Ezekiel 1:1-28
1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captivesa by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
2 In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity,
3 The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekielb the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him.
4 And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infoldingc itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.
5 Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.
6 And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.
7 And their feet were straightd feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass.
8 And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.
9 Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.
10 As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.
11 Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretchede upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.
12 And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went.
13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.
14 And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.
15 Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces.
16 The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.
17 When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went.
18 As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their ringsf were full of eyes round about them four.
19 And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.
20 Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
21 When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
22 And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.
23 And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies.
24 And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings.
25 And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings.
26 And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.
27 And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.
28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.
Ezekiel 1-3. Ezekiel Enters upon his Ministry.
Ezekiel 1:1. Ezekiel's Vision.
Ezekiel 1:1. Like the prophets generally, Ezekiel enters upon his ministry only after he has had a vision of God and a call from Him. The book, therefore, appropriately opens with a description of these experiences. They took place in the thirtieth year a difficult phrase: perhaps the thirtieth year of the prophet's life in any case in 592 B.C., the fifth year after Jehoiachin and the leading citizens of Judah had been carried captive into Babylon (2 Kings 24:10
Ezekiel 1:16). Among them was Ezekiel, who whether or not a priest himself, came of a priestly family a fact which explains certain elements in the vision about to be described, and which accounts for the form into which he casts his ideals (Ezekiel 40-48) and in general for the temper of his mind. The Jewish colony of which he was a member was settled in the neighbourhood of a large navigable canal called the Chebar, S.E. of Babylon. It was there that he had the vision of God which sent him forth upon his ministry. It came upon him apparently when he was in a state of trance or ecstasy for that is the implication of the frequently recurring phrase the hand of Yahweh was upon him; and the full bearing of the vision is not appreciated till we remember that the God who there came into his experience with such illumining and quickening power was popularly supposed to be confined to Canaan, the home of His people, or more particularly to the Temple; but, as certain symbolical details of the vision will soon make clear, this great God is not thus confined, but even in distant Babylon He can make Himself felt and known.
Ezekiel 1:4. The vision, which is unusually complicated and elaborate, would be very difficult to render pictorially; but the ultimate elements can still be recognised which were fused together in the sublime experience of ecstasy. It was suggested in part by the prophet's knowledge of Isaiah's vision (Isaiah 6), of Solomon's Temple, and the mongrel figures of Babylonian art. But it is not till towards the end of the description that we hear anything of the Divine Being Himself (Ezekiel 1:26); attention is first concentrated on the wonderful chariot upon which He is borne, and the details of it are all symbolic of aspects of the Divine nature. First the prophet sees a fiery cloud approaching flashing like amber, or rather electrum (a mixture of silver and gold). From out the glow four living creatures, suggested by the cherubim of the Temple (1 Kings 6:23; Genesis 3:24 *, Psalms 18:10 *, Isaiah 6:2 *), begin to articulate themselves; each of these creatures had four wings and four faces, that of a man, lion, ox, eagle, symbolising respectively intelligence, dignity, strength, and speed. The four creatures face east, west, north, and south, suggesting that all parts of the universe alike are open to the gaze of God an idea further enhanced by the presence of wings attached to the creatures, and of wheels beneath and beside them, so that there is no spot inaccessible to the Divine energy: for everywhere this mysterious chariot can go. The wonder and weirdness of it all is heightened by the presence of eyes in the wheels. Wheels so equipped cannot miss their way, and to those mysterious eyes every part of the universe is open. The creatures and the wheels alike were animated by the Divine life: and in the midst of the creatures was a perpetual flash of lightning, and the glow of fire suggested, no doubt, by the altar fire of Isaiah's vision so that the whole phenomenon constituted an awe-inspiring symbol of the omnipotence, the omnipresence, and the omniscience of God.
If it be said that much in this vision is obscure and some of it grotesque the combination, e.g. of wings and wheels as means of locomotion it may be urged in reply that the prophet is quite conscious that he is attempting to describe the indescribable. Instead of boldly describing the things themselves, he usually only hints at their appearance: it was the likeness of living creatures, faces, etc., that he saw something like them, but in the last analysis something unutterable. The vision is a mystery, as every vision of God must be, and this feature persists throughout the description to the end. Indeed this sense of mystery, with its accompanying reverence and reticence, is most prominent when Ezekiel comes to tell of the figure throned upon the chariot which he has just described.
Ezekiel 1:22. Though the whole is a vision of God, it is worth noting that Ezekiel does not name or describe Him till towards the end. This has the literary effect of heightening the reader's suspense, though the impression of the Divine presence is far less immediate than that produced by the story of the vision and call experienced by Isaiah or Jeremiah. God is more remote to the later prophet.
The mysterious reverberating whirr of the mighty wings is followed by an equally mysterious silence. The wings droop, the chariot stops. Above the heads of the creatures is seen a crystal floor or platform (here called firmament) on which rested a sapphire throne the imagery here suggests the deep blue of heaven and on the throne is Almighty God Himself, something like a radiant human figure of supernatural brilliance and glory. And all this terror of the Divine majesty is softened by the sight of a lovely rainbow round the throne. But little wonder that, when the prophet saw the awful vision, he fell prostrate upon his face.
Notice the incessant repetition, in the last few verses, of the words appearance and likeness. At this point more than ever, Ezekiel knows himself to be describing things which it is not possible for a man to utter.