THE PORTRAYED CLAY TABLET AND HIS LYING God started to command the prophet Ezekiel to prophesy and to warn the people, through symbols and through the use of what we call ‘Clarification tools,’ like those followed in the kindergarten; because of the limited ability of human language to express; or in an attempt to draw their attention by a series of ocular lessons. 1- The portrayed clay tablet 1-3. 2- Lying on one side 4-8. 3- Eating food by weight and with anxiety 9-17. 1- THE PORTRAYED CLAY TABLET God commanded him to portray on a clay tablet, a city under siege; to build a siege wall, heap up a mound, set camps, and place battering rams all around it; as a proclamation that Jerusalem is going to fall under siege. God allowed that divine chastisement against Jerusalem, because, for long years, the holy Temple has been defiled through setting heathen idols inside the holy places. As Zion felt that God, her Master forsook and forgot her; God confirmed to her, saying: “I have inscribed you on the palms of My hand” (Is 49:16). I have inscribed you in My Son Jesus Christ; as you are His holy body; for which He is the Head! I see you in Him, sanctified and justified! Lifted up by Him, and in Him to My bosom; to enjoy the fellowship of My glories. But here, as Zion persists on sinning, being bound to worldly things; and refrains from exalting above the earthliness; God commands Ezekiel to portray her on a clay tablet, instead of being inscribed on the divine palm. He often uttered the phrase: “I will repay your ways” (Ez 7:4). As she coveted the earth; He made her inscribed on mud; by that He is granting her the request of her heart! The names of the tribes of Israel, were once inscribed on the precious stones that used to adorn the breastplate of the High Priest, to enter with it into the Holy of Holies, the shadow of the heavenliness; Now the city of Jerusalem is inscribed on a lowly clay tablet, the mud that she wished to be overloaded with! In the book of the ‘Song of Songs,’ God lovingly compares His children to horses, working together with one spirit, in His divine chariot, for salvation (Song 1:9); “as beautiful as Tirzah; lovely as Jerusalem; awesome as an army with banners” (Song 6:4). But as they persist on rejecting Him, and attaching themselves to abominations, He sets of the nations, mounds and battering rams against them, to destroy their strength; and orders an iron wall to be set all around the city (Ez 4:3); not to protect it; but to keep those inside it from escaping from the chastisements that would befall it. It is amazing, that God, amid all those bitter moments, commands His prophet, more than once, to set his face toward Jerusalem, and to uncover his arm, while prophesying against it (Ez 4:7). Setting his face toward Jerusalem, and confirming this twice, is a sign of God’s care for His people, both the Jews and of the Gentiles; The Church with all its races, is the object of His care, even during the moments of bitter chastisement. He allows for His children to pass through bitter afflictions yet, together with salvation. That is why St. John Chrysostom calls suffering, ‘the school of 6 philosophy1;’ and says: [When we err, God sets our enemies to chasten us; thus it is fitting for us, not to fight them, but to examine ourselves. We should accept suffering the same way we accept bitter medication from a physician for our own benefit, and the way we accept chastisement from our fathers to gain glory. Ben Sirach says: “My son; If you set yourself to minister to your God, be prepared to confront temptations and be patient.”2] The uncovered arm, refers to the incarnation; as the Church Fathers believe that “the Arm of God” refers to the “Son;” and the “Finger of God” refers to the “Holy Spirit.” It is as though, Jerusalem would remain under siege, seized by sin and under its dominion, until the ‘Arm of God’ is uncovered. According to the words of St. John: “Life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us” (1 John 1:2). Who was unseen, became revealed through incarnation; “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Our heart (the inner Jerusalem) was besieged, our temple was defiled, and we became as though dead; until the Father uncovered His Arm; namely, sent His Only-Begotten Son, to set us free, and to bring us back to salvation. That was what the prophet Isaiah saw by the spirit of prophecy; as he brought the good news to Jerusalem, captivated by sin; that was dead and buried under earth, and utterly destroyed; saying: “Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city!... Shake yourself from the dust, arise, and sit down Jerusalem. Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion!... How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of Him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation; who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns’... Break forth into joy, sing together. You waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted His people. He has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has made bare His holy arm, in the eyes of all nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God” (Isaiah 52). It is obvious that the source of the awakening of Zion, of putting on her strength, of shaking herself from the dust, of loosening herself from the bonds of bondage, and of her future enjoyment of peace, is the uncovering of God’s Arm before the eyes of all nations; namely, the incarnation of the Lord to gather together in His body, congregations to enjoy salvation. Uncovering the arm also refers to preparation to strike; which I believe does not mean striking His people, but striking the sin that destroyed them. As the Lord Christ have come, not to judge man but to save him... He judged the sin, in which we fell in His body! God’s heart toward His people did not change. Yet His holiness requires devastating sin, and punishing the sinners, who persist on their wickedness, with the hope that they may return to Him in repentance. 2- LYING ON ONE SIDE 1 In Acts, PG 60: 378. . 2 للمؤلف: القدیس یوحنا الذهبي الفم، 1981 ، ص 322 7 Having proclaimed the siege against Jerusalem, and its captivation, together with hinting about His care for her, and uncovering His holy arm to save her; God started to clarify the activity of sin in the life of man. It would completely destroy him; would cast him into a state of continuous sleep; with no vitality nor activity; man lies on one side, as though paralyzed. He commanded his prophet to lie on his left side for 390 days (190 days according to the Septuagint version); then to lie on his right side for 40 days. By the first sleep He refers to the iniquity of the house of Israel; and by the second, to that of the house of Judah. The first action refers to the fall of man under the left strike; namely, the obvious sins as adultery, murder, stealing, lying etc. While the right strike is the hidden sins, to which the believers, and those ministering to the Lord, are subjected; like selfrighteousness, love of dignity and compliments; things that, although do not look like sins before people, yet they corrupt the life of believers and ministers. Lying on the left side lasts a longer time than liking on the right side; for, although the evil of the house of Judah, came later than that of the northern kingdom of Israel; yet in a shorter time, their evil was consummated. Thus, by the right strikes, believers fell with serious swiftness, and their wickedness is consummated in a shorter time; something that made St. John Chrysostom proclaim: [I wonder how a Bishop can ever get salvation!] The fathers of the wilderness used to warn their monk children against the right strikes, more than the left ones; as the later are obvious, and easier to repent; while the former, mostly hidden, infiltrate into the heart, and destroy its repentance. Why did the left side refer to Israel, and the right to Judah? This is because when man looks toward sunrise, the north will be on his left side, and the south on his right side. Thus the left side represents the northern kingdom of Israel, and the right side represents the southern kingdom of Judah. Concerning the figures, I do not intend to enter into much detail; as there are several interpretations for them; I shall only mention the following points: a- Some believe that by adding the two figure together (390 + 40), the total will be 430 days; a symbol of the years of bondage, spent by the nation of Israel in Egypt. It is as though these figures are symbols of the action of sin in the life of believers; bringing them into bitter bondage. b- Some believe that the figure 390 refers to years that Israel lived, between the falling away of Jeroboam and the devastation of Jerusalem; while the figure 40 refers to the years during which Judah lived in lowliness, before captivity. c- Some interpret the figure 390 in the following way: Jerusalem remained under siege for 18 months (Jer 52:4-6); If we subtract from it 5 months, during which those besieged departed, when the army of Pharaoh approached the city (Jer 37:5-8), the rest would be 13 months, namely 390 days. d- The two figures: 390 and 40, refer to sin that covered all men and all worldly life; destroying all humanity with paralysis and destroyed everyone all the days of his life. The figure 390 is the product of multiplying 39 by 10; as the number of the tribes of Israel is 10, and the wage of sin is 39 scourges; as though all tribes were worthy of scourging. The figure 40, on the other hand, refers to the whole worldly life; that is why the Lord Christ fasted 40 days; and so did Moses and Elijah, as a sign of how we should 8 disregard the pleasures of life all the days of our sojourn. The first figure means that sin covers the life of all people; and the second means that it covers our whole life. Some believe that lying for 390 days on his left side, and for 40 days on his right side, contradicts what is mentioned in (Ez 8:1), where we see the prophet sitting among the elite of his people during that same period; beside the fact that it is almost impossible to literally carry out that command on the part of man. As an answer to that we say that, it has been the custom in the old days for men to recline while sitting on the floor on a cushion put under the right or left arm, as preferred1. That text under consideration, does not imply that the prophet should not move while abiding to God’s command; but commit him to keep on reclining on his left side all along the 390 days, and on his right side all along the 40 days; whenever he intends to sit. It also commits him to uncover his whole arm, on which he reclines (v. 7). This command does not keep the prophet from practicing all the movements and various tasks he likes during that period. We do not see any difficulty on the part of the prophet or any other, to carry out that command. We do not find as well, any contradiction with the text that came in ( Ez 8: 1) , concerning the prophet’s sitting among the elite of his people. The first text does not keep the prophet from sitting with others; and at the same time, it confirms that he was sitting at home; and no doubt abiding to the position told to him by the divine command; so there is no contradiction between the two texts. 3- EATING FOOD BY WEIGHT AND WITH ANXIETY Eating food by weight and with anxiety, and drinking water by measure and with dread, is a sign of the famine that was to befall the people for chastisement. It symbolizes the work of sin in the life of man; bringing on his soul a condition of hunger with anxiety, and thirst with dread, altogether with the condition of paralysis that befell it. He allotted him 20 shekels of bread a day, and I/6 of a hen (about I/2 pint or 1/16 of a gallon) of water. That bread is of the worst kind, that is given to the horses and pigs: a mixture of wheat, barley, beans, lentils and mini grains; to eat it while reclining on one side. He commanded him as well to bake it on human waste, instead of wood, as a sign of the extent of defilement and uncleanness that the people reached (Deut 23); but responding to the prophet’s supplication to relieve him of this last condition, God allowed him to bake it on cow’s dung. This custom is still followed in the country, where cow’s dung is used as fuel instead of wood. Anyhow this behavior symbolizes how much people suffered hardship. . 1 الدكتور وهیب جورجي: مقدمات العهد القدیم، 1985 ، ص 276 9 AN INSPIRATION FROM THE BOOK OF E ZEKIEL 4 THROUGH YOUR LOVE YOU INSCRIBED ME ON YOUR PALMS You counted me as Your beloved Jerusalem, and the holy Zion. But with my sins and the abominations of my heart, I became inscribed on a clay tablet. I became despised; sunk in mud. By my negligence, the enemy surrounded me, and destroyed my walls. You, Who wishes to make Your fiery Spirit a wall for my life! O Father, You have stretched Your divine arm; Having sent to me Your Son incarnated, To cleanse me of dust, to grant me Your fiery Spirit, And to carry me up to Your bosom. My sin took away my vitality; I became as though paralyzed; Sometimes reclining on my left side, struck by evil; And sometimes reclining on my right side struck by self-righteousness. My sin deprived me of fulfillment; Turning my inner Paradise into utter poverty. Who will rescue me from this famine, But You, O the fulfillment of my soul?!
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