Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth [month], on the fifth of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Chebar, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
A priest deported to Babylon sits among captives beside a foreign river, records a date and a place, and then says heaven opened over him. The verse raises two questions: which "thirtieth year" he counts from, and why God chose that ruined setting to show Himself.
Writers do not agree on what the thirty years count from. One reading takes the figure personally, as the age of the prophet himself, and finds meaning in it:
The thirtieth year is, as most take it, the prophet's own age. That was the age when a priest entered his office. It was also the age at which Christ, the true Priest Himself, chose to begin His public ministry.
Others tie it to the reigning empire rather than to the man, dating it from the founding of Babylon's kingdom:
The thirtieth year of Ezekiel 1:1 is surely the thirtieth year of the Babylonian kingdom. Nabopolassar founded that kingdom in 625 B.C., so the thirtieth year would be 595 B.C. That agrees with the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity.
The verse fixes a moment without telling us where the count began.
Chebar was a river in a foreign land, where Israel's captives were held. That location is itself part of the message, because the glory that once rested in the temple is now seen far away from it:
Ezekiel is among the captives at the river Chebar. There he sees the glory of the Lord, the glory that rested on the cherubim, those mighty agents of divine power. These are the real cherubim, not the golden models made for the temple. Far from the land, out by the distant Chebar, a prophet whose own name does not carry God's covenant name sees visions of God outside Israel.
The phrase "the heavens were opened" is not common Old Testament language. It belongs to Ezekiel alone, and here its tone is severe, not tender:
The circumstances in which Ezekiel was called to prophesy were new and strange. It was not in Judah, nor in Israel, but among the captives by the river Chebar. So the Lord chose to send His word to him with marks of unusual power. Of no one else in the Old Testament does Scripture say that the heavens opened and he saw visions of God. But here the heavens opened in judgment on Israel's wickedness. They did not yet open to show the Father's delight in the Son of God on earth, and still less for the Christian to see the Son of Man in heaven.
Nothing in Ezekiel's situation suggested favour. He was a captive with no way out, and that is where heaven opened:
Man had hemmed the prophet in on earth, with no way out. But heaven had not hemmed him in, and he knew it. Man may place any restriction on him. Still, he must learn this: heaven always stays open to the man who is ready to move on earth under heaven's direction.
Another writer draws the same lesson from the darkness itself. God did not lift the judgment, yet He gave sight to the man who bowed under it:
The judgment is not removed. Yet this is what we find here: a man bows under it and accepts God's judgment, and over his head the heavens open and he sees "visions of God." How blessed to know, by the voice of nature itself, that it is night and not day that opens the heavens.
One writer counts four gifts in these opening verses and takes their order as a pattern for anyone God sends:
Ezekiel mentions four things: the heavens were opened — he saw visions of God — the word of the Lord came to him — the hand of the Lord was upon him. Notice the order: an opened heaven, a vision, the call, and power from God for the work. That is still the order for the servants of the Lord.
Each piece met a different need in the man:
The "opened heavens" would secure his attention to the movements of God. The "visions of God" would strengthen his faith despite the conditions around him. "The word of the LORD" would teach his mind, so he could pass what he learned on to others. "The hand of the LORD" being consciously upon him would encourage his heart in view of much conscious weakness within and strong opposition without.
- Dated — Commentators differ on "the thirtieth year". Some read it as the prophet's own age, the age when a priest entered office. Others read it as the thirtieth year of Babylon's kingdom.
- Displaced — The vision came outside the land, by a foreign river, where a captive saw the glory that had rested on the cherubim.
- Opened — Scripture says the heavens opened for Ezekiel alone. Here they open in judgment on Israel's wickedness.
- Unhemmed — Man could fence the prophet in on earth; heaven stayed open to him, and night rather than day is what opens it.
- Ordered — Opened heaven, vision, word, then the hand upon him. Each met a need: attention, faith, mind, heart. God made the man ready before He sent him.
On the fifth of the month, (it was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity,)
This verse dates God's word by a captive king, not by a king on his throne. That calendar says a great deal about where Israel stood with God. Ezekiel was one of the exiles, and the word came to him in a foreign land, five years into a captivity that was not yet over.
Ezekiel could have counted the years by the king still reigning in Jerusalem. He does not. One writer treats this as a settled habit, and a key to reading him:
Ezekiel had been carried into captivity with king Jehoiachin. At least, he was one of those made captive at that time. He regularly dates his prophecies from that period. This is an important thing to notice if we are to understand the revelations made to him. For himself there is no longer any question of dates or of kings, of Judah or of Israel. The people of God are in captivity among the Gentiles.
The fifth year counts from an event with a date. One writer sets out when it happened and who was taken.
He was a contemporary of Jeremiah and Daniel, and his prophecy seems to open about the fifth year of his captivity, B.C. 594. This we learn from Ezekiel 1:2. You will remember Jehoiachin, king of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar carried him into captivity in his eighth year, along with a great many of his subjects.
The chapter opens with a "thirtieth year" and then gives this second date. One reference work links the two:
The thirtieth year of Ezekiel 1:1 is doubtless the year of the Babylonian kingdom which Nabopolassar founded in B.C. 625: the thirtieth year would be 595, which agrees with the fifth year of Jehoiachin's captivity.
The date names a king, and his name carried a promise. One writer sees his removal as God clearing away a false confidence.
This fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity shows us Israel's present relationship to God. That relationship is marked by the taking away of the man whose name falsely promised "establishment by Jehovah." ... The false confidence must be taken away before God can come in for blessing. And when His "judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness" (Isaiah 26:9). These are principles of God's very nature which no grace He shows can ever change. Grace itself can only reign through righteousness.
The gap between the deportation and this vision was not empty time. Those still in Judah could have learned from what happened to the people already taken away.
The fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity is not without special reason either. There had been plenty of time for those left behind in the land to repent of their empty hopes, as well as of their rebelliousness and their idolatry. They had had the warning of their brothers removed from the land: had they taken it to heart?
They had not.
The prophet is in exile, so God's throne appears to him outside the land. Where it appears says something about how God now deals with His people.
This throne of the supreme and sovereign Lord God is seen in Chaldea — in the place where the prophet then was — among the Gentiles. It is no longer seen at Jerusalem in connection with the land... So the voice of God speaks to Ezekiel as to a "son of man." That title suited the testimony of a God who spoke outside of His people. He was no longer among them. Instead He was judging them from the throne of His sovereignty.
- Captivity as calendar. Ezekiel dates his prophecies from Jehoiachin's deportation, not from any reigning king. For him the question of kings, of Judah or Israel, is over. The people of God are in captivity among the Gentiles.
- Captivity as fact. The fifth year points back to a real deportation. Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin captive in his eighth year, and Ezekiel went into exile with him.
- Captivity as exposure. The king's name promised establishment by the Lord. His removal shows that false confidence must go before God can come in for blessing. Grace itself reigns only through righteousness.
- Captivity as delay. Five years gave those left in the land time to repent of their empty hopes and their idolatry. They had watched their brothers taken away, and still they did not.
- Captivity as vantage point. The prophet sits in Chaldea, so God's throne appears there, outside Jerusalem. He speaks to a "son of man" — no longer among His people, but judging them from His sovereignty.
the word of Jehovah came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of Jehovah was there upon him.
Verse 3 repeats the setting of verse 1, but the voice changes: verse 1 says "I," verse 3 says "him." Now it reads like an official record — the man, his father, his office, and the hand that rested on him.
The shift from first person to third is deliberate, and the names carry the message. One writer reads the whole verse as the public register of a commission:
Notice the change of person. This is, so to speak, the official account; before, we had the personal one. So the message must be one of sorrow and judgment... the word that now comes is the word of Jehovah, this unchangeable God. It comes to Ezekiel the priest, whom "the Mighty One makes strong" to proclaim it. The son of Buzi, "my contempt," marks the fruit of that contempt of God. The people showed it fully in all that had happened, and in all that was still happening, in Israel.
The verse names his priestly office at the very moment he is furthest from the temple. Under the law, a priest examined disease and gave the verdict. Ezekiel must do that with a whole nation.
God chose Ezekiel the priest to be the judge of the leprous condition of the people, following the law of Leviticus in its spiritual meaning. God takes him to witness their wilful, deep-rooted turning away from Jehovah. Then, once the proof is complete, the leper goes outside the camp, as Leviticus commands.
Yet the title also says something hopeful about the remnant he came from.
In verse 3 Ezekiel is called "the priest." Idolatry was rampant throughout the land. Yet God had kept a true seed for Himself, a priestly seed — men who had gone on with the service of God.
The place matters as much as the man. God's glory is not tied to the land of Israel.
Outside the land, far away by distant Chebar, a prophet whose name does not suggest the covenant God sees visions of God outside Israel.
What Ezekiel received then has a bearing on what we have now.
As a priest his normal service was to minister to the Lord. Now, in this special situation, the Lord ministered to him in exactly the same way as He ministers to us in our day. The word of the Lord "came alive" to him in a very special way, a new revelation. We do not need any new revelation today. But we do need to gain the real good of what God has already laid up for us in the precious pages of His holy Word.
Older translations read that the word came "expressly" to him. It reached the prophet before it ever reached his hearers.
Before he passed these messages on to others, they first came home to his own heart... We can only help others with the precious truths of God as we ourselves are subject to the Word and shaped by it.
The little word "there" is the point. Ezekiel had known that hand while serving in the temple; now he knows it beside a foreign canal.
That hand of omnipotence rests on each one of us and will not be lifted from us until we are safe home in the glory. Perhaps he had often felt that hand resting on him as he did his priestly work in the temple. But now God is saying, as it were: I am as much with you here by the river Chebar as I was with you in the temple. What an encouragement this must have been to him!
The same hand does two things at once.
So he was in the land of the Chaldeans (perhaps "the robber-like" or "the encroachers"), by the river Chebar. And now the hand of Jehovah is there upon him, molding him to His will while sustaining him for all that His will may involve.
Verses 1–3 list four things in a fixed order. One writer takes that order as a model for anyone God sends.
Notice the order: an opened heaven, a vision, the call, and enabling by the power of God. Such is still the order for the servants of the Lord. The phrase "the hand of the LORD was upon him," or "came upon me," is found seven times in Ezekiel, in chapters 1:3, 3:14 and 22, 8:1, 23:22, 37:1, 40:1.
The result is a man made ready before he is ever sent.
Heaven has his attention. God has strengthened his faith. The Word of the LORD has instructed his mind, and his heart is encouraged. So he is ready for the vision of the living creatures.
- There — place. The word came in the land of the Chaldeans, by a foreign river; God is not confined to the temple or the land.
- There — record. The switch to third person makes this the official commission. The names spell out God's strength and Israel's contempt.
- There — office. God makes a priest with no altar the examiner of the nation's disease. His title also proves a faithful priestly line survived.
- There — word. The word came home to his own heart first, then went through him to others.
- There — hand. That hand molds and sustains. Opened heaven, vision, call, then power: the same order still holds for anyone God sends.
And I looked, and behold, a stormy wind 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 look of glowing brass, out of the midst of the fire.
Ezekiel is living among the exiles when a storm rolls in from the north, and the first thing he sees is not a throne but the weather. Is this only the Babylonian army on the horizon, or God Himself moving inside it?
(Note: the ESV reads "fire flashing forth continually" and "gleaming metal." Some older Bible versions read "a fire infolding itself" and "the colour of amber." The writers quoted below use that older wording.)
The direction matters. One writer reads this cloud as a warning of what Babylon was about to do:
A fresh storm-cloud of divine indignation was about to burst on Judea out of the north, that is, from Babylon.
Others press further, taking the north as more than a compass point:
The north is not just the direction the invaders come from. The judgment they carry out truly is God's judgment. But the north also has its deeper meaning, as always: it is the place of darkness, and so of mystery — a mystery that God's coming must dispel.
Ezekiel was not watching this disaster from a safe distance. He had already been hurt by it, and there was something in it he had still not seen:
First, what was that whirlwind out of the north? It was Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Israel. Ezekiel had suffered badly in that wind, and that is why he is where he is. But he has yet to see that God was in the whirlwind too.
The fire folds in on itself instead of opening out. One writer finds a timing in that:
Notice that in this vision the fire folds in on itself. It folds in, rather than unfolding. Soon God's judgments, in Ezekiel's day and in our own, will unfold for all to see. What destruction He will do in this poor world! But in the meantime God's secret is with those who fear Him (Psalm 25:14).
The fire feeds on itself. One writer finds in that a statement about God's nature, not just about His anger:
Fire is always kept alive by whatever it takes hold of. Here it takes hold of itself — it is kept alive by its own nature. This fire is not pure wrath. As a symbol it speaks of the holiness of God. That holiness is indeed a consuming fire to sin. But judgment is not what the fire is at heart, and not what it seeks or enjoys. Judgment is what the perfection of God Himself makes necessary.
Light surrounds the dark cloud. One writer follows where that brightness leads:
It is a storm — the wrath of God — but God shows Himself in it, and so there is brightness all around. Soon we will see that brightness take on the rainbow colours in which the light breaks out into a band of many-coloured glory... It looks ahead to what we find in Revelation: the rainbow around the throne.
The word behind "amber" describes a colour, not the resin we call amber today:
This probably refers not to the mineral we now call amber, but to a mixed metal. Ancient writers described it as four parts gold to one part silver. The Hebrew word is chashmal. It has to do with fire, and refers to its colour and brightness.
What the gleam shows matters more than what it is made of. One writer takes the brass and gold at the centre as God Himself:
Here the nature of God Himself is seen, what is at the heart of the judgment. It carries the fixedness that brass always stands for, and it is the display of the glory of God, which gold always signifies.
A whirlwind hides what is happening inside it. That is why the outside of a trial is a poor guide:
It suggests conditions so bad and so stormy that from the outside no one could quite see what was happening. Unless we could see inside that whirlwind, we would be completely baffled about its purpose... We today must not let outward things rule us. When God lets us see what He is doing at the centre of the matter, we take heart and move on in faith.
- North. The storm comes from the direction Babylon's armies came from. Some add that it also comes from the place of darkness and mystery that God's coming dispels.
- Whirlwind. Ezekiel had already been hurt by this wind; the vision teaches him that God was in it.
- Fire. Folded inward, it keeps God's ways hidden for now. It also pictures His holiness, which consumes evil but takes no delight in judgment.
- Brightness. Light surrounds the dark cloud, pointing on to the rainbow round the throne.
- Centre. Faith does not judge by the outside of the storm. It looks for what God is doing at its heart.
Also out of the midst thereof, the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance they had the likeness of a man.
Ezekiel is a prisoner of war in Babylon when a storm breaks over him. Out of it come four living creatures shaped like men. Two questions follow: who are they, and why do they look human?
A later chapter settles who they are. The number matters too: over the ark there were two gold figures, but here there are four, and the setting is judgment rather than mercy.
If any doubt remains in the reader's mind, Ezekiel 10 shows plainly that the living creatures are the cherubim. Here they are not two but four. The two were the figures made out of the ends of the pure beaten gold that formed the mercy-seat, where God sat as on a throne. The four, I take it, relate to the creature. The God of Israel dwelt between the cherubim on the ark. He was in the midst of His people, and people came to Him by blood, according to divine righteousness. The witness of His judicial authority guarded that righteousness. Ezekiel was given to see His judgments in providence from outside. He would judge His guilty people by Babylon as His instrument.
The human likeness dominates the description. But it does not make these beings divine.
They are, strictly, "living ones." The word "creatures" is not used, though it is certainly implied in the four forms in which they appear: man, lion, ox, and eagle. The human form, however, dominates and gives them their character. Yet each one still has four faces and four wings to match these forms. So it is not a likeness of God that they present — and all likeness of Him is expressly forbidden. They are creatures of His, no more: in His hand, obedient to His will, used for His purposes.
Kelly also traces how badly these figures have been misread. People have made them the four Gospel writers, the four seasons, the four corners of the world, or the four cardinal virtues. He puts such guesses down to one mistake: missing that the prophecy opens with the judgment of the nation of Israel and closes with their restoration.
Each creature carries four faces, and each face is the summit of its own class of life. The point is not variety but supremacy.
The face of a man would convey supreme intelligence. The face of a lion, supreme power. The face of an ox, supreme endurance. The face of an eagle, supreme movement... Satan and rebellious men have great intelligence, and they use it against God. But here are beings who excel in intelligence. Whatever the power, endurance, or speed with which the enemies move to reach their goals, these living creatures will wear them down. They will out-think, out-last, out-wear and out-distance every opposing power. They will never fail to carry out every detail of the will of God in the universe.
The timing matters as much as the imagery. God gave this vision to a man who had lost everything.
At the time of this vision, Ezekiel was in a very trying position. The people of Israel were in captivity, and it seemed that all hope was gone for these prisoners of war. You could hardly find a more hopeless condition. Yet it was exactly there, in those very circumstances, that God gave him this vision. Need we wonder that his name means "God strengthens"?
Notice where the creatures appear: inside the whirlwind, not away from it.
The wind may blow as hard as it can. But while those four living creatures are inside that whirlwind, we can be sure that God is in supreme control.
Does this human shape mean the creatures picture Christ Himself? Davison says no. He rests his case on the layout of the vision itself.
We could not say that these four living creatures were a picture of Christ Himself. The expanse was above them, but the man was above the expanse. The words "they had a human likeness" suggest that they were intelligent beings.
- Storm — The vision comes to Ezekiel at his lowest point, as a prisoner of war. It rises out of the whirlwind itself.
- Creatures — The four are cherubim; the human likeness marks intelligence, not deity. They are servants in God's hand, used for His purposes.
- Four — Man, lion, ox and eagle stand for supreme intelligence, power, endurance and speed. No opposing force can out-think or out-last them.
- Control — The judgment is not God losing His people. He judges His guilty people, and Babylon is His instrument.
- Above — The creatures stay under the expanse; the man is above it. They serve God's will, but they are not a picture of Christ Himself.
And every one had four faces, and every one of them had four wings.
Ezekiel is a captive in Babylon when the heavens open and he sees four living creatures. The first detail about each one is a count: four faces, four wings. What do these numbers and shapes tell a man whose nation has just fallen?
Who are these creatures, and why does the number four keep repeating? One writer answers both.
The prophet is shown the four living creatures coming out of the cloud. They picture the powers God uses to carry out His will in heaven and on earth... These powers described by the living creatures are held by the angels, those beings who serve the heirs of salvation. There were four living creatures, and that suggests these powers reach everywhere; not one spot in the whole universe is outside God's control. Their four faces suggest that they understand every movement in the universe. Their four wings speak of activity everywhere, for they reach every point in creation.
after_note: DELETE
The number keeps returning because of what the chapter is about.
The number "four" is used again and again in that chapter because God's government of the earth is the subject.
Each creature carries the heads of four kinds of life at once. One writer sets out what the hands, the wings and the four faces stand for.
They looked like a man, though each had four faces and four wings (v. 6)... The hands of a man seem to stand for activity, for skill in doing. The wings stand for swift action from above, never turning aside for a moment from the task in hand; and there are four sides, so the creatures can move in every direction... These make up the symbolic supports of the throne. They are the heads of the creatures kept safe in the ark through the flood. The man stands for intelligence, the lion for strength, the ox for patience or stability, and the eagle for speed of action — the attributes of God, or the qualities of His judgments.
Ezekiel's creatures have four wings. One writer compares them with the six-winged seraphim of Isaiah 6 and finds meaning in the difference.
In Ezekiel (chapters 1—10) it is clear that the cherubim are majestic, awe-inspiring pictures of the power of judgment and how it advances. From Isaiah 6 we can see that the seraph pictures the power of mercy and how it advances. The cherub has four wings, the seraph six. So mercy is swifter than judgment.
Revelation also shows living creatures at the throne. They look similar, but they are not the same. One writer lists the differences and explains them.
In the account given by the prophet of the captivity, each of the four living ones had four faces and four wings (Ezek. 1:6). The seer of Revelation shows only the third living creature with a man's face, and each of the four with six wings (Rev. 4:7-8). Ezekiel's creatures had wheels; those in Revelation have none... One thing explains many of these differences: Ezekiel deals in particular with the judgment of Judah and Jerusalem. That judgment was to come from the north (Babylon), so the wheels would run on earth, picturing the course of judgment on earth.
Another writer names the sharpest contrast, then singles out the human face.
In the vision of Revelation the four forms are separate; here we find them united in each living creature... Of these different forms, the man alone speaks of a moral agent.
Ezekiel saw this while his nation sat in captivity. Each face names a strength at its highest degree.
The face of a man speaks of supreme intelligence; the face of a lion, supreme power; the face of an ox, supreme endurance; the face of an eagle, supreme movement... Satan and rebellious men have great intelligence, and they use it against God. But here are beings whose intelligence is greater. Whatever power or endurance the enemies have, and however fast they move to reach their goals, these living creatures will wear them down. They will out-think, out-last, out-wear and out-distance every opposing power.
- Four = everywhere. Four creatures, four faces, four wings. The number marks God's government of the earth, reaching every point of creation.
- Faces = qualities. Man means intelligence, lion strength, ox patience, eagle speed. These are the attributes of God, or the qualities of His judgments.
- Wings = the pace of judgment. The cherub has four wings, the seraph six. Mercy moves faster than judgment.
- Combined, then separated. Ezekiel's creature holds all four forms at once. In Revelation the forms stand apart, with six wings and no wheels.
- Reach becomes reassurance. These powers out-think, out-last and out-distance every opposing force. That gave a captive prophet confidence instead of despair.
And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot; and they sparkled as the look of burnished brass.
Ezekiel is a captive in Babylon when the heavens open and he sees four living creatures carrying the throne of God. Verse 7 stops at their feet. Every detail there says something about how God moves when He comes to judge.
These living creatures are the cherubim. Wherever they appear, they are doing one job.
Throughout the Old Testament, wherever the cherubim act, they have to do with the judicial power of God, or they carry out the will of that power. In Revelation they usually have to do with providential judgments, and they belong to the throne.
They are the moving parts of a throne, and their feet are where that throne touches the ground.
The first thing said about the feet is that they are straight. Wings and feet are named together, and each points somewhere different.
Their feet are straight and like a calf's. This speaks of the evenness of their course, and of the endurance with which they press on towards their goal. The wings would speak of their activity in heaven, and the feet of their movements on earth.
Nothing here wanders.
A human foot is long and flat. An ox's hoof stands upright and plants hard. Where the ESV says "burnished bronze", older translations say brass, and that gleam matters as much as the shape.
They have in general the likeness of a man, but their feet are like the feet of an ox, "upright," and not extended, as a man's foot is. They sparkle, giving the look of glowing brass. This reminds us once more of Revelation, but there it is said of Him who appears to John, who is the Lord Himself: "His feet like fine (or glowing) brass, as if they burned in a furnace." The treading down in wrath is plain. The sole of the foot is like that of a young bullock, for patient labour is manifest in the exercise of righteous judgment.
Two things meet in one hoof: crushing weight, and the patience of an animal built for long work. This judgment is not a burst of temper. It is labour.
In Scripture this metal carries a settled meaning, and it is not the same meaning as gold.
Looking at the details, I think there are two judgments of God here. First, the judgment of God about our responsibility where we are. Then, the judgment of God about what can come near Him where He is, and as He is. Both are His judgments, but the difference is the difference between the brass and the gold. The brazen altar was judgment about the responsibility of man where he was. He had to bring a sin offering, and meet God according to his responsibility and his failure in it. But the cherubim on the mercy-seat were all of gold, and that was approaching God according to what He was in Himself. "His feet like unto fine brass" — that is the firmness of His judgment as regards human responsibility.
The same metal marks the place where God met sinners.
Brass typifies God meeting man in his responsibility according to divine righteousness. The brazen altar of the tabernacle shows this. There God met man in his sins, and the offered sacrifice met His claims in righteousness.
In Revelation, John sees the Lord Himself, and he describes His feet in almost the same words. Commentators link the two visions, and note what John's vision adds.
Ezekiel 1:7 and Daniel 10:6 say the same thing, though the English versions read differently. But here we have "passed through the fire." I understand this to mean that God applied righteousness in judgment to man according to the full, absolute trial of the fire of God — that is, judgment that allows no evil.
Writers put the emphasis in different places. Some stress the steady, even course; others the patient labour. All agree the gleam means judgment, and that the feet in Revelation are the Lord's own.
- Throne — The living creatures are the cherubim. They carry out God's judicial power, and their feet are where His throne meets the earth.
- Straight — Straight legs mean an even course that keeps going. Wings speak of work in heaven, feet of work on earth.
- Sole — An ox's upright hoof, not a man's flat foot: treading down in wrath, yet with the patient labour of a working animal.
- Brass — The metal of the altar, not of the gold mercy seat. It is God's righteousness meeting man where his responsibility lies.
- Altar — At that same altar the offered sacrifice met God's claims in righteousness. The feet that tread evil down are the feet that passed through the fire.
And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings
Ezekiel is a captive in a foreign land. Heaven opens, and he sees four living creatures carrying the throne of God. Verse 8 adds a strange detail: under those wings, on all four sides, are human hands.
These creatures are the cherubim. God lived between them on the ark, at rest among His people. Now He is on the move against them.
The God of Israel, who lived between the cherubim on the ark, was among His people. People came near to Him by blood, according to divine righteousness, and that righteousness was guarded by the witness of His judicial authority. God let Ezekiel see His judgments in providence from outside. He would judge His guilty people by Babylon as His instrument.
Each part of the picture carries a meaning. One writer takes the hands, the wings and the four sides in turn.
The hands of a man seem to stand for activity, or skill in doing. The wings stand for swift action from above, with never a moment's turning aside from the task in hand. The four sides let them move in every direction.
Another writer goes through the creatures feature by feature, giving the sense of each face as well as the hands:
Their faces were like a man's — intelligence and authority; a lion's — majesty and vengeance; an eagle's — knowing everything and being everywhere; a calf's — patience and stability; and they have hands — the executive faculty.
The hands sit under the wings, joined to the part that flies. The feet touch the ground. One writer draws out what that means.
The wings would speak of their heavenly activity and the feet of their earthly movements. The hands under the wings would assure us that they are capable of serving God both in the heavens and on the earth.
Four faces, four wings, four hands. The number four runs right through Scripture wherever the whole created order is in view.
FOUR. Completeness in what is created or ordained by God. Four winds from the four quarters of heaven. Jer. 49:36. Four quarters of the earth. Rev. 20:8. In the arrangement of the camp of Israel there were four standards. Num. 10:14-25. Ezekiel saw four living creatures, each had four faces, four wings, and four hands. Ezek. 1:5-8: compare the four living creatures in Rev. 4:6.
The hands under the wings are human hands. That says something about who strikes the blow, and whose wrath it really is.
This reminds us of what we have seen before: there was the form of a man's hand under the wings of the cherubim. Human hands, we need not doubt, are to carry out that judgment. Still, that judgment is itself the wrath of God.
Later in the book, those hands reach out and take hold of fire.
So they are also seen with spread wings under the God of Israel (Ezek. 1). The Lord of Israel was about to leave His sanctuary, because His people had turned away from Him and disturbed His rest in Jerusalem. Here they also reach out their hands to take fire and throw it over the city, because the Lord had commanded the judgment of its sins.
Ezekiel saw all this as a captive, watching his nation collapse. The vision came to steady him.
They come out of this cloud to assure us of this: many clouds cross our pathway, but God is behind them all. He is using them to perfect His work in each one of us. That cloud had meant bloodshed, fire, captivity; yet the prophet has to learn that God was accomplishing His will by that very disaster. There were four living creatures. That suggests these powers are universal, for there is not a spot in the whole universe beyond the control of God.
- Hands mean doing. Faces show intelligence and wings show speed. The hands are the executive faculty — the part that carries out the will of God.
- Under the wings. The hands sit under the wings that fly and above the feet that walk. These servants work for God in heaven and on earth alike.
- On four sides. Four is the number of completeness in the created order. These hands reach in every direction, and no spot in the universe lies outside God's control.
- Human hands, God's wrath. Babylon's armies were real men doing real damage. Yet the judgment they carried out was God's own wrath, and the hands in the vision reach out to take fire for the city.
- Comfort in captivity. Ezekiel watched his nation fall as a prisoner. God was accomplishing His own will through the very disaster that crushed him.
their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.
Ezekiel sees this vision as a captive, far from Jerusalem. Four living creatures move with wings touching and never turn aside, which raises the question: with God's people scattered, is anything still under control?
Ezekiel is one of a band of captives by the river Chebar. The heavens open over him there, while the judgment on his people still stands.
Meanwhile the prophet is one among a band of captives by the river Chebar — the "great" or "abundant" river... Babylon has taken Assyria's place, and the oppressing hand gives no relief. Yet, though the judgment is not removed, this is what happens: over the head of a man who bows under it and accepts God's judgment, the heavens are opened and there are "visions of God."
So what do these creatures represent? One writer answers carefully.
These verses do not seem to give us a figure of Christ. What they do give us, in picture form, are the powers under His control that carry out the will of God.
Each part of these creatures means something. One writer reads the hands and the wings together.
The hands of a man seem to stand for activity, or skill in doing. The wings stand for swift action from above, without a moment's turning away from the task in hand. And there are four sides, so they can move in every direction.
The ESV says their wings touched one another. Older translations say "their wings were joined one to another." Either way, these four never act on their own.
Their movement was united. They were not flying off at tangents. They were not moving apart from one another. All was under the control of God Himself. Because they were "joined one to another," nothing could come between them to disrupt their movements.
Where does that unity come from? Not from the creatures themselves.
Their wings were joined together, so there was perfect unity of action among all four living ones. The face guided them in a straight course with no turning aside. A higher Spirit than that of the living creature itself guided and governed everything.
One writer reads each feature of the creatures as a note about God's judgments. The joined wings show how those judgments fit together.
They are four in number — they work everywhere. They have four faces — they look every way... Their feet are straight, like a calf's, and shine like polished brass — their progress is always steady and judicial. Their wings are joined — every act of judgment locks together with every other act of judgment, and they did not turn as they went.
Going straight forward has a practical edge. Human planners keep a fallback ready; these creatures need none.
Generals fighting a war would have what is called "a major plan". If that failed, they would fall back on "a secondary plan". But no secondary plan is suggested here: "each one of them went straight forward". God needs no secondary plan. They are invincible; nothing can deflect them or turn them aside. Nebuchadnezzar with all his power could not turn them aside.
The point of the vision is not light alone. One writer ties it to a treasure carried in fragile jars.
In 2 Corinthians 4:7 we read, "But we have this treasure in jars of clay"... We not only have the light of these things. We are also fully assured of the power God has at His disposal, so we can go steadily on in our service for God.
- Opened — God did not lift the judgment, yet the heavens opened over a captive who accepted it.
- Joined — Touching wings mean united movement. Nothing can come between them.
- Governed — The unity comes from above. A higher Spirit guides and governs all, so the course never bends.
- Unturned — Straight forward means God needs no fallback plan. Nebuchadnezzar's power could not turn these creatures aside.
- Strengthening — The vision gives more than light. It assures us of the power God has at His disposal, so His servants keep going.
And the likeness of their faces was the face of a man; and they four had the face of a lion on the right side; and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four had also the face of an eagle.
Ezekiel sees four living creatures under a throne, and each one carries four faces at once. Verse 10 names them — man, lion, ox and eagle — and the question is what those faces say about the way God rules.
The four faces stand for four qualities of God's rule. One reference work names each one.
Each living creature had four faces. The first was the face of a man, which speaks of "intelligence." The second was the face of a lion, which symbolises "strength." The third was the face of an ox, representing "patient endurance." The fourth was the face of an eagle, which implies "swiftness of execution." All show perfect organisation for carrying out the government of God according to His righteous judgement.
The verse does not say which face pointed which way. William Kelly gives his own reading, and says where these creatures come from.
I take verse 10 to mean this: the face of a man was in front and the face of an eagle behind, with a lion's face to the right and an ox's or steer's face to the left. These make up the symbolic supports of the throne. They are the heads of the creatures kept safe in the ark through the flood.
These figures appear at several points in Scripture. J. N. Darby traces the line through them.
The cherubim, I believe, are judicial power. After the garden of Eden they became the throne. In the tabernacle they stood in connection with the law or covenant. In Ezekiel they stand for providential government and judgment. In Revelation 4 they are still the attributes the throne rests on: stability, strength, speed of judgment, intelligence. But they also refer to the creation; they are the heads of creation on earth — government too is on earth, and refers to this creation.
No hostile power can outmatch these creatures. George Davison presses that point for anyone facing a force that looks unbeatable.
In every sphere in the whole creation these beings are supreme... Satan and rebellious men have great intelligence, which they use against God. But here are beings who excel in intelligence. Whatever the power, or the endurance, or the speed with which the enemies move to reach their goals, these living creatures will wear them down. They will out-think, out-last, out-wear and out-distance every hostile power. They will never fail to carry out every detail of the will of God in the universe.
Among the four, the man's face leads. James McBroom shows how a man's wisdom puts the other three faces to use — and who sits on the throne above them.
Man's face speaks of intelligence and spiritual discernment here. It has a wisdom and knowledge that can put to good use the great strength of the lion, the plodding feet of the ox on the earth, and the speed and height of the eagle's flight, sweeping through the heavens. Confirming all this, the throne, which seems to rest on this complex structure, is occupied by a MAN.
The same four features appear in the four accounts of Christ's life. Samuel Ridout matches each Gospel to a face.
The four Gospels present our Lord Jesus in this fourfold way. In Matthew we see Him as "the Lion of the tribe of Judah," Israel's King. In Mark we see Him in service, bearing, as the patient ox does, His burden, the load of human need. In Luke we see the face of the Man throughout — human intelligence, sympathy, love and example. John shows us the eagle from heaven, soaring back to the place where He was with the Father before the world was.
- Four faces. The man means intelligence. The lion means strength. The ox means patient endurance. The eagle means swift action.
- Four directions. Kelly reads the man in front, the eagle behind, the lion right and the ox left. These are the heads of the creatures saved in the ark, now set under God's throne.
- One throne. The same figures run from Eden to the tabernacle to Ezekiel and Revelation. Every time, they carry judicial power.
- No rival. These creatures are supreme in every sphere. No hostile intelligence, force, stamina or speed can outlast them. Every detail of God's will gets done.
- A Man above. A Man sits on the throne these faces carry. The same four faces mark Christ in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
And their faces and their wings were parted above; two [wings] of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.
Ezekiel's vision opens with four living creatures, and verse 11 pauses on their wings. Two wings reach up and meet the wings beside them; the other two are folded over the body — why?
One writer explains what these creatures stand for, then reads each part of them as a measure of how far their reach extends:
The four living creatures picture the powers God uses to accomplish His will in heaven and on earth. There were four of them, and that would suggest that these powers are universal, for there is not a spot in the whole universe beyond God's control. Their four faces would suggest that they understand every movement in the universe. Their four wings speak of their universal activity, for they reach every point in the created world. The wings would speak of their activity in heaven and the feet of their movements on earth. The hands under the wings would assure us that they are capable of serving God both in the heavens and on the earth.
The raised wings do not just rise; they touch. Nothing here moves on its own. The writer below quotes an older translation of verse 9, which reads "joined one to another"; the ESV speaks of wings that touched:
Verse 9 says of those wings, "Their wings were joined one to another." They moved together. They were not flying off in all directions. They were not moving on their own, apart from one another. All was under the control of God Himself. Because they were joined one to another, nothing could come between them to disrupt their movements.
Half the wings are for flight. The other half hide the body. One writer turns that into a question about all service for God:
As to the wings of the living creatures, they are four, not six as in Revelation. With only two of these they fly, and these two are joined one to another in perfect unity of action. The other two cover their bodies, as in a higher Presence. In Isaiah's vision the seraphim have six wings, like those in Revelation. Two cover the face, two cover the feet, and with two alone they fly. Can there be any true work for God, or wisdom for it, if the creature does not take its place of nothingness before Him in the presence of His glory?
Ezekiel's creatures differ from the winged beings of other visions. The number of wings, the place by the throne, and the kind of throne all change:
In Ezekiel the cherubim were the support of the expanse above which the God of Israel was. It was a throne of executive judgment. They were like burnished brass, and like fire. They had four wings: two to fly with, two to cover themselves. From Ezekiel 10 it appears they were full of eyes, and it is not said that the eyes were within. This was to govern what was outside according to God; it was not divine intelligence within. In Isaiah 6 the seraphim (or burners) have six wings, as in Revelation; they are above the throne, and cry, Holy, holy, holy!
Why does this throne need wings and wheels at all? Because it no longer stays in one place:
So the throne of God was no longer in Israel. The God of heaven was pleased to use the Gentiles to do His will, and was about to use them in punishing guilty Jerusalem. It is His throne from heaven, not yet His throne in heaven, as in Revelation 4, where we have no wheels, but six wings to each. So the living creatures there are not cherubim only, but seraphim, crying, Holy, holy, holy… They are not the mere base of God's throne when He judges the Jew, in His providence, through the Gentile. They are joined with and identified with the throne of Him who judges all according to His nature.
- Wings — reach. The four wings speak of activity that reaches every point in creation. No spot in the universe lies outside God's control.
- Wings — joined. Reaching up, the wings touch. They move as one under God's hand, and nothing can come between them.
- Wings — covered. Two wings hide the body in a higher Presence. Can there be true work for God if the creature never takes its place of nothingness before Him?
- Wings — counted. Four wings here, six in Isaiah and Revelation. In Ezekiel they hold up the expanse beneath a throne that carries out judgment. In Isaiah the seraphim stand above the throne and cry, Holy, holy, holy.
- Wings — moving. This throne moves because it has left Jerusalem. It is God's throne from heaven, not yet His throne in heaven, and He uses the Gentiles to punish the guilty city.
And they went every one straight forward whither the Spirit was to go, they went; they turned not when they went.
Ezekiel is a captive in Babylon. He sees four living creatures moving under a cloud, and one thing decides where they go: a spirit. They move straight ahead and never turn. So who is steering the events that had just wrecked his nation?
The creatures come out of the cloud. One writer links that cloud to the disaster itself, and the creatures to the powers God has ready.
God lets the prophet see the four living creatures coming out of the cloud. They picture the powers God has at His disposal to do His will in heaven and on earth… Because they come out of this cloud, they assure us of this: many clouds cross our path, but God is behind them all, and He is using them to perfect His work in each one of us. That cloud had meant bloodshed, fire and captivity. Yet the prophet has to learn that God was doing His will through that very disaster.
Generals plan for failure. The movement here makes no such allowance.
Generals fighting a war would have what you might call a major plan. If that failed, they would fall back on a secondary plan. But nothing here suggests a secondary plan: "each went straight forward". God needs no secondary plan. They are invincible. Nothing can deflect them or turn them aside. Nebuchadnezzar with all his power could not turn them aside.
One writer sees two things held together here. The creatures obey the spirit inside them, and they have the ability to reach their goal.
There was no unsteadiness or changeableness in their movement. Each one went in the direction of its face. They obeyed the spirit that lived in them, and they had all the ability they needed to reach their goal. Wherever the spirit was to go, they went, with simple directness of purpose. They did not turn as they went.
The same writer notes that only two of their four wings are used for flying; the other two cover them, in the presence of God's glory.
Can there be any true work for God, or wisdom for it, where in the presence of His glory the creature takes not its place of nothingness before Him?
Which spirit is meant? One writer answers by following the chapter itself.
Here the Spirit seems to be the power working inside them and controlling them. Then in verse 24 the noise of their wings is like the voice of the Almighty — He was commanding them. Finally, in verse 26, the One who has the administration in hand appears as a man above the throne. So while everything springs from God Himself, administration is in the hands of Christ, and the power that works within to bring it all about is the Spirit of God. These are truths we have learned from the New Testament, and they give us a link with the vision we have here.
The creatures are impressive, but they only carry the throne. One writer keeps the focus there.
Intelligence, strength, stability and swiftness in judgment — and with them the movement of the whole course of events on earth — depended on the throne. This living energy drove the whole. It moved the cherubim that support the throne, themselves full of eyes. The same spirit moved the wheels of God's government, and they went straight forward. Everything served the will and purpose of Him who sat on the throne judging right… But all the instruments of His glory were below the expanse; the One they glorified was above (Synopsis of the Bible).
This vision is not given to satisfy curiosity. It is given to strengthen weak people for service.
In 2 Corinthians 4:7 we read, "But we have this treasure in jars of clay." What we have in view today is this: we have light on the glory of God, the government of God, the purpose of God and the will of God, so that we may be strengthened to go on. We not only have the light of these things. We are also quite sure of the power God has at His disposal, and so we can go steadily on in our service for God.
- Throne first. It all starts above. The whole course of events on earth depended on the throne, and God Himself was above it all.
- Spirit moves them. The creatures do not pick their own way. The spirit inside them sets the course, and the same spirit moves the wheels of God's government.
- Straight forward. They never waver. Each goes in the direction of its face, with simple directness of purpose.
- No second plan. God needs no fallback. Nothing can deflect them, and Nebuchadnezzar with all his power could not turn them aside.
- Strength for jars of clay. Light on God's glory, government, purpose and will makes a weak servant steady. The power is His, so we can go on.