Purity
“So I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Indeed, I have never defiled myself from my youth till now…’” Ezekiel 4:14
This passage in Ezekiel made me smile. I had been reading along about all the things God told Ezekiel he was to do, to be an example to the Israelites of impending doom and judgment. All these actions he was to take were very odd, and I wondered how I would have accomplished such things if God asked me to.
God told Ezekiel to take a clay tablet and draw Jerusalem on it, then “lay a siege against it”—I suppose some sort of wall or perhaps an army. (I’m picturing the little green army guys my sons played with on a map.) Then he was to put an iron plate between himself and the city. Then he was to lay on his left side 390 days, symbolizing bearing the sins of the house of Israel. After that, he was to turn onto his right side for 40 days, symbolizing bearing the sins of the house of Judah, one day for each year of their abominations. His arm was to be uncovered (I hope the weather was nice for him for over a year!), and he was to prophesy against Jerusalem all that time. In case Ezekiel felt like he wanted to turn over, God said He would restrain him so that he couldn’t.
He was also told to gather the food he would need—a vegetarian diet of wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt (a low-grade wheat product). Every day, he was allowed to eat 8 ounces of the food, and he was allowed two-thirds of a quart of water.
OK, up until now I’m thinking, good grief, who could do this? It’s a really big ask. I mean, I get that Ezekiel was a prophet and he was supposed to act out what was coming for Israel and Judah. Did he waver? Did he ask why? Did he whine and complain and moan about his circumstances? No.
What put him over the edge was God’s next instruction: he was to cook this food using human waste as fuel. NOW he’s upset! And why? Because this alone would have caused Ezekiel to be impure. It was against God’s law to cook over human waste. God had mercy on him, and said he could use cow dung instead.
Ezekiel was committed to purity. He would do anything God asked—and I suppose if God had not relented on this one issue, he would have done that, too. But God made it so that even though He was asking a lot, He would not ask Ezekiel to violate his conscience.
I considered how easily we violate our consciences today. The least thing has us making excuses to ourselves, finding “extenuating circumstances” for why we should not have to do the thing God is asking. We often live by our “felt” needs instead of our actual needs. We base our actions on whether or not it suits our personalities.
Let’s let Ezekiel’s example be a barometer for our obedience toward God.
Lord, You know how we struggle to obey at times, how we make excuses, how we violate our God-given conscience. Help us to live pure lives in Your sight. Amen.
What a fascinating account. I read the first 5 chapters, marveling as always at the visual of God’s throne in Ch. 1. I really enjoyed brushing up on the timeline of the different exiles, after wondering how he could Prophesy against Jerusalem if he was already in exile (1:1) And I appreciate your point that God allowed him not to violate his conscience. Thank you for an opportunity to review less familiar Scriptures and be reminded of the blinding holiness of the One we serve.