Ezekiel 10:3-8. Part of Ezekiel's vision of the destruction of Jerusalem. Ezekiel has been brought in a vision to Jerusalem by a spirit. The "glory of the Lord" is present there, as well, along with its attendant cherubim supporting the firmament and surrounding a great fire. The spirit calls forth six men with swords, and one man dressed in linen with a writing case by his side. The man dressed in linen is to first go through the city marking the foreheads of all who see and lament the abominations being committed in it. The men with swords are to follow after, slaying everyone not marked by the man in linen, and filling the courts of the Temple with the slain. Ezekiel pleads with the spirit to spare the city, but he responds "The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is filled with blood, and the city full of injustice... As for me, my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity, but I will requite their deeds upon their heads." When the man in linen returns to the spirit, having marked the heads of all who will be saved, the spirit tells him to take burning coals from between the cherubim and scatter them across the city, thus the city will be cleansed by holy fire. In this passage, Ezekiel describes how, when the man in linen entered among the cherubim, a cherub reached into the fire and handed the man some of the fire to carry out his deed. 

Obedience and the hierarchy of angels and humanity strikes me here, along with the actual reality of all of creation. The spirit that is guiding Ezekiel cannot be swayed by Ezekiel's pleas for pity on the city. He must obey the Lord. He cannot spare, nor can he have pity, that would be disobedient. The men called forth by the spirit are the ones who interact with the things of this world - the man in linen marks the heads of people who will be saved; the men with swords slay the others. When the man in linen is ordered to use the holy fire to burn the city, he cannot take it himself - the cherub has to reach in and hand it to him. There are lessons here. First, one of obedience. Often, God asks us to do things that we do not want to do, even that seem wrong in some way, but we do not get to question him (just think of Moses or Jonah!). The angel guiding Ezekiel knows better than to question the Lord, even though Ezekiel is pleading for mercy for the city. Second, there are clues here about how the hierarchy works, and how humanity interacts with heaven, and how real it all is. Angels and humans are all God's creatures, and all under his command, but the angels are with God, so they (and not us) can do and interact directly with heavenly things - like the holy fire here. Men are earthly, so they (and not the angels) can do and interact with earthly things - like the marking of the foreheads and the slaying with swords here. The angels also can understand God's will better, since they are with him (that is why the fallen angels don't get another chance at salvation, like humanity does).

Sometimes, though, the lines are blurred a bit - man (like the man in linen) must interact with a heavenly thing (like the holy fire), or vice versa. It struck me that an angel had to give the fire to the man - he could not just "reach into heaven" and take it. This helps me understand a lot about how and why God's angels appear to humanity and interact with us. God uses all of us to help carry out his will, but we all have different limitations. There is a reality to all of this, we are all, both angels and men, actual creatures that exist in different spheres of reality. This limits what we can and cannot do.

This also reminds me of a vision that I had (I know, I sound crazy, but I did!). Some background first: I have noticed that many people, at least in this country, have made an idol out of politics. They seem to believe that having the right politics is akin to being a holy person. They believe this so firmly, that they feel justified in belittling, mocking, lecturing, and even punishing anyone who does not share their political views. There is a dangerous moral superiority many feel over anyone who does not agree with their views (who, remember, are not just people who think differently from them and believe in different solutions to problems, but are actually enemies of their false "god" of politics). That people can behave this way, while allowing themselves to be blinded to the carnage and horror of abortion (even up to the moment of birth, and maybe beyond, so we're really talking about infanticide!), is one of the things I just cannot wrap my head around.

Early last year, I was starting to think that I had to step away from some people for a while due to this. I find it impossible to speak reasonably to them, as they are guided by a religious zeal and not by reason. When I was coming to this realization, it was very painful, so I was praying hard for guidance. In the midst of my prayer, I found myself, in my mind, standing in a large open space. God was in front of me - or maybe all around me? I'm not sure how to describe it - he was everywhere and everything and I was in the midst of it, but he was also in front of me and had a face, a fatherly face, and a huge, human-like body. I was looking at him, and he at me, and then he reached his (very large!) hand into the ground and scooped up a gigantic clump of earth. As I looked at it, the earth fell away and his hand was full of babies' skulls, thousands of them. I looked at his face again and he just looked back, with deep pain and sorrow. It was heartbreaking and upsetting, but I realized that he was telling me that I must continue to "lament the abominations" being done in my city, and speak out against them when and how I can. I also must pray for all of this, for everyone, God wants all of our salvation.

All of this is the work of the devil. He is luring us away from God. He does not care if he pulls us away to the left or the right, as long as we sin. So I have to be careful not to let him pull me astray (he sometimes does!). I have to try not to hurt people with whom I disagree, but continue to love them and pray for them.