Ezekiel Chapter 7 – Loving Through Repetition
Like other prophets of God recorded in the Old Testament, Ezekiel’s job description was not an easy one. Chapter 7 is God’s stern warning concerning the end of Israel. The warning came after Ezekiel witnessed a series of vision and gave three performances (Eze 4 and 5).
In the performances, Ezekiel first created a model of Jerusalem and attacked it. He then made bread and baked it over cow dung. He then lied on his left side for 390 days (1 year and 25 days) and the right for 40 days. Finally, he trimmed his hair and divided it into three portions. One portion he burnt with fire; one portion he chopped up with a knife; and one portion he scattered. His performances well remind what we refer to today as ‘happening,’ ‘action art’ or ‘performance art’–an avant-garde performance genre first emerged in the 1970s. Taking place in non-conventional performance venues, such as the streets, historical ruins, parks, or construction sites, these performances often sought to convey social critique by rendering the performer vulnerable through acts of self-harm.
In chapters 6 and 7, God elaborated verbally in length why He was angry. God’s repeatedly expressed anger, stern warning, and foretelling of Israel’s eventual consequences well resonate with His views and sentiments similarly expressed elsewhere in the books of the prophets.
Why these repeated warnings? First through visions, then through performances, then through verbal expressions. Why repeat? God bothered to repeat and to communicate His anger is a sign that He wants to maintain His relationship with the Israelites. If we reflect on our own personal experiences, when we still bother to argue, to explain, and to clarify with an individual, it means we still care and we want to maintain our relationship, be it between spouses, siblings, friends, or parent and child. But when hearts grow cold and all hopes are gone, there would be silence instead of dialogues.
Repetition is in fact a sign of God’s eternal love and mercy.
Like what Jeremiah has described, God’s love and compassions never fail, they are new every morning (Lam 3: 22, 23). When God gives us another day, allowing us to open our eyes and see the first ray of morning sun, God is saying , “Yes, I give you another chance.” A chance for what?
Just like the Levites and priests who, day by day, burnt offerings and praised God (Exo 29:38; Num 28:3; 2 Chr 30:21; Ezra 6:9), another day is another chance to establish and strengthen our relationship with God through prayers. Day by day, through repeated nourishment we grow in strength. God therefore teaches us to pray, by asking Him to give us our daily bread to sustain our physical life (Luk 11:3).
Day by day, Nehemiah read the Book of the Law of God to the Israelites to nourish their spiritual life (Neh 8: 18). Physical nourishment will not halt ageing nor evade death. Our physical body perishes but inwardly our spirit must be renewed, day by day (2 Cor 4:16). Day by day, mighty men joint David until his army became like the army of God (1 Chr 12: 21-23). Day by day, King David provided a portion of rationing to Jehoiachin all the days of his life.
Through repetition, a day at a time, God gives us the space and time to be nourished, to heal, to grow, to mature, to strengthen, to change, and to improve. Another day is time; time is life. Within our limited life, we want to work on ourselves like a piece of artwork so that it may be fitting for eternity. When God still bothers to repeatedly show and explain His thoughts and feelings to us, it means God cares. He loves us through repetition. Through repetition we listen, heed, respond and act.