***
This metaphysical problem, known as the Immanence of God – where in the world
is He? – has long puzzled theologians, sometimes giving rise to irreverent jokes (e.g., "I found Jesus! He was behind the couch!"). But truly, if you want to see God, you must seek Him out. Even then, it's like asking to see the doctor in the Emergency Room of a U.S. hospital: No matter how bad off you are, you will have to wait. (Worst-case scenario: a nurse finally says, "Okay, you can see the Doctor now." But she's mistaken, you can't see the Doctor at all because by that time, you're already dead.)
A few patient individuals since Abraham's day have seen the Lord without having to wait until death. The prophet Ezekiel, for one, was granted an eyeball-to-eyeball with Yahveh after just six years of prayerful pleading. Ezekiel, you may remember, is the holy prophet whom God called "the Son of Man." His ministry extended from 595 - 573 BCE, and he is the only Old Testament prophet to merit mention in
The Guiness Book of World Records. Ezekiel once lay on his side for 390 days, eating bread made from the Lord's own dictated recipe: flour, water, yeast, and cow-poop. (The original recipe called for human excrement, but God finally allowed Ezekiel, who was squeamish, to substitute cow-pies for human turds: it's in the Bible, you can look it up; but I hope you never get that hungry [
Ezek. 4:9-15]).
Ezekiel's meeting with the incarnate Yahveh came when the prophet least expected it, during afternoon snack-time with the Jewish elders, none of whom was willing, however, to try one of Ezekiel's chocolate-chip muffins.
In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the Jewish elders sat before me, the hand of the LORD God fell there upon me. I saw Him coming, a radiant figure – and when I looked up, lo! from His burning loins downward, He was like flaming fire! And above the waist, He was the color of bright amber. (Ezek. 8:1-2)
The Jewish elders did not look up Yahweh's skirts, as Ezekiel did. They did not even see the Lord come or go. They noticed only that their friend Ezekiel, "the Son of Man," suddenly (*poof*) disappeared; and the elders were sore amazed.
The Lord had snatched Ezekiel by a lock of his long, rather dirty, somewhat tangled hair, and hoisted him high above the streets of Jerusalem.
"Son of Man," said Yahveh, "do you see what they are doing down there – the utterly detestable things that the people of Israel are doing?" (
Ezek. 8:3).
Ezekiel looked down. The first thing he saw was that his mystified houseguests – the Jewish elders – had ventured out into the street, to search for him. One of the elders pointed. The rest looked up. They saw him. They waved. Ezekiel modestly tucked his robes between his thighs, so that they could not look up his skirts and see his loins. But he did not wave back because he was distracted and appalled by what else he saw: the prophet espied the Jews of Israel, on rooftops all over the city, performing such human abominations, such whoring and sodomy and gormandizing, such idol-worship and Sabbath-breaking and nude sun-bathing, as made him want to puke.
"Do you see this, Son of Man?" said Yahveh. Ezekiel nodded. "Lo, you shall see things that are even more detestable than this!" (
Ezek. 8:6).
– L.
(
Tomorrow: Things more detestable than you ever imagined!)
