For church on Sunday, the choir is singing the song Ezekiel Saw the Wheel. I was asked to give a brief introduction to the song and the vision of Ezekiel... this is what the Lord has laid on my heart tonight:
From the Visions of Ezekiel in chapters 1-3 and 10-11.
Prophetic visions come to us as completely disconnected from anything that we have ever known and experienced in our lives. Descriptions of beasts with multiple faces and multiple wings, crazy looking wheels with eyes and even an attempt at describing the Glory of the Lord may and often does frighten or even confuse us. Too often we who are so far removed from anything that even resembles this type of picture of vision dismiss these baffling images as something completely irrelevant to us. I do not, however, believe that this is the case. I think that there can be some truth for us here!
Clearly the people of Israel were not taken back or surprised by something like this for if they were the Hebrew elders would have dismissed Ezekiel with a Hebraic “what have you been smoking” statement (that I’m sure I’ll learn in next year’s Hebrew class). No, this vision meant something to them, and it is recorded in the Bible, God’s revelation to us, which means that it means something for us today as well.
This vision comes to Ezekiel on the banks of the Khabur River which is located in Babylon. Ezekiel also says here that he was among the exiles, meaning the people of Israel that were forcibly taken from their homeland. He is a prophet, likely a priest, dwelling amongst a dislocated people. To say that in today’s context means very little as we are able to move great distances without batting an eye, but to be an Israelite not living in Israel means that you have lost everything. Their homes were destroyed. Their cities plundered and demolished. Their fields burned and animals either killed or taken. But none of this compares to the ultimate dislocation they were experiencing, their disconnect from God.
You see the Hebrew people saw the presence of God as being based on a location. For hundreds of years they met God at a place, whether the tabernacle or the temple, and that place was the place of their worship; and that place was now gone. They could not go to it, and they would see that as being removed from God.
Sound familiar? Do you ever find yourself dislocated from God? Do you think you that you are in a place where you cannot worship God, or a place that God cannot be present with you?
This song, Ezekiel Saw the Wheel, is an African American Spiritual. Why? Because there have been many people throughout history that have identified with the exiled Hebrews, taken from all they know. African slaves were one of these people. Lost, alone, separated, and enslaved, full of hopelessness.
But God is a God of hope, faithful and true to His people across all ages. In the midst of hopelessness God speaks powerfully and brings this vision to Ezekiel, a vision with powerful images that the Hebrews would have picked up on. So let see what they see…
-->The Throne of God resting on fierce storming clouds, flanked by the cherubim on each side, and all placed on four wheels. These are your everyday Goodyear tires either, these wheels are unique: they are a wheel within a wheel. You see, most cars and just go forward, and to turn takes time. You cannot go just anywhere at any time, you need space to make the appropriate moves. But God’s visionary vehicle can go anywhere and everywhere and is anywhere and everywhere. With wheels that can drive both north/south and east/west at the same time, God can be anywhere and is everywhere! More than that, these wheels are covered in eyes… so not only can Yahweh be anywhere and everywhere, but He also sees all. Nothing happens by blind chance or fortune, there is no change that God did not see or foresee.
This is what the slaves began to discover as they were introduced to Christianity. They identified with these dislocated Hebrews, taken from all they have known. But they found a God of hope that was with them in their suffering and they believed that just as God promised the people of Israel that He would save them and return them to their land, so God would act on behalf of them as slaves and free them from their suffering. They encountered a God is the all-powerful, ever-present, all-knowing God that He has always been and he is there with the Israelites in their exile in Babylon and was with the slaves in the fields of America and He is with you now no matter where you are in your life. Because we know in this Easter season that God has not abandoned us to our sin and suffering but He sent his son who died and rose again, breaking the bonds of sin and death and hell and through Him we have life forever more AMEN!
Perhaps you are suffering in your life right now… perhaps you feel distant from God… you may not encounter a vision experience like Ezekiel, but my friends, we have a vision like that… our vision is Jesus!! Our Savior and our Lord. He is our all-powerful, ever-present, all-knowing Lord and He is there with you in your exile as well. Turn to him… He is there… no matter where you are!
