Ezekiel Part One Deep Dive

SON OF MAN? | NATHAN ROSS

As we read the Book of Ezekiel, it is very easy to be overwhelmed by the intense prophetic imagery and metaphors available. And this is O.K. Just as commentator Daniel Block says, “for many Christians Ezekiel is too strange and his book too complex and bizarre to deserve serious attention.” The first step is to acknowledge that yes, sometimes these prophetic books, both Old and New Testament, can be quite confronting and seemingly impossible to understand. The next step is one of discovery. When we read some of these more difficult books, such as Ezekiel, it should never be expected that we immediately understand every minor detail, reference and prophetic image on the first read. But our job, as dutiful readers of the Word, is to want to understand more. To do this, we start with the little things, little themes or ideas that might catch our attention that leads us on a journey of wanting to know more. Just as the famous adage goes, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”

As you progress through the Book of Ezekiel, there’ll be particular images or ideas that stick out to you. For instance, the recurring phrase of ‘Son of man’. It is first mentioned in Chapter 2:1, where Ezekiel recounts of how the Lord called out to him–“He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.” This phrase ‘Son of man’ appears over ninety times when the Lord is speaking to the prophet Ezekiel. Why this should stand out to us? This actually alludes to the person of Jesus. In the gospel accounts, Jesus is often referred to as ‘the Son of Man’. For example, “even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many,” (Matthew 20:28) and “No one has ever ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man” (John 3:13). So when we read that the Lord is referring to Ezekiel as ‘Son of man’, this should raise some questions for us and encourage to explore it some more.

In both the gospel accounts and the Book of Ezekiel, we have a phrase in two different languages, both translated as ‘Son of man’. The gospel accounts use the Greek ‘hoios anthropos’. It is interesting for the New Testament to declare Jesus as ‘the Son of Man’ while it continues to uphold His virgin birth, making Him technically not the son of a man. But the Greek word anthropos is a masculine noun that basically means a human being, whether male or female. The point that the gospel writers are trying to reinforce is the fact that Jesus is truly human. In reality, due to the sinless nature of Jesus, He is more human than any of us are, and this humanity is essential to His saving nature. Jesus needed to be both human to be able to have that connection with our humanity, but also divine to be able to lift us out of our sin nature that is entwined within our humanity.

Similarly in Ezekiel, the phrase used is ‘ben ‘adam’. Ben meaning son and adam meaning man/mankind/humanity and has commonly been translated in ancient Hebrew texts to mean ‘human being’. The point that is being made is very much the same as in the New Testament: that Ezekiel is truly human, although the difference is that God is emphasizing the humanity of Ezekiel rather than New Testament authors writing in defense of the Christ.

In the New Testament, the phrase ‘the Son of man’ is a phrase that is used to demonstrate the authority and power of Jesus in being human. This is emphasized as the phrase only ever appears with the definitive article ‘the’. This is never the case for Ezekiel; he is only ever referred to as ‘Son of man’, as in one of many–the point being that there is nothing special about Ezekiel, he is just a mere human. It is used as a comparison to the power of the Spirit that leads him, a reminder that, as a prophet, none of his deeds come from his own strength and only through the strength, wisdom and guidance of the Lord is Ezekiel able to speak such incredible prophecies and send out such a powerful call of repentance to a whole nation. So in this book, when the Lord refers to Ezekiel as ‘Son of man’ ninety plus times, it is a reminder of the limitations of our humanity and an exhalation of the power and grace of our God.

Nathan Ross has a Bachelor of Theology and works at C3 College. As one of our key New Testament writers, Nathan teaches the book of Ephesians and Romans at C3 College and is a self-confessed history nerd.

Ezekiel Part One Deep Dive

SON OF MAN? | NATHAN ROSS

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