Ezekiel 1

Ezekiel 1:1-28

SEEING VISIONS OF GOD Ezekiel 1:1-28IN the preparation of this series of sermons, constituting the forty volumes of “The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist,” it has been my custom to write the introduction after I had finished the chapters; but in taking up Ezekiel, a few introductory words are both appropriate and essential. The word Ezekiel means, “The Strength of God”. It does not signify that he equals the Divine One in strength, but it does indicate that Divine strength was imparted to him.The life of Ezekiel overlapped that of Jeremiah; but the writings of Ezekiel are a natural sequence to those of Jeremiah—his co-Prophet, since Jeremiah, in the Book that wears his name, gives himself largely to prophecy, while Ezekiel experiences the history made in the fulfilment of the same.You, who have been auditors to the exposition of Jeremiah, have revealed a constant and even increasing interest in the study. We are confident, however, that Ezekiel will excite a more vivid interest still, since the Book itself is characterized by greater variety of thought and vividness of expression.Turning, then, to the text, we find in this first chapter the Priest made Prophet, The Vision of the Four Living Creatures, and of The Wheels Within the Wheel.THE PRIEST MADE PROPHET “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. “In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity, “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” (Ezekiel 1:1-3). Ezekiel, then, had an exceedingly definite experience. Like the man who has long lived in sin and dwelt in slums, but is suddenly saved and truly sanctified, Ezekiel will point to the month and day, and almost minute of the day when God visited him.“It came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month”. That is definite! All people do not have the same experiences. Lydia is very quietly converted. Peter is persuaded by his brother to become acquainted with the Lord. Paul is struck to the earth by a light from Heaven and left blind a few days, that “the Light that lighteneth every man that cometh into the world” might shine into his soul.But each of them has a history of conversion to rehearse, and as St. Paul’s salvation was altogether the most dramatic, his report of it is oft repeated. Three times over in the Book of Acts he tells how it happened, and when it happened, and he dates everything worth while from that hour, when, on the way to Damascus, he was smitten and heard the voice from Heaven. His experience is recorded in Acts 9.

He told it to the Jews in Acts 22; he rehearsed it to Agrippa in Acts 26; he referred to it in his Epistle to the Galatians 1:13-16; he recurred to it in his Epistle to the Philippians 3:4.John Newton, we are told, once preached in Newgate to the prisoners. He took as his text 1 Timothy 1:15 : “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief”, and as he rehearsed his own history, in coming out of darkness into light, he wept, and the men brought under conviction for sin, wept with him.Herrick, in his volume, “Some Heretics of Yesterday,” speaking of Thomas Bilney, tells how he was led out of the tyranny of Rome, by opening up the Bible one day to the same text, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). Afterward, at Cambridge, he heard a young Englishman who was just graduating from the Divinity School, denouncing people for studying the Scripture, speaking indignantly against the attacks that had been made upon the Papacy, and at the appointment of the university itself, walking at the head of the university parade as the official crossbearer, finally delivering his Bachelor of Divinity oration against Philip Melancthon.Bilney admired the spirit of the man, but detected in what he said, “a soul unrest”; so he sought the young man out at his study and asked him if he might relate to him his Christian experience, and as they were both members of the Catholic church, the Cambridge graduate consented, and then Bilney rehearsed his own conflict, how he had done penance, paid for masses and absolutions, and that he had diligently applied himself to all the soul remedies which the young divine had recommended in his oration, but never finding peace. At last he had gone to the Scriptures and, there, in the revelation of God’s free love and the gift of His Son, he found a soul-rest that passed knowledge. The young priest listened; was profoundly impressed, and at last got his own consent to look into the same prescribed Scriptures, and lo, he too, discovered the saving Son of God. That priest was Hugh Latimer who became one of the mightiest of Christ’s missionaries.Perhaps there is no witness more valuable than that of the man who can tell of a definite dealing with God, or, better yet, of how God definitely dealt with him.

Ezekiel knew that it was “the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month” that God found him.The circumstances were propitious for spiritual revelation. The captivity was on and Ezekiel was himself a slave in a foreign land; and as he sat by the riverside, doubtless grieving the bondage into which his own kin, many of his people (he himself included) had fallen, his meditations were such that God could speak to him.God is not likely to get the ear of a man who is driving his automobile fifty miles an hour in order to make the office on time.

God is not likely to get the ear of the man who has to put in the day making out bills to those who are indebted to him. God is not likely to get the ear of the man who has the pleasing job of clipping interest coupons; but God is likely to get the ear of the poor wretch who sits, in solitary confinement, back of prison walls. God is very likely to get the ear of a man who, after he has tramped all day in search of a job, has to set his face homeward where the children will probably meet him at the door crying for bread. God is very likely to get the ear of a man whose grief is so great that he can’t endure to talk to anybody else but God.God got into Bunyan’s mind when he was in Bedford Jail, and gave him marvelous visions. God got into Milton’s heart when his eyes were blinded and all the world was black, and made him the Master poet. God sat in counsel with Robert Hall when such afflictions had befallen him as to render him a hopeless, helpless invalid.Henry Van Dyke says, “It was suffering that wrought in Christ that beauty of holiness, sweetness of patience, wealth of sympathy and grace of compassion which constitute His Divine attraction and seated Him on the throne.

Once, when the cloud fell on Him, He said, “Father, save Me from this hour”, but when the cloud lifted, Jesus saw of the travail of His soul, and said, “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me”. In the upper room, Jesus was cast down for an instant and then Iscariot went out to arrange for the arrest, and Jesus, revived at the sight of the Cross: “Now is the Son of Man glorified”!The same writer says, “Humanity has fought its way upwards at the point of the bayonet, torn and bleeding, yet hopeful and triumphant.

As each nation suffers, it prospers; as it ceases to suffer, it decays.”Once more I tell you that our dark days are not our worst days. The biggest blessing that ever came to Ezekiel reached him when he was in the spiritual dumps, his head down, his heart heavy; and that was the blessing that changed him from a Priest to a Prophet, from a man who tinkered with things and ceremonies, to an inspired spokesman for God.These visions involved Ezekiel’s commission.“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” (Ezekiel 1:3). He was not only to see; he was to speak. Honors are comparative, but the superlative honor is to be a spokesman for God. “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace”! How noble is the office of him who becomes the ambassador for the Most High—the mouthpiece of the King.The visions that are to follow were but the credentials of the Prophet. They carry to the public the proof of Divine appointment,—and what an honor!Phillips Brooks, in one of his volumes, speaking of visions and tasks says,“To furnish truth to the believing heart, and to furnish believing hearts to truth, certainly there is no nobler office for a human life than that.”How marvelous was the counsel given by old Eli to little Samuel, “Go, lie down: and it shall be, if He call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for Thy servant heareth”!Oh, for that submission that makes possible a revelation, and for that willingness that enables us to be prophets! “Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets”!THE FOUR LIVING We come here upon such highly figurative things that many students of the Bible make little or nothing out of them; but this, also, we believe, will yield richest returns to diligent study:“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. “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. “And every one had four fades, and every one had four wings. “And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calfs foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass. “And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings alike. “Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward. “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, “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, “And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went, “As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of torches: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. “And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning” (Ezekiel 1:4-14). What does it mean? What’s the matter with Ezekiel? Is he out of his mind? Nay, verily, he is en-rapporte with God, and is being made to receive a marvelous revelation of Truth in dramatic symbol.“The cloud out of the north”—when did one ever come out of that quarter without clearing the atmosphere; and “the fire infolding itself * * as the colour of amber”—God’s shining—a brightness above the shining of the sun, and out of the midst of this “the likeness of four living creatures” that had the likeness of a man.Mark you, it does not say that these were four living creatures. They may have been only the likeness of four living creatures,—the picture, so to speak, of great and special truths that God wanted to get into the mind of the Prophet and, by the way of His pen, reach our minds with the same. At any rate, some lessons are clear.These Heavenly symbols or creatures were manlike.

What does that mean? It means that man is the climax of Divine creation, and that when we get Home to Heaven and join with the sons of God who never sinned, we will not find in them an order of beings so unlike ourselves that we can have no interest in them, no sympathy with them, no love for them.All the pictures you see of angels are like men, like women. Why? Because they also were created in the likeness of God, and having a common Father, they are alike His children. That such is absolutely true is made clear in Luke’s Gospel.One day some of those smart men—smart in their own opinions of themselves—came to Jesus for the catch-question. They were the Sadducees—the modernists of His time—the materialists of His day, and they said,“Master, Moses wrote unto us, If any man’s brother die, having a wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother, “There were therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died without children. “And the second took her to wife, and he died childless. “And the third took her; and in like manner the seven also: and they left no children, and died. “Last of all the woman died also. “Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them is she? for seven had her to wife. “And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: “But they that shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: “Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection” (Luke 20:28-36). “For they are equal” or like “the angels”. Then God’s angelic beings are like men. Each of the four “had the face of a man”.When, therefore, we come to Heaven, we will not meet an alien creation with which we cannot company, but other children of the king. Being children, the highest creations of the Heavenly Father, they will be our kith, our kin; and the fellowship of saints and angels will be as sweet as eternity is endless. “Ye angels who stand round the throne And view my Immanuel’s face, In rapturous song make Him known, O tune your soft harps to His praise; He formed you the spirits you are, So happy, so noble, so good; When others sank down in despair, Confirmed by His power, you stood.

“Ye saints who stand nearer than they, And cast your bright crowns at His feet, His grace and His glory display, And all His rich mercy repeat, He snatched you from hell and the grave, He ransomed from death and despair, For you He was mighty to save, Almighty to bring you safe there.

“O when will the period appear When I shall unite in your song? I’m weary of lingering here, And I to your Saviour belong; I want, O, I want to be there, To sorrow and sin bid adieu, Your joy and your friendship to share, To wonder and worship with you.” Again, these Heavenly creatures excel men in perfection. That’s the meaning of the strange thing—“Everyone had four faces”—the face of a man; the face of a lion; the face of an ox, and the face of an eagle.What does that mean? “The face of a man”, God-like intelligence; “the face of a lion”, unlimited strength; “the face of an ox”, patience and endurance, and “the face of an eagle”, swiftness in service.In all these, God’s unfallen ones surpass. Angels are intelligent. They know infinitely more than men. They have been at the fountain of wisdom itself. They have dwelt at the feet of God who is wisdom.Angels are mighty! “Ye His angels, that excel in strength, that do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word”.Of Jonathan and David, the mutual friends, who fought together and fought for God, it is said, “They were swifter than eagles”; and yet, men are slow in comparison with the flight of angels. That, in my judgment, is the meaning of the fact that their feet were straight feet, like the sole of a calf’s foot, or of a deer—fleet; and their eternal support was in the circumstance that underneath their wings were the “hands of a man”—the man—the God-man,— a support that will never fail. “Hark! hark, my soul! angelic songs are swelling O’er earth’s green fields and ocean’s wave-beat shore; How sweet the truth those blessed strains are telling Of that new life when sin shall be no more.

“Angels, sing on! your faithful watches keeping; Sing us sweet fragments of the songs above, Till morning’s joy shall end the night of weeping, And life’s long shadows break in cloudless love.” But, even these creatures confess God’s utter superiority. Every one had two pair of wings. Their wings were joined one to another,“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. “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” (Ezekiel 1:22-23). In other words, they dared not attempt to look full into the face of God. Their holiness regarded His greater glory and they were abashed in His presence.Modernism seeks to dethrone God, and modernism essays to set man on the pinnacle of the universe and crown him king. It is the devil’s attempt being repeated. It is the exact principle and process by which “Lucifer, son of the morning”, fell from Heaven to hell. This vision of the highest, and the Heavenly creatures, covering their faces in His holy presence, should be to us a gentle reminder of our mean estate—character considered—and of our necessity of bending the knee before Him and acknowledging God as over all and above all.THE WHEELS WITHIN THE WHEELThere is a strange mixture of these weird likenesses, and these moving wheels, that bring men and women again to say of Ezekiel: What does he mean?It will be noticed that these “living beings” came out of the heavens and were associated with the clouds. But “the wheel” stands “upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces” (Ezekiel 1:15).We have learned something, and something valuable, as we believe, about the Heavenly beings.

Now, may the Spirit show us something helpful for earthly beings.What is the significance of this wheel—beryl in colour—filled with eyes round about its rim, moving as the living creatures moved, and resting when they rested, as if the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. Are not angels administrators of God’s will?What is this but the picture of Divine providences?

God’s glory is revealed in the splendor of the upper world, but, as Matthew Henry said, “It is also shown in the steadiness of His government of things on the earth.”The heavens do “declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handywork”, but the earth also is the place of His providences. Around it He moves as the wheel might move,—with steadiness and regularity. His presence, in all its affairs, should be regarded; and His direction to all the movements of its life even life’s cross-currents should be valued.One of the greatest lessons in this life is to learn to trust the providences of God. There are literally thousands of men who lose their lives because they cannot wait for God to move, nor believe that He will come to their aid.A gentleman said, “I was in a hotel and it was swept with a ruinous fire. I had found refuge on a window-ledge. Just below me, fifty feet, I could see the firemen busy, taking off the wagons hooks and ladders, and every moment was a temptation to quit my resting-place and leap.

While I sat there, I saw a score of people jump into the air and dash their lives out on the pavement below. Each of them was dead when he was picked up from the ground, and yet, twenty times in as many minutes, I had selected the spot where I should strike.The hardest thing I ever did was to command myself and say, “Wait; wait; help will come,” and surely enough, shortly the ladder was at my feet, the fireman was there to calmly and carefully help me to the ground. “Wait; I say, on the Lord”! “Stand still and see the salvation of God”!Wheels move; God moves! “God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He plants His footsteps in the sea And rides upon the storm.

“Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take, The clouds ye so much dread Are big with mercy, and shall break With blessing on your head.

“Judge not the Lord by feeble sense But trust Him for His grace; Behind a frowning Providence He hides a smiling face.

“Blind unbelief is seen to err And scan His work in vain God is His own Interpreter And He will make it plain.” “And their rings were full of eyes”. Here is the symbol of the Divine wisdom. The eyes looked every-whither as the wheels moved. God’s eyes are everywhere. He sees; He knows!There is a dual suggestion in this fact. “Thou God seest me”, should be a warning against sin; a certainty that it cannot be covered up; and “Thou God seest me” should also be an inspiration to perfected service.When Phidias, carving the statue of Diana for the Acropolis of Athens, was carving the back hair with exceeding care bringing out every line and filament, a passer-by stopped and watched his work, and by and by dared to say to him, “Why such painstaking to the back of her head; it will not be seen by the people?” Phidias looked up, and with indignation said, “The gods will see it,” and carved on.Finally, we have here the administration of the Divine will.“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. “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. “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” (Ezekiel 1:26-28). How marvelously the different and distinct portions of God’s Word harmonize!John was in the Isle of Patmos—that dreary rock, on the Lord’s Day, and he had a vision, and he saw one like unto the“Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. “His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire” (Revelation 1:13-14). And again he saw that a“Throne was set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. “And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne” (Revelation 4:3). Who will doubt that John and Ezekiel saw the same; that they saw the King of Glory and the vision was a vision of His power? He reigns and it is His right to reign.Who will doubt the wisdom of God? Who will question His right to reign, and why are we so foolish as to fail in willing submission to His administration?“God knows best what is best for me. Why should I worry—or anxious be, Trying to fathom the course I take, Grasping at bubbles that fade and break? One step is all I have need to see, God knows best what is best for me. “God knows best what is best for me Through all time and eternity. In my Father’s House is goodly store Of all I need—forevermore. With Him I rest, for I know that He Always gives what is best for me.”