And above the expanse 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 a likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.
Ezekiel is a captive in Chaldea, far from Jerusalem, when the heavens open. Above the expanse he sees a throne. On it sits a figure with a human form. It raises two questions. Why is God's throne so far from Jerusalem? And why does the figure above it look like a man?
The place of the throne matters as much as the sight of it. It stands over Chaldea, not over Jerusalem, and from it God judges His own 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 now spoke from outside His people. He was no longer among them. Instead He was judging them from the throne of His sovereignty. It is Christ's own title, seen as rejected and outside of Israel. Yet He never stops thinking of the blessing of the people in grace.
The stone named here is not a random jewel. Its name carries a meaning that points to the sky itself as God's seat of rule.
First, however, as to the throne: it is as the appearance of a sapphire stone... And when we hear God's own voice claiming the heavens as His throne, how suited is the likeness of a sapphire stone! The word comes from one (saphar) which means "to number," and so "to tell, declare." It is the same word used when Scripture says that "the heavens declare the glory of God" (Ps. 19:1). This sapphire throne, then, is a picture of the starry vault. The vision of God upon Mount Sinai shows it in the same way (Ex. 24:10).
The prophet lifts his eyes to the throne above the expanse. What he finds there is new in Scripture. (The writers quote an older translation of this verse; the ESV reads "a likeness with a human appearance.")
How striking it is, when we lift up our eyes with the prophet to that awesome throne above the expanse, to find there too (Ezek. 1:26) "the likeness of the appearance of a Man"! It is the first time in Scripture that we find even the "appearance" there.
The vision points to judgment. The human form above the throne tells us who will carry it out.
Here also, how beautiful it is to see that on the heavenly throne is the "appearance of a man" (Ezek. 1:26). The Lord Himself tells us that the Father "has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man" (John 5:27). It is by a Man that man is to be judged. He is One who knows everything that belongs to man. He was no stranger to a path of obedience, in every condition the fall brought in... Ezekiel is but the mere shadow of such an One in whose hands judgment is safe, and the divine pity shines all through it.
Ezekiel saw only a resemblance. Later Scripture shows that resemblance taking permanent shape in a real, risen Man.
In the last place I mentioned, Ezekiel, His likeness is "the appearance of a man." From now on, however, this Glory, this Angel-Jehovah, takes the form and character of man. It is the risen Son of man who is now carried up to His place on high. It is not just "the appearance of a man." He is One whose manhood is assured and proved. As such He now ascends. The glory has taken His abiding form.
Ezekiel's response to the vision was to fall on his face. The same throne, once we know who sits on it, invites the opposite.
When Ezekiel saw it in vision there was "the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it" (Ezek. 1:26), yet he had no boldness but rather fell upon his face. At best his vision only pointed forward to what our own day would see fulfilled. Thank God it is now realized, but do we realize it? The Son of God sits on the throne, but it is the Son of God in true and tender and sympathetic Manhood. Realizing this, all fear vanishes and we draw near with boldness.
- Throne — God's throne appears in Chaldea, outside Jerusalem. He no longer dwells among His people; He judges them from the seat of His sovereignty.
- Sapphire — the stone pictures the starry heavens that "declare the glory of God." The same throne appeared in the vision at Sinai.
- Man — a human likeness sits above that throne, the first time Scripture places even the appearance of a man there.
- Judgment — the Father gives the Son of Man authority to judge, so One who knows man judges man, and pity runs through the vision.
- Boldness — Ezekiel fell on his face before a likeness. Those who know the Man now on that throne draw near without fear.
And I saw as the look of glowing brass, as the appearance of fire, within it round about; from the appearance of his loins and upward, and from the appearance of his loins and downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.
Ezekiel is a captive in Babylon. The heavens open, and he sees a storm sweep out of the north, carrying a throne. This verse describes the figure on that throne. Above the waist he sees gleaming metal. Below it he sees fire. Brightness surrounds the whole figure.
Fire fills this verse. Scripture uses fire with one settled meaning. One writer traces it through the Bible and ends at Ezekiel's vision:
Fire, then, is a symbol of God's judgment... The angel of the Lord appeared to Moses "in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush" (Ex. 3:2)... When God gave them the law, He descended upon Sinai in fire (Ex. 19:18)... In Ezekiel, the prophet saw the glory of the Lord in connection with the fire (Ezek. 1:4, 27). "The Lord your God is a consuming fire" (Deut. 4:24).
Older translations call this "amber." A study of the Hebrew word points somewhere else:
This probably does not refer to the mineral we now call amber, which carries a strong electric charge, as its Greek and Latin names show — elektron, electrum. It refers instead to a mixed metal. Ancient writers described it as four parts gold and one part silver. The Hebrew word is chashmal. It is linked with fire, and points to its colour and brightness. Ezek. 1:4, 27; Ezek. 8:2.
The verse splits the description in two, upward and downward. One writer reads the split as the difference between who the Person is and what He does:
From the waist upward this appears in the fire — the glory of the Person who is revealed there. From the waist downward it is more His acts that are in view. There it is more the pure fire, but with a brightness all around, showing the colours of the rainbow of promise, for the work of righteousness carried out is peace.
So the vision holds two things together: who He is, and what He does.
The fire is not shapeless. It surrounds a figure with the appearance of a man. One writer marks how new that is, quoting verse 26 from an older translation:
The judgment is, of course, God's judgment. So how striking it is, when we lift up our eyes with the prophet to that awesome throne above the expanse, to find there too (Ezek. 1:26) "the likeness of the appearance of a Man"! This is the first time in Scripture that we find even the "appearance" there.
The verse ends in brightness all around the figure. One writer sets the whole scene in order: the moving instruments below, the throne above them, and mercy alongside the judgment:
The instruments of God's providential rule, below the expanse, were in full agreement with what was above. Over this was the likeness of a throne. And above it all was the likeness of a man carrying out judgment, yet with the unfailing pledge of mercy to an evil world.
The storm in this vision had a history behind it. One writer names that history, and then names what the sight of the throne gave the prophet:
The wind that "came out of the north" points to the invasion by Nebuchadnezzar. It led to the captivity of God's people and the carrying away of the holy vessels of the sanctuary. From the outside it looked as if God had been defeated. This was in some ways a national disaster, but the priest has the privilege of seeing from the inside what was really happening under the hand of God. Verse 27 shows us that above all circumstances is a blessed Man!
- Above the storm — the storm out of the north looked like the end of everything. Yet a throne rides above it, and this verse describes the One on that throne.
- Above as fire — fire is Scripture's steady symbol of God's judgment, from the burning bush to Sinai. Here it fills the figure on the throne.
- Above as brightness — the word behind "gleaming metal" is chashmal. It is not our amber but a mix of gold and silver, linked with fire for its colour and brightness.
- Above as a Man — for the first time in Scripture, the throne of judgment shows the appearance of a Man.
- Above all circumstances — the brightness all around the figure is an unfailing pledge of mercy. The captive who sees it stops reading his ruin as God's defeat.
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 Jehovah. And when I saw, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of one that spoke.
Ezekiel is far from Jerusalem when the heavens open. The vision ends in words that hold back — an appearance, of a likeness, of glory — and in a rainbow around a throne set for judgment.
The wording refuses to give a portrait. One writer sets this verse beside other times people saw God:
Ezekiel saw "the likeness of the glory of the LORD" (Ezek. 1:28). John, on the island of Patmos, saw One seated on the throne who had "the appearance of jasper and carnelian" (Rev. 4:3). In the same way Moses and those with him saw God shown to them. Notice that the account never tries to describe Him.
One writer explains why a vision like this must speak in symbols:
The glory of Jehovah is revealed, but it has to be revealed in symbols. In fact every vision of divine glory must be, apart from "Christ come in flesh." How wonderful, then, to have the deepest revelation here, in the sweet and tender speech of Him who has become Man to bring it to us!
God's throne is not shown where Israel expected it:
Ezekiel 1 opens with Ezekiel seeing a vision of God's throne. It is not seen in Jerusalem now, as it once was, but outside the city and with no connection to it… This is clearly the universal sovereign throne of God, shown here in relation to the nations. From that throne He judges the people He had owned as His own until then. He is no longer among them.
At the top of the vision is a human figure. One writer asks what that figure means for us now:
Above them was the likeness of a throne. On the throne was the likeness of a man, and the man was in the middle of the divine glory… No doubt this whole chapter teaches us how God keeps His glory safe, and shows the divine principles that always order His government. But do we not also see, in a hidden way, that the divine glory is secure in the Man in heaven who now sits on the throne of God?
The bow appears just as Jerusalem is about to be given up:
When Ezekiel watched God about to give Jerusalem up to ruin, he saw "the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain." So God shows that in judgment He remembers the covenant He has made with the earth.
One writer follows the bow as the glory leaves Zion:
When the throne of the Lord leaves Zion, and the most holy place loses the glory… we see the throne and the glory carrying the rainbow with them. The Lord leaves the earth as the scene of His power and praise for a time, but He still keeps it in mind… He has thrown the very pledge of the earth's safety around His throne on high. The earth no longer holds that throne and cannot see it, yet that throne sees the earth and remembers it.
Ezekiel does not admire the vision. His body reports his condition:
He has no sense of any right to be there. He falls down on his face. He cannot stand, and there is no place for him to stand on. So his falling on his face only expresses his moral standing, his true condition.
The verse ends with a voice. One writer explains why God will not speak to a man lying in the dust:
God takes account of how weak His instrument is, and that weakness calls out Jehovah's might to hold him up. We see it at the very start here: "Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you." And more than that, the Spirit enters into him to make him stand. He cannot even listen to the message while he lies face down. That condition may rightly express that the creature is nothing in the presence of God, but it cannot express God's grace towards him. We see this all through the history of the prophets, in Daniel, and again in John the beloved. God cannot speak His thoughts to one lying in the dust before Him.
- Throne — God's throne appears outside Jerusalem, judging the people He once owned.
- Bow — around that throne is the sign of the covenant; God remembers the earth at the very moment He gives the city up.
- Man — at the top of the vision sits a human figure, and the glory is safe there, in the Man now on the throne.
- Face — seeing it, Ezekiel falls flat; he has no ground to stand on, and his posture tells the truth about him.
- Voice — God will not speak to a man in the dust; the voice tells him to stand, and the Spirit makes him stand.