Thread by @JamesBejon

THREAD: An oft overlooked Christmas narrative—Ezekiel 1–11—,

complete with clay tablets, unclean food, and idolatry in the Temple.

#ChristmasCheer

One of the primary themes of Luke’s birth narrative(s) is the return of God’s presence and glory to his Temple,

which is hinted at in at least three different ways by Luke.

First, we have Mary’s *pregnancy*.

Just as God’s glory overshadows the tabernacle before it’s taken to a new place (Exodus 40), so too the Holy Spirit overshadows *Mary*,

who sets out for Judah soon afterwards (1.35–39).

Things have been quiet in Israel for a long time; God’s presence will soon be on the move again.

Second, we have Mary’s *journey*.

In preparation for the Temple to be built, David orders the ark of God to be brought from its place of rest into the Judean hillside on a newly-made cart,

where it remains (in the house of Obed-Edom) for three months...

...before it’s brought into the city of David (2 Sam. 6.1–11, 15–16).

In much the same way, Mary (a new vessel?) is led to go to the Judean hillside to see Elizabeth,

where she spends three months (1.36, 56–57)...

...before she heads off for Joseph’s hometown, viz. ‘the city of David’,

Moreover, just as the Spirit-filled David danced and leapt before the ark at Obed-Edom’s house, so the Spirit-filled John ‘leaps’ within Elizabeth’s womb (1.41).

Third, we have the *shepherds’* experience.

One minute the shepherds are out in the fields; the next they find themselves in a decidedly Temple-like environment,

in the presence of a bright light (cp. the lampstand),

surrounded by angels (cp. the cherubim embroidered on the inside of the Tabernacle),

and in close proximity to an unusual container (cp. the ark/manger), within which dwells God’s glory (Jesus).

Luke wants us to interpret his birth narratives in light of the return of God’s presence to his Temple.

In the person of Jesus—the anti-Ichabod—, God’s glory has returned.

The same theme is reflected in a series of allusions to Ezekiel 1–11.

Consider for a moment the experiences of Zechariah (John the Baptist’s father).

Zechariah is a priest who is struck dumb (1.20) and forced to write on a clay tablet in order to communicate (1.63),

and is hence made a ‘sign’ to those around him (1.22).

As such, Zechariah is remarkably Ezekiel-esque,

since Ezekiel too is struck dumb and forced to communicate by means of an inscription on a clay brick,

and is hence made a ‘sign’ to the house of Israel (Ezekiel 4).

The parallels between Luke and Ezekiel, however, run much deeper.

Step back for a moment and consider the sequence of events outlined in Luke’s birth narrative(s):

🔹 first Elizabeth conceives;

🔹 then, in the sixth month of her pregnancy, Mary visits Elizabeth and becomes pregnant herself;

🔹 nine months later Jesus is born;

🔹 and, a further 40 days later, Jesus is presented in the Temple at the end of Mary’s days of uncleanness (Lev. 12, Luke 2).

A very similar timetable underlies the events of Ezekiel 4–11:

🔹 before God’s glory leaves the Temple, Ezekiel lies on his left side for 390 days—that is to say, he performs a sign-act which comes to its completion in its fourteenth month—;

🔹 next, Ezekiel lies on his right side for 40 days, which is associated with a period of uncleanness;

🔹 and, afterwards, God’s glory leaves the Temple, per the timetable below:

The timetable of the return of God’s glory to the Temple thus echoes the timetable of its departure.

And the scene of the return of God’s glory is highly apt:

while God’s glory is borne away from the Temple by four angelic creatures against the backdrop of men who worship the sun and women who weep for Tammuz (Ezekiel 8),...

...God’s glory returns in the person of Jesus accompanied by four angelic appearances (1.11, 1.26, 2.9, 2.13) to a godly priest (Simeon) who longs for the Sunrise on High (1.78) and a godly woman (Anna) who remains at the Temple day and night (2.37).

Anna’s presence at the Temple is also significant for another reason.

Anna has waited 84 years for the return of God’s glory (2.36), which echoes the period of time for which the remnant of Israel as a whole have waited.

God’s glory left the Temple in September 592 BC (a date calculated by Rodger Young).

And, if Jesus was born in 4 BC (a date as plausible as any other), then it returned 588 years later.

Hence, while Anna waited for 84 years—i.e., 12 weeks of years—, the remnant as a whole waited for 12 weeks of weeks of years,

i.e., for 12 Jubilees,

or, in the language of the Qumran scrolls, for two mega-Jubilees. (4Q319 constructs a super-cycle of 49 six-year priestly cycles, i.e., of 294 years, which it numbers not from one to six [as expected], but from two to seven in order to enhance its Jubilee-like significance.)

Hence, ‘when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law’ (Gal. 4.4).

THE END

Note: For Jesus’ birth in September, cp. the note by @Psephizo here:

psephizo.com/biblical-studi…

Note also: Initial image of Ezekiel taken from jw-dot-org. Exposition of Ezekiel obtained from more orthodox sources.

P.S. For a blog version, cp. below:

jamesbejon.substack.com/p/ezekiel-111