Year in the Bible Week 33

Ezekiel’s Vision by Raphael (c. 1518)

Jeremiah never went to Babylon, but he watched as thousands were taken there, just as God had said. What a tragedy. At the time of the siege of Jerusalem Jeremiah was over 70 years old, and he had to stay and speak God‘s truth to a city stripped of wealth and starving after squandering God‘s blessings. Baruch, acting as scribe, may have been Jeremiah’s only real companion during this time, even though King Zedekiah himself knew that Jeremiah was a man of God, speaking the horrible truth. Some other admirers still helped, but the persecution of God’s “weeping prophet” is painful to read about. As the bible prepares us for Jerusalem to get destroyed, Jeremiah’s experience will point allegorically to the struggles of the faithful when chaos and treachery unfold around us to this day. 

Among the refugees in Babylon, God raises a young man named Ezekiel with a wondrous, powerful vision and commissions him to be a prophet to the nation. God tells Ezekiel not to be afraid of the harsh words and rough treatment he will receive, and has him eat a scroll with words of “lamentation, mourning and woe” before sharing those words with the people. This symbolizes that this new prophet must internalize the words and will of God before preaching them, and confirms that God’s spirit was profoundly with Ezekiel. Check out this video for a preview of the visions to come:

Next comes the destruction of Jerusalem and seventy years of exile. We will stay in the Old Testament for a few more weeks before God’s love story to his people takes its wonderful turn to a new, everlasting covenant that covers the whole world. Keep reading!