Ezekiel 10-11 are the concluding chapters to a prophetic vision that began in chapter 8. In this episode we discover how these chapters provide more Godhead talk from the Old Testament and the departure of the glory of God from the temple.
The episode is now live.
Mike, I’ve been reading through the minor prophets lately and it seems that their prophecies often start by encountering “Debar Yahweh”, more specifically by “the Word of the Lord” coming to them. So far, this description of Yahwey’s appearance to Ezekiel is also very noticeable throughout the first 15 chapters of the book of Ezekiel. Even though I grew up in church, I never heard anyone consider that these appearances of God could be in a physical form, I’ve always been told that God audibly spoke to those prophets. Yet, when you pointed out a few passages when the Word of God appeared to Samuel and Jeremiah and the Word stood and touched, and when Jeremiah talks about seeing and hearing God’s Word, it seems clear that God truly appeared and was visible to the prophets.
This physical appearance of God raises a number of questions for me. You may have covered them in your blog or perhaps there is an article than can help me think through some of these questions, I would appreciate if you could help me understand a few things:
1) Is there a way in Hebrew to distinguish the audible voice of God (kind of like when God spoke in the New Testament when he said that Jesus is his beloved Son) from the visible word of God, or would it be Debar Yahweh in both cases? Would Jews reading those passages generally understand them as God speaking to the prophets or appearing to them, if they read them in the original language? I don’t see any prepositions in those passages, Hebrew just says Debar Yahwey, is there another way to translate it than “the Word of God”?
2) Do you know when the Hebrew scriptures refer to God as the Word for the first time and why would they start describing appearance of God as the Word of God instead of just God, just like in the stories of God appearing to Moses and Abraham. Why didn’t those passages say the Word of God in those earlier visible appearances?
3) If God appeared in a visible form so easily to some, is there an explanation why he had to be veiled by a cloud when he appeared to others? Also, why God’s appearance in the holy of holies during Yom Kippur was such a big deal and so much care was taken by the priests to make sure they would not be stricken when they appeared before God (they had to be cleansed, be dressed just right and come with blood) when God could just appear to a prophet at random without any preparations?
4) I always wondered and don’t remember if you ever mentioned it, was God still appearing in the temple on Yom Kippur during the time when Jesus was on earth or was it understood that the Glory never returned to the temple after Ezekiel saw it leave in his vision?
I have other questions, this topic if really interesting, but I don’t want to make this post any longer that what it already is. Thank you for your time, I hope you can offer a few brief thoughts dealing with those questions.
There is nothing in the vocabulary that makes a distinction. Since the word = “a message,” the message can be delivered orally (disembodied voice) or by a present (visible) messenger. Both are true. Most people never entertain the latter. The rule of thumb is to ask if anything in the immediate context points toward a present (visible) messenger.
On the last question, there is no indication that Jews thought the presence was still in the temple. As we discussed in the short eschatology podcasts (can’t recall the number of the episodes), Jews still saw themselves as in exile, so that likely contributed to the absence. Another element would be linking the return of the presence to messiah. This idea is referred to in a semi-cryptic way when Jesus refers to his body as the temple.