Ezekiel 1 King James Version (KJV)
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.
6 And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.
7 And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass.
8 And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.
9 Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.
10 As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.
11 Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.
12 And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went.
13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.
14 And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.
15 Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces.
16 The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.
17 When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went.
18 As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four.
19 And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.
20 Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
21 When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
22 And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.
23 And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies.
24 And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings.
25 And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings.
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.
Commentary
The era through which Ezekiel lived was one of great change in the Palestine region. It was an era that saw Babylon’s rise to power, the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of God’s people in a foreign land. All these events had an effect on Ezekiel’s personal life and on the work God called him to do. Readers should therefore be familiar with the history of the period in order to understand the man Ezekiel and the message he has preserved in his book.
Judah conquered by Babylon
More than a century before the time of Ezekiel, Assyria had destroyed the northern kingdom Israel and scattered the people in foreign lands. The days of Ezekiel’s childhood coincided with the last days of Assyria’s power. In 612 BC Assyria was conquered by Babylon, who went on to defeat Egypt at the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BC. With this victory, Babylon became the master of all the nations in the region, including Judah (2 Kings 24:1a,7; Jer 46:2). (For a map showing the locations of these nations, see introductory notes to Jeremiah. For an explanation of the names used of various nations see introductory notes to Isaiah.)
The Babylonian conquerors allowed the Judean king Jehoiakim to continue reigning in Jerusalem, but they placed a heavy tax on Judah. They also took captive to Babylon a small number of intelligent young men whom they chose from the leading families of Jerusalem. One of these was Daniel (Dan 1:1-6).
After submitting to Babylon for several years, Judah rebelled (2 Kings 24:1b). Babylon refrained from taking direct action against Judah till the time was suitable. Then, in 597 BC, its armies returned and attacked Jerusalem. At the time of this attack Judah’s worthless king Jehoiakim died and the eighteen year old Jehoiachin came to the throne. When, after reigning only three months, he saw that Jerusalem could not withstand the Babylonians indefinitely, he surrendered. All the nation’s best people were carried off to Babylon, among them the young man Ezekiel. Only those whom Babylon did not want were left in Jerusalem, and over these the Babylonians appointed Zedekiah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, as king (2 Kings 24:8- 17).
With all Judah’s most capable administrators now captive in Babylon, Zedekiah was left with an inexperienced government. Few of his advisers were politically or spiritually mature, and they persuaded the weak king to seek Egypt’s help in rebelling against Babylon. The prophet Jeremiah opposed this policy untiringly, for he saw that it would lead only to the horrors of siege and destruction. He advised Judah to accept its fate as God’s will and submit to Babylon (2 Kings 24:18-20; Jer 21:1-10; 27:12-22; 37:6-10).
Ignoring Jeremiah’s advice, Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar’s armies returned, and through a cruel siege that lasted a year and six months they crushed the rebellious city. This was the end of Jerusalem (587 BC). The city and its temple were destroyed and many of the people taken captive.
Only the poorest of the people were left in the land, along with scattered villagers in country areas (2 Kings 25:1-12).
Ezekiel in Babylon
Many of the people taken captive to Babylon in 597 BC expected that soon they would return to Jerusalem. Ezekiel, who was one of these captives, no doubt shared their hopes. He was a young priest (Ezek 1:3) and he was probably looking forward to the day when he would serve in the temple in Jerusalem. Any such hopes were destroyed when he heard from Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles that they would spend the rest of their lives in Babylon (Jer 29:1-10). God told Ezekiel that his work was to be as a prophet in Babylon, not as a priest in Jerusalem. Ezekiel began his prophetic work five years after arriving in Babylon and it lasted at least twenty-two years (Ezek 1:2; 29:17).
In the early days of his preaching, Ezekiel denounced the sins of Jerusalem and announced the city’s coming destruction. He made it clear that the people’s present suffering, whether in Jerusalem or in Babylon, was a fitting judgment from God. He warned that for those left in Jerusalem worse was to come, for the city would be destroyed and the temple burnt down when the Babylonians invaded the city for the third and final time (Ezek 4:1-2; 5:12; 6:1-7; 7:5-9).
Ezekiel’s hearers at first rejected his message, claiming that his announcements of the destruction of Jerusalem applied to a future generation, not to them (Ezek 12:27-28). A few years later, when news reached the exiles that Jerusalem had fallen as Ezekiel had prophesied, the people were forced to acknowledge that Ezekiel was a true prophet who knew God’s mind. They started to listen to his teaching, though few genuinely changed their ways (Ezek 33:21,30-33).
Nevertheless, Ezekiel was encouraged to move ahead to his main task, which was the spiritual preparation of God’s people for the new age God had promised them. He looked forward to the day when God’s people, cleansed inwardly from their sin, would worship him truly from the heart and serve him in loving obedience.
Life of the exiles
When taken captive to Babylon, the Jews were not locked up as if in prison. They were placed in various settlements around the country and put to work as unpaid labourers for the Babylonian government (Ezek 3:15). Though they were often treated harshly by their Babylonian overseers (Ps 137:1-6), they were allowed a measure of freedom to live their family and communal lives in these settlements as they pleased (Jer 29:4-7).
Characteristics of Ezekiel’s prophecies
Although he lived in a foreign country and had no chance of serving in God’s temple, Ezekiel retained his interest in the proper functioning of Israel’s religious system. He had been trained for the priesthood, and his book shows the priest’s concern for detail in matters relating to the temple and its services. The exactitude of the priest is further seen in Ezekiel’s practice of carefully dating his messages. He usually dated these according to the year of the exile of King Jehoiachin, which was also the year of his own exile.
Probably the best known characteristic of the book of Ezekiel is its symbolism, something that was naturally of interest to a priest. The interpretation of this symbolism is complicated by the fact that Ezekiel was such an unusual person. He seems to have possessed abnormal mental powers and was able to have unnatural visions. He had a vivid imagination and was emotionally sensitive. He often acted in the strangest manner. All this makes it difficult to understand his book, and encourages caution in interpreting his visions and actions.