Where is God?

The Gordon Lightfoot song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is about the sinking of an iron ore cargo boat called the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, in a storm on Lake Superior, November 10, 1975. The song in part captures the question, “Where is God?”. The lyrics indicate the question may be a more a question about God’s love and about His timing:

Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her

Often the response to that question is not an answer so much, but an action on the part of the ones who raise the question – they pray. Again, the lyrics:

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral
The church bell chimed 'til it rang twenty-nine times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald

As we have been studying the book of Ruth, I have wondered about Naomi and her thoughts during her tragedy. We know that part of her thinking was to acknowledge God in His sovereignty over her life. Naomi took the disaster and accepted God’s ordaining it. But I wonder if she asked, “Where is God?”, or “Where is God’s love?”

There is another example of a time where people, in this case, many people, almost certainly asked those questions. In the book of Ezekiel, after the military defeat of Judah by Babylon, most of the remaining Jews in Judah were deported to Babylonia. They were ripped from their homes and from their homeland and from the land that God had given them. They would never be able to return. They were overwhelmed by the realization that they had been taken from the land God promised them and destroyed the temple in Jerusalem in the process. More than that, in the theological thinking of the time, the Jews would have believed that the Babylonian gods were superior to the God of Judah because the Babylonians defeated Judah. The Jews sang about their loss in Psalm 137:

By the rivers of Babylon
we sit down and weep
when we remember Zion.
On the poplars in her midst
we hang our harps,
for there our captors ask us to compose songs;
those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying:
“Sing for us a song about Zion!”
How can we sing a song to the Lord
in a foreign land?
Psalm 137.1-4 (NET)

God answers the Jew’s questions in an unexpected way in the lengthy first chapter of Ezekiel.

1In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles at the Kebar River, the heavens opened and I saw a divine vision. 2(On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile — 3the Lord’s message came to the priest Ezekiel the son of Buzi, at the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians. The hand of the Lord came on him there.)
4As I watched, I noticed a windstorm coming from the north—an enormous cloud, with lightning flashing, such that bright light rimmed it and came from it like glowing amber from the middle of a fire. 5In the fire were what looked like four living beings. In their appearance they had human form,
6but each had four faces and four wings. 7Their legs were straight, but the soles of their feet were like calves’ feet. They gleamed like polished bronze. 8They had human hands under their wings on their four sides. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, 9their wings touched each other; they did not turn as they moved, but went straight ahead.
10Their faces had this appearance: Each of the four had the face of a man, with the face of a lion on the right, the face of an ox on the left, and also the face of an eagle. 11Their wings were spread out above them; each had two wings touching the wings of one of the other beings on either side and two wings covering their bodies. 12Each moved straight ahead—wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went. 13In the middle of the living beings was something like burning coals of fire or like torches. It moved back and forth among the living beings. It was bright, and lightning was flashing out of the fire. 14The living beings moved backward and forward as quickly as flashes of lightning.
15Then I looked, and I saw one wheel on the ground beside each of the four beings. 16The appearance of the wheels and their construction was like gleaming jasper, and all four wheels looked alike. Their structure was like a wheel within a wheel. 17When they moved they would go in any of the four directions they faced without turning as they moved. 18Their rims were high and awesome, and the rims of all four wheels were full of eyes all around.
19When the living beings moved, the wheels beside them moved; when the living beings rose up from the ground, the wheels rose up too. 20Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise up beside them because the spirit of the living being was in the wheel. 21When the living beings moved, the wheels moved, and when they stopped moving, the wheels stopped. When they rose up from the ground, the wheels rose up from the ground; the wheels rose up beside them because the spirit of the living being was in the wheel.
22Over the heads of the living beings was something like a platform, glittering awesomely like ice, stretched out over their heads. 23Under the platform their wings were stretched out, each toward the other. Each of the beings also had two wings covering its body. 24When they moved, I heard the sound of their wings—it was like the sound of rushing waters, or the voice of the Sovereign One, or the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.
25Then there was a voice from above the platform over their heads when they stood still. 26Above the platform over their heads was something like a sapphire shaped like a throne. High above on the throne was a form that appeared to be a man. 27I saw an amber glow like a fire enclosed all around from his waist up. From his waist down I saw something that looked like fire. There was a brilliant light around it, 28like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds after the rain. This was the appearance of the surrounding brilliant light; it looked like the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I threw myself face down, and I heard a voice speaking.
Ezekiel 1.1-28 (NET)

This is a fantastic vision, describing things that are hard for our modern minds to easily grasp. One thing that is clear is that Yahweh is presenting Himself as the all-powerful, mighty, warrior God. But there is more.

This vision presents something that the Jews and most ancient people would understand. God was on a chariot- throne. Above the living beings was a platform on which was a throne that looked like a sapphire (v.26). The platform looked like glittering ice (v.22). The platform moved when the living beings moved (v.19-21). Under the platform among the living beings were lightning flashes and fire, and burning coals, representing judgement and purity (v.13-14). The wheels looked like gleaming jasper (v.16). The wheels had eyes all around them (v.18) illustrating that God sees all. It must have been a magnificent sight and at the same time intimidating. So frightening, that Ezekiel threw himself face down (v.28) as anyone would do when in the glorious, pure, holy presence of Yahweh. Then God spoke to Ezekiel (v.28). This vision is not one would expect from a defeated God.

Most of the descriptions in the passage is about the four living beings. The passage describes their appearance, their wings, their hands, how they moved. Unusual is the description of the living beings’ faces (v.10). Each living being had four faces.

The four faces of the four animals or cherubim correspond to the iconography of the Babylonian zodiac. Each represents a seasonal constellation in Babylonian astrology, and each face or constellation also represented one of the four directions (N, S, E, W) or quadrants of the sky. Babylonians knew that the heavens were connected to what happened on earth (times, seasons, crops, weather, etc.), and they believed their gods controlled those functions. Information about the stars was laid out on Mesopotamian astrolabes, clay tablets whose concentric circles could well correspond to the “wheels within wheels” imagery.

Yahweh was not just on His chariot-throne. He was not just seated in all His glory. Yahweh was fully in control over time and space and over the Babylonians. The faces were the faces of Babylonians gods. Yahweh on His chariot throne was over and far more powerful than those so-called gods. Yahweh controlled them and moved them at His desire. He was above them. Yahweh had not been defeated and most importantly for the Jewish exiles, He had not abandoned them. He was present with them in His sovereign glory. Ezekiel says, Yahweh is Shaddai, the Sovereign One (v.24).

There have been several times in my life where I wondered about where God was. One time was when I was fired from a job. How were we going to make it? Will I be able to find another job that paid enough? Another time was when our finances collapsed including the possibility of losing our home. How am I going to survive this? What will happen if…? In those times I wondered about God’s presence, I wondered about His love, I wondered about how or if, He was going to deal with my circumstances.

We see in the book of Ruth, even when Naomi had lost everything, God was there, and God was moving. God was present and God was moving when the Jews were in exile in Babylon. God was present and God was moving when I was fired and when my finances collapsed.

As the story of Ruth moves on after her tragedy, I believe Naomi began to see God moving and working through Ruth and Boaz. Looking back, I can see how God moved in my life. It is hard to see God when we are in the middle of suffering and loss; it is hard to see Him moving and working in those times. Yet, God is present, and He is moving and working. When you are suffering and when you experience loss and trouble, and even when you are not, God is on His throne, He is present, He is moving, and God is working.

If you are interested, you can hear and see the lyrics from The Wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald by clicking this link:

"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" - Gordon Lightfoot (HD w/ Lyrics) - YouTube

The book covers several topics in the Bible that people may wonder about, including an article on Ezekiel’s vision titled, Bizarre Visions for the Worst of Times. Some of the other articles in the book: The Ancients Guide to the Galaxy, The Abandoned Child and the Basket Case, The Most Horrific Bible Story, My Guardian Angel, Dumbledore Meets Philip and Peter, Baptism as Spiritual Warfare, and many more. It is an easy read and occasionally humorous. Available on Amazon.

Mike TuckerOctober 28, 2022Mike Tucker