EZEKIEL’S VISION
Ezekiel 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 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 living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.
In order to begin this study, let us first go to the words of the Prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah 24:5 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. 6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. 7 And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
The Lord raised up foreign nations as the rod of his anger to purge and spiritually cleanse sinful Israel. Isaiah 10:5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. 6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, (that is, Israel), and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
And this he had done in the days of Ezekiel. For we find our prophet sitting among the captives of Israel in the land of Babylon. For if one is to be effective in preaching to a people, he must have shared experiences. For so it was with our Lord Jesus. Hebrews 2:17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
And Ezekiel had both the shared experience of being a captive, and of being moved in his heart with those to whom he was to minister. Ezekiel 3:15 Then I came to them of the captivity at Telabib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days. 16 And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
Another thing we take notice of is that here in verse three of our text we read of “Ezekiel the priest.” But in the next chapter we have him referred to as “a prophet.” For the Lord has spiritually and mentally developed him from priest to prophet by being among these rebellious people. Ezekiel 2:5 And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them. 6 And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.
And during that time of tribulation the heavens were opened. That is, a special awareness of the glory and purposes of God, heretofore not revealed, were manifest to him. And so we also find this taking place with the Apostle John in his tribulation. Revelation 1:9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
For just as Ezekiel, when the heavens were opened to him, so when John’s “door” was opened, he also was raised up into a spiritual mindedness, which he had not experienced before. For in this new kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, all are transformed by the “renewing of the mind!” Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
And all who are born into the kingdom are given the gift of faith, by which they “see” invisible, spiritual matters. John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 2 Corinthians 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
But we must not lose sight of the phrase, “I saw visions of God.” Ezekiel was seeing the revelation of the Person of God. And in order to do so, he is shown the character of God in His dealings with the living creatures, which are but the pre-figuring of the believers who are to be made new in Christ Jesus! For in them, being washed in the blood of the Lamb, old things are passed away, and all things are to become new! For this is how God was revealed to Moses when he asked to see God’s glory. He was shown God’s mercy towards sinners! Exodus 33:18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. 19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
This is also how the Lord identified himself as the Messiah to the messengers whom John the Baptist sent to him, inquiring of his identity! Luke 7:20 When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? 22 Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.
This is also where the Apostle John in the Revelation of Jesus Christ saw the Lord! He views him in the middle of the seven churches! Revelation 1:12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. God will forever have his identity known by his attributes as they relate to the salvation of lost sinners! Revelation 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
For this is the “new song” sung by the redeemed church upon seeing Jesus Christ exalted and ruling over the kingdoms of this world! Revelation 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
Philippians 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
The angels sang of this at the announcing of his birth as God’s highest glory! Luke 2:13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
The “mystery of godliness” includes both the Incarnation, {God becoming man in his own humanity}, and regeneration, {the humanity of man being entered into by the Holy Spirit!} For God was “believed on in the world” before being “received up into glory!” 1 Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
After this, Ezekiel sees a “whirlwind” which “came out of the north, and a fire infolding itself.” And is this not how the new kingdom was brought to the fearful disciples, who had been hiding in an upper room? Acts 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
Both had a powerful wind, representing the holy spirit. John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Both had a fire, manifesting the Person of God. Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.
And we notice that it is said that the fire was “infolding itself.” That word is also translated, “receive” in Ezekiel 3:10. That is, the fire was receiving itself in it’s burning. It did not required any separate fuel to sustain itself. For just as Moses witnessed that the burning of the bush did not use the bush as fuel, so this fire, representing the Most High God, never requires the cause of perpetuation apart from his inner glory!
Consider these verses: Daniel 3:25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Those who walk in the Spirit, walk in the purging holiness of our fiery God.
Then we read in verse four that there was a brightness about it, and in the midst it was as the color of amber. The word here translated “amber” in the original is spelled, “eelektron.” And we read in Webster’s 1828 Dictionary that the meaning of “amber” contains the definition of it’s being “highly electrical.” What a vast mystery is the life of God in the soul of man! It is a matter of God revealing his glory!
For in Ezekiel 1:26 – 28 we read of the color of amber being the outward appearance of the man upon the throne above the new creatures’ heads. Consider these verses: Ezekiel 1:26 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 “man” upon the throne is described by amber in order to reveal his life-giving glory! Of course this is a pre-figuring of the man, Christ Jesus, sitting on the throne of his glory. And we notice that his throne is associated with the sapphire stone. The sapphire is a stone so hard that it is used to engrave other substances. In fact, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance lists it’s meaning as, “Scratching other substance.” It is a word derived from the root word translated “writers” in Ezekiel 9:2, 3.
Therefore we see again that the glory of the Lord God is associated with his ‘inscribing’ his likeness upon his elect people. Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
Psalm 17:15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness. For only after the resurrection shall God have finally finished making man in his image!
Pastor Gene Breed
March 16, 2019