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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
In my 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 on him.
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, and in the fire was what looked
like four living creatures. In appearance their form was human, but each of
them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight; their feet were
like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings on
their four sides they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings, and
the wings of one touched the wings of another. Each one went straight ahead;
they did not turn as they moved.
Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face
of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the
left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. Such were their
faces. They each had two wings spreading out upward, each wing touching that of
the creature on either side; and each had two other wings covering its body. Each
one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without
turning as they went. The appearance of the living creatures was like burning
coals of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures;
it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it. The creatures sped back and
forth like flashes of lightning.
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 topaz, 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 change direction as the creatures went. Their rims were high and awesome,
and all four rims were full of eyes all around.
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. When
the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also
stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along
with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what
looked something like a vault, sparkling like crystal, and awesome. Under the
vault their wings were stretched out one toward the other, and each had two
wings covering its body. When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their
wings, like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like
the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings. Then
there came a voice from above the vault over their heads as they stood with
lowered wings.
Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a
throne of lapis lazuli, 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.
This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.
When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
Ezekiel 1
This ends today’s
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Today, we begin a
journey through the 48 chapters of the Book of Ezekiel and as we will see in
Chapter 1, things start out with a bang as we get a glimpse into the throne
room of the Lord and His glory. Look again at the chapter here:
In my 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 on him.
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, and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In
appearance their form was human, but each of them had four faces and four
wings. Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and
gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had
human hands. All four of them had faces and wings, and the wings of one touched
the wings of another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they
moved.
Their faces looked
like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right
side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also
had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. They each had two wings
spreading out upward, each wing touching that of the creature on either side;
and each had two other wings covering its body. Each one went straight ahead.
Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went. The
appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like
torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and
lightning flashed out of it. The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of
lightning.
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 topaz, 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 change direction as the
creatures went. Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full
of eyes all around.
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. When the creatures moved, they also moved;
when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures
rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them, because the spirit of
the living creatures was in the wheels.
Spread out above the
heads of the living creatures was what looked something like a vault, sparkling
like crystal, and awesome. Under the vault their wings were stretched out one
toward the other, and each had two wings covering its body. When the creatures
moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing waters, like
the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army. When they stood still,
they lowered their wings. Then there came a voice from above the vault over
their heads as they stood with lowered wings.
Above the vault over
their heads was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, 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.
This was the appearance
of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I
heard the voice of one speaking. Ezekiel 1
Before we get into the visions Ezekiel saw, let’s get a
historical marker and some background information in place to know a little
about Ezekiel as well as when and where these events took place.
First of all, Ezekiel tells us his encounter with the Lord
and its associated vision happened four months into his thirtieth year on the
fifth day. We know that he was a priest but not while under captivity of the
Babylonians as they had stripped all priests of their authority. But God had
another purpose for this religious leader for He called him to be His prophet.
Secondly, we know that the vision came to Ezekiel during the
exile, and the early stages of it at that. King Jehoiachin was led into
captivity with other Israelites in 597 B.C. and preceded the later downfall of
Jerusalem under Zedekiah and the subsequent capture of all remaining
Israelites. Ezekiel was a part of Jehoiachin’s group and the vision we will be
studying came in the fifth year of that exile (593 B.C.).
Thirdly, we know Ezekiel received his vision while by the
Kebar River which was in the land of the Babylonians, further confirming his
captivity.
So at this time and place, Ezekiel had the Lord come upon
him and saw “visions of God”.
Now let’s break down what he saw.
At the onset of the vision, there was no doubt something
significant was coming out of the north. It was w windstorm containing an
immense cloud but not like any that Ezekiel (or anyone else for that matter) had
ever seen before. Scripture tells us the cloud was filled with “flashing
lightning” and “surrounded by brilliant light”.
Looking into the cloud, Ezekiel saw a fire that “looked like
glowing metal” and in the fire was “what looked like four living creatures who appeared
like “burning coals of fire or like torches” with bright fire moving “back and
forth among the creatures” and “lightning flashed out of it”. The four
creatures looked as if they were in human form but were definitely not human.
Each creature had four faces and wings with human hands under their wings, straight
legs, and gleaming feet like a calf. And when Ezekiel looked at the faces of
the creatures he saw the following:
Each of the four had
the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion,
and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. Such
were their faces.
Additionally, each creature had two wings spreading out
upward, each wing touching that of the creature on either side; and each had
two other wings covering its body. Note that the four creatures were each moving
straight ahead and “did not turn as they moved”. They were following the spirit
and wherever the spirit went, so did the creatures. If the spirit stood still,
the creatures lowered their wings and became still as well. But when the
creatures moved, the sound of their wings was heard by Ezekiel as “the roar of
rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army”.
The creatures weren’t the only thing seen by Ezekiel. Not by
a long shot.
For as we continue to study Chapter 1, we learn that he also
saw a “wheel on the ground beside each creature”. Each wheel “looked alike”, “sparkled
like topaz”, and had rims which “were high and awesome, as well as full of eyes
all around”. The wheels intersected with one another in a way which made them
go in one of the four directions that the creatures faced. Scripture tells us
that “when the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when
the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose”. Thus again, wherever
the spirit went, the wheels would move with the creatures because “the spirit
of the living creatures was in the wheels”. For example, when the creatures
moved, the wheels also moved; when the creatures stood still, the wheels also
stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along
with them. They were in complete sync with one another.
When Ezekiel looked above the living creatures, we saw a
vault (or expanse) which sparkled like crystal and then heard a “voice from
above the vault”. Looking above the vault, Ezekiel saw “what looked like a
throne of lapis lazuli”, a bright blue metamorphic rock, with a figure “on the
throne” who looked “like that of a man” but from the “waist up He looked like
glowing metal, as if full of fire”. A “brilliant light surrounded” the man, the
radiance of which reminded Ezekiel of the “appearance of a rainbow in the
clouds on a rainy day”. And we need not have to interpret who this man was for
Ezekiel tells us that what he saw was none other than the “appearance of the
likeness of the glory of the Lord”, an encounter with the Almighty Himself that
led Ezekiel to fall facedown before hearing the voice of the Lord speak to him.
More on that in a
later devotion but for now. Let me go back and fill in some blanks of understanding
so we, like Ezekiel, can have the proper glimpse into the throne room of God
and His glory.
First, the
creatures,
Did you take note
that there were four creatures and each creature had four faces and four wings?
Taking numerology
and the Bible into consideration, we know the number four represents
completeness and in regard to the four creatures, they represent God’s creation.
The face of the man symbolizes God’s chosen ruler over all creation (Genesis 1:26-28).
The lion was the fiercest and most powerful of the wild beasts, the ox, the
mightiest of the domesticated animals, and the eagle, the strongest of the
birds. These creatures were the throne attendants of God and as we study
further in this book, we will find them referred to as cherubim. And of
interest, these creatures are also mentioned in the Book of Revelation and John’s
vision (Revelation 4:7).
You’ll recall that
each of the creatures was attached to a wheel and those wheels could go in any
direction that the spirit moved the creatures. This ability of the wheels to go
anywhere is symbolic of the way God moves and refers to the truth that He can
be anywhere, omnipresent in the lives of His creation. Further, the rims of the
wheels were full of eyes which represented God’s ability to see everywhere.
Indeed, nothing is hidden from His sight.
As for the vault,
it served as separation between the glory of God and the creature throne
attendants. This vault was used in dividing two entities just as it was by God
during His creative acts in Genesis 1 when He used an expanse to separate the
waters from above from the waters below (Genesis 1:6-8).
Now that we’ve been given a glimpse into the throne of God
and His glory, put yourself in Ezekiel’s place. I mean, we all have had some
pretty wild dreams in life but this was no ordinary vision. Rather, it was a
vision provided to Ezekiel by God Himself. There could be no better revelation
given by anyone else. And for the Israelites, Ezekiel would have a great and
glorious message to bring. For although the glory of God had departed from Jerusalem
when the Babylonians attacked and destroyed the temple, that glory was not
dead, not by a long shot. Rather, it was very much alive and as well see later
in this book, Ezekiel the prophet will receive confirmation that the Lord’s glory
would again return to Jerusalem and so would they after the end of their
seventy year exile.
Before we get there, we have more to cover to include
Ezekiel’s calling to be a prophet, something we’ll look at tomorrow. See you
then.
Amen
In Christ,
Mark
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