Daily Retreat 08/13/08
2008 Aug 13 Wed: Ordinary Weekday/ Pontian, pp, mt, and Hippolytus, p, mt
Ez 9: 1-7; 10: 18-22/ Ps 112(113): 1-2. 3-4. 5-6/ Mt 18: 15-20
From today’s readings: “Then the cherubim lifted their wings, and the wheels went along with them, while up above them was the glory of the God of Israel.... The glory of the Lord is higher than the skies.... Jesus said to His disciples: ‘If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.’ ”
Bad News for Jerusalem
Be brave and read Ezekiel through Chapter Ten! Before the big screen and special effects, I can hardly think of anything that would have made a more unforgettable impression than the book of Ezekiel. Even now, if we take them seriously as “the word of the Lord,” Ezekiel’s visions are even more haunting than all the wizardry of Hollywood.
Jerusalem was destroyed by Babylon in 587BC, the beginning of the “Babylonian captivity.” However, the city was only razed to the ground that year as a punitive measure - Jerusalem had actually already surrendered to the Babylonians 10 years earlier, but then had reneged on sacred covenant oaths that had reduced the whole kingdom of Judah to a Babylonian vassal state.
Ezekiel’s prophecy begins in the year 593BC. He and a good portion of the upper class had already been exiled to Babylon at the time of the surrender in 597BC. Thus, when Ezekiel began his work among the exiles in Babylon, Jerusalem was still standing, so the prophet, with his gruesome visions of the impending destruction of Jerusalem, would have come across as an alarmist and killjoy.
Chapter Eight recounts how Ezekiel was taken in a vision from Babylon to Jerusalem, and was thus able to witness the atrocities, perfidies, and idolatries occurring there. Chapters Nine and Ten then relate the chastisement of the unfaithful city, even including the chilling detail of God’s glory abandoning the Temple in Jerusalem. This was significant, because, as was noted a few weeks ago, the inhabitants of Jerusalem took God so much for granted, that they had started to consider Him their “Genie of Invincibility” - false prophets convinced the crowds that no matter what immoralities they stooped to, the Temple of the Lord was their unconditional guarantee that almighty God would always be with them to save them and protect them from all their enemies. So Ezekiel’s dire news was rejected at first, but when the events came to pass, Ezekiel’s message was finally recognized as true prophecy.
Ez 9: 1-7; 10: 18-22/ Ps 112(113): 1-2. 3-4. 5-6/ Mt 18: 15-20
From today’s readings: “Then the cherubim lifted their wings, and the wheels went along with them, while up above them was the glory of the God of Israel.... The glory of the Lord is higher than the skies.... Jesus said to His disciples: ‘If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.’ ”
Bad News for Jerusalem
Be brave and read Ezekiel through Chapter Ten! Before the big screen and special effects, I can hardly think of anything that would have made a more unforgettable impression than the book of Ezekiel. Even now, if we take them seriously as “the word of the Lord,” Ezekiel’s visions are even more haunting than all the wizardry of Hollywood.
Jerusalem was destroyed by Babylon in 587BC, the beginning of the “Babylonian captivity.” However, the city was only razed to the ground that year as a punitive measure - Jerusalem had actually already surrendered to the Babylonians 10 years earlier, but then had reneged on sacred covenant oaths that had reduced the whole kingdom of Judah to a Babylonian vassal state.
Ezekiel’s prophecy begins in the year 593BC. He and a good portion of the upper class had already been exiled to Babylon at the time of the surrender in 597BC. Thus, when Ezekiel began his work among the exiles in Babylon, Jerusalem was still standing, so the prophet, with his gruesome visions of the impending destruction of Jerusalem, would have come across as an alarmist and killjoy.
Chapter Eight recounts how Ezekiel was taken in a vision from Babylon to Jerusalem, and was thus able to witness the atrocities, perfidies, and idolatries occurring there. Chapters Nine and Ten then relate the chastisement of the unfaithful city, even including the chilling detail of God’s glory abandoning the Temple in Jerusalem. This was significant, because, as was noted a few weeks ago, the inhabitants of Jerusalem took God so much for granted, that they had started to consider Him their “Genie of Invincibility” - false prophets convinced the crowds that no matter what immoralities they stooped to, the Temple of the Lord was their unconditional guarantee that almighty God would always be with them to save them and protect them from all their enemies. So Ezekiel’s dire news was rejected at first, but when the events came to pass, Ezekiel’s message was finally recognized as true prophecy.
posted by FrPitstick | 8/11/2008
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