On today’s podcast, we will take a quick look at the Book of Ezekiel and of the man who wrote it. His book of prophecy is a wild ride, to be sure, but you and I can learn a lot about God’s sovereignty and of how He works with His people as we study it.
Even though Ezekiel 24 and 25 form a continuous message, there is a distinct change in tone and topic from one chapter to the next. Just look at how each chapter begins:
In the ninth year, in the tenth month on the tenth day, the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, record this date, this very date, because the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. (Ezekiel 24:1-2 | NIV84)
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set your face against the Ammonites and prophesy against them.” (Ezekiel 25:1-2 | NIV84)
The none too subtle change is this: The first 24 chapters of the book contain prophecies and sermons directed at the exiles from Judah now living and working in Babylon, of whom Ezekiel is one. The messages deal with the sinfulness of Judah and Israel and the coming devastating destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. The overall theme of chapters 1 through 24 is that God will punish His rebellious people by taking away from them the Promised Land and forcing them to live in exile in Babylon for 70 years.
The next group of chapters, 25 through 33, deal with nations that surround Judah. A lot of people raise their eyebrows when they read this section of Ezekiel. That God will judge the godless is not surprising, but the reason is. In the backs of our minds, we assume people will be judged because they didn’t accept Christ as Savior. That’s true enough, but here we learn that whole nations will face severe judgement based on other criteria going back to this ancient verse that very few nations take seriously these days:
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:3 | NIV84)
Each of the four nations Ezekiel speaks to historically mistreated Israel and disdained her, but especially now, at this time of her exile. The main theme in these chapters is this: God will be as faithful to punish these nations in keeping with His covenant with Abraham as He was faithful to punish Judah according to His covenant, the Mosaic covenant, with her.
But it gets even more interesting than that. This “judgment of the nations” would begin with the invasion of Babylon and continue until the end times, at which time Judah will possess these nations and the Lord will reign. This very long judgment is viewed as a single judgment which began with Nebuchadnezzar and will end with the second coming of Christ.
In one sense, Nebuchadnezzar is the hinge upon which the door of history swings. The poor, godless warrior never really understood that his actions formed a part of God’s will that continues to unfold to this very day. Joel, a minor prophet, wrote about this “judgement of the nations,” but he sees it as an end-times prophecy:
In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land. They cast lots for my people and traded boys for prostitutes; they sold girls for wine that they might drink. (Joel 3:1-3 | NIV84)
You may wonder why God was and remains so concerned about nations, after all, nations aren’t permanent; they rise and fall; come and go. Here’s the thing that escapes an ego-centric generation: it’s not all about us, as individuals. In our time, we talk a great deal about having a “personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ,” and while that certainly is the basis of our salvation, our “personal God” is also the God all things and all people, whether they acknowledge Him or not. All things – even nations – exist because God allows them to. God’s will for a person or a nation will come to pass whether or not that person or nation co-operates with Him. A nation will be blessed or face certain punishment depending on how it treated it’s people, and especially how it treated God’s people. The judgement of the nations, beginning here in Ezekiel 25 and continuing until our Lord returns, is for the purpose of bringing all nations to the realization that God is who He always said He was: The only true God. As with Judah, judgement will be the only way these other nations could be made to acknowledge this eternal truth.
“Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity words that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength.’ ”All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame. But in the Lord all the descendants of Israel will be found righteous and will exult. (Isaiah 45:22c-25 | NIV84)
Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian army would be God’s instruments of judgment upon His people and all these nations. Every one of them would go into exile, as Judah did, for 70 years. Ezekiel wasn’t the only prophet to foresee this. Jeremiah did, too:
This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. (Jeremiah 25:11 | TNIV)
In Ezekiel’s list of “these nations,” there is one glaring omission: Babylon. This doesn’t mean Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon escape judgment. Not by a long shot. Again, from Jeremiah:
“But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,” declares the Lord, “and will make it desolate forever. I will bring on that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. They themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings; I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.” (Jeremiah 25:12 – 14 | TNIV)
Against Ammon, 25:1 – 7
Ammon wasn’t more evil than any other pagan nation was, but somebody had to be mentioned first, so Ezekiel began this group of people, of whom we know next to nothing. This nation would be punished because she rejoiced and gloated over the profaning of the Temple and the destruction of Judah.
Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Sovereign Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you said “Aha!” over my sanctuary when it was desecrated and over the land of Israel when it was laid waste and over the people of Judah when they went into exile…. (Ezekiel 25:3 | NIV84)
Essentially, Ammon was being accused by God of gloating over the misfortunes of Judah. The Ammonites clapped and stomped and rejoiced over what was going on to the people of Judah and the destruction of their land. The odd-looking word, “aha,” simply means the people chuckled when Nebuchadnezzar finally steam-rolled Jerusalem to the ground.
Their price for mocking God’s people:
…therefore I will stretch out my hand against you and give you as plunder to the nations. I will wipe you out from among the nations and exterminate you from the countries. I will destroy you, and you will know that I am the Lord. (Ezekiel 25:7 | NIV)
Against Moab, 25:8 – 11
Moab was a longtime enemy of Israel, going back to almost the beginning! Here’s God’s charge against them and His punishment:
“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Because Moab and Seir said, “Look, Judah has become like all the other nations,” therefore I will expose the flank of Moab, beginning at its frontier towns—Beth Jeshimoth , Baal Meon and Kiriathaim—the glory of that land.’” (Ezekiel 25:8, 9 | NIV)
What Moab did was far more severe than it may appear. First of all, Judah was never “like all the other nations.” It was divinely created by God Himself. There was nothing ordinary about Judah. Second, likening Judah to all the other fallen nations was really an insult to God, indicating that God wasn’t strong enough to protect His people. Essentially, Moab was laughing at God.
The punishment leveled at Moab was a manifestation of God’s promise to curse those who curse Israel.
Against Edom, 25:12 – 14
Another longtime enemy of Israel had been Edom. God’s accusation against them was really directed at their attitude of vengeance against Judah. That was an age-old attitude, dating back to the conflict between Jacob (Israel) and Esau (Edom). Edom had forever been resentful and vindictive and jealous of Israel. Their promised destruction would be swift and complete:
…therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will stretch out my hand against Edom and kill both man and beast. I will lay it waste, and from Teman to Dedan they will fall by the sword. (Ezekiel 25:13 | NIV)
The Minor Prophet Obadiah details the stern judgment against Edom and the city chiseled into the mountainside.
Against the Philistines
“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Because the Philistines acted in vengeance and took revenge with malice in their hearts, and with ancient hostility sought to destroy Judah, therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will wipe out the Kerethites and destroy those remaining along the coast. I will carry out great vengeance on them and punish them in my wrath. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I take vengeance on them. ‘ ” (Ezekiel 25:15 – 17 | NIV)
The destruction of the Philistines was so complete and so literally fulfilled that liberal critics of the Bible find this particular prophecy hard to swallow. But it happened just as God, through Ezekiel, said it would.
Against Tyre and Sidon, 26:1 – 28:26
Tyre and Sidon weren’t nations but seacoast cities. They were long on trade and short compassion. They were merchants who didn’t care about anybody else as long they benefitted materially from their suffering. The end of Tyre serves as a stark example of what happens to a nation that loves money more than God. Arnold Toynbee, historian, believes materialism to be one of the major factors in the fall of nations. Modern America has far more in common with Tyre than we’d care to admit, with our obsession with things and consumerism. Johann Wolfgang Goethe was a German writer who, over 200 years ago, made this observation:
The spirit tends to take to itself a body.
He could have been talking about 21st century America, a nation concerned more about material things than anything else.
Sidon (28:20 – 23), though given a scant four verses, was probably a larger city than Tyre. Its punishment was frightening:
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set your face against Sidon; prophesy against her and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “ ‘I am against you, Sidon, and among you I will display my glory. You will know that I am the Lord, when I inflict punishment on you and within you am proved to be holy. I will send a plague upon you and make blood flow in your streets. The slain will fall within you, with the sword against you on every side. Then you will know that I am the Lord. (Ezekiel 28:20 – 23 | NIV)
Both disease and violence would overtake the city. But once again, note the purpose for God’s punishment: “Then you will know that I am the Lord.”
Though Sidon was punished, it was never completely destroyed as was Tyre, which was located just a few miles away. Sidon exists to this very day; it is a thriving sea port city, while Tyre is completely gone. God has kept His eternal word. Tyre was destroyed and has never been rebuilt, yet after 2500 years, Sidon, though punished, is till here.
Restoration of Israel, 28:24 – 26
“ ‘No longer will the people of Israel have malicious neighbors who are painful briers and sharp thorns. Then they will know that I am the Sovereign Lord. “ ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When I gather the people of Israel from the nations where they have been scattered, I will be proved holy through them in the sight of the nations. Then they will live in their own land, which I gave to my servant Jacob. They will live there in safety and will build houses and plant vineyards; they will live in safety when I inflict punishment on all their neighbors who maligned them. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God. ‘ ” (Ezekiel 28:24 – 26 | NIV)
Right after God called Ezekiel to be a prophet, the Lord sequestered Ezekiel in his house and, amazingly, the newly minted prophet was not allowed to speak a word:
Then the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. He spoke to me and said: “Go, shut yourself inside your house. And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes; you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people. I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, though they are a rebellious house. (Ezekiel 3:24 – 26 | NIV84)
What’s the deal with that? Why would God call Ezekiel to speak His Word, yet shut him up and shut him away from the people he was supposed to preach to? This section is really still part of Ezekiel’s call from his role as a priest to his new role as a prophet. It would be a difficult transition for the son of man to make. As a priest, Ezekiel would have had a series to duties to perform on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. His was a ministry of repetition. But that would all change. Now, Ezekiel would have to learn how to continually submit to the God’s Word. The prophetic ministry was not a repetitive one; from now on, he would never act on his own but would only appear in public when God wanted him to and he would only speak those words God moved him to say. And lastly, he lost the ability to speak.
Reading that paragraph, we realize that there is a co-operation between God and man going on here. Ezekiel was told by God to seclude himself in the house, and Ezekiel complied. He willingly went along with the strange request. But then notice the use of the word “they.” Somebody will tie Ezekiel up. The “they” likely refers to the prophet’s family or friends. Being bound symbolized Ezekiel’s lifelong commitment to his new ministry. And then the Lord stopped Ezekiel from speaking.
• Ezekiel went along with God’s command;
• Ezekiel asked others to tie him up;
• God miraculously shut Ezekiel up.
The work of the Lord involves a co-operation between all the parties involved. Then there’s this fascinating verse that is very telling:
But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says.’ Whoever will listen let him listen, and whoever will refuse let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house. (Ezekiel 3:27 | NIV84)
Take note of the doctrine of personal responsibility. People are free to accept the word of the Lord or not. God sends out the invitations, but it’s entirely up to those who received the invitation to open it up and accept it or not. God never forces anybody to do anything.
What happened to Ezekiel here is not unimportant for Christians to take notice of and take to heart. We as Christians, even though we know God’s way is the only way, have NO right on our own to criticize or condemn or pass judgment on anybody. We cannot set the standards for people to meet. That’s not our job. Rebuke and reproof are what the Lord does. It is only when people are obviously violating the will of God, and only when the Lord allows us, that we are permitted to speak out for Him against them. To speak up and be critical of others on our own may result in our reputations or even the reputation of the faith being mocked or derided. But if God calls us to speak out against an individual or even an entire culture, then we have no choice. However, everything we do or say must always be on His terms, not ours, and under His authority, not ours.
God in control
From the very beginning of his new ministry, Ezekiel needed to realize that he was no longer calling the shots in his life. God was.
The hand of the LORD was upon me there, and he said to me, “Get up and go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you.” (Ezekiel 3:22 | NIV84)
In that “plain” or valley, Ezekiel once again witnessed the glory of the Lord that had so moved him back in chapter one. He knew that he was in the very presence of the Lord, and once more we read this:
Then the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. (Ezekiel 3:24 | NIV84)
We read that phrase, “the Spirit came into me,” numerous times in this book, and it suggests that Ezekiel did not enjoy what all Christians enjoy: The abiding presence of the Lord in our lives. The Holy Spirit came and went with Ezekiel but since Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes and abides in the believer forever.
Also, notice the movement in this verse. Ezekiel was raised to his feet. We in the West view that movement differently than those who live in the East. For a king to invite a subject to stand in his presence meant that he had been accepted and that king was going to “do business” with him.
Prophecy in drama
• Ezekiel builds a model!
Chapters 4 – 24 record the opening prophetic salvo of Ezekiel, and it’s directed at Jerusalem. Even though he’s in Babylon, there was free communication between where Ezekiel was and his old home town. At the time the events of these chapters occurred, Jerusalem was still standing; it would be a few years before Nebuchadnezzar rolled in to destroy it in 586 BC. In these prophecies – and they are all prophecies even though they may not look it – are many strange symbolic actions, as well as sermons, all delivered in the Name of God. In these twenty chapters are riddles, allegories, and pantomimes, all used as vehicles for the Word of God.
The first prophecy was a clay model of Nebuchadnezzar’s siege. Yes, a clay model.
“Now, son of man, take a clay tablet, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it. Then take an iron pan, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.” (Ezekiel 4:1 – 3 | NIV84)
Now, you and I might find this a little odd. Here’s Ezekiel, prophet of God, playing with models. But to the people of the ancient near and middle east, acting out a message was not unusual. Theology of our time has been heavily influenced by many centuries of Plato’s influence of emphasizing highly abstract ideas over concrete actions, like the ones we see Ezekiel taking. Fortunately for us, God was not influenced by Plato. He came to us concretely in the Person of Christ and died on a real Roman cross and rose actually from the grave and ascended literally to Heaven and announced definitely that He would return visibly.
Here, Ezekiel is doing essentially the same thing with his little model. Think of the old Claymation TV shows and you’ll have an idea of what was going on here. Ezekiel probably built this large model in front of his house in the exile village of Tel-Abib. The exiles would have seen it as they passed by and the prophet would have explained what the model represented: The destruction of Jerusalem and the fact that sin cannot go unpunished. That’s really the big picture here; the sins of the city (the sins of the people of Jerusalem) were seen by God, committed against God, and therefore God would deal with those rebellious people. The sheer wickedness of Jerusalem, if you can imagine, didn’t abate with the first exile. It got worse:
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done. It was because of the LORD’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence. (2 Kings 25:18 – 20 | NIV84)
None of what was about to happen to Jerusalem as portrayed by Ezekiel and his model should have come as a surprise to the exiles or the people who heard about it back home. It was promised by God of they dared broke His covenant.
They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the LORD your God is giving you. Because of the suffering that your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the LORD your God has given you. Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children, and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities. The most gentle and sensitive woman among you—so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot—will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For she intends to eat them secretly during the siege and in the distress that your enemy will inflict on you in your cities. (Deuteronomy 25:52 – 57 | NIV84)
As Christians, we are not Israel. We aren’t the people whom Ezekiel had in mind when he built his tabletop model. But there are two verses in the New Testament that make it imperative we pay heed to Ezekiel’s words to his people:
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature d will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7, 8 | NIV84)
That’s right. For us, our enemy isn’t Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar, but the wages of sin – death. Our siege is accomplished by yielding to sin, trapping us. But in our case, we have God’s armor protecting us and He Himself is a strong refuge against it. And, unlike the iron plate that separated Ezekiel from this model of Jerusalem, God will never separate Himself from us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35 – 39 | NIV84)
• Ezekiel bears their sin
If you thought building a model was odd behavior for a serious, grown man to engage in, how about this:
“Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the house of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So, for 390 days you will bear the sin of the house of Israel. “After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the house of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year. Turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm prophesy against her. I will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your siege.” (Ezekiel 4:4 – 8 | NIV84)
Again, this a drama was acted out to give the people a visual representation of God’s Word. This was a slow, long theatrical prophecy lasting a total of 430 days, 390 of those days representing 390 years of the Northern Kingdom’s punishment for their sin and rebellion and 40 days representing 40 years of Judah’s punishment for their sin. The total number of years – 430 – is significant for a couple of reasons. First, historically, 430 years is the length of time that the Israelites were held in Egypt (Exodus 12:40).
Second, the total of 430 years of punishment for sin looks forward, and is therefore prophetic in nature. It’s a fact that all numbering and dating in the book of Ezekiel begins with the captivity of Jehoiachin in 597 BC; 597 BC is like ground zero for all the dates in Ezekiel. When we number forward 430 years from 597 BC we get to 167 BC (approximately), which is the year the Maccabean revolt began and the Jews finally got back control of the Promised Land – Canaan; for the first time since 597 BC.
Dates and numbers are interesting, but there is a much deeper significance here. By the siege and fall of Jerusalem, both Israel and Judah will be punished for their years of the rebellion and stubbornness. Ezekiel, lying on his side, is the one bearing their sins symbolically, in anticipation of the time when another Son of Man – the divine Son of Man – comes to bear the sins of many on the Cross. Here is a slight glimmer of the vicarious, substitutionary suffering of Jesus Christ.
Ezekiel had been a priest in Jerusalem but now he was an exile in Babylon, a result of Nebuchadnezzar’s second siege of Jerusalem in which he and many others had been chosen to participate in the king of Babylon’s “relocation program.” The opening verses of chapter one give us an interesting tidbit of theological information:
In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. On the fifth of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin—the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar
River in the land of the Babylonians. There the hand of the LORD was upon him. (Ezekiel 1:1 – 3 | NIV84)
Nobody except Ezekiel knows what “in the thirtieth year” means. Could he have meant it had been about thirty years since the book of the Law had been found in the wreckage of the Temple, which caused a national revival? Some have suggested it had been thirty years since the last Year of Jubilee. Others believe Ezekiel was referring to his own age. Turning thirty was a big deal for a Jewish male, indicating he had attained maturity. This seems the likeliest meaning, with “the fourth month” telling us it was mid-summer when this soon-to-be-prophet had his breathtaking vision. It was also the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s exile.
Assuming our presuppositions to be correct, Ezekiel had been in exile for some five years before his vision and his call to be the exile’s prophet. That “the heavens were opened” means that nobody else saw what he saw; only Ezekiel was given this rare glimpse of God’s glory.
Daniel was also in Babylon at this time, but he was living and working among the Babylonians, carrying out his duties as a politico in the king’s courts, fulfilling God’s calling on his life. But Ezekiel the priest lived and worked among the Jews, also fulfilling God’s calling on his life. Both men, both devout servants of Jehovah, both doing exactly what God wanted them to do, exactly where He wanted them to do it, for the benefit of His people, the exiles.
Ezekiel must have thought he would live out his years ministering before the Lord and His people. It was what he had been trained to do, after all. And as a priest, he was performing a sacred work for God. Yet, at the age of thirty, everything Ezekiel knew or thought he knew, about his life and calling would change. That God would give such visions under such circumstances shows the extent of His great sovereignty. He needs no earthly Temple in which to give visions! And the fact that “the hand of the Lord was upon him” tells us that it was God who was in charge of Ezekiel, supervising and superintending the events of the man’s life.
Creatures of the night, 1:4 – 14
I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north—an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal… (Ezekiel 1:4 | NIV84)
The whole thing started with a windstorm out of the north. Here’s a passage that tells us why this statement is so significant:
Do not lift your horns against heaven; do not speak with outstretched neck. No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man. But it is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another. (Psalm 75:5 – 7 | NIV84)
God’s dwelling is many times depicted as being in the north or to the north, the only direction not mentioned in Psalm 75. This was not an ordinary storm; it had something to do with the presence of the Almighty. Unfortunately, it had to do with His judgment.
…and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was that of a man… (Ezekiel 1:5 | NIV84)
But these were certainly no men, as the prophet’s description proves. It appears they may have been cherubim, a category of angels. They were stationed at the four sides of a supernatural chariot. This was not a UFO. It was not a futuristic mechanical contrivance inhabited by aliens. Ezekiel was simply, to the best of his ability, describing what he saw.
Each of the four creatures had four faces: a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle. Why these four faces specifically? Some scholars tell us that these were traditionally the four most impressive land animals and air animals. Man, head of all creation, the lion as king of all wild animals, the ox which was the most useful of all domesticated animals, and the eagle as the head of all the birds of the air. So in these four faces – four creatures – is seen all the intelligence, strength, ferocity, and freedom of all creation.
This vision told Ezekiel two things which became evident shortly after he saw it. First, God is about to move; He is about to do something. Second, whatever God is planning, it will happen in Mesopotamia, to the exiles who thought God had forgotten them completely. God hadn’t forgotten His people, and even though the Lord is showing Ezekiel that the forces of Nebuchadnezzar were about to loosed upon what was left of Jerusalem, God was the One in charge of what was going to happen, not the king of Babylon.
Wheels within wheels, 1:15 – 25
As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like chrysolite, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not turn about d as the creatures went. Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around. (Ezekiel 1:15 – 18 | NIV84)
Ezekiel is not seeing a UFO and he is not seeing God. He is seeing a portrayal or a drama of the power, ingenuity, majesty and sovereignty of God. The Bible is correct when it asserts that “no man has seen God at any time.” Moses saw the glory of God, but not the person of God. Man has been forbidden to even make a likeness of God. We don’t even know what the Son of God looked like before He came to us as a man. But there is within every human being a longing to see God. God gave Ezekiel a glimpse of His Person in a way Ezekiel could relate to.
Verse 18 tells us that God is a God who sees all and has a purpose for this planet and universe. It would have been tempting for these exiles to remain dispirited and discouraged, thinking they had been all but abandoned by God. This verse told them the opposite was true. God’s eyes are everywhere; He sees everything. As the “wheels within wheels” moved and progressed, Ezekiel knew God was on the move and He was moving quickly and with purpose.
When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. (Ezekiel 1:19, 20 | NIV84)
The “wheels” give us a picture of what the ceaseless activity and energy of God looks like. Just like a well-oiled machine are the plans of God, always, relentlessly, and perpetually moving forward.
So far in his vision, Ezekiel has seen dramatized before his eyes the Lord’s judgment. But here the mercy of God is seen by the prophet.
Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. (Ezekiel 1:26 – 28 | NIV84)
What an incredible scene! Ezekiel saw what was probably the Christ, who will one day come changing judgment into mercy. The inclusion of a “rainbow” means that mercy is on the way, just as the Lord promised to Noah.
His reaction – falling on his face before the Lord – was the only appropriate posture a man could take in the presence of the Lord of the universe. It’s an incredible picture of our holy God. I give Ezekiel credit for staying put and watching it unfold. I probably would have hidden in a cave somewhere.
Throughout the Old Testament, it was common that when man came into the presence of God, they fell face down. Remember Isaiah?
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:5 | NIV)
There is nothing else a human being can do in the presence of God. This vision is a barest, sliver of a glimpse of the majestic and awesome glory of the Lord. It is also a picture very similar to the vision given back in Exodus 19 and 24 at the giving of the Mosaic Covenant. How appropriate it was, therefore, that the same manifestation of God be given now, at a time when God was executing the judgments and promises of that very Covenant to the very people with whom it was made.
Ezekiel’s vision of the glory of God is, perhaps, the most profound vision of its kind in the Bible and may well hold the key to all the visions found in Scripture. It’s not insignificant that both Daniel and Ezekiel were busy prophesying about the End Times from Babylon, during the Captivity or Exile of their people. The book of Revelation and even Jesus’ Olivette Discourse, owe much to both the prophecies of Daniel and to the apocalyptic visions of Ezekiel. You and I are living, as it were, in a kind of exile. When we became Christians, we entered the Kingdom of God and became citizens of that Kingdom, even while we are putting in our time on earth. Sometimes we get discouraged and disillusioned as we wait for our Lord to return and establish His spiritual kingdom in reality on earth. Ezekiel may have experienced what he did and prophesied long ago to people long gone, but his words resonate with the world-weary believer down to this very day.
You are an Anti-government Gunslinger, also known as a libertarian conservative. You believe in smaller government, states’ rights, gun rights, and that, as Reagan once said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”
Take the quiz at www.FightLiberals.com
