Ezekiel 1:1-14
1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the River Chebar, that 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 River Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was upon him there.
4 Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire. 5 Also from within it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man. 6 Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of calves' feet. They sparkled like the color of burnished bronze. 8 The hands of a man were under their wings on their four sides; and each of the four had faces and wings. 9 Their wings touched one another. The creatures did not turn when they went, but each one went straight forward.
10 As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four had the face of an eagle. 11 Thus were their faces. Their wings stretched upward; two wings of each one touched one another, and two covered their bodies. 12 And each one went straight forward; they went wherever the spirit wanted to go, and they did not turn when they went.
13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and out of the fire went lightning. 14 And the living creatures ran back and forth, in appearance like a flash of lightning.
Ezekiel, “Strengthened by God.” is indeed strengthened by God for the prophetic ministry to which he is called (3:8, 9), like Jeremiah before him. Jeremiah was the weeping prophet warning of the judgment of God and captivity in Babylon, while Ezekiel was the messenger during the captivity. His strength came in the vision where he saw God and found encouragement to persevere with the messages given because he had seen the glory and power of the One giving His word to be spoken to His people through him. The first half of the opening chapter shows the scene among the captives of Judah when they were yet at the river Chebar in Mesopotamia, possibly the man made 'Royal Canal' of Nebuchadnezzar. While there, the prophet was given an opening into heaven to see wonderful things of God beyond imagination. This priest Ezekiel was purposefully given to him by the LORD and God’s hand was on him as an instrument of divine purpose to speak His word to warn and comfort those chosen by God for His glory in their captivity. There they would learn the worship and obedience to the Holy One which they had left before Jerusalem was leveled. The visions Ezekiel would see were written down for us as best a man could understand at the time (and indeed even now in our time). It began with a flaming whirlwind like a dust devil or tornado, a self-consuming fire out of a cloud with bright amber light flashing from it. Inside were the four living beings, cherubim, of bizarre and unworldly appearance which Ezekiel tried to describe in feeble and limited human language. They stood like men but each had four faces around their heads and flew with four wings like immense angelic dragonflies. Their knee-less legs had feet like a bull with hooves and their appearance shone brightly as bronze metal which was polished to a high luster. They had a man’s hands under those four wings and the four beings were in a circle with wingtips touching as a suggestion of the Ark with the seraphim above the lid in worship of the LORD who met with the high priest there for atonement of sins. Here they were worshiping the LORD as well. Their other sets of wings covered themselves in submission and holiness perhaps. Their movement was fluid and purposeful in a steady way as they kept eyes front like dutiful soldiers of the King of kings. They also had four faces each: a man’s, a lion, an ox, and an eagle. These suggest God’s creation of man, the power and majesty of a lion, the strength of an ox, and the oversight of a bird flying high above the earth. They are representative of God’s creation as well as some of His attributes. They appeared as burning coals with flames or flashes of powerful lightning arcing among themselves. Even their moving was as lightning in its quick and bright appearance. This was God’s heavenly show for Ezekiel to find humility and submissive strength in God’s power and calling for him. We are not as the prophet to see such unmentionable glorious sights as Paul did (2 Corinthians 12:2-4), but we do have the written accounts which are reliable and give us hope to persevere until the day we stand at last in His presence (Job 19:26-27, 1 John 3:2, Revelation 21:3, 22:4). How our hearts yearn within us in anticipation (Romans 8:23, 25) of seeing the divine presence in the heavenly places! This gives us strength like Ezekiel in persecution to proclaim the gospel and set the captives free.
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