Day 211: Called By Name

Isaiah 43:1-13 In both his blessings and his purifying punishment, God was showing his steadfast love for his Chosen People. God revealed himself to be rich in mercy and kindness toward his people.

He who created you...formed you: God created every person out of a profound and infinite love. It is important to keep in mind that everyone is made in God’s image and likeness.

I have called you...mine: A name represents a unique and unrepeatable individual. God knows and loves each of us by name, meaning he deals with us personally. Therefore, disrespect for someone’s name shows disrespect toward the person. (CCC 218, 287, 2158, 2167)

Ch 43:10-15 This stark prophecy is about the coming of Christ; he is the “servant” who comes in the name of the Lord to redeem his people (cf. Mt 21:9). The language also identifies the Redeemer with God himself, such that the Savior and the Lord are one. (CCC 565)

Ch 43:14-21 The Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt was a touchstone for remembering God’s deliverance. Every subsequent request for deliverance and salvation necessarily recalled that pivotal event in the history of Israel. (CCC 1334, 1363, 2057)

Ch 43:19 A new thing: This prophecy indicates the coming of the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit who was active in creation and would provide consolation and hope to the people. (CCC 711)

Ch 44:1-5 God loves his people so much that he was constantly disposed to forgive their numerous infidelities as long as they repented. (CCC 1063)

Ch 44:6-20 By definition, the basic tenet of every monotheistic religion is that there is only one God who transcends all creation. Belief in God is the basic tenet of faith from which flows the entire content of religious belief. Therefore, the Nicene Creed begins with the phrase, “I believe in one God.” In a certain sense, the entire Old Testament is both a history and teaching on the meaning of belief in one God and its ramifications for the Chosen People. (CCC 198, 201, 212, 2112)

Ch 44:24-28 This prophecy is a reminder that God is the Creator of the world down to the minutest detail and that he keeps everything in existence according to his providential will. (CCC 288, 315)

Ezekiel 4:1-8 God asked Ezekiel to perform a series of actions that were intended to convey messages clearly. He preached about a second assault on Jerusalem that Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians would wage in 587 BC, the year of the second wave of deportations. Having built a model of the city, Ezekiel laid on one side and then the other to indicate that punishments would befall the divided kingdoms of Judah and Israel.

Three hundred and ninety days: The symbolism of this number is not clear, but it could mean that God would not permit these punishments to continue indefinitely, i.e., they would last only for a fixed period of time. 

Ch 4:9-17 Ezekiel’s rations indicate the famine that would result from the siege at Jerusalem. 

Dung: While many cultures used dung for cooking fuel, this practice was considered unclean by the Jews and prohibited. In the siege however, many in Judah were forced to cook with dung because of the scarcity of fuel. God allowed Ezekiel to do so perhaps as an indication that the traditional dietary laws handed down to Moses were gradually disappearing. 

Ch 5:1-4 The shaved hairs of Ezekiel represented the people of Judah and Israel. He warned that some would die by sword, some others by fire, and the remainder would either be exiled or remain in Judah; of this latter group, those who strayed from God would face punishment also. 

Ch 5:5-17 In this prophecy, Jerusalem’s sins were depicted as worse than those of their pagan neighbors. 

Fathers shall eat...their fathers: This shows the severity of the famine caused by the siege of Jerusalem. 

Proverbs 12:7 The metaphor expressed here is similar to Christ’s parable in which he compares the person of strong faith to one who builds a house on solid ground rather than on shifting sands (cf. Mt 7:24-27). (CCC 442, 642)

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)

• Remember Ezekiel had a vision of the Lord and His Glory

• Son of man in this context means “human being”

• That will change in Daniel Ch 7

• But FOR NOW whenever God calls Ezekiel Son of man, it means “Hey Bro, you’re a human being.”

• So Ezekiel Chs 4 and 5 we will see the ways in which Ezekiel is called to be a prophet through his ACTIONS, not just through his WORDS

• GOSH!

• Remember, Isaiah and Ezekiel are prophets IN DIFFERENT TIMES

• THIS IS SO IMPORTANT FOR US!!

• Because not only...(SQUIRREL!! 🤪)

• OH MY GOSH THIS IS SO INCREDIBLE!!

• At the end of….sorry I just have to say this, I just have to jump right into this

• We are going to hear about it AGAIN TOMORROW

• Isaiah Ch 44 Isaiah mentions this person named CYRUS

• This is INCREDIBLE because Cyrus is going to be the King of Persia

• But he is not going to be the King of Persia for a REALLY REALLY REALLY LONG TIME

• AND YET…

• (Fr. Mike says in the end of Isaiah Ch 45 but he clearly means Isaiah Ch 44 because that’s what the verse is 😉) In Isaiah 44:28, “...who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose.’”

• This is INCREDIBLE

• REMEMBER…

• The Book of the Prophet Isaiah is PRE-EXILE

• This is BEFORE all the terrible things happen

• It’s REALLY IMPORTANT FOR US to recognize this

• What does God continue to do in this Book of Consolation in Isaiah?

• FOR CRYING OUT LOUD in Isaiah 43:1-2, “‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned.’” (Oh and shoutout to Book of Daniel coming up 🤯🤯🤯)

• Here is God who says, “I WILL BE WITH YOU!”

• THIS IS PRE-EXILE

• THIS IS BEFORE THE BABYLONIANS COME 

• THIS IS BEFORE THE BABYLONIANS LAY SIEGE AGAINST JERUSALEM

• THIS IS BEFORE THE BABYLONIANS AND DO EVERYTHING EZEKIEL LIVED THROUGH!

• BEFORE ALL THIS, IT IS GOD CLAIMING HIS PEOPLE!

• God basically says, “Yes, all of these things are what you are going to have to go through. You are going to go through horrible things, because you have turned away from me. BUT FEAR NOT, FOR I HAVE REDEEMED YOU. I HAVE CALLED YOU BY NAME. YOU ARE MINE.”

• That is like a DOUBLE CLAIM upon his people

• It is NECESSARY

• It is IMPORTANT

• It is INCREDIBLE

• BUT…

• It is also coming BEFORE THE EXILE!

• It is a Word of God

• God is saying, “You need to hear these words because when the Exile happens, you NEED to know that you are MINE.”

• “That when the SIEGE happens, you NEED to know that you are MINE.”

• “That even when the WORST THING YOU COULD POSSIBLY IMAGINE happens, you NEED to know that you are MINE.”

• God is PROMISING this BEFORE THE WORST DAY OF THEIR LIVES!!

• God is PROMISING this BEFORE THE WORST SEASON OF THEIR LIVES!!

• God will be with them THROUGHOUT ALL OF THIS!!

• THAT IS SO IMPORTANT FOR US TO HEAR!!

• Maybe you have yet to experience the worst day of your life

• Maybe you have yet to experience the worst season of your life

• AND YET…

• GOD KNOWS OUR LIVES

• GOD KNOWS OUR STORIES

• GOD EXISTS OUTSIDE OF TIME

• God can say, “Even now, no matter what happens in the future, I have called you by name and you are MINE.”

• We have this experience where in Ezekiel Chs 4 and 5 which is REMARKABLE

• This is one of the reason why Ezekiel is the “Performance Art Prophet”

• Ezekiel is basically ACTING OUT...God tells him, “Act out...basically kind of play with your army men...so basically…(Fr. Mike said basically five times there)...take a brick…”

• Ok I’m just going to tell you to read the Bible verses here so we can avoid our brains hurting 😉

• Ezekiel 4:1, “And you, O son of man, take a brick and lay it before you, and portray upon it a city, even Jerusalem….”

• Ok that was too difficult….sorry

• SOOOOOO…..

• Have a little army and have them come against the city of Jerusalem

• Lie on your side for 390 days facing one direction

• Then flip over and face another direction for another 40 days

• All the while, by the way, you’re eating once a day, and you are going to cook your food over POOP

• WHAT IS HAPPENING????

• Remember, Ezekiel was told by the Lord God, “I am giving you this vision and in the midst of this vision, this is so you have no fear against the people, and do not let their looks at you dismay you, uh because here’s what you’re doing…”

• The fact that God says at first, “You are going to cook your food over human poop.”

• Then Ezekiel says, “Please, I don’t want to eat anything unclean.”

• God says, “Ok fine. Cow poop.”

• (As a first time Bible reader, this is pretty fascinating, isn’t it? Who says God isn’t merciful? 🤪🤪)

• So that’s one image, REENACTING THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM with army men and a brick and whatnot

• The next image is A SHARP SWORD

• Ezekiel is told to cut off his hair and beard with a sword, which was NOT what people would use to cut hair

• But the SWORD was a sign of DESTRUCTION, not a sign of PEACE

• He divided his hair into THIRDS

• The FIRST THIRD was burned up so it represented FIRE, or PESTILENCE, or FAMINE

• The SECOND THIRD was struck with the sword to represent those who would die by the sword

• The FINAL THIRD was scattered to the wind to represent those who were lost in exile, lost in history

• These were SIGNS of what happened to the people in Jerusalem

• One of the things Ezekiel is doing here is he is ENACTING IN VISUAL FORM what HAD HAPPENED and what WOULD HAPPEN to the People of God because they TURNED AWAY FROM THE LORD

• It’s one of the reasons why Ezekiel is kind of the “weird prophet”

• But we know that he is simply doing this ONLY BECAUSE GOD COMMANDED HIM TO DO IT

• As we continue to follow Ezekiel, he will explain some of the reasons why he is doing this

• In all of these things, the Lord God is WITH HIS PEOPLE

• Even in the midst of Him allowing them to experience this GREAT TRAGEDY, this INCREDIBLE SUFFERING

• GOD IS WITH HIS PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE THING!!

• God is using this not to destroy his people

• God is using this TO BRING HIS PEOPLE BACK TO HIS HEART!!

• THAT IS ALWAYS THE MESSAGE OF THE PROPHETS!!

• COME BACK TO THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART!!

• That is one of the KEY MESSAGES that the prophets ALWAYS return to

• Yes, there is suffering

• Yes, there is woe

• Yes, there are days ahead where it will seem like the Lord God has abandoned you

• BUT HE HAS NOT!!

• You might need to hear this

• It might seem TODAY like the Lord God has abandoned you

• Maybe TODAY is the worst day of your life

• BUT…

• God still says TODAY AND EVERY DAY, “I HAVE CALLED YOU BY NAME AND YOU ARE MINE.”

• Knowing that, maybe someone in this Bible in a Year community is going through the WORST day of their life

• SO PRAY FOR EACH OTHER

• PRAY FOR FR. MIKE

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven we give you praise. Thank you so much. Thank you for claiming us. Thank you for being with us even in the midst of our battles, in the midst of our trials, in the midst of our sufferings. You are with us every day, God, and we thank you. Please help us when we’ve turned away from you to allow you to bring us back. Help us to repent of our sins. Help us to trust in your love and in your Grace. Especially Lord, when we are confused. Especially when we don’t know where to turn, when we don’t know what to do, help us to turn to you this day and every day. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”