Coals
It is easy for us to think of fire as judgment. After all, fire destroys, right? Fire consumes, right? Fire gets hold of things and alters their
state, right?
Only this last one is correct from the perspective of Old
Testament spiritual symbolism. Fire is a
means of purification. Fire
purifies. It burns away that which
cannot stand the true test of God.
I suppose, in the case of something that has absolutely no
redeeming qualities, fire would consume it entirely. But it is best to think of fire in the Old
Testament as a purifier rather than a consumer.
Think about the call of Isaiah.
He claimed that he was a “person of unclean lips dwelling among a people
of unclean lips.” {If you need to, go back and read Isaiah 6. One of my favorite calling stories in the
Bible.} What is it that God uses to
purify Isaiah’s unclean lips? It is a
coal from the altar. Fire is a means to
purify by burning away all that which cannot stand in God’s presence.
Additionally, notice that God tells the man in linen to take the
fire. Remember from yesterday that the
man with the fire is also the man who went around and marked those who mourned
for what had happened to the temple. The
man in linen was the one who marked people to be spared. It just makes sense that this divine being
would be using the coals as a sign of purification and not as a sign of
destruction.
So what is this really all about?
We know that symbolically Ezekiel has been shown by God how few would
remain after Jerusalem falls. Here, God
is also telling Ezekiel that even if many are killed, the few that remain will
be purified. This is actually a story of
grace! Those who remain will be purified
back into the presence of God. Sure,
they will go into captivity. But
captivity will be a process of purification for them!
I really like the deep symbolism of the 7th man. This is a brand new concept to me – I’ve
never really studied the book of Ezekiel in depth before. But here is the 7th man. He is the one who symbolically turns the sign
of judgment from a work of creation (6 people) into a work of God (7
people). He is dressed differently – as
a priest. He goes about Jerusalem
marking the ones who are to be spared.
Once spared, He goes about the ones remaining as He brings a symbol of
purification to them. I’ll have to think
far more deeply on this passage, but I think that this passage is really ripe
with images and messages that point us to seeing this 7th man as a
Christ-like figure.
Cherubim
The rest of this chapter really deals with the cherubim (or
cherub, in the singular). I don’t know
about you, but when I think of the word cherub I typically think about
cupid. I think of this little cute almost
naked baby with these dainty wings flying around shooting little arrows at
people.
I’ve got news for you. That
is not the Biblical concept of what a cherub is. I’d guess on some level you already knew
that. However, what I am also guessing
is that you had no real idea just what a cherub is from a Biblical
perspective. So let’s spin these guys
out for a second.
These are beings with four faces.
{Cherub, human, lion, eagle} In many places, the face of the cherub was
said to be like that of an ox, so you can feel free to think about it that
way. In fact, if you go back to the
description of the cherubim in chapter 1, you’ll notice in that chapter Ezekiel
says ox rather than cherub. They also
have multiple sets of wings. Below the
wings, they also appear to have hands like a human. This is a far cry from your garden variety of
cherub.
What is the point of all of this?
These are divine servants that we don’t really understand. In some respects there are human qualities
about them. But in many obvious ways
they are completely and totally other-worldly different from human life. The cherubim are not some simple, cute
angelic being. The cherub is something
unfamiliar, perhaps a bit scary, and not understood at all. They are beings who dwell in the presence of
God and who appear to be tied to His personal throne.
God leaves His Temple
As we get to the end of this chapter, we have a sad story. God leaves His seat in the temple. He goes to join the cherubim. They leave the temple. God goes elsewhere to dwell.
Obviously, this passage is sad because God leaves.
What I find sad is why God leaves.
God doesn’t leave because of sin.
Human beings are always full of sin.
He couldn’t have dwelled in the temple at all if God was permanently
offended by sin enough to leave. Every
human priest that served Him was a part of original sin. Sure, there had been sacrifices; but
still. Humanity is sinful.
To figure out why God leaves, go back to where this vision
began. God showed Ezekiel the
abominations that were occurring in the temple.
God leaves because the people have lost sight of their sinfulness. There is no longer a sense of
repentance. There is no longer a sense
that they have done anything wrong.
There is a sense that God is oblivious to their behavior. The people aren’t in a relationship with God.
They don’t force God out.
Their actions testify that they no longer want God to be a part of their
life. So God obliges. God gives them their desire. His presence leaves.
I think this point is worth further pondering.
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