After hearing someone I respected defend his decision to not wear a mask by citing Ezekiel 22:24, I decided I needed to respond.
First, the book of Ezekiel is a book of prophecy. It talks quite a bit about the Israelites coming out of their years of captivity to Babylon, and preparing them for the silence that is about to come from the Lord, due to the people’s hardened hearts.
Earlier in the chapter, God appears to Ezekiel and tells him that his wife is about to die, and when she does, God wants Ezekiel to forgo mourning. Instead, he wants Ezekiel to act as if nothing happened on the outside, even if he mourns inwardly. This is supposed to be a lesson to the Isralites that their behavior is offensive to God, like Ezekiel’s refusal to mourn is offensive to them. The specific line that talks about masks is found in verse 17 and repeated in verse 24. These verses are very clearly about mourning practices, and the idea of “covering your face” might actually refer to shaving your beard, or could refer to using a veil to hide emotions. The modern idea in Jewish mourning practices is that you should not touch your appearance (hair, makeup, shaving, etc.) until after the mourning has ended. This passage probably refers to this, as the other mourning practices of going barefoot, not leaving the house, and wearing clean and new clothes are also mentioned.
On top of all that, face coverings are mentioned somewhere else in the bible–the book of Leviticus. In Leviticus 13:45-46, the law for how to deal with leprosy is set out–and it says to wear a face covering! The verses say to cover you “upper lip” and to remove yourself from the community for as long as you continue to have leprosy. It also says that you should remind others that you have the disease.
To me, this sounds a lot like wearing a mask and social distancing! So, in my opinion, the Bible absolutely supports wearing masks during times of global sickness, or even during minor illnesses. Thus, it would obviously be the Christian thing to do so today.
If further support is needed, in Romans 13:1-2, Paul urges us to obey the government, because God is the one who has put them in place to govern over us. In 1 Peter 2:13-17, Peter reiterates this, saying that if we obey the laws, then we are wise in the eyes of the world, and that as long as those laws don’t directly controvert God’s (ie: loving your neighbor, honoring God), then we should obey even if we disagree.
Finally, in 1 Corinthians 10, Paul writes his famous passage about eating meat sacrificed in the pagan temples. Throughout church history, we have interpreted this passage to be applicable to whatever controversy is happening. If not wearing a mask keeps someone from knowing Christ, then we have sinned against that person and God, according to Paul. And Jesus himself tells us to render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s. So, with all this in mind, I will be continuing to wear a mask until the pandemic is dealt with. I hope I’ve swayed someone to do the same.
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