A word about Ezekiel
1
📚Now this happened in the thirtieth year 📖, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, when I was among the captives 📖 by the Kebar River 📖: the heavens were opened 📖, and I saw visions of God.2 📚On the fifth day of the month, which was in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, 3 📚the word of the LORD came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi 📖, in the land of the Chaldeans 📖 by the Kebar River; and there the hand of the LORD was on him.
Ezekiel’s vision of God’s glory
4 📚And I looked and saw a whirlwind coming out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire unfolding itself. And a brightness was around it, and radiating from its center something like the colour of amber, from inside the fire.
1:4 Here are three symbols of God’s presence – whirlwind or storm (Ex 19:16; Job 38:1; 40:6; Ps 18:9-13); fire (note at Ex 3:2); brightness or light (Ps 104:2; 1 Tim 6:16; 1 John 1:5).⚜
5 📚Also from its center came the likeness of four living beings. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man. 6 📚And each one had four faces, and each one had four wings. 7 📚And their legs were straight legs, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of a calf’s foot; and they gleamed like the colour of burnished bronze. 8 📚And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and the four of them had their faces and their wings. 9 📚Their wings were joined to one another. The beings did not turn as they went; each one went straight forward.
10 📚As for the likeness of their faces, each of the four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side; and each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four also had the face of an eagle. 11 📚Thus were their faces. And their wings were stretched upward. Two wings of each one were joined to one another, and two covered their bodies. 12 📚And each one went straight forward. Wherever the spirit would go, they went; and they did not turn as they went. 13 📚As for the likeness of the living beings, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of torches. The fire went up and down among the living beings, and the fire was bright, and out of the fire came lightning. 14 📚And the living beings sped back and forth like the appearance of a flash of lightning.
1:5-14 The living beings are cherubim (Ezek 10:15), not human beings. Notes on cherubim at Gen 3:24; Ex 25:18-20. Here we should note the following:
There were four cherubim (v 5). This number may indicate the whole earth with its “4 corners”.
The cherubim had four faces (vs 6,10). Their faces represent the whole of earth’s creatures – lion “king” of wild beasts, eagle “king” of birds, ox symbolizing cattle in general, the most important species of domesticated animals, and man “king” of all other of earth’s creatures (Gen 1:28; Ps 8:6-8).
The form of the cherubim was like a man’s form (v 5). God’s glory has more to do with mankind than with the rest of earth’s creatures.
The cherubim were in the fire which symbolizes God’s presence and glory (v 5). They were very bright and fiery themselves (v 13).
They went straight ahead without turning. God’s ways are straight ways not like man’s crooked ways (Ps 125:5; Prov 2:12-15; Isa 40:3-4; 42:16; 59:8; Mark 1:3).
They went as the Spirit directed (v 12). Spirit here means God’s Spirit in relation to the sovereignty of earth.
They moved like flashes of lightning. This may indicate the speed with which they executed the will of God. With them there is no reluctance, no hesitation, no delay.
In Ezek 10:12 it is said they were “full of eyes” (compare Rev 4:6, 8). This suggests God’s ability to see everything everywhere.
Their movement was like the voice of God (v 24. Compare Rev 1:15).⚜
15 📚Now as I was watching the living beings, one wheel appeared on the earth by each of the living beings, with their four faces. 16 📚The appearance of the wheels 📖 and their workmanship was like the colour of beryl. And the four had the same likeness; and their appearance and their workmanship was like a wheel inside another wheel. 17 📚When they went, they went in the direction of one of their four sides, and they did not turn as they went. 18 📚As for their rings, they were so high that they were awesome; and their rims were full of eyes all around the four of them.
19 📚And when the living beings went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living beings were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. 20 📚Wherever the spirit would go, they went, for there the spirit went. And the wheels were lifted up close beside them, for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. 21 📚When those went, these went; and when those stood still, these stood still; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up close beside them, for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
Divine splendor
22 📚 And the likeness of the expanse above the heads of the living creature was like the colour of an awesome crystal; it was above, stretched out over their heads. 23 📚And under the expanse their wings were straight, toward one another. Each one had two which covered this side, and each one had two which covered that side of their bodies. 24 📚And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings, like the sound of great waters, like the voice of the Almighty 📖, the sound of speech, like the sound of an army. When they stood still, they let down their wings.
25 📚And there came a voice from the expanse that was above their heads, when they stood and let down their wings. 26 📚And above the expanse that was above their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone. And high above, on the likeness of the throne was the likeness of the appearance of a man. 27 📚And I saw something like the colour of amber, like the appearance of fire all around inside it; from the appearance of his waist upward, and from the appearance of his waist downward, I saw what appeared to be fire, and it had brightness all around.
1:27 Compare Rev 1:13-16.⚜
28 📚The appearance of this surrounding brightness was like the appearance of the rainbow 📖 that is in the cloud on a day of rain. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory 📖 of the LORD. And when I saw it, I prostrated myself, and I heard a voice of one who spoke.
1:5-28 This vision can be divided into three sections – living beings (vs 5-14), wheels (vs 15-21), expanse (vs 22-28). The vision as a whole reveals God’s glory in His sovereign rule over all the earth.⚜
1:22-28 The expanse and the throne – vs 22 and 26 suggest some sort of beautiful platform on which God’s throne rested. Let us observe the following:
The throne with its occupant is the important thing, not the expanse. Evidently, from there the voice was heard (vs 25,26). The throne here speaks of God’s sovereignty over all creation. His voice, His word determine the direction of His activity on earth. The cherubim and the wheels give instant and full obedience.
The One sitting on the throne was in figure like a man (v 26). No one has seen God at any time (John 1:18; 1 Tim 6:16). But God at times has come in the form of man to speak with men (Gen 18:1-2). The Lord Jesus was the supreme example of this (John 1:1, 14; Phil 2:5-7). Doubtless He is the One on the throne in this vision, as He was in Isaiah’s vision (Isa 6:1; John 12:41).⚜