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Ezekiel 1:1
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Ezekiel’s Vision of God

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 athe River Chebar, that bthe heavens were opened and I saw cvisions 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 athe hand of the Lord was upon him there.  
4 Then I looked, and behold, aa whirlwind was coming bout 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 aAlso from within it came the likeness of four living creatures. And bthis was their appearance: they had cthe likeness of a man.  
6 Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings.
7 Their1 legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of calves’ feet. They sparkled alike the color of burnished bronze.  
8 aThe 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 aforward.  
10 As for athe likeness of their faces, each bhad the face of a man; each of the four had cthe face of a lion on the right side, deach of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, eand 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 atwo covered their bodies.  
12 And aeach 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, alike 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, ain appearance like a flash of lightning.  
15 Now as I looked at the living creatures, behold, aa wheel was on the earth beside each living creature with its four faces.  
16 aThe appearance of the wheels and their workings was blike the color of beryl, and all four had the same likeness. The appearance of their workings was, as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel.  
17 When they moved, they went toward any one of four directions; they did not turn aside when they went.
18 As for their rims, they were so high they were awesome; and their rims were afull of eyes, all around the four of them.  
19 aWhen the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.  
20 Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, because there the spirit went; and the wheels were lifted together with them, afor the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.  
21 When those went, these went; when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up together with them, for the spirit of the1 living creatures was in the wheels.  
22 aThe likeness of the1 firmament above the heads of the2 living creatures was like the color of an awesome bcrystal, stretched out cover their heads.  
23 And under the firmament their wings spread out straight, one toward another. Each one had two which covered one side, and each one had two which covered the other side of the body.
24 aWhen they went, I heard the noise of their wings, blike the noise of many waters, like cthe voice of the Almighty, a tumult like the noise of an army; and when they stood still, they let down their wings.  
25 A voice came from above the firmament that was over their heads; whenever they stood, they let down their wings.
26 aAnd above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, bin appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above cit.  
27 Also from the appearance of His waist and upward aI saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around.  
28 aLike the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. bThis was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. So when I saw it, cI fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking. 
Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
<< Lamentations 5:22   Ezekiel 1:2 >>


Ezekiel 1:1

EZEKIEL'S VISION BY THE CHEBAR. FOUR CHERUBIM AND WHEELS. (Eze. 1:1-28)

Now it came to pass—rather, "And it came," etc. As this formula in Joshua 1:1 has reference to the written history of previous times, so here (and in Ruth 1:1, and Esther 1:1), it refers to the unwritten history which was before the mind of the writer. The prophet by it, as it were, continues the history of the preceding times. In the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign (Jeremiah 51:59), Jeremiah sent by Seraiah a message to the captives (Jer. 29:1-32) to submit themselves to God and lay aside their flattering hopes of a speedy restoration. This communication was in the next year, the fifth, and the fourth month of the same king (for Jehoiachin's captivity and Zedekiah's accession coincide in time), followed up by a prophet raised up among the captives themselves, the energetic Ezekiel.

thirtieth year—that is, counting from the beginning of the reign of Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar, the era of the Babylonian empire, 625 BC, which epoch coincides with the eighteenth year of Josiah, that in which the book of the law was found, and the consequent reformation began [SCALIGER]; or the thirtieth year of Ezekiel's life. As the Lord was about to be a "little sanctuary" (Ezekiel 11:16) to the exiles on the Chebar, so Ezekiel was to be the ministering priest; therefore he marks his priestly relation to God and the people at the outset; the close, which describes the future temple, thus answering to the beginning. By designating himself expressly as "the priest" (Ezekiel 1:3), and as having reached his thirtieth year (the regular year of priests commencing their office), he marks his office as the priest among the prophets. Thus the opening vision follows naturally as the formal institution of that spiritual temple in which he was to minister [FAIRBAIRN].

Chebar—the same as Chabor or Habor, whither the ten tribes had been transported by Tiglath-pileser and Shalmaneser (II Kings 17:6; I Chronicles 5:26). It flows into the Euphrates near Carchemish or Circesium, two hundred miles north of Babylon.

visions of God—Four expressions are used as to the revelation granted to Ezekiel, the three first having respect to what was presented from without, to assure him of its reality, the fourth to his being internally made fit to receive the revelation; "the heavens were opened" (so Matthew 3:16; Acts 7:56; Acts 10:11; Revelation 19:11); "he saw visions of God"; "the word of Jehovah came verily (as the meaning is rather than 'expressly, English Version, Ezekiel 1:3) unto him" (it was no unreal hallucination); and "the hand of Jehovah was upon him" (Isaiah 8:11; Daniel 10:10, Daniel 10:18; Revelation 1:17; the Lord by His touch strengthening him for his high and arduous ministry, that he might be able to witness and report aright the revelations made to him).




Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Ezekiel 1:1:

2 Kings 24:13-16
Daniel 8:2
Revelation 4:1

 

<< Lamentations 5:22   Ezekiel 1:2 >>

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