Saturday 26 April 2008

Background

The prophet Ezekiel is identified as a priest, deported alongwith other prominent citizens of Judah to Babylon after the captureof Jerusalem in 597 BC. The fact that he was taken in this firstwave of deportation means that he must have been a person of someimportance, and he was treated with enough respect that the eldersin exile regularly consulted him as a prophet. He had his firstprophetic vision in 593 BC, after Zedekiah (the king installed inJerusalem) was summoned to account for his lack of loyalty toBabylon.

Ezekiel's prophecy therefore, takes place in a setting where thingsare going from bad to worse. The very foundations of theIsraelites' culture are shaking and falling. When Ezekiel says (inthe voice of God) "I will deal with you as you have done", Ezekielmeans that just as the king has broken an oath to Babylon, so tooGod will disregard the covenantal promise to protect them.

Ezekiel is all about the sin of Jerusalem in disregarding God."This has consequences!" his prophecy shouts.

And though in today's passage Ezekiel condemns Jerusalem in thestrongest terms, he affirms that God has not abandoned them. WhenGod restores their fortunes and they have the full sight of theirsin they will be ashamed to be forgiven, but God will not abandonthem.

Here is the deep mercy of God, which incorporates the hard truth ofthe Judean situation - God's mercy will be worth nothing withoutthe truth-telling to show how great the harm has been. In our ownlives when we experience mercy and are called to give it, we canremember from this passage that mercy is not about sweeping thingsunder the rug, but about a full understanding of what hashappened.

Only then can real reconciliation take place Ezekiel says, forJudah, as much as for us and our time.

To Ponder

What does it mean to extend 'mercy' to someone?And to receive it?