Ezekiel Chapter One, Part One

Summary

This is part one of the following: The vision of Ezekiel (also described in Ezekiel 10) is one of the more famous in scripture. It is also one of the most misunderstood. In these two meetings we will describe what we are looking at in Ezekiel 1 and what it means. Along the way, it will be clear that Ezekiel is not describing a flying saucer or anything that would have been unfamiliar to an Israelite. We can know what Ezekiel saw because of the iconography (artwork) of the day that has survived and also because of its close connections to other Old Testament passages.

What starts with a “w” and ends with a “t”

punctuation matters but what if the language doesn’t have it … read carefully

Introduction to Entire Chapter

We are going to cover ½ or so of Ezekiel 1 today and in the process of these two meetings we would also essentially cover Ezekiel 10 since it is the same vision, or basically the same. So there will be times that we interact with chapter 10. My goal today is to get ½ through chapter 1. It is part of Ezekiel’s call, but his call continues until chapter 3: 15 .. his call as a prophet and there are some things about that we should discuss. A true prophet has a throne room experience … all of them (Isaiah 6 is classic). Our true goal in this chapter is to discuss what is being described and what is not being described.

In this chapter you always get into this UFO talk, which is nonsense. So what is it, what is he seeing or not seeing, and what did it mean to the original audience, and to us. We are going to read the entire chapter over these two weeks… and we will also be in other books of the Bible. Consider going to our website and downloading the Bible apps, the bulletin app to your phone. You can then follow along and have the slide as a reminder. We also have a podcast so you can go back and re-listen if you would like. We will be in other books of the bible and there is a PDF on the tables that you can look at that will be informative. We are talking about what in the world Ezekiel. It is a little complicated.

Ezekiel 1:1–3 ESV

In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin), the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the Lord was upon him there.

We commented in the introduction about the switch from first and third person here, evidence of editorial activity. Just a reminder. We also mentioned lots of dates (15 as a reminder). So he had visions in the 30th year. What is that since later he says it was the fifth day of the month, fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin, what 30th year is he talking about? It is not clear … is if the same event from different perspectives? Or were Ezekiel’s words written down 30 years after the fifth year? Or was he 30 years old when exiled… that would mean he was born 622 BC

Some think it is referring to the finding of the law by Josiah’s people – also 622…. I agree with Block, and Origen that this is his age and the fifth stuff was later added by the editor to clarify and we are confused. But let’s not quibble about dates.

The prophet borrows divine imagery that would have been familiar to the Babylonians and the Jews that are exiled in Babylon, because it would be familiar and that is what is needed to communicate. I would say the Jews knew this imagery since it mirrors what we call divine throne chariot imagery and Jews would know that. It talks of temple decorations and the furniture. He is describing a heavenly temple so Jews and people in Babylon would have understood it equally. He is doing this to inform his audience that the God of Israel was the true God and still acting, even though they are in Babylon. And the use of ancient Near Eastern imagery and some of the art of the temple, it important to understand .. and it is not UFOs….the imagery was well known

Ezekiel 1:4 ESV

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.

This is your first clue as to what he is looking at … a stormy wind, a great cloud. This is stock vocabulary for the “storm theophany motif” God often shows up in a storm cloud. You get this imagery in Job, the Psalms, and the Torah. This is not unfamiliar. This has nothing to do with smoke coming out of an engine. And it does say he was looking a gleaming metal. He is looking at a cloud and there is a glow inside of the cloud like gleaming metal. This will appear again.

Ezekiel 1:5–14 ESV

And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. 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. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: their wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went. 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. 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. And each went straight forward. Wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went. 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. And the living creatures darted to and fro, like the appearance of a flash of lightning.

Okay – lighting is also a stock image for a storm theophany. This is a vision of God and the vision of God is associated here with these creatures. The creatures are identified in chapter 10 when this vision is repeated. They are called cherubim. So we have this vision of God. He is associated with the presence of cherubim, which would not shock anyone because back in the Torah, the place where God’s presence was, the lid of the ark had cherubim on it. This is familiar imagery. In the temple, not only did you have the Ark of the Covenant with the two cherubim, but you had the two giant cherubim on the temple, Guess what, two plus two equals four. What a coincidence, it is not a coincidence. You’ve got four cherubim in the temple, and you have four here… the temple and his vision are linked in many ways. We don’t think this way and get ourselves messed up as a result. This is familiar to the Jewish audience.

So in terms of a list:

We have four living creatures – cherubim. They are human in appearance, at least in part and creaturely in part. They have animal features and human features, a combination. Each had human hands, for instance. They had four faces. One of those faces was human. They each had four wings and their leges are straight and their legs and feet are sort of bovine like calves legs and calves feet. Look through the PDF… every one of these features is common to the Babylonian context and/or the Temple. So in the temple we have the cherubim. They are partly human in appearance but they have winds. There are four in the temple. You don’t have four faces but a mix in the face. Their wings touch and they touch on the ark. They are also partly bovine. Cherub is an Akkadian word and in the Babylonian context it is familiar. And any Jew who had seen a Babylonian throne or idol associated with an enthroned deity or king would know what this was. The cherub was a quasi-divine figure that guarded a divine throne or king’s throne.

Not a Mystery

The context is perfectly consistent here. This is an image of God and as we will seem out of the cloud or in the cloud is the enthrone deity (a cloud rider), Yahweh of Israel. His throne will be described. This language is found elsewhere in the Bible, in temple descriptions or other passages like Daniel 7, where you have the seated deity, the ancient of Days on the throne. That throne will have wheels and fire and the whole bit. This is not foreign, an ancient Jew or ancient Babylonians would not have read this and imaged anything other than God on His throne. No flying saucers. They would not have wondered about what this was, they would have know immediately. Next week we start at 15.