Ezekiel 2

Suppose that the Lord were to say the following to me:

Attention, Rhoda!  Come forward here and stand straight and tall because I have a very special job assignment for you!  

OK, here it is:  Your job for the rest of your life will be the completely thankless task of telling all your friends that all the terrible things that they have experienced so far in their lives - warfare, defeat, captivity, a death march across the desert, the destruction of their nation and its culture and worship - have not been enough to appease God.   They are still rebellious and have stubbornly resisted repenting.

And, by the way, I should tell you that they probably will not listen to you, but will beat you and find ways to torture you.
As for you, Rhoda, don't you be rebellious like them!  But do as I tell you even though I know they will not change.

Wouldn't that be everybody's idea of a great job opportunity? If this had been God's assignment for me, I think I would have been tempted to say, "No thanks, find someone else for this assignment." But God did not ask Ezekiel if he was willing to take this assignment. He just gave it to him and expected Ezekiel to obey.

I looked specifically to see how many times God used the word rebellious and found it used 7 times in verses 3-8, which are the verses that contain God's job description for Ezekiel. Two Hebrew words are used, but apparently from what I can learn, these are basically just two forms of the same word, Marad, which means to rebel or revolt. In addition, God used the words transgressed, stubborn, and obstinate to describe them. In the midst of this, He warns Ezekiel not to be afraid of these stubborn, obstinate, rebellious, rebelling, transgressing people.

What can I learn from this that is relevant for me as I am trying to determine what God wants for Ed and me from here?
1)God's plan is not designed for my private pleasure
2)God's plan is just that - His plan - not my plan, not others' plans for me.
3)My success in carrying out His plan is not based on results but on obedience.
4)I can miss His plan if I rebel.

Lord, help me choose to obey and submit to whatever Your plan is for us.

The assumption of design

God is not a creature, that is, He was not created and at no time was He ever described in the Bible with any inference of createdness.  But when Ezekiel saw the vision of the wheels, he describes them as having "workmanship."  That is, he perceived a worker, a designer.  I looked up the Hebrew word translated workmanship and found that it was ma'aseh, which means a work, a deed, an act, etc.  So Ezekiel clearly intended to mean that the wheels had the appearance of having been made.  Now the obvious question is, wouldn't anyone?  Have I ever seen a wheel that did not appear to have been manufactured?  Have I ever even imagined an eternal wheel?  So what is it that makes a wheel appear to be designed?  It is symmetry, the presence of repetitive structures (spokes), and the presence of matter.  I cannot perceive whether Ezekiel saw matter or not, but he definitely perceived the wheels as having symmetry and repetitive structures, in this case the wheels in the wheels and the rims full of eyes.  Something about that clearly spoke to Ezekiel of design and a worker who assembled these parts. But, huge but, the wheels are also described as containing the spirits of the living beings.  So it seems that we can safely assume that Ezekiel also saw the living beings as having workmanship.  He saw them as also having symmetry, both within themselves and between themselves and repetitive structures in the same two ways. 

As a biologist, I must ask why it is that when most of my fellow scientists see repetitive structure and symmetry in DNA or proteins or at the organismal level, that they fail to see workmanship and choose chance as a better explanation.  To the Biblical writers the assumption is that two kinds exist - created and not created.  The not created is One.  He is not symmetrical, that is He is the same throughout at every point in time and space.  "There is no shadow cast by turning," is James' (1:17) way of describing this.  He is not made of repeating parts.  The Persons of the Trinity are both one and unique.  When Ezekiel looked at the Almighty on His throne, he described Him and His surroundings as having "the appearance" of various material things - the appearance of lapis lazuli, the resemblance of a throne, something like glowing metal, something like fire, appearance of a rainbow, and when all ability to describe nearly forsook him, "the appearance of the likeness" of His glory.  He is not designed, He appears. 

I don't want to make too much of this work appearance, however, because the living beings also had an "appearance" that Ezekiel had difficulty describing.  But the addition of "workmanship" in connection with the wheels definitely seems to convey the difference between the beings and their Creator.  They are worked, He appears.

Lord, may my heart be stirred by Your appearance, especially by Your amazing revelation in Jesus Christ.  May I see Your appearance reflected in all around me, but may I also see You clearly in the infinite Otherness of Who You are.