The Prophet Ezekiel ...

Thursday, August 4, 2016. I have been reading the first chapters of the book of Ezekiel, who is one of the three great prophets of the Old Testament. The story how he was called to be God's prophet is quite amazing. It is a great vision of the glory of the Lord, a great vision of heavenly beings.

Word and Faith …

The biblical books all share one common topic: the relationship of humans to God. They talk about the holiness of God, his purity, his truthfulness and mercy, his love. And they talk about rebellious humans, who do bad things and who do not follow the Lord. Even those who know his character, who know his command, they do not follow him.

The people of Israel are special people, since they live with the promises of the Lord given to their fathers. Until today, the Jewish people have had an amazing history! Where ever they have been going, into all nations, they have always been special people, and the history of Jerusalem between all nations and many religions fully confirms this special role. Let us look into the book of Ezekiel, when he is given the word of God:

8 “But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” 9 And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. 10 And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe. (from Ezekiel 2)

The word …

The word of God is of tremendous importance. In the first chapters of Ezekiel, the prophet is told to take the word and display it by particular actions. He is telling the people of Israel what he will do, what will happen to Jerusalem, to Israel and the kingdom of Juda. The whole story is highly amazing and full of dramatic elements.

Again and again I am amazed by the role of the word. With the background of the New Testament today, we know much more about this - and then looking back into the images of the Old Testament, the whole collection of biblical books become even more fascinating. Later, we hear that Jesus is “the word”, and that the word (Greek “logos”) was God, and was “with God”, and “became human”. In our story here, the word is given in the form of scrolls, which are eaten by the prophet. Later, Jesus will tell his disciples, that they need to eat him, his body, to participate in him. His images link into these words and images from the Old Testament!

I must say that these stories touch me deeply. I believe that it happened, what Ezekiel is telling here. And I believe that God is there to be with us, and that following him - following Jesus - is desperately needed for each and everyone of us. In him there is salvation, and “blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might” (Rev 7, 12). (Roland Potthast) ... more texts