Readings:
Ezekiel 10-12
2 Corinthians 10

Ezekiel 10-12

Ezekiel has another encounter with the four faced creatures and ones that looked like spinning wheels of eyes, the first ones are referred to as cherubim, and he helpfully adds that these are the same as the ones he saw at the river in the very beginning of his visions and prophesying. Christian tradition tells us of the 9 choirs of angels, with cherubim being among the highest ranks.

Ezekiel is given a prophecy against the leaders of Jerusalem who have been leading the people into treachery and idolatry even worse than before Ezekiel had departed in the first exile. Apparently the people remaining in Jerusalem thought that the exiles were removed from the land and from the promises of Abraham, so that all the land of Israel was now theirs. Little did they know that the exiles were actually beginning to reform and the citizens of Jerusalem were further from God than before.

In this mixture of events another interesting thing takes place. Ezekiel sees the glory of God, which was sometimes noted to be physically present above the The Ark of The Covenant , and he sees this image that is usually represented as a cloud, rise up and leave Jerusalem out the eastern gate to the mount of olives. The Ark isn’t explicitly mentioned here, but around this time it disappeared from the historical record, and is only mentioned in the past tense through the rest of the Bible. Some say it was spirited away to Ethiopia, some say it disappeared far earlier in the age of the divided kingdoms, and then in Maccabees it’s mentioned that Jewish custom held that Jeremiah hid it before the fall of Jerusalem. Regardless of where it is, it was not present when the Temple gets rebuilt, and it wasn’t present in the age of Christ.

Not that the glory cloud couldn’t stay in the temple unless the Ark was there, as if it was some sort of summoning point, but that God allows it to disappear as a way of showing his spirit had departed because of the infidelity to the covenant by the people.

This is how it was seen by second temple era Jews, and they even had special prayers at the morning sacrifice to pray for the return of the spirit of God to the temple. We of course know that God did return to his temple, but only Simeon and Anna recognized him that first time (see Luke 2:22-38)

For more on the return of the Spirit see https://nowthatimcatholic.com/2016/05/20/pentecost-in-sinai-and-jerusalem/

Finally, in our Old Testament readings from Ezekiel, we see the people who thought all these prophets were speaking about distant events that wouldn’t bother them personally. They say “the days are long and the visions come to nothing“ meaning the prophetic warnings of catastrophe never come to pass, but Gid instructs Ezekiel to tell them it’s not far off, it’s here now. That should be a major wake up call.

2 Corinthians 10

Paul turns his attention to the minority of believers in Corinth who’ve been convinced by the false teachers who were addressed earlier, and no long believe Paul to be an authentic apostle. So by extension they’d reject his authority and pastoral care of their community.

It seems like the false teachers had a very bombastic means of preaching and Paul wasn’t as fiery, and that is one of the things this small group is continuing to hold against him. Paul points out that regardless of style, truth and fidelity to the gospel is the most important proof for him.

Tomorrow’s Readings:
Ezekiel 13-15
2 Corinthians 11