The Fugitive: from Ezekiel 24&33
The Fugitive
Ezekiel Chapter 241
And the word of the LORD came unto me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, saying: 2 ’Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this selfsame day; this selfsame day the king of Babylon hath invested Jerusalem. 3 And utter a parable concerning the rebellious house, and say unto them: Thus saith the Lord GOD: Set on the pot, set it on, And also pour water into it; 4 Gather into it the pieces belonging to it, Even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; Fill it with the choice bones. 5 Take the choice of the flock, And pile also the bones under it; Make it boil well, That the bones thereof may also be seethed in the midst of it. 6 Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose filth is therein, and whose filth is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; no lot is fallen upon it. 7 For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the bare rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust; 8 that it might cause fury to come up, that vengeance might be taken, I have set her blood upon the bare rock, that it should not be covered. 9 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great, 10 heaping on the wood, kindling the fire, that the flesh may be consumed; and preparing the mixture, that the bones also may be burned; 11 then will I set it empty upon the coals thereof, that it may be hot, and the bottom thereof may burn, and that the impurity of it may be molten in it, that the filth of it may be consumed 12 It hath wearied itself with toil; yet its great filth goeth not forth out of it, yea, its noisome filth. 13 Because of thy filthy lewdness, because I have purged thee and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have satisfied My fury upon thee. 14 I the LORD have spoken it; it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord GOD.’ . 15 Also the word of the LORD came unto me, saying: 16 ’Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke; yet neither shalt thou make lamentation nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down. 17 Sigh in silence; make no mourning for the dead, bind thy headtire upon thee, and put thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thine upper lip, and eat not the bread of men.’ 18 So I spoke unto the people in the morning, and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded. 19 And the people said unto me: ‘Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?’ 20 Then I said unto them: ‘The word of the LORD came unto me, saying: 21 Speak unto the house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I will profane My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and the longing of your soul; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left behind shall fall by the sword. 22 And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your upper lips, nor eat the bread of men; 23 and your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet; ye shall not make lamentation nor weep; but ye shall pine away in your iniquities, and moan one toward another. 24 Thus shall Ezekiel be unto you a sign; according to all that he hath done shall ye do; when this cometh, then shall ye know that I am the Lord GOD. 25 And thou, son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their stronghold, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and the yearning of their soul, their sons and their daughters, 26 that in that day a fugitive shall come unto thee, to cause thee to hear it with thine ears? 27 In that day shall thy mouth be opened together with that fugitive, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb; so shalt thou be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.’ |
There is a fugitive at the door!
At our door? someone asks on behalf of the whole company. No one but the heavens know how to find our door! Is he a fugitive from the stars? Ask the little ones from behind their mother's knees. From beyond the stars? Asks the teenage warrior son. A fugitive from the Temple ruins, answers the elder who has opened the door. And the prophet Ezekiel is with him. The prophet Ezekiel is much too lofty, says someone in the company. We are not worthy or prepared to receive him! Is he really standing at the door with the fugitive? This is embarrassing. We are making plans We plan to reuse the Temple architecture from Herod's day. What will Ezekiel say? I doubt he will speak at all, the elder who opened the door replied. He is standing behind the fugitive. It looks as if he wants the fugitive to be his spokesman. Who is the fugitive, the little children ask again, and from whom is he a fugitive? I am a fugitive from the angel of death, the fugitive, having stepped in through the door, answered. I was in the second Temple when it was consumed. But I escaped through the dragon's teeth. I wandered alone for countless years, until the prophet Ezekiel appeared to me and said, I have prophesied of you. Go now to the place of the Jewish soul and weep there with her until she hears her weeping as your weeping and hears your weeping as a song, the song of the rejoicing of the highest heaven! A long silence filled the air. Then the fugitive spoke again, Allow me therefore to stay and reside here with you, and the prophet Ezekiel with me. Verses 25 - 27 of Chapter 24 w/Rashi25 And you, son of man, shall it not be that on the day I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and the pride of their soul, their sons and daughters.
כה וְאַתָּה בֶן אָדָם הֲלוֹא בְּיוֹם קַחְתִּי מֵהֶם אֶת מָעֻזָּם מְשׂוֹשׂ תִּפְאַרְתָּם אֶת מַחְמַד עֵינֵיהֶם וְאֶת מַשָּׂא נַפְשָׁם בְּנֵיהֶם וּבְנוֹתֵיהֶם: the pride of their soul: [Heb. מַשָׂא נַפְשָׂם.] Their soul is uplifted through them. 26 On that day [that] the fugitive will come to you to let you hear with your own ears. כו בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יָבוֹא הַפָּלִיט אֵלֶיךָ לְהַשְׁמָעוּת אָזְנָיִם: On that day: It is impossible for the fugitive to come on the day of the destruction. Therefore this is the meaning: On that day, [on the day] that the fugitive will come to you to let you hear with your own ears, on that day, your mouth will be opened. to let you hear with your own ears: To announce the news that the city has been struck. 27 On that day, your mouth will be opened with the fugitive, and you will speak and no longer be mute, and you will be for them as a sign, and they will know that I am the Lord." כז בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִפָּתַח פִּיךָ אֶת הַפָּלִיט וּתְדַבֵּר וְלֹא תֵאָלֵם עוֹד וְהָיִיתָ לָהֶם לְמוֹפֵת וְיָדְעוּ כִּי אֲנִי יְהֹוָה: with the fugitive: [Heb. אֶתהַפָּלִים,] with the fugitive. and you will speak and no longer be mute: Because I said to you (3:26): “and you shall become mute, and you shall not be, etc.” From now on, they will see that your words are true, and you will no longer be mute from prophesying to them. A Note Concerning The FugitiveCommentators speak on different levels about the fugitive or refuge from the destruction of the Temple. On the most literal level the only thing that is special about this fugitive is that he has survived the destruction of the Temple and of Jerusalem and has come to report that this has occurred. On the level of the spiritual world certain commentators discuss that this fugitive is Michael the archangel who, by the grace of G-d, escaped the condemnation that Satan brought into the world. Though the Temple did not altogether escape that condemnation it was for Israel's sake that it did not. That Michael did was also for Israel's sake, as a testimony that ultimately all Israel would be saved. Thus Ezekiel was promised that when the children of Israel would hear and receive this testimony of the fugitive they would hear and receive all of his prophecy.
The theme of changing from not hearing the prophets of G-d to hearing the prophets of G-d is the theme of repentance, teshuvah. Following are comments from the Rambam on the relation of the destruction of the Temple and repentance. |
Ezekiel 331
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying: 2 ’Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them: When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him for their watchman; 3 if, when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the horn, and warn the people; 4 then whosoever heareth the sound of the horn, and taketh not warning, if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head; 5 he heard the sound of the horn, and took not warning, his blood shall be upon him; whereas if he had taken warning, he would have delivered his soul. 6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the horn, and the people be not warned, and the sword do come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand. 7 So thou, son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore, when thou shalt hear the word at My mouth, warn them from Me. 8 When I say unto the wicked: O wicked man, thou shalt surely die, and thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thy hand. 9 Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he turn not from his way; he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul. 10 Therefore, O thou son of man, say unto the house of Israel: Thus ye speak, saying: Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we pine away in them; how then can we live? 11 Say unto them: As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? 12 And thou, son of man, say unto the children of thy people: The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not stumble thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall he that is righteous be able to live thereby in the day that he sinneth. 13 When I say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his righteousness, and commit iniquity, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, for it shall he die. 14 Again, when I say unto the wicked: Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right; 15 if the wicked restore the pledge, give back that which he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. 16 None of his sins that he hath committed shall be remembered against him; he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live. 17 Yet the children of thy people say: The way of the Lord is not equal; but as for them, their way is not equal. 18 When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby. 19 And when the wicked turneth from his wickedness, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. 20 Yet ye say: The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.’ 21 And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying: ‘The city is smitten.’ 22 Now the hand of the LORD had been upon me in the evening, before he that was escaped came; and He had opened my mouth against his coming to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb. 23 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying: 24 ’Son of man, they that inhabit those waste places in the land of Israel speak, saying: Abraham was one, and he inherited the land; but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance. 25 Wherefore say unto them: Thus saith the Lord GOD. Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes unto your idols, and shed blood; and shall ye possess the land? 26 Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbour’s wife; and shall ye possess the land? 27 Thus shalt thou say unto them: Thus saith the Lord GOD: As I live, surely they that are in the waste places shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that are in the strongholds and in the caves shall die of the pestilence. 28 And I will make the land most desolate, and the pride of her power shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, so that none shall pass through. 29 Then shall they know that I am the LORD, when I have made the land most desolate, because of all their abominations which they have committed. 30 And as for thee, son of man, the children of thy people that talk of thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying: Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD; 31 and come unto thee as the people cometh, and sit before thee as My people, and hear thy words, but do them not—for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness; 32 and, lo, thou art unto them as a love song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; so they hear thy words, but they do them not-- 33 when this cometh to pass—behold, it cometh—then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.’ |
From Mishne TorahWhen the Holy Temple does not exist and there is no altar of atonement, teshuvah is all that there is - teshuvah atones for all sins. Even a person who was wicked all his days and did teshuvah at the end, we do not mention any part of his wickedness, as it says, As for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble on it in the day that he turns away from his wickedness (Ezekiel 33:12). And the day of Yom Kippur itself atones for those who do teshuvah, as it says, For that day will atone for you (Leviticus 16:30).
Even though teshuvah atones for all, and the day of Yom Kippur itself atones - there are some sins that can be atoned for in their time, and some sins which are only atoned after time has passed. What case is that? If a person violated a positive commandment for which the punishment is not karate and did teshuvah - before he can even move he is forgiven, and regarding such people it is said, Return, backsliding children; I will heal your backsliding (Jeremiah 3:22). If a person violated a negative commandment for which the punishment is neither karet nor capital punishment and did teshuvah – the teshuvah suspends it and Yom Kippur effects atonement; and regarding such people it is said, For that day will atone for you (Leviticus 16:30). If a person violated [a commandment for which the punishment is] karet or capital punishment and did teshuvah – the teshuvah and Yom Kippur suspend it and the suffering that falls upon him effects atonement. And no matter how much time passes, he does not receive full atonement until suffering falls upon him; and regarding such people it is said, Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with strokes (Psalms 89:33). What cases are we discussing? Cases in which he did not disgrace the name [of God] at the moment of violation. But someone who disgraces the name [of God], even if he does teshuvah, and Yom Kippur passes and he remains in his teshuvah, and suffering befalls him – he does not receive full atonement until he dies; the teshuvah, Yom Kippur, and the suffering all suspend and death atones, as it says, And the Lord of Hosts revealed Himself in my ears: Surely this iniquity shall not be atoned until you die (Isaiah 22:14). |