July: Day 23: Teaching 1: Holy Prophet Ezekiel

 

July: Day 23:* Teaching 1:
Holy Prophet Ezekiel
 
(About the Resurrection of the Dead)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today we celebrate the memory of the Holy Prophet Ezekiel. He lived during the reign of the Judean King Josiah and was taken captive to Babylon in the twenty-sixth year of his life. In the fifth year of the captivity, Ezekiel received a divine command in a wondrous vision from God to preach to the Jews and persuade them to repentance. Ezekiel beheld the opened heavens and amidst them a great bright cloud. In the latter vision, the Prophet saw four living creatures; each had four faces - that of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle; the creatures had wings and wheels adorned with eyes, with each having four wings, two hands, and one wheel. Above the heads of the creatures was a crystalline vault, upon which a shining throne was elevated. On the throne sat One who had the appearance of a man. Filled with fear and awe, the Prophet fell to his face and heard the voice of the Lord speaking to him: "Arise, son of man, I will speak with you."

Ezekiel listened in awe. "I send you to the people of Israel," said the Lord, "to deliver My words to them. Do not be afraid of anything, even if they rise against you and persecute you." Then Ezekiel saw a hand stretched out to him, and in it a scroll with the words: "Lamentation, mourning, and woe." The Lord commanded him to eat this scroll, and Ezekiel did not taste bitterness. From that time, the prophetic ministry of Ezekiel began and continued for 22 years. His preaching was directed at the Babylonian Jews. He told them that the Babylonian captivity had come upon them due to their wickedness and idolatry; and to encourage and comfort the captives, he foretold that this punishment would cease at an appointed time. 

The prophecies of Ezekiel are found in the book bearing his name, which contains 48 chapters. One of Ezekiel's visions is remarkable: the Prophet saw a field strewn with human bones. The Lord asked him, "Son of man! Will these bones live?" – "O Lord God, You know," replied Ezekiel. Then the Lord commanded him and empowered him to bring the bones to life, and Ezekiel saw how they gradually were clothed with flesh; yet there was no spirit in them. The Lord then commanded Ezekiel to give them spirit, and it was according to his word, and the dead came back to life. This vision was a foreshadowing of the resurrection of the dead. Our discussion will also concern the resurrection of the dead.

II. a) When will the resurrection of the dead occur? It will take place at the second coming of Christ, when He returns to earth to judge the living and the dead, coming with great power and glory. The Apostle Paul states that "the Lord Himself will descend from heaven, with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ will rise first" (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

b) How will they rise again? The same Apostle answers: "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible" (1 Cor. 15:52), as if awakening from sleep. The souls will again unite with the resurrected bodies, and each will again be a whole and complete person, with the same mind, the same memory, the same senses, and full awareness of oneself and of the whole past life.

c) Therefore, the resurrected bodies will be the same and will not change? Indeed, the bodies will be the same, but not identical; they will not change in essence, but will change in properties. Currently, they are coarse, but afterwards they will be refined, spiritual; at present, they are weak, but later they will be strong; currently mortal and subject to decay, but afterward immortal and incorruptible. The Apostle Paul, finding evidence of the truth of our resurrection in the seed that farmers sow into the ground, which does not sprout before it decays, illustrates the state of bodies in the future resurrection from the dead and states: "It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body" (1 Cor. 15:42-44). Otherwise, it cannot be. For upon the resurrection, we shall live forever; how then shall we be with these current weak and mortal bodies? Here is an example for us – the firstborn from the dead, our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. When He rose, He was not in the same body as before His suffering and death. No. His body was subtle, spiritual; that is why He was invisible, and that is why He came to the Apostles in the Upper Room through closed doors. Although He also appeared to the Apostles as an ordinary man, in His former likeness, He did this only to assure them of His resurrection. In a similar state, we shall all be upon resurrection. The Holy Apostles assure us of this. Saint Paul says: "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept" (1 Cor. 15:20). "Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body" (Phil. 3:21); and Saint John the Theologian: "We know that when He (Christ) shall appear, we shall be like Him" (1 John 3:2).

d) And what will happen to those who live until the coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead? They will be transformed into the same form as those who will be resurrected, that is, their bodies will become subtle, spiritual, incorruptible, and eternal. "For we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality" (1 Corinthians 15:51-53).

III. Behold, brethren, we have recalled the teaching of the word of God concerning the resurrection of the dead. Let us live in such a way that we may be resurrected not to judgment, but to eternal life. Amen. 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.      

Notes:

* In the Slavic Churches the Prophet Ezekiel is commemorated on July 21st, which was for the most part the common date for his celebration for centuries, but the Greek Churches began celebrating his feast on July 23rd in more recent times based on the discovery of certain manuscripts which had that date. In the original text by Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko, this text is placed under July 21st, but in the English translation I have placed it under July 23rd to conform with the Greek calendar.