He asked me, "Son of man, do you see this?" – Ezekiel 47:6

Today's Scripture Reading (September 1, 2023): Ezekiel 47

It was a teasing phrase that I heard back when I was young. The phrase? "I see said the blind man who really didn't see at all." The expression was offered whenever someone didn't seem to understand what was happening but refused to admit that lack of understanding. "I see" is a phrase that says, "I understand." And sometimes, it is easy to say "I see" when you don't, thus the expression of my youth.

One of my favorite names for God is "El Roi," which means "the God who sees me." The name arises from the story of Hagar, Sarah's maidservant and the mother of Ishmael, in the days before the birth of Isaac. Abraham and Sarah had launched a plan to get an heir for Abraham. Sarah was barren and unable to conceive. As a result of her inability, Sarah offers Hagar to Abraham. The idea was that if Abraham slept with Hagar and Hagar became pregnant, Sarah could claim the child as her own. It was an accepted practice of the time, but I have never read of an instance where the plan worked well.

And the plan didn't work for Abraham and Sarah. It was not that a pregnancy didn't happen because Hagar did become pregnant with Abraham's child. But as soon as Hagar became pregnant, Sarah became jealous. Hagar had succeeded where Sarah had failed. Maybe Sarah hoped that Hagar would remain childless, indicating that her inability to get pregnant was not entirely Sarah's fault. But now Hagar was pregnant.

As a result of Hagar's pregnancy and Sarah's jealousy, Sarah began mistreating Hagar. Things got so bad between the two women that Hagar decided to run away from Sarah. In the wilderness, Hagar meets with God, and in response to that meeting, Hagar tells God that he is the God (El) who sees me (ro'i) (Genesis 16:13). We can withstand a lot if we know that God sees us, and we know that God understands the crises that we are facing.

God asks Ezekiel, "Do you see this?" God is asking Ezekiel if he understands what he is seeing. Specifically, does Ezekiel understand this river that runs from the Temple, beginning as a trickle but eventually becoming so deep that it cannot be crossed without swimming? Experts have placed a lot of effort into the idea that Ezekiel intends this to be a real Temple that could be built on the earth. But if there is one element that seems to be nothing more than a symbol, it is this river. It indicates that our spiritual lives begin shallow and gradually get more profound. Or maybe the depth available in the word of God that only reveals itself as we spend time in the Bible.

But I must admit that I am not sure I "see," at least not with certainty. In this case, I am probably a little like the proverbial blind man who doesn't see at all.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 48