Ezekiel 1:15-21

C. The Wheels 1:15-21

TRANSLATION

(15) Now as I saw the living creatures, behold one wheel on the earth beside each of the living creatures on its four sides. (16) The appearance of the wheels and their works was like the color of topaz and the four of them had one likeness; and their appearance and their works were as a wheel in the middle of a wheel. (17) When they went, they went toward their four sides, they did not turn about in their going. (18) As for their rims, they were high and awesome and their rims were filled with eyes round about the four of them. (19) And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them, and when the living creatures were lifted Up from upon the earth, the wheels were lifted up. (20) Wherever the Spirit was to go, they went; thither was the spirit to go and the wheels lifted Up opposite them for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. (21) In their going, they went, and in their standing still, they stood still. And when they were lifted up from upon the earth, the wheels were lifted up opposite them for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

COMMENTS

By, i.e., under, each of the living creatures was a wheel (Ezekiel 1:15). These wheels were so constructed as to facilitate movement in any direction. They were omnidirectional wheels. In appearance these wheels resembled topaz (Heb., tarshish).[88] Each wheel actually consisted of two wheels, i.e., a wheel in the middle of a wheel. The two wheels were probably solid discs which bisected each other at right angles (Ezekiel 1:16). This would produce a ballbearing-type effect which would allow movement of the wheels in any direction without being turned (Ezekiel 1:17). Apparently there was no steering mechanism connected to these wheels. The symbolism of this detail is more clear than the mechanics. The wheels are directed by the Spirit of God. Amid all the uncertainties and tragedies of life, the Spirit of God is at work providentially directing all discordant aspects of life,

[88] Opinions differ on the identity of this stone. Jasper and beryl have been suggested, The ancient versions have chrysolite, whatever that may have been,

The rims (gabbehen) of the wheels were high, i.e., the wheels were huge in comparison to the entire chariot.[89] Owing to the fact that they were full of eyes, the rims were terrifying (Ezekiel 1:18).[90] The eyes may have been no more than dazzling spots which added to the brilliancy of the wheels. But it seems more likely that they had a symbolical meaning. The eye in the ancient world was a symbol of intelligence. God sees and knows what is happening throughout His world, including the camps of Jewish captives in Mesopotamia.

[89] Some have seen in the word high the power of raising the throne chariot. Something like hydraulic wheels may be intended.

[90] The RSV emends the text of Ezekiel 1:18 so that it reads The four wheels had rims and they had spokes. The Hebrew text In Ezekiel 1:18 is difficult, but this in no way justifies the arbitrary change of the RSV.

The wheels of the throne-chariot were not functional. In fact, the only reason the wheels are mentioned is so that the chariot imagery could be maintained. That the wheels were not essential to the movements of the throne-chariot is seen in the fact that the vehicle travelled in the air and not on the ground. Ellison[91] suggests that the wheels symbolize inanimate nature just as the four cherubim represent the living creation. In ancient Jewish teaching the wheels were thought to symbolize some order of heavenly beings.[92] The significance of the wheels is really quite simple. They are obviously symbols of movement. God is not restricted to heaven, nor to any particular spot on earth. The wheels thus symbolize the omnipresence of the Almighty.

[91] Ellison, EMM, p. 25.

[92] See the pseudepigraphic Book of Enoch 61:10; 70:7

Ezekiel 1:19-21 emphasize the mobility of God's throne-chariot. The wheels themselves had no capacity for independent movement. They always moved in conjunction with the living creatures (Ezekiel 1:19). The creatures in turn were under the control of the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God was in the creatures, and the spirit of the creatures,[93] as it were, was in the wheels (Ezekiel 1:20). There is no indication that the wheels were attached to the living creatures. To emphasize the co-ordination of the wheels and creatures, Ezekiel 1:21 repeats and amplifies the thought that when the creatures moved in any direction, the wheels moved with them.

[93] A singular is used in Ezekiel 1:20 in a collective sense as in Ezekiel 10:20,

The main point being emphasized in this description of the mobility of God's throne-chariot is this: God is omnipresent. He is not earth-bound. The effortless mobility of God's throne-chariot is a way of depicting the grand theological theme of God's omnipresence.