Ezekiel 1:4-25 | God’s Presence part 1

INTRO

If you have your Bible this morning you can turn to the book of Ezekiel. Which if you need a Bible, feel free to use one around you and if you need one go ahead and take that one. If you were not here last week when we started this series I would encourage you to go listen to the message on our facebook page or on Spotify podcast because we won’t be able to recap everything here today. However, I will give us a compressed and simplified version of what we talked about last week.

Ezekiel is a crazy book and most people don’t even get past first chapter before they have given up on it. It is one of the most complex and strange books of the old testament, yet there are three reasons I shared last week for why we, Living Rock church, are going through this book.

THREE REASONS WE ARE GOING THROUGH THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL

God’s presence is a main theme in Ezekiel, the Bible, and it should be for our lives too.

Without His presence, we have nothing. It is the thing that changes people. It is the reason we gather, the focus of everything we do here because if we don’t have Him then we don’t have anything. And we are going to see how the presence of God shows up in today’s scripture.

It points to Jesus

The way that Jesus shows up in Ezekiel is surprising and powerful. Jesus said of himself in Luke 24 that all the law and prophets pointed to his life, death and resurrection. So we will see Jesus in this wild and amazing book.

It is God’s word.

I know that could feel like a spiritual slap, like, just get over it. But I think it is important to remember that God didn’t write Ezekiel for just the high and mighty theologians to discuss, it was given to all of us to look at, study and grow in.

SOME REQUESTS TO HELP UNDERSTAND EZEKIEL

Be patient

this book because it is not as straight forward as a Gospel or a letter from Paul. it might take a little more sitting with and that is not a bad thing. It will work on your patience muscle and possibly help you with understanding other parts of scripture too.

Dig deeper

We will not be able to get to everything in this book, which is okay. I’m hoping it will encourage you to dig deeper on your own, with your life group, or even start bringing it up with other believers. It wouldn’t hurt most of us to have our mind pondering scripture more than being anxious, worried and frustrated.

The last thing that you need to know is that Ezekiel is sitting by the Chebar canal, or river, and he is in Babylon because of the exile that God put them in. He is also supposed to be a priest on this very day that we find him on his 30th birthday but he is 800 miles away from the temple. His whole world has been disoriented and confusing with this change in his life. But here we see God show up in the most incredible way in his life, through God’s word, His hand on Ezekiel and now today we will see God’s presence in such a powerful description. So, is everyone ready to see what Ezekiel saw when he was, not in a van, down by the river?

SCRITPURE

4 As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal. 5 And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, 6 but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot. And they sparkled like burnished bronze. 8 Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: 9 their wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went. 10 As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle. 11 Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies. 12 And each went straight forward. Wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went. 13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures. And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. 14 And the living creatures darted to and fro, like the appearance of a flash of lightning.

Okay, so, how we doing? Can I explain a little bit of what is going on here? I hoped you would say that. So, let’s just talk through a couple things that are important, because, like I said, I can’t cover everything so lets look at the basics to help us understand what is happening.

THE VISION

The first thing you need to know about the vision, this is or the whole vision, is this

THIS VISION SHOULD MAKE YOU FEEL OVERWHELMED.

If you think about Ezekiel seeing this vision, he was not just sitting there, like, cool, God’s presence. This had to be a confusing, overwhelming, awe inspiring, moment. And he writes it INTENTIONALLY in a way to give you a glimpse of this wild moment. It should make you feel like you are in a house of mirrors and you are not sure where to look at or what is going on. Because God’s presence is powerful. It is not something that we should take lightly. This is why many people get overwhelmed with the book right away and then put it down because they can’t sit in the overwhelming feeling that Ezekiel wants you to feel to understand how he felt.

Another thing that you should know when reading this vision is that Ezekiel knew that this was God’s presence from a lot of the imagery that he is giving. One of those images that he highlights in found in verse 4.

A STORM/WIND WAS ONE WAY GOD’S PRESENCE WOULD SHOW UP THROUGHOUT SCRIPTURE.

You don’t have to go there but I thought I do a short overview of where God shows up in a storm/wind.

GOD SHOWING UP AS A STORM/WIND

-Genesis 1:1-The breath of God over the waters.

-Genesis 3:8-The Lord God walking in the cool/wind of the day

Exodus 19:16-”Thunders and lightnings” when God comes on mt. Sinai to give the law.

Psalm 18:9-15 “He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet.

Remember that Ezekiel was a priest AND has been saturated from a very young age to think through this lens of life, through the Torah and how God revealed himself here. So while it may seems strange to us, this would have connected right away for Ezekiel. That the Holy one, the God of Israel was showing up. And boy did he show up because he has some living creatures with him doesn’t he?

LIVING CREATURES

Out of curiosity, what is the strangest things about the living creatures for you? Is it the four faces? The fact that their appearance was one of burnished bronze (Mirror fact?) Their feet are the foot of a calf?

So this could take a whole another hour or two to talk about but these living creatures have huge significance to Ezekiel because they would have reminded him of the Garden in Eden and the tabernacle. Both of these things would have been super important to Ezekiel not only as an Israelite, but also as a priest. The whole structure of the tabernacle and temple was based off of the garden to remind people of the presence of God. So here is a picture of the garden in eden and the tabernacle and how in both of them they have these living creatures, or what we sometimes know as Cherubim.

Like I said, this is a lot to throw at you, but take some time to look at it where you see the comparisons. The main thing I want to point out is that at the garden, the tabernacle and the temple, all of them have these living creatures protecting or surrounding God. So for us being freaked out and thinking man this is strange, for Ezekiel he would know immediately that God’s presence is coming with these living creatures. But, what is going on with the four faces? Is this some kind of Stephen king novel of people with four heads? No, in ancient Israel each animal had symbolic significance.

ANIMAL SIGNIFICANCE

Lion- Was known for strength, ferocity, and courage. Served as an image of royalty

Eagle- was the swiftest and most stately of birds

Ox-was not only the most valuable domestic animal but also a sign of fertility and divinity.

Human- the being created in the image of God and invested with divine majesty.

And all of these living creatures are not just random, they are carrying something, something important and interesting that we have not gotten to yet. But before we get to what they are carrying, there are some sort of wheels that are around them that we need to read about too.

15 Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them. 16 As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl. And the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. 17 When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went. 18 And their rims were tall and awesome, and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around. 19 And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. 20 Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. 21 When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

So once again, there is more to talk about here that we have time to discuss, but the two things to point out concerning the wheels to help us understand is.

UNDERSTANDING THE MEANING OF THE WHEELS

The “eyes” on the wheels signify an all knowing/all seeing God

Now the word “eyes” here can also be translated to “jewel” but that is a rabbit hole we don’t have time for. Basically the these are very bright eyes, that are all over and see all things. Now, does an all knowing God need some strange wheels that have eyes-balls to see everything? No. But this is one way he communicates to Ezekiel and to us that he see all things. How comforting, and strange, must that have been for Ezekiel who felt lost in a foreign land to know that God see him. On his thirtieth birthday when he is supposed to be celebrated in as a priest, God sees him. God sees him in this difficult time. That had to be comforting.

The presence of God is portable!

The wheels would have been something very new to Ezekiel because he only knew the presence of God to be in the temple. In the Holy of Holies. It is not a portable thing! What! God can move outside of the temple? This is wild and somewhat of a new understanding of God for Ezekiel. But God is communicating his sovereign hand that no matter where you go, whether you lie down or wake up, your presence is there Lord. There is so much more we could discuss with this but we need to move on.

22 Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring crystal, spread out above their heads. 23 And under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another. And each creature had two wings covering its body. 24 And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the sound of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army. When they stood still, they let down their wings. 25 And there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads. When they stood still, they let down their wings.

So up until now, we have only had descriptions of what Ezekiel saw. Now he tells us what he hears. It is loud, like the sound of

Sound of many waters

Sound of the almighty (the mountain)

Sound of Tumult (riot/rain storm)

Sound of an army

So, just pick one and you can see that it was so loud. It was powerful. It was not something to sit back and relax with. This is the almighty, powerful. strong. and glorious.

Now, we are going to stop there in the text today but I’m curious if you have a picture in your head of what this looks like? I thought I would share a couple that I thought were interesting/cool and then we will get to how this applies to us today.

PICTURES OF VISION

LAND THE PLANE

So with all this information, and as strange as it sounds, hopefully you are feeling overwhelmed like Ezekiel would have been, what do we do with this information? You and I may never experience this kind of vision in our life. Maybe you will. Maybe you don’t want to? I don’t know, but if you did experience the glory of God and his presence like this, I think there would be a transformation, don’t you?

So a quick summary and then some simple practical application for our lives.

SUMMARY OF GOD’S PRESENCE IN VERSES 4-25

-HE IS INTIMATE, YET POWERFUL

-HE IS ALL KNOWING AND ALL CONSUMING

-HE IS LOUD YET CAN BRING STILLNESS

The presence of God is not a feeling but God himself. And are you ready for the crazy part? You and I have access to this everyday. We don’t have to sit by the Chebar Canal to get it. We don’t have to go to Jerusalem and sit in a temple to get it. We have it through Jesus as it says in Hebrews 4 where it says,

English Standard Version Chapter 4

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

We don’t need to wait for a vision, or an experience, because through Jesus our great high priest, we have access to this incredible throne of grace. But how do we know we are not just making this up? How do we know that we have actually experienced the presence of God? I think there are three things that we can see in our lives transform us as the people of God that help us know if we have actually encountered the presence of the living God.

HOW TO KNOW YOU HAVE ENCOUNTERED THE PRESENCE OF GOD

1.TURN AWAY FROM SIN

I don’t know about you, but this vision in intense. I have been reading, listening to and sitting on this for over three months now. And every-time I read it there is a desire to not step towards the things I know I should not be doing. Not only is he powerful and majestic, but the eyeballs! He sees everything and Romans 2 God will come and judge every thought and intention of our heart. If we are continually thinking that we are encountering God and yet not turning away from the very things he can’t stand, we are deceiving ourselves. The presence of God should cause us to want to live more and more in holiness, righteousness, and looking like Christ.

2.WORSHIP IN AWE AND REVERENCE

I wrestled with which to put first, but I don’t think it matters because the more you turn away from sin, the more you are worshipping God. And the more you worship God, the more you will turn away from sin. But when you think about this vision of God, and then to think about how God has given us access to His presence through His son’s life, death, and resurrection. There should be some sort of gratitude. Thankfulness. Awe. Wonder. Almost a zone out time of thinking about how great and glorious God is. It puts God where he should be, looking big.

Ezekiel may have been doubting or least struggling with the idea that God was big enough to help them in their exile situation. He may have been wondering does God still want to be with us? Does he want to be our God? I think both of those things are cleared up with this vision. And the same can happen for us when we have a distorted view of God or wonder who is God anyway? We need to see Him in all of His glory through Jesus. Spending time in the Word, in Worship, prayer.

3.PEACE AND COMFORT

Just to clarify, I don’t think Ezekiel was filled with peace and comfort with this vision. However, with us being in the New covenant, and knowing that God invites us into the Holy of Holies because he wants to be our God and we His people, His presence can bring peace and comfort. Even with the eyeball wheels, the thing that should cause us to walk in integrity and purity also brings a comfort in difficult situations in life that He sees you. He is not uninformed and he will pursue you in this time.

The presence of God is God himself. He changes us and the ways we live, think and even our motives. he strengthens us just like he did for Ezekiel. And we haven’t even gotten to the part of God’s actual description yet in the vision but we will.