Ezekiel
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(1) Introduction.
Ezekiel 1:1
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 captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
(2) The Vision Of The Glory.
Ezekiel 1:2-38
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 Ezekiel 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 infolding 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 (1) 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 straight 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 stretched 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 rings 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.
The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel Ezekiel was carried away to Babylon between the first and final deportations of
Judah
Like Daniel and the Apostle John, he prophesied out of the
land, and his prophecy, like theirs, follows the method of symbol and vision.
Unlike the pre-exilic prophets, whose ministry was primarily to either Judah or the
ten-tribe kingdom, Ezekiel is the voice of Jehovah to the "whole house of Israel."
Speaking broadly, the purpose of his ministry is to keep before the generation
born in exile the national sins which had brought Israel so low (e.g.,
Ezekiel 14:23);
to sustain the faith of the exiles by predictions of national restoration, of the execution of
justice upon their oppressors, and of national glory under the Davidic monarchy.
Ezekiel is in seven great prophetic strains indicated by the expression, "The hand of the Lord was upon me"
(Ezekiel 1:3; 3:14; 3:22; 8:1; 33:22; 37:1; 40:1).
The minor divisions are indicated by the formula, "And the word of the Lord came unto me."
The events recorded in Ezekiel cover a period of 21 years (Ussher).
WHEN we entered upon the writings of the prophets, which speak of the things that should be hereafter, we seemed to have the same call that St. John had (Revelation 4:1), Come up hither; but, when we enter upon the prophecy of this book, it is as if the voice said, Come up higher; as we go forward in time (for Ezekiel prophesied in the captivity, as Jeremiah prophesied just before it), so we soar upward in discoveries yet more sublime of the divine glory. These waters of the sanctuary still grow deeper; so far are they from being fordable that in some places they are scarcely fathomable; yet, deep as they are, out of them flow streams which make glad the city of our God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.
As to this prophecy now before us, we may enquire,
1. There is much in it that is very mysterious, dark, and hard to be understood, especially in the beginning and the latter end of it, which therefore the Jewish rabbin forbade the reading of to their young men, till they came to be thirty years of age, lest by the difficulties they met with there they should be prejudiced against the scriptures; but if we read these difficult parts of scripture with humility and reverence, and search them diligently, though we may not be able to untie all the knots we meet with, any more than we can solve all the phenomena in the book of nature, yet we may from them, as from the book of nature, gather a great deal for the confirming of our faith and the encouraging of our hope in the God we worship.
2. Though the visions here be intricate, such as an elephant may swim in, yet the sermons are mostly plain, such as a lamb may wade in; and the chief design of them is to show God's people their transgressions, that in their captivity they might be repenting and not repining. It should seem the prophet was constantly attended (for we read of their sitting before him as God's people sat to hear his words, Ezekiel 33:31), and that he was occasionally consulted, for we read of the elders of Israel who came to enquire of the Lord by him, Ezekiel 14:1,3. And as it was of great use to the oppressed captives themselves to have a prophet with them, so it was a testimony to their holy religion against their oppressors who ridiculed it and them.
3. Though the reproofs and the threatenings here are very sharp and bold, yet towards the close of the book very comfortable assurances are given of great mercy God had in store for them; and there, at length, we shall meet with something that has reference to gospel times, and which was to have its accomplishment in the kingdom of the Messiah, of whom indeed this prophet speaks less than almost any of the prophets. But by opening the terrors of the Lord he prepares Christ's way. By the law is the knowledge of sin, and so it becomes our school-master to bring us to Christ. The visions which were the prophet's credentials we have Ezekiel 1:1-3:27, the reproofs and threatenings Ezekiel 4:1-24:27 betwixt which and the comforts which we have in the latter part of the book we have messages sent to the nations that bordered upon the land of Israel, whose destruction is foretold (Ezekiel 25:1-35:15), to make way for the restoration of God's Israel and the re-establishment of their city and temple, which are foretold Ezekiel 36:1-38 to the end. Those who would apply the comforts to themselves must apply the convictions to themselves.
Living Creatures
The Four Living Creatures, Rev 4:6-11
The "living creatures" are identical with the Cherubim. The subject is somewhat obscure, but from the position of the Cherubim at the gate of Eden, upon the cover of the ark of the covenant, and in Revelation 4., it is clearly gathered that they have to do with the vindication of the holiness of God as against the presumptuous pride of sinful man who, despite his sin, would "put forth his hand, and take ala of the tree of life" (Genesis 3:22-24). Upon the ark of the covenant, of one substance with the mercy-seat, they saw the sprinkled blood which, in type, spake of the perfect maintenance of the divine righteousness by the sacrifice of Christ (Exodus 2:17-20; Romans 3:24-26; Ref. Note Page 1195_2.). The living creatures (or Cherubim) appear to have actual beings of the angelic order. Cf. Isaiah 6:2. The Cherubim or living creatures are not identical with the Seraphim (Isaiah 6:2-7). They appear to have to do with the holiness of God as outraged by sin; the Seraphim with uncleanness in the people of God. The passage in Ezekiel is highly figurative, but the effect was the revelation to the prophet of the Shekinah glory of the lord. Such revelations are connected invariably with new blessing and service. Cf. Exodus 3:2-10; Isaiah 6:1-10; Daniel 10:5-14; Revelation 1:12-19; Ref. Daniel 10:5-14; Revelation 1:12-19. 840_a; Ezekiel 1:1, fourth month, in the fifth day of the month i.e., July "of the thirtieth year of Ezekiel's age."
840_b; Ezekiel 1:1b, among the captives by the river of Chebar 840_c; Ezekiel 1:3, and the hand of the LORD was there upon him
841_a; Ezekiel 1:10, As for the likeness of their faces
841_b; Ezekiel 1:10b, they four had the face of a man 841_c; Ezekiel 1:10c, and the face of a lion 841_d; Ezekiel 1:10d, and they four had the face of an ox 841_e; Ezekiel 1:10e, they four also had the face of an eagle 841_f; Ezekiel 1:12, straight forward: whither the spirit was to go 841_g; Ezekiel 1:14, the living creatures ran and returned 841_h; Ezekiel 1:16, their work was like unto the colour of a beryl 841_i; Ezekiel 1:18, their rings were full of eyes round about them four 841_j; Ezekiel 1:24, like the noise of great waters 841_k; Ezekiel 1:24b, as the voice of the Almighty 841_l; Ezekiel 1:26, as the appearance of a sapphire stone 841_m; Ezekiel 1:28, As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud 841_n; Ezekiel 1:28, when I saw it, I fell upon my face |
CHAPTER 01
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