Daily Prophets
Day 142
“And the Lord said to him, Go through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark upon the foreheads of the men who sigh and who cry for all the abominations that are done in its midst. Slay utterly old men and young men, young girls, and little children, and women; but do not come near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary.(Ezekiel 9:4,6)
Ezekiel is again angry and recounting an experience that could not have happened in Babylon, only in Jerusalem. This prophecy is either a recapping of what has happened in a different light or a vision that came to Ezekiel in Babylon as a reminder, explanation for the exile. He is certainly making the destruction and exile a punishment from God, not a political grab/gain for the Babylonian Empire.
While the descriptions seem far fetched to many people today, I believe he is so over the top because of his inability to effect any of the changes/returns that the earlier prophets had demanded/requested. Ezekiel, I believe, suffers from survivors’ guilt and the guilt of one who could not make a difference in the outcome. He is suffering from his own need to fix that he could not control. Ezekiel is having a confrontation with himself, a dark night of the soul, and has to learn that he can only do the best he can and is powerless over the actions of other people.
The first verse above tells us of God’s mercy and grace. God is sending someone to mark the foreheads of the people who recognize their errors and the errors of the people around them. Because they can “sigh and cry for all the abominations that are done in their midst” it shows God of their desire to return and, rather than allow Babylon to destroy everyone, God wants to save these people. It is interesting that the mark on the forehead has a similar significance to the mark of Cain-that this person is protected by God.
I believe that we have forgotten to “sigh and cry” for the errors we make and the errors those around us make. We have become so used to defending our actions, refusing to admit our responsibility for our “missing the marks”, mistakes, failures-however you want to put it-and this makes us unable to “sigh and cry”. God and Ezekiel are reminding us that acknowledging our wrongs, seeing the wrongs of our friends, family, society is a holy action and one deserving of salvation. Actually, as I write this I am realizing without the “sigh and cry” we are not worthy of being saved. Hence, Rabbi Heschel’s teaching that “prayer will not save us, it may make us worthy of being saved”.
Ezekiel has the people begin at the Sanctuary, I believe, because that was his place of work and service. It is the place and people who should have been helping the people return to God before the destruction began. It is the place where Ezekiel was ineffective and the place of his greatest shame. Instead of realizing his responsibility, he is in fact blaming the other priests and wanting revenge on them, I believe. How human is this! The more shame Ezekiel feels, the more he is unable to accept his responsibility for this outcome, the more blame he puts on another(s). Remember, Rabbi Heschel teaches “in a free society, some are guilty all are responsible”.
He is interested in killing those fellow priests because he will then get revenge and call it God’s will. Revenge is never God’s Will, it is humankind’s will. We think that we can “get even” and exact our pound of flesh for the harms another(s) has inflicted upon us. It never truly works out that well, however. We cannot exact revenge and live a life compatible with God. God doesn’t seek revenge, only connection, purification. Whenever humans seek revenge, we become less than human, distant from God and never fully satisfied from our revenge. Yes there are schadenfreude moments and they don’t last long as well as realizing that what we hated done to us, we have done to another. Beginning at the Sanctuary does allow everyone else to see that no one is above God’s ways of living and everyone has to face themselves and God at sometime in their lives.
In recovery, we have the mark on our foreheads. Before, it was a mark that everyone could see and know to stay away from us because we were not able to be reliable, not able to be truthful, not able to be honest, not able to live a life compatible with God, decency, kindness, justice and love. In recovery, we have turned our lives over to God’s will and God’s teachings, we “sigh and cry” for the errors of our past and the ones we make now-no longer hiding from you, me, and God. In recovery, we also rejoice in our transformation to being an instrument of God’s love, mercy, kindness, justice and truth. We rejoice in our return to God, society, community, family and our authentic self.
I have the mark on my forehead and I “sigh and cry” at my errors and mistakes. I also “sigh and cry” at the errors and mistakes on another(s). I no longer have to “get even”, I no longer have to blame, I no longer feel less than, I no longer accept the shame another(s) want to put on me. God’s grace and mercy have truly saved me and I am so grateful. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark