High times, hard times, hand of God

High times

High times are those periods in our lives that were especially meaningful in a positive way. An example might be a time when a particular talent was applauded by others and a decision was made to pursue that talent further in life.

In 2008, I made a decision to commit myself to attending and serving in one church. It was a low point in my life. I was a resident doctor in career crisis: I knew clearly what specialties I did not want to do, but had no idea what specialties I wanted to do. I did not think I will have any chance of getting a boyfriend if I continue the same lifestyle working in the hospital. I felt stuck and was pessimistic, with a heavy weight on the top of my head constantly. If God had not intervened, I would have become clinically depressed. Fortunately it was during a church camp that I suddenly felt such a strong presence of God’s Spirit amongst me that it filled me with joy and all the heaviness on the top of my head lifted off. Such a transformation occurred in me that I burned with passion for God and no longer felt so disgruntled against my parents. Subsequently, my mother, who was quite critical of my faith, accepted Jesus as her saviour!

Hard times

Hard times are those relationships, experiences or seasons in our lives that were particularly difficult or painful. An example might be a childhood move from one school to another that was hard and caused you to build up some defensive walls that have been difficult to break down ever since. Perhaps there’s been a relationship conflict that has not been restored.

Dr Paul Kang, who leads the transformational discipleship group I am currently attending, mentions there are scholarly articles which demonstrates that suffering act as a catalyst for spiritual formation! I agree. I find it very hard to remember God when things are going along smoothly, even though I may still be able to keep up the routines of attending church and praying. I tend to feel desperate for God when things do not go according to plan, or when I face a great “unknown” in front of me. In fact, it is quite easy to say “I’ve got faith in God” when things are relatively smooth sailing, when one is blessed like Job was in the beginning of the book of Job. However, when faced with suffering, that’s when we know what we are made of: some people may renounce their faith, some people’s faith actually grows stronger. However, there will always be a wrestle before the gold becomes refined.

In May 2013, my father suddenly passed away. This event radically changed my theology. At that time, I had a “prosperity gospel” type of theology. Things were smooth sailing in my life, as well as in the church I had been attending. The predominant theologies in the environment I was in was that “if you got faith, you can do anything… if something doesn’t go according to plan, that’s because you don’t have enough faith and  haven’t been praying hard enough… God always wants us to succeed,” etc.

Coinciding with the passing away of my father was a call from God for me to study in a seminary. I had to stay in Taiwan for four weeks to sort out things related to my father. I went to a praying room in one church and saw a seminary school pamphlet. I had been to this praying room several times in the past and never seen this type of pamphlet before. Then, I went to another church’s praying room, and saw another seminary school pamphlet. When I returned to Sydney, the friend whom I usually pray with suddenly mentioned to me, “the Baptist churches have a strong foundation in the Scriptures, and going to a Baptist seminary school will be great to build a good foundation.” That was when Morling College popped into my mind, as it was the closest seminary school to my home, and it is Baptist in denomination. Since then, growth began happening in a way that would never have happened if this difficult time had not occurred.

Hand of God

There are the times when God revealed His sovereignty and grace in our lives in a special way. Maybe at a particular time of need God sent just the right person with just the right perspective that enabled us to keep moving ahead in faith. Or perhaps His Word came “alive” to us at a critical point.

I see the hand of God working on my life and on those around me constantly, including the high times and hard times I’ve described previously, so I will just pick another example here.

I have always liked the verse on the fruit of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23). However, I also see my inadequacy when I read this verse, as I am quite an impatient person, and often wished I could grow fruits at a much more rapid rate. Well, my prayer got answered when I encountered Chris, who is now my husband.

I encountered Chris briefly at church in 2008 because his cousin’s family and I used to attend the same church, and his aunt got admitted into RPA (the hospital I was working in) that year, so I became a bit more familiar with them as a result of that. Anyway, Chris came to check out the church I was attending and we shook hands. I had a negative impression of him during that encounter, but he added me on Facebook.

Then, in the second half of 2014, a series of events occurred. In July, an elderly man suddenly gave me a painting of plum blossoms with a Chinese poem which is essentially asking “what is love?” In that same week, our small group watched the film “Fireproof” which kind of answered that question (google "the love dare"). In that same week I noticed that one of the trees on my investment property suddenly blossomed flowers that looked exactly the same as the elderly man’s painting.

In late October, right before I left home to see a play called "Marriage" (where a sister from our small group, Naomi, played the bride), I noticed that the flowers outside the windows of the first room in my house were in full blossom, and couldn't help taking heaps of photos with the flowers outside the room.

Then, less a month later, the mysterious “plum” tree produced fruits, and it turned out to be a peach tree, which was a pleasant surprise as I like peaches much better than plums. It was around this time that Chris had a Facebook status update saying he’s been asked to vacate the rental property which had had been living in for seven years, because the owners wanted to renovate the place. I also had an empty room in my four bedroom shared house that I wanted to rent out, and was advertising it on my Facebook. It was the room where the flowers blossomed. I secretly thought to myself, “this annoying guy better not enquire about my place.” Then, in the beginning of 2015, Chris enquired about my place, because his next work project was located near my place.

As Chris returned to his car at the end of the inspection, we saw a butterfly at his windshield, flapping its wings furiously mid-air, but not moving anywhere at all (this looks a bit like when birds try to fly against the wind). We’ve never seen anything like this before. Chris said the butterfly had been there like that since he first got out of the car to inspect my house, which meant it had been like this for at least ten minutes. This unusual image stuck in my mind. Furthermore, he mentioned his project is only going to last for 6 months, which seemed very short term anyway. So I broke my usual rule of renting to females only, and rented this empty room to him.

Little did I know that once Chris moved in, he will never move out again.

When he first moved in, I was pleasantly surprised about how different he was compared to my initial impression of him. There were also many times where I got extremely annoyed by Chris’ rigid thinking and debating nature. However, each time I become like this, I get a supernatural sign happening along with a supernatural increase in my capacity to tolerate him. Many of these conflicts actually resulted in me seeing my own problems through self-introspection, and growing in a way I never would have if I had not encountered him. I knew that the hand of God is upon this encounter. This fruit-growing process continues repeating itself over and over again, and I believe it will continue until we return to our heavenly home.

Ezekiel 2:1-3:15 (The commissioning of Ezekiel)

·       2:1-15 is another suitable passage for the series because this is where we learn about the commissioning of Ezekiel and the characteristics of his audience.

·       We see Ezekiel addressing the rebellious Israelites, the purpose of Ezekiel’s message being to transform his audience’s perception of their relationship with Yahweh, exposing delusions of innocence and offering a divine understanding of reality.^[1]

·       The crises to which Ezekiel responded were not social or economic, but theological. The theological system consists of these four pillars: land, covenant, Zion, David, on which the Israelites’ security rested. Most of the pronouncements address one or more of the four pillars.^[2] We see that chapters 4-24 systemically attack the pillars on which official orthodoxy constructed its notions of eternal security.^[3] With these elements of identity removed, profound theological questions were raised: Had Yahweh been defeated by the Babylonian gods?^[4] Some drew the conclusion that their god was less powerful than the foreign gods, others decided that he was unjust.^[5]

·       This takes us to the theme of sin and judgment, evident in chapters 8, 11, 16, and 18, which explains how the punishment fits the crime and Yahweh’s judgment is an entirely appropriate response to the heinous sins of Israel.

Translation Ezekiel 3:1-15

1: Then he said to me, “Mortal^[6], whatever you find here, eat^[7]. Eat this^[8] scroll. Then go, speak to the house of Israel.”

2: So I opened my mouth, and he fed me this scroll to eat.

3: Then he said to me, “Mortal, feed your stomach^[9] and fill your belly^[10] with this scroll that I give to you.” So I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey^[11].

4: Then he said to me, “Mortal, go to the house of Israel and speak my words to them.

5: For (you are) not sent to a people of unintelligible speech and a hard language, (but) to the house of Israel;

6: not to many peoples of unintelligible speech and a hard language^[12], whose words you cannot understand. Surely^[13], if I sent you to them, they would listen to you.

7: But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you^[14], for they are not willing to listen to me. For the whole house of Israel have a hard forehead^[15] and a stubborn heart^[16].

8: Hereby, I give you hard face just like their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.

9: Like emery, harder than flint, have I made^[17] your forehead. Do not fear them, nor be dismayed at their looks^[18], for they are a rebellious house.”

10: And he said to me, “Mortal, all my words that I shall speak to you, receive in your heart, and hear with your ears.

11: Now go^[19] to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them. Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh,’ whether they listen or not^[20].”

12: Then the wind^[21] lifted me up, and I heard behind me the sound of a great earthquake: “Blessed be the glory^[22] of the Yahweh from its place!”

13: The sound of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of a great earthquake^[23].

14: The wind lifted me up and took me away, and I follow in bitterness^[24] in the anger of my spirit^[25], and the hand of the Yahweh was strong on me.

15: And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib^[26], who were dwelling by the Chebar canal, and where they were sitting, there I sat for seven days, devastated^[27],[28] in their midst.^[29]

Exegesis

·       This is a continuation of the opening vision from Ezekiel 1, where we have already been orientated to the prophet’s time and space as well as who the prophet is. Ezekiel is identified as a “mortal”.^[30] Unlike his rebellious audience, Ezekiel compliantly ingests the scroll Yahweh wanted him to ingest. Ingestion signifies that he embodies the divine word.^[31] So he is a human representative, distinct from God, and the first of many who are to follow his receptiveness of the word.^[32] This also reassures his audience that Ezekiel’s words are God’s own.^[33] Did Ezekiel actually eat a papyrus scroll? Or was this simply a visionary experience? The reader will observe a blurring of boundaries between visions and reality in Ezekiel’s visions.^[34] This scroll is described as sweet. Sweet sensation arises from the personal encounter with the divine word. This could be a divine means of softening Ezekiel’s resistance to his calling.^[35]

·       The Israelites’ unresponsiveness is highlighted when they are compared with people outside of the household of Israel: the foreigners with unintelligible speech and difficult language.^[36] Ezekiel’s calling is not to a foreign mission field or to a cross-cultural ministry. Had he been, there would have been a great harvest for his work.^[37] The Israelites are a hardened people, with a hard forehead and an obstinate heart.^[38] There is a bold, shameless quality to their refusal to listen. Bowen thinks the resistance is not to the future possibility of God’s judgment against them, but to the explanation for why God has judged them.^[39] They will not understand that they have been unfaithful to Yahweh and will refuse to accept that the present disaster is Yahweh’s powerful and just act, punishing his own people for their sins.^[40]

·       Yahweh will give Ezekiel a hard face and hard forehead: It is like bulls butting heads, the one with the harder horn wins.^[41] Ezekiel will live up to his name, “God hardens/strengthens”.^[42]  Ezekiel is not to be dismayed because of the way his audience’s faces look; another words, their facial expressions. Yahweh assures Ezekiel that he will equip him fully with the emotional resources needed for the challenge: “I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their forehead.” Emery was the hardest substance known at that time. Ezekiel was not to fear or be terrified, emotionally shattered, by the rebellious reaction of his audience.^[43] Ezekiel must demonstrate that he is not like the rebellious people, yet he must identify with them by consuming the scroll and sharing in their suffering. He must be prepared to endure the rejection Yahweh has endured, yet he must remain in solidarity with the people.^[44]

·       Then we see that the ruah רוּחַ lifted Ezekiel up. Since there is no definite article used with the word רוּחַ, the wind of the storm theophany may be what is referred to here. Elsewhere, when Ezekiel is carried by the spirit, a change in location is explicitly described (8:3, 11:1).^[45] In contrast to the internal energizing activity of רוּחַ in 2:2, here the prophet is acted upon from the outside, apparently like a scrap of paper picked up by a gust of wind.^[46] Again we see the glory of Yahweh and theophany of the earthquake. We are then shown a glimpse of Ezekiel’s mind and heart when he described himself as being bitter. This is significant for a prophet who seldom lets his feeling show.^[47] “Bitterness” is an antonym to the sweetness of the scroll. It is used to describe human emotions in situations of extreme stress, usually associated with dramatic losses, eg. Naomi’s bitterness (Ruth 1:13, 20). The “heat,” which describes Ezekiel’s spirit, everywhere else in the book describes God’s “fury”. Bitterness and anger are common emotions following trauma.

·       “The hand of Yahweh” indicates this is a supernatural involvement.^[48] The unit concludes with a change of scene whereby Ezekiel is shifted from the site of vision to the exilic settlement.^[49] Ezekiel sat devastated in the midst of the exiles for seven days. The exact trauma that leaves Ezekiel emotionally wrecked is ambiguous. It could be his experiences of war and exile, his encounter with the divine, or the commissioning itself.^[50] There is a complete chiasm covering 1:1-3:15. We see a winding down of this chiasm from v12-15, where 3:12 corresponds to 2:1-2, 3:13 to 1:4-28, and 3:14-15 to 1:1-3.^[51]

Preaching theme

·       This passage contributes to the series because it describes the characteristics of both the prophet and the audience. It introduces us the purpose of Ezekiel’s message, which is to transform his audience’s perception of their relationship with Yahweh.^[52]

·       The commission narrative offers vital information on the relationship between God and those whom he calls into his service.^[53] It is important that we identify two audiences, his real audience, who are his fellow exiles, and the readers of this book. The reaction of the audience in the book is “insignificant” with regards to the intended reaction of the readers.^[54] So these themes have a strong contemporary significance and we must look at how this message applies to us today.

·       Those called by God: 1) Must have a clear vision of the one who sends him or her, with a firm conviction. 2) Must be empowered and energised by the infusion of God’s Holy Spirit. 3) Must be inspired by the message of God. Not just hearing, but digesting, internalising, incorporating, embodying and living the message. 4) Must recognise that the calling is not to success but to faithfulness. Every aspect of the call remains under the sovereign control of God, especially the results, and apparent effectiveness is no proof of calling.^[55]

·       Hence this challenges the notion that “bigger is better.” The primary goal of one’s ministry to bring glory to God by preaching and modelling the message he has been given^[56], no matter the consequences.^[57] “God’s people have ingested the Word of God in its written form, and are witnesses to the truth about God, revealed in his Word and declared in the power of the Spirit.”^[58]

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[1] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 14.

[2] Block, By the River Chebar, 11.

[3] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 14.

[4] Paul M. Joyce, Ezekiel: A Commentary (New York: T&T Clark, 2009), 17.

[5] John A. Baker, The Foolishness of God (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1970), 30.

[6] Nancy R. Bowen, Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries: Ezekiel (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2010), 8. Son of man/human-one/mortal: noun ms construct (בֵּןson, descendant), noun ms absolute (אָדָםman, people). אָדָם is more used to speak of human in general. “Characterised by” sense, meaning he’s an Adam-like person. This occurs 93 times throughout the book.

[7] Some manuscripts don’t have the אֵ֥ת אֲשֶׁר

[8] “This” is omitted in LXX.

[9] noun fs ( בֶּטֶן belly, womb, inner self), suffix 2ms, verb hiphil imperfect 2ms jussive meaning apocopated (אכלfeed) shortened jussive form, because when the third person imperfect verb is first in its clause, it is Jussive. Which makes it a command/“let”. Can pick stomach first or belly first, either fine.

[10] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 125. noun mp construct (מֵעֶהbelly, inner parts, bowels, internal organs), suffix 2ms, verb piel imperfect 2ms (מלאto fill, complete, finish, fulfill, perform, carry out). The redundancy here is obvious. Twice Yahweh commands the prophet to ingest the scroll, and twice the prophet obeys. This repetition is an Ezekielian pattern. To avoid repetition of the same word, if we pick stomach as first word then pick belly as second word, vice versa. Intestines not as good in this case because you can’t really feel it.

[11] particle preposition, noun ms (דְּבַשׁhoney), particle preposition (לְon לְמָתֽוֹק could be treated as a לְof reference), adjective ms (מָתוֹקsweet). “It was like honey, in respect to sweetness”, construing מָתוֹקas a noun.

[12] adjective mp (‎עָמֵק unfathomable, unintelligible, deep), noun fs (‎שָׂפָה lip, speech, edge), particle conjunction, adjective mp construct (כָּבֵדheavy, liver, hard), noun (לָשׁוֹןtongue, language).

[13] כִּ֡י לֹא usually expresses an antithesis, “but”. But this is unlikely here on contextual and grammatical grounds, since the antithetical comments begin in v7. It can function as an expletive, introducing a conditional clause.

[14]  שְׁמֹ֣עַ אֵלֶ֔ =listen to, not just hear, so don’t translate as hear.

[15] Moshe Greenberg, Ezekiel, 1-20 (Garden City: Doubleday & Company Inc, 1983), 69. adjective mp construct (חָזָקstrong, stout, mighty, hard), noun ms absolute (מֵצַחbrow, forehead). Greenberg relates the “hard forehead” to the English word effrontery, which comes from the Latin “out+forehead”.

[16] adjective mp construct (קָשֶׁהhard, difficult, heavy, difficult, shameless), noun ms absolute (לֵבheart).

[17] נתן has a wide range of meanings, can use “make” instead of “give”.

[18] Leslie C. Allen, Word Biblical Commentary Ezekiel 1-19 (Dallas: Word Books Publisher, 1994), 4. verb niphal imperfect 2ms (חתתto be dashed to pieces, be struck down, be terrified), because of their face: the way the people’s face look, another words, “do not be intimidated by their facial their expression.”

[19] juxtaposition of two imperatives is sometimes a tone of urgency, eg. now go.

[20] particle conjunction, particle conjunction (if), verb qal imperfect 3mp (חדלend, stop, discontinue, give up). “or if they cease” better translated as “not”.

[21] Nancy R. Bowen, Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries: Ezekiel (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2010), 9. רוּחַ breath, wind, spirit. What type? A sudden gust of wind? Or the Spirit of Yahweh, the Holy Spirit?^[21] A human energy? The word is capable of bearing more than one nuance.

[22] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 134-135. “Blessed be the glory of the Yahweh” vs “as the glory of Yahwah rose”: verb qal passive participle ms (ברךblessed, to kneel). A century and a half ago Hitzig proposed that MT ברך represented a scribal corruption of berum “as [it] rose”. However since the versions all agree with MT, the error must have occurred prior to 2^nd century BC. 

[23] Noun ms absolute (רַעַשׁquaking, roar).

[24] Adjective ms absolute (מַרbitter, bitterly). Not in the LXX.

[25] Different רוּחַ: רוּחַ lifting Ezekiel up vs Ezekiel’s רוּחַ being angry. Here it is רוּחַ of motivation/mind.

[26] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 135-136. While תֵּל אָבִיב translates literally “mound of spring produce,” as a Mesopotamian toponym it is derived from til abubi, “mound of the flood [debris]. This name may have been applied to the present site in the aftermath of the Chaldean destruction.

[27] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 137. Verb hiphil participle ms absolute (שׁמםmake deserted, desolate, make disconcerted, awestruck). Ezekiel was stunned: sitting for seven days in the midst of the exiles.

[28] Bowen, Ezekiel, 12. Bowen thinks “stunned” is an understatement. Elsewhere NRSV translates the same verb as “horrify” (20:26), “desolation” (30:12, 14), and “appalled” (32:10). In the noun form it is used throughout Ezekiel to describe “desolated” land. I think devastated seem to be a better term.

[29] And where they were sitting, there I sat for seven days, devastated in their midst (kethib translation) vs and I sat where they were sitting. And there I sat devastated among them seven days [qere translation]: I think kethib sounds smoother.

[30] Bowen, Ezekiel, 8.

[31] Bowen, Ezekiel, 11.

[32] Thomas Renz, The Rhetorical Function of the Book of Ezekiel (Boston: Brill Academic Publishers, 1999), 140.

[33] Bowen, Ezekiel, 11.

[34] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 125. 

[35] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 126. 

[36] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 128. 

[37] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 129. 

[38] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 129. 

[39] Bowen, Ezekiel, 11.

[40] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 14.

[41] Andrew Sloane, OT633 Lecture, Morling College, March 8 2017.

[42] Bowen, Ezekiel, 11.

[43] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 129. 

[44] Margaret S. Odell, Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary: Ezekiel (Macon: Smyth & Helwys, 2005), 46.

[45] Odell, Ezekiel, 47.

[46] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 133. 

[47] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 136. 

[48] Allen, Word Biblical Commentary Ezekiel 1-19, 43.

[49] Allen, Word Biblical Commentary Ezekiel 1-19, 17.

[50] Bowen, Ezekiel, 12.

[51] Allen, Word Biblical Commentary Ezekiel 1-19, 17.

[52] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 14.

[53] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 130.

[54] Renz, The Rhetorical Function, 138.

[55]Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 131. It is for this reason that the reaction of the prophet’s audience is hardly ever related and their words are only once directly quoted (24:19).

[56] Duguid, Ezekiel, 74.

[57] Duguid, Ezekiel, 75.

[58] Duguid, Ezekiel, 76.