Ezekiel 37:27, “My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
In Ezekiel 1, we find an overwhelming vision of the cosmic Chariot-Throne of God. YHWH Himself rides on a throne of light above a firmament of crystal, supported on the wings of four cherubim, each of whom possesses a living, pan-dimensional wheel upon which the entire chariot moves. But what is most astounding about this vision is not the super-sensory language or imagery, but the fact that God’s throne is moving into Exile with his people.
Ezekiel sees this vision in Babylon….which means the Chariot-Throne of God is coming INTO the place of Exile, INTO the spiritual grave of the people (Ez.37:1ff). That is why the mobility of the throne is so significant….it is mobile because YHWH will not remain apart from His covenant people. He will go to them where they are, even in their Exile He will be “God With Us.”
Now, I chose to use the imagery of YHWH’s mobile Chariot-Throne for this year’s Christmas picture because the entrance of God’s throne into Exile with His people in Ez.1 is an anticipation of the Nativity…It anticipates the day when God’s throne will descend into the Exile—not of Babylon—but of our human nature, into the Exile of fallen flesh and blood.
The descent of the Throne envisioned in Ezekiel 1, and the eschatological dwelling of God with His people anticipated in Ezekiel 37:27 happen on Christmas morning (indeed, nine months before that). In the incarnate Word, God has come to dwell with us. He has set His cosmic throne in the midst of our lowly humanity, and by His presence in and endurance of our Exile, He has—for all who recognize and receive the slain and risen Jesus as God With Us—He has obliterated that Exile for all time.
Veiled in Flesh the Godhead see, Hail the Incarnate Deity.
