Fight or Flight: Ezekiel, Jonah, & the Role of the Prophet

Fight or Flight: Ezekiel, Jonah, and the Role of the Prophet

Judah D. Norman

Reinhardt University

REL 204: Survey of the Old Testament

Rev. Dr. Jordan Thrasher

November 29th, 2022

First paragraph: The Role of the Prophets of Israel

Second paragraph: The Role and Context of Jonah

Third paragraph: The Role and Context of Ezekiel

Fourth paragraph: Comparing Two Paradoxical Figures

The prophets of Israel were people who possessed “...direct access to God and who acted as God’s earthly spokesman” (Tullock & McEntire, 2019, p. 118). They are the most important characters of the Old Testament, and thus, the meaning of prophecy undergoes several evolutions throughout the TANAKH, particularly within the prophetic literature of Nevi’im. During the time of Moses and the Former Prophets, they were involved in political affairs, functioned as royal and spiritual advisors, and even bore the responsibility of anointing kings of Israel to the throne just as Samuel did in 1 Samuel 10:1-8 (Tullock & McEntire, 2019, p. 159). Prophets could also be spokespeople for God’s chosen messengers, such as Aaron who was designated as Moses’ “prophet” (Tullock & McEntire, 2019, p. 71). Elijah would soon change the meaning of being a prophet since most of his activity happened “...entirely outside of the palace” and beyond Israel’s borders, which “...separates the institutions of palace and prophecy, and creates a distinct and independent role for prophets in the story of Israel” (Tullock & McEntire, 2019, p. 159). Now the defining characteristics for most of Israel’s prophets would be displaying courage, morality, compassion, sensitivity, and most importantly, speaking for God; a prophet was seen as “...the messenger of Yahweh, God of Israel…an officer of the heavenly court” (Holladay, 1970, p. 30), hence why they typically begin their oracles with “Thus says the Lord” (Tullock & McEntire, 2019, p. 159). This importance became heightened among the Later prophets during the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Restoration crises. Unlike before the exile, “...obedience is now demanded not only of the ruling house but of the entire people as well…that which originally was of importance only to the royal court now was of life-and-death importance to the welfare of every man in the nation” (Holladay, 1970, p. 44). Thus, prophets also had the responsibility of encouraging the Hebrews as they coped with the loss of their homeland to sin and war, as well as to warn, advise, and judge the actions of others as they awaited their return to Jerusalem (Tullock, 2019, p. 203). The themes of individual responsibility, confession, and repentance were pressing matters for the Later Prophets. Ezekiel and Jonah are two such figures of different influences that somehow both contribute to the topic. One “fights” by approaching the purpose of a prophet with diligence and fortitude, while the other “takes flight” by displaying reluctance and fear toward the task. These two prophets are seldom put in comparison with one another, and it is intriguing to view parallels and paradoxes between their stories and activity during the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles.

The book of Jonah is typically dated around the 8th century BCE during the reign of Jeroboam II in the post-exilic period. Since the exile of the Israelites resulted from their sins against God, most post-exilic Hebrews believed their holiness and salvation could be preserved “...by strict separation from gentile culture…” (Tullock & McEntire, 2019, p. 273). Thus, were xenophobic toward outside nations of Israel strongly believing that God “...should save Israel by bringing judgment on Nineveh” for their sins (Attridge, 2006, p. 4153). Jonah himself was a “…fiercely nationalistic prophet…” heavily associated with the Assyrian city of Nineveh, which was peripheral to Jerusalem (Tullock & McEntire, 2019, p. 273). Although he is the title character, it does not mean he was the writer. Contrary to other prophets, the lessons within what is written about him were more important than what his own words were. He was a mirror image of the Hebrews at the time, often being rebellious, reluctant, angry, and actively avoidant of the tasks God assigned to him. He finds himself in the belly of a whale in chapter 2, just as “Israel had been swallowed up in the Exile;” when the Lord finally freed him after his repentance, he “...came out of the depths, so Israel came out of Babylon” (Tullock & McEntire, 2019, p. 273). Even though he was more stubborn and defiant than other prophets, Jonah finally chooses to obey the Lord and succeeds at his calling, but still “...regards the saving of Nineveh as a ra'a gedola, a great evil” (Angel, 1995, p. 63). One of the morals of Jonah’s story is that anyone, even pagans and gentiles, was deserving of a second opportunity for repentance. The book also teaches the importance of compassion and courage, two of the most important traits of a prophet. Rather than rising to the challenge and acting with kindness, Jonah often fled his duties and harvested hatred toward those God instructed him to help, an action which Hayyim Angel describes as “spiritual suicide” (Angel, 1995, p. 66). Moreover, the literary style of Jonah contains several moments of satire and rhetorical questions, thus, the biggest inquiry of the text must be “If a pagan city can turn from the injustice and violence in its midst, cannot Israel do the same?” (Ostriker, 2005, p. 286).

Around two centuries after the Assyrian Crisis in the 6th century BCE, a major prophet by the name of Ezekiel rose during the time of the Babylonian exile “...when Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar…” (Attridge, 2006, p. 3701). Unlike the book of Jonah, which was written in the third person, the book of Ezekiel is a first-person account of Ezekiel himself as though he is speaking directly to the audience (Tullock & McEntire, 2019, p. 242). Much is not known about his personality, but scholars do know he was born into a family of priests, had a wife who unfortunately passed away (without any known children), and resided in Jerusalem before the 597 BCE exile when he then moved near the city of Nippur (Attridge, 2006, p. 3701-3702). Ezekiel was often described as a bizarre and unusual man with heavy involvement in the still-quite-large Yahwistic communities of Babylon and Judah long before his call to prophecy (Attridge, 2006, p. 3702). Eventually, God called him to lead the disobedient exiles of Israel, keep watch for the house of Israel, and use any number of objects (even his own body) to symbolically portray Israel’s punishment and fate, and example including the command “...to lie on his side for three hundred ninety days as a sign of the length of Israel’s punishment…each day was to indicate a year’s exile…” (Tullock, 2019, p. 244-245). In complete contrast to Jonah’s reaction when he received his calling, Ezekiel courageously carries out his task showing compassion, kindness, sensitivity, and solidarity both toward the exiles in Babylon and those who still resided in Judah (Attridge, 2006, p. 3702). According to Tova Ganzel, his oracles can be divided into two main categories of pre-fall oracles, in which the main purpose was to warn about the doomed fate of Jerusalem’s temple, and post-fall oracles, in which the goal is to highlight the importance of repentance and provide hope for the day of Israel’s return (Ganzel, 2010, p. 202). Ezekiel taught exiles that the fall of Jerusalem was all part of “...Jehovah's plan for the restoration of his people” and hoped to destroy any anticipations of a swift return to Israel since the exile was a necessary “...punishment for its sins” (Betteridge, 1895, p. 251). Above all, he was one of the main prophets to discuss the theme of moral responsibility. After this period of strife, each person would be responsible for their actions; no one would have to die for the mistakes of another (Betteridge, 1895, p. 254).

Jonah and Ezekiel exemplify the role of the Israelite prophet in contrasting ways. One example of their distinctions lies in the role of being a spokesperson for God. Ezekiel especially was a “seer” like Samuel because “God spoke often to him through visions. He received his commission as a prophet through an elaborate and…grotesque apocalypse of cherubim. He preached repeatedly through symbols. He delighted in allegory and weird mythology” (Curtis, 1899, p. 125). Although the term initially referred to the more fortune-telling former prophets, Ezekiel was a seer who confronted the moral and religious issues of the exilic period (Tullock & McEntire, 2019, p. 121). As messengers of God, prophets of Israel also delivered “...oracles passionately urging the people to observe Israel’s covenant obligations to God…” (Tullock & McEntire, 2019, p. 273), but the book of Jonah differed because he only gave one oracle to Nineveh, which miraculously succeeded despite his active efforts to quit and fail (Attridge, 2006, p. 4152). Another difference between the two is their level of courage. Whereas Ezekiel was unafraid to address “...the circumstances that the Israelites, particularly those in exile, confronted,” Jonah often chose “...to flee…from the presence of the Lord” and his prophetic responsibility (Attridge, 2006, p. 3704, 4154). Hayyim Angel highlights the irony of his judgment on the sailors for their idolatry even though they were able to do what he was too afraid to: repent from their old ways and turn to the will of God (Angel, 1995, p. 60). Moral disparities also exist between Jonah and Ezekiel, specifically regarding individual responsibility. Jonah, like many Jews of the time, held on to the belief that the actions of one affect all, thus, the entire city of Nineveh should have been punished for its sins instead of forgiven (despite his failure to obey God’s command). Ezekiel, on the other hand, willingly preached about confession, repentance, and the effect of sin on the individual rather than the group. No longer would one person’s mistake affect their entire family or community; “...it is only the person who sins that shall die” (Attridge, 2006, p. 3778). Lastly, Ezekiel and Jonah differed in their senses of compassion and sensitivity toward others, even non-Israelites. As mentioned prior, Jonah was a xenophobic individual who tried to avoid his calling and wished for God to cast punishment on his pagan enemies, Nineveh in this case. He grew extremely discontent and bitter when God instead showed pity for those who were not his chosen people, which, ironically, is the very same action he took toward Jonah’s half-hearted repentance in the whale’s belly (Angel, 1995, p. 63). Jonah’s story displays the importance of these traits due to his lack thereof and “...reminds readers of the…divine compassion that will welcome and bless the day when the original community of readers…” returns home to Israel (Attridge, 2006, p. 4154). Ezekiel on the other hand welcomed his prophetic calling showing his sensitivity to God’s overwhelming presence, visions, and messages. One such example is the valley of the dry bones in Ezekiel 37. This vision showed a field of slain corpses, or “dry bones,” symbolizing Israel’s defeat, and only when the prophet spoke to the bones did they come together and stand up prepared to fight once again (Tullock & McEntire, 2019, p. 254). This vision reminded the Israelites that their nation would one day be brought back together. Thus, by providing hope for the future of Israel, he is mirroring God’s actions by showing compassion and forgiveness. He also showed compassion to the Israelites by maintaining hope for the restoration of the Temple. Just as Ezekiel “...envisioned the overpowering presence of the Lord [leaving] the Temple…, he also envisioned its return to the restored community and the rebuilt Temple,” laying a blueprint for the reconstructed house of God and providing land for all who assisted (Tullock & McEntire, 2019, p. 255).

By comparing two such figures Jonah and Ezekiel, the role of the prophet can be examined and reflected on from two contrasting angles. Ezekiel adheres to the responsibilities of prophecy while Jonah disobeys them. One courageously speaks the word of God all while displaying compassion, morality, and sensitivity, while the other cowers from his glory, letting his spirit be consumed by resentment, vengeance, and bitterness. These two prophets show the duality of Israel and that of all humankind. A person “...can be present…, fearlessly receptive and ready to be entered. Or…try to hide like Adam, when God comes looking for you…because you are ashamed of being naked” (Ostriker, 2005, 279). Life always presents people with a choice of how they react to difficult tasks and one can either stay and fight like Ezekiel or take fearful flight like Jonah. 

References 

• Angel, H. (1995). The Book of Jonah: A Call to Personal Responsibility. Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought, 30(1), 56–67. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23261192 

• Attridge, H. W. (2006). HarperCollins Study Bible. HarperOne. https://read.amazon.com/?asin=B01DSV8ZN6&ref_=kwl_kr_iv_rec_1&language=en-US 

• Betteridge, W. R. (1895). Ezekiel, the Prophet of the Exile. The Biblical World, 5(4), 248–257. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3135157 

• Curtis, E. L. (1899). The Messages of Ezekiel to the Human Heart. The Biblical World, 14(2), 125–131. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3136810 

• Ganzel, T. (2010). The Descriptions of the Restoration of Israel in Ezekiel. Vetus Testamentum, 60(2), 197–211. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20700079 

• Holladay, J. S. (1970). Assyrian Statecraft and the Prophets of Israel. The Harvard Theological Review, 63(1), 29–51. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1508994 

• Ostriker, A. (2005). Jonah: The Book of the Question. The Georgia Review, 59(2), 278–293. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41402593 

• Tullock, J. H., & McEntire, M. (2019). The Old Testament Story (10th ed.). Pearson Education (US). https://ecampus.vitalsource.com/books/9780133769944