still, they lowered their wings. 

Then there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked  like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I  fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking. 

Above the creatures is an icy plane, an icy ceiling. Above that ceiling was a sapphire throne with a radiant One on the throne.

This first chapter of Ezekiel describes what theologian call a theophany, a physical appearance of God. In the Old Testament these are dramatic (eg. the fire and cloud of the Exodus, eg. Exodus 13:21-22.) In the book of Ezekiel there will be a continued emphasis on the terrifying and majestic otherwordliness of the Creator of the universe.

Tim Mackie, in the Bible Project class on Ezekiel, points out that Ezekiel is seeing, in far off Babylon, God's presence, which he would normally expect to see only in the temple in Jerusalem. For a Israelite raised to be a priest in the temple, this is a shock. (A Bible Project class video devoted to the vision of chapter 1 is here.)

Lamentations 5, Remember Us!

We read the final poem of the book of Lamentations. Unlike the previous four chapters, this is not an acrostic. The acrostic form has been abandoned, even though there are 22 verses.

This lament gives a vivid description of any city ravaged by war. The people starve; the women and children are the most vulnerable. During the Babylonian exile, there were regular days of fasting and mourning over lost Jerusalem. (See Zechariah 7:5.) The commentator Gunkel, as reported by House (p. 455) suggests that this psalm would have been sung during those fasts.

Lamentations 5:1, Remember us

Remember, LORD, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace. 

The psalm begins with a plea that YHWH "remember" them, that is, pay careful attention to the plight of the people and act to save them. This is a communal prayer. The people are disgraced, in pain, hurting and together call on YHWH.

This chapter has some similarities to Psalm 74, which also laments over the destruction of Jerusalem and asks God to "remember" the people of Judah.

Lamentations 5:2-6, Our disgrace

Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners. 

We have become fatherless, our mothers are widows. 

We must buy the water we drink; our wood can be had only at a price. 

Those who pursue us are at our heels; we are weary and find no rest. 

We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread. 

The disgrace of Jerusalem is described. In their starvation, the people of Judah gave in to both Egypt and Assyria (earlier) or Babylonia (later.)

Lamentations 5:7-10, Our ancestors sinned

Our ancestors sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment. 

Slaves rule over us, and there is no one to free us from their hands. 

We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the desert. 

Our skin is hot as an oven, feverish from hunger. 

It is suggested that the punishment does not fit the crime -- it was the ancestors who disobeyed God but it is their children and descendants who are ruled over by slaves; it is the descendants who struggle to find bread and are feverish from hunger. (See Ezekiel 18 for a rebuttal to verse 7.)

Being ruled by slaves was the deepest of insults. The slaves mentioned here were most likely low-level Babylonian officials assigned to administer this backwater province after its conquest.

Lamentations 5:11-13, Raped, tortured, abused

Women have been violated in Zion, and virgins in the towns of Judah. 

Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders are shown no respect. 

Young men toil at the millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood. 

The poverty and dangers in verses 7-10 are now replaced by serious crimes. Women are raped, princes are hung up, the young men and boys are forced into abusive labor. (Commentators agree that being "hung up by their hands" is a sign of execution, either as a way of executing someone or, more likely, as something done after execution. When Jerusalem is overrun, the sons of King Zedekiah were killed (2 Kings 25:7.)

Lamentations 5:14-18, Dancing turns to mourning

The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped their music.

Joy is gone from our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning. 

The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned! 

Because of this our hearts are faint, because of these things our eyes grow dim 

for Mount Zion, which lies desolate, with jackals prowling over it. 

The beauty and joy of the city is long gone. The few people who remain are in pain. 

The word translated jackals is shual, describing a cunning canine, like a fox or coyote (unlike Lamentations 4:3, where the NIV translates an unknown word as "jackals".)

Lamentations 5:19-20, Why?

You, LORD, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation. 

Why do you always forget us? Why do you forsake us so long? 

YHWH is addresses as the eternal king. Returning to the plea at the beginning of the chapter, the words "remember" and "look and see" are replaced by their opposites, "forget" and "forsake."

Lamentations 5:21-22, Unless...

Restore us to yourself, LORD, that we may return; renew our days as of old 

unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure.

The poet begs for restoration. The song ends on a voice of despair. Is it possible that God has utterly rejected them and turned away from them?  (Although Jeremiah's writings can be depressing, they at least included a claim that in some later day, God would restore Israel.)

The ending of this psalm is so dismal and discouraging that, says Ellison (p. 733), in the reading of this chapter at the Jewish fast day of Tisha b'Av, verse 21 is repeated after verse 22, so that the song ends with some small encouragement!