Contagious Holiness, Ezekiel Style

So the most vivid examples of contagious holiness can, I think, be found in the prophets and, specifically, in those prophetic passages that describe Israel's restoration and return from exile. In chapters 40-47, Ezekiel relates his vision of the new Temple and new Israel. A quick scan shows that it's full of odd details, numbers, etc. The perfection of the numbers and images (perfect cubes, numbers significant to Israelite history and gematria like 12, 40, etc.) indicate that the vision is symbolic. In keeping with his earlier vision in 10-13, Ezekiel's description of the Temple emphasizes its sheer "otherness," highlighting the transcendent glory, holiness, and power of God.

The imagery of this utter perfection coming down to dwell with Israel brings an astounding note of personal care and intimacy to Israel's future interactions with God. But the really astounding bit is found in Ezekiel 47. The Temple is once again in Israel, full of God's glory and holiness, and a river runs from the altar out of the Temple. It grows as it leaves the Temple, starting as a trickle but soon becoming an uncrossable river, overflowing the land. The river brings life everywhere it goes--life abundant and overwhelming, transforming a desert into fruitful land and even turning the Dead Sea into fresh water (but leaving the salt marshes salty in order to retain their usefulness). The trees bear unending fruit and their leaves bring healing to all. The uncleanness of the land that Ezekiel witnessed in chapters 10-13 is washed away in this flood as if it never existed.

Because of the link Ezekiel's already established between sin and the failure of the land and its people and the abandonment of God, the return of fruitfulness, the implied prosperity of God's people, and the simple yet undeniable fact of God's returned presence all point to a reversal of the OT concept of holiness as subject to defilement. The sacrificial code itself is based on the idea that the uncleanness of sin destroys the purification of holiness, making the repetition of sacrifice necessary in order to remain holy and within the covenant God established with his people (and, by extension, to remain within the community of God's people as well).

The OT view of the Temple is as a center of holiness, a place to come and have your uncleanness and sin effectively erased by sacrifice. However, neither the Tabernacle nor Solomon's Temple "infected" the land and its people with holiness. Instead, as Ezekiel saw, the sins of the people could defile the Temple itself, leading to God's abandonment of it, for it was no longer an appropriate dwelling for a holy God. This stands completely in line with the view of holiness described above.

However, Ezekiel's description in chapter 47 of unheard-of fruitfulness indicates a sanctification of the land--in a sense, its redemption. God's life-giving presence so pervades the land that it can only be described in cosmic, nearly surreal terms. No mention is made of sacrifices brought to the Temple; instead, the river bubbles forth from the altar spontaneously to bring holiness and redemption to God's people. The uncleanness of the land has been washed away in an outpouring of holiness unlike anything seen before. What is holy is not made unclean by the defilement of the land, but instead "trumps" the sin in the land in an explosion of life and healing. It is a contagious holiness that purifies all it touches.