(PLEASE NOTE: TOMORROW I LEAVE FOR MY WEEK OF SILENCE, UNLESS THINGS HAVE CHANGED SINCE MY LAST VISIT TO THE ABBEY I WILL HAVE NO INTERNET CONNECTION. HOWEVER, I WILL KEEP A JOURNAL AND IF THERE IS A WAY I CAN SEND OUT MY DAILY ENTRIES I WILL DO SO. IF NOT I SHALL RESUME MY DAILY STUDIES WHEN I RETURN ON MAY 20. IN THE MEANTIME, MAY YOU SEE AND EXPERIENCE THE LOVE OF GOD AS EZEKIEL DID AND AS I SHALL NEXT WEEK DURING MY TIME OF SILENCE.)
Ezekiel 8:2: “Then beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins and even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the color of amber.”
There are those who look at this chapter in Ezekiel and call it an alien abduction. I think something much more profound than that happened, I believe Ezekiel was given a glimpse into the world of the spirit and saw things that you just cannot explain in natural terms. Our modern translations make it very difficult to understand because this passage is filled with Hebraic and Aramaic idioms and metaphors. As I study this passage in light of the ancient Hebrew and Chaldean culture and language I am finding the concept of alien abduction truly an invention of a turnip just falling off the truck.
Be that as it may, books have been written, fortunes made and platforms established by men who have used quasi intellectual scholastic credentials to prey on those seeking hidden knowledge of secret conspiracies behind the government and governmental organizations. What amazes me is that these same people who use Scripture to prove their points are the very ones who deny the existence of God claiming He is an extraterrestrial. Yet tear apart Scriptures like these claiming that they are totally accurate. It is our belief in the inspiration of Scripture that declares this to be accurate. If you are denying the existence of a supernatural God you have to question the accuracy of this text which these conspiracy theorists will not do. Their whole premises is based upon the accuracy of the Scriptures yet they are totally ignorant of ancient cultures and languages.
So let me look at this without horns or teeth. Ezekiel was taken into captivity by the Babylonians at the age of twenty five. He was one of 3,000 captives from the wealthy, noble class of Judah. He settled along the Chabar River in the Babylonian territory where he was greatly influenced by the Babylonian and Chaldean culture and language. Although the Book of Ezekiel was written in Classical Hebrew, it is filled with allusions to Chaldean culture, Aramaic expressions and idioms. Ezekiel began to have his visions at the age of 50 and people from all around would traveled to listen to Ezekiel explain his visions. After twenty five years in Babylon his language and expressions would have taken on a truly Chaldean flavor and hence we must examine this passage in the light of not only the Hebrew culture and language but the Chaldean as well.
What Ezekiel saw was indeed a heavenly being, but could we being seeing something similar among the true believers, those who truly love and worship God? Just what did Ezekiel see in verse 8:2? We cannot be sure because all Ezekiel could do was explain in natural terms something that is supernatural which no natural words can explain so you must resort to metaphors and other poetic devices. When the writer says that Issachar is a strong donkey in Genesis 49:14 he is not saying that Issachar is a literal horse like creature with bulging muscles, he is merely trying to set a natural picture to an abstract concept. This is similar to what Ezekiel is doing.
Note he talks of the likeness and an appearance of fire and loins. The word likeness is demuth from the root word damah which means to be similar but in a quiet way. Using the word damah Ezekiel is expressing a richly poetic word, both in Hebrew and Aramaic which incorporates not only a natural picture but a feeling as well. He is trying to express what he feels. He is feeling warmth and comfort from this picture. Hence this being that he could not describe in natural terms radiated warmth and comfort. To use the word fire (Hebrew – ash) he was saying that this was not a threatening out of control fire that would consume him but one that brought warmth and comfort.
The word appearance is kemareh which is from the root word ra’ah which is to see but is also rooted in the word kemar which means to kindle a fire for warmth and is also used for love and compassion. This is again a beautifully poetic word used to describe something that causes you to feel love, compassion and warmth. Literally, it means to see love. What does love look like, if you could draw a picture of love what would it look like. I can picture Ezekiel sitting around a camp fire with a group of 21st Century Western cultured Christians who have somehow traveled in a time to the day of Ezekiel and are listening to him tell of his experience. If Ezekiel could speak modern English he would say: “What I saw was warmth, compassion and love. Have you ever seen warmth, compassion and love?”
Ezekiel says something rather strange the appearance of brightness. The word brightness is a very wonderful word. It is the word Zohar. It is a common Jewish name which means aglow or to glow and radiate. It is used for one who has access to deep hidden knowledge and secrets, secrets which bear a warning but not a threat. The combination of the word kemereh (appearance) with Zohar (aglow) would form an Aramaic Idiom used to express a warm gentle warning.
Then the writer says: As the color of amber. The Hebrew word for color of amber is chasmal which means the color of amber, color of copper, gleaming metal, glowing metal, glitter, to glow and is also another word for aglow. But here is the kicker. The word chasmal is also an Aramaic idiom common along the Chebar river region which means: As the look of God.
What Ezekiel saw in 8:2 was a feeling. He saw warmth, love, and compassion. It was so awesome it looked like God or what he could imagine God would look like. Have you ever met another Christian who was just chasmal, aglow with the presence of God? Maybe they were not physically beautiful, but the look of God the chasmal was so great that you did not see their physical appearance because you were just blinded by the love of God.
Someone once wrote the words: “We are the only Jesus that some people will ever see.” I think there have been times I have seen what Ezekiel saw in 8:2. Don’t you?
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