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15 12     "     xxxii:17-32   1 10 25     "     xl-xlviii   1   1 27     "     xxix:17-21        

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I. PREDICTIONS BEFORE THE FALL OF
JERUSALEM
Chapter I-xxxii.

THE VISION OF THE GLORY OF JEHOVAH AND
THE CALL OF THE PROPHET.
Chapter I-iii:14.

I. The Introduction.

Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Chebar, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. In the fifth 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.

The book of Ezekiel starts with the description of a great vision, which the prophet had among the captives of the river Chebar. The first word "now," which really means "and," connects the book with Jeremiah, as Joshua is connected in the same way with Deuteronomy. The two statements "I was" and "I saw" in the first verse make it clear that Ezekiel is the author of this book. The third verse has been marked by the critics as an addition by some person, who edited the book later. There is no evidence for that. In describing his own person and descent, he no longer uses the personal pronoun. When he describes the vision itself, giving his experience, he resumes the "I"—"I looked." The "thirtieth year" has often been taken as the age of Ezekiel and upon this a parallel has been drawn between Ezekiel and our Lord. As Ezekiel was thirty years old and saw heaven open at the banks of a river, so, it is taught, the Lord Jesus was thirty years of age, when He saw heaven open at His baptism in Jordan (Matt. iii:16; Luke iii:21). There is nothing in the text to warrant this application. The thirtieth year must be reckoned according to the Babylonian era, beginning with Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar, who became King of Babylon 625 b. c. This was the date when Hilkiah found the book of the law in the eighteenth year of King Josiah. This was the thirtieth year before the fifth year of the captivity.

Four things are mentioned by Ezekiel in the introduction of his book. 1. The Heavens were opened. 2. He saw visions of God. 3. The Word of the Lord came upon him. 4. The hand of the Lord was upon him. The opened heavens are not mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament. Ezekiel, the priest, is the only prophet of whom it is said that he saw the heavens opened. Four times this phrase is found in the New Testament. In Matthew iii:16 heaven was opened at the Baptism of our Lord. In John i:51 the Lord speaks of the heavens opened and the manifestation of angels, which is still future and refers to His Coming in power and glory. In Revelations iv:1 a door was opened in heaven and John heard the words "Come up hither"; it is symbolical of the time, when the true church is taken into the presence of the Lord. The last time opened heavens are mentioned is in Revelations xix:11. It will be when our Lord comes as King of kings and Lord of lords.

The opened heavens brought for Ezekiel visions of God and the Word of the Jehovah. Not visions of Jehovah and the Word of God. He saw the visions of God in His governmental dealings with Israel, but the commission to him is the commission of Jehovah, the name which denotes the closer covenant relationship with His people. The vision of opened heavens in the New Testament sense was not given to Ezekiel. New Testament believers behold heaven opened and have a vision. In the language of the Scriptures, "We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He by the grace of God should taste death of every man" (Heb. ii:9). Our vision in the opened heavens is the glorified Son of Man, in whom we are saved and seated in the Heavenlies, in Whom we are accepted and Whose glory we shall share. And when the Word of Jehovah came to him, calling the priest to the prophetic office, the hand of the Lord came also upon him. Opened heavens, visions, direct call and enablement by the power of God. Such is still the order for God's servants. And after the great vision is passed, the seer is upon his face (verse 28). Then Jehovah lifts him up and the Spirit entered into him (ii:2).

The phrase "the hand of the Lord was upon him" or "came upon me" is found exactly seven times in the Book of Ezekiel i:3; iii:14 and 22; viii:1; xxxiii:22; xxxvii:1 and xl:1.

II. The Vision of Glory.

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 look of glowing brass 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 faces, and every one had four wings. 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. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings. 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. And their faces and their wings were parted above; 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; they turned not when they went. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, 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.

And I looked at the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, toward their four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a chrysolite: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. When they went, they went upon their four sides: they turned not when they went. As for their rims, they were high and dreadful; and their rims were full of eyes round about them four. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither would their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. 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. And there was the likeness of an expanse upon