@Eze 1:1-28. EZEKIEL'S VISION BY THE CHEBAR. FOUR CHERUBIM AND WHEELS.
1. Now it came to pass--rather, "And it came," &c. As this formula
in @Jos 1:1 has reference to the written history of previous
times, so here (and in @Ru 1:1, and @Es 1:1), it refers to the
unwritten history which was before the mind of the writer. The
prophet by it, as it were, continues the history of the preceding times.
In the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign (@Jer 51:59), Jeremiah sent
by Seraiah a message to the captives (@Jer 29:1-32) to submit
themselves to God and lay aside their flattering hopes of a speedy
restoration. This communication was in the next year, the fifth, and the
fourth month of the same king (for Jehoiachin's captivity and Zedekiah's
accession coincide in time), followed up by a prophet raised up
among the captives themselves, the energetic Ezekiel.
thirtieth year--that is, counting from the beginning of the reign of
Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar, the era. of the Babylonian
empire, 625 B.C., which epoch coincides with the eighteenth year of
Josiah, that in which the book of the law was found, and the consequent
reformation began
[SCALIGER];
or the thirtieth year of Ezekiel's life.
As the Lord was about to be a "little sanctuary" (@Eze 11:16) to the
exiles on the Chebar, so Ezekiel was to be the ministering priest;
therefore he marks his priestly relation to God and the people at the
outset; the close, which describes the future temple, thus answering to
the beginning. By designating himself expressly as "the priest"
(@Eze 1:3), and as having reached his thirtieth year
(the regular
year of priests commencing their office), he marks his office as the
priest among the prophets. Thus the opening vision follows naturally as
the formal institution of that spiritual temple in which he was to
minister [FAIRBAIRN].
Chebar--the same as Chabor or Habor, whither the ten tribes had been
transported by Tiglath-pileser and Shalmaneser (@2Ki 17:6 1Ch 5:26). It
flows into the Euphrates near Carchemish or Circesium, two hundred miles
north of Babylon.
visions of God--Four expressions are used as to the revelation granted
to Ezekiel, the three first having respect to what was presented from
without, to assure him of its reality, the fourth to his being
internally made fit to receive the revelation; "the heavens were opened"
(so @Mt 3:16 Ac 7:56 10:11 Re 19:11); "he saw visions of God"; "the
word of Jehovah came verily (as the meaning is rather than
'expressly, English Version, @Eze 1:3) unto him"
(it was no unreal hallucination); and "the hand of Jehovah was upon him"
(@Isa 8:11 Da 10:10,18 Re 1:17; the Lord by His touch strengthening
him for his high and arduous ministry, that he might be able to witness
and report aright the revelations made to him).
2. Jehoiachin's captivity--In the third or fourth year of Jehoiakim, father of Jehoiachin, the first carrying away of Jewish captives to Babylon took place, and among them was Daniel. The second was under Jehoiachin, when Ezekiel was carried away. The third and final one was at the taking of Jerusalem under Zedekiah.
4. whirlwind--emblematic of God's judgments (@Jer 23:19 25:32).
out of the north--that is, from Chaldea, whose hostile forces would
invade Judea from a northerly direction. The prophet conceives
himself in the temple.
fire infolding itself--laying hold on whatever surrounds it, drawing
it to itself, and devouring it. Literally, "catching itself," that is,
kindling itself [FAIRBAIRN].
The same Hebrew occurs in @Ex 9:24,
as to the "fire mingled with the hail."
brightness . . . about it--that is, about the "cloud."
out of the midst thereof--that is, out of the midst of the "fire."
colour of amber--rather, "the glancing brightness (literally, 'the
eye', and so the glancing appearance) of polished brass. The
Hebrew, chasmal, is from two roots, "smooth" and "brass" (compare
@Eze 1:7 Re 1:15) [GESENIUS]. The
Septuagint and Vulgate translate it, "electrum"; a brilliant metal compounded of gold and
silver.
5. Ezekiel was himself of a "gigantic nature, and thereby suited to
counteract the Babylonish spirit of the times, which loved to manifest
itself in gigantic, grotesque forms" [HENGSTENBERG].
living creatures--So the Greek ought to have been translated in
the parallel passage, @Re 4:6, not as English Version, "beasts";
for one of the "four" is a man, and man cannot be termed "beast."
@Eze 10:20 shows that it is the cherubim that are meant.
likeness of a man--Man, the noblest of the four, is the ideal model
after which they are fashioned (@Eze 1:10 Eze 10:14). The point of
comparison between him and them is the erect posture of their bodies,
though doubtless including also the general mien. Also the hands (@Eze 10:21).
6. Not only were there four distinct living creatures, but each of the four had four faces, making sixteen in all. The four living creatures of the cherubim answer by contrast to the four world monarchies represented by four beasts, Assyria, Persia, Greece, and Rome (@Da 7:1-28). The Fathers identified them with the four Gospels: Matthew the lion, Mark the ox, Luke the man, John the eagle. Two cherubim only stood over the ark in the temple; two more are now added, to imply that, while the law is retained as the basis, a new form is needed to be added to impart new life to it. The number four may have respect to the four quarters of the world, to imply that God's angels execute His commands everywhere. Each head in front had the face of a man as the primary and prominent one: on the right the face of a lion, on the left the face of an ox, above from behind the face of an eagle. The Mosaic cherubim were similar, only that the human faces were put looking towards each other, and towards the mercy seat between, being formed out of the same mass of pure gold as the latter (@Ex 25:19,20). In @Isa 6:2 two wings are added to cover their countenances; because there they stand by the throne, here under the throne; there God deigns to consult them, and His condescension calls forth their humility, so that they veil their faces before Him; here they execute His commands. The face expresses their intelligence; the wings, their rapidity in fulfilling God's will. The Shekinah or flame, that signified God's presence, and the written name, JEHOVAH, occupied the intervening space between the cherubim @Ge 4:14,16 3:24 ("placed"; properly, "to place in a tabernacle"), imply that the cherubim were appointed at the fall as symbols of God's presence in a consecrated place, and that man was to worship there. In the patriarchal dispensation when the flood had caused the removal of the cherubim from Eden, seraphim or teraphim (Chaldean dialect) were made as models of them for domestic use (@Ge 31:19, Margin; @Ge 31:30). The silence of the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth chapters of Exodus to their configuration, whereas everything else is minutely described, is because their form was so well-known already to Bezaleel and all Israel by tradition as to need no detailed description. Hence Ezekiel (@Eze 10:20) at once knows them, for he had seen them repeatedly in the carved work of the outer sanctuary of Solomon's temple (@1Ki 6:23-29). He therefore consoles the exiles with the hope of having the same cherubim in the renovated temple which should be reared; and he assures them that the same God who dwelt between the cherubim of the temple would be still with His people by the Chebar. But they were not in Zerubbabel's temple; therefore Ezekiel's foretold temple, if literal, is yet future. The ox is selected as chief of the tame animals, the lion among the wild, the eagle among birds, and man the head of all, in his ideal, realized by the Lord Jesus, combining all the excellencies of the animal kingdom. The cherubim probably represent the ruling powers by which God acts in the natural and moral world. Hence they sometimes answer to the ministering angels; elsewhere, to the redeemed saints (the elect Church) through whom, as by the angels, God shall hereafter rule the world and proclaim the manifold wisdom of God (@Mt 19:28 1Co 6:2 Eph 3:10 Re 3:21 4:6-8). The "lions" and "oxen," amidst "palms" and "open flowers" carved in the temple, were the four-faced cherubim which, being traced on a flat surface, presented only one aspect of the four. The human-headed winged bulls and eagle-headed gods found in Nineveh, sculptured amidst palms and tulip-shaped flowers, were borrowed by corrupted tradition from the cherubim placed in Eden near its fruits and flowers. So the Aaronic calf (@Ex 32:4,5) and Jeroboam's calves at Dan and Beth-el, a schismatic imitation of the sacred symbols in the temple at Jerusalem. So the ox figures of Apis on the sacred arks of Egypt.
7. straight feet--that is, straight legs. Not protruding in any
part as the legs of an ox, but straight like a man's
[GROTIUS]. Or, like
solid pillars; not bending, as man's, at the knee. They glided
along, rather than walked. Their movements were all sure, right, and
without effort [KITTO, Cyclopedia].
sole . . . calf's
foot--HENDERSON hence supposes that
"straight feet" implies that they did not project horizontally like men's feet,
but vertically as calves' feet. The solid firmness of the round foot
of a calf seems to be the point of comparison.
colour--the glittering appearance, indicating God's purity.
8. The hands of each were the hands of a man. The hand is the symbol
of active power, guided by skilfulness (@Ps 78:72).
under their wings--signifying their operations are hidden from our
too curious prying; and as the "wings" signify something more than
human, namely, the secret prompting of God, it is also implied that they
are moved by it and not by their own power, so that they do nothing at
random, but all with divine wisdom.
they four had . . . faces and . . . wings--He returns to what he had
stated already in @Eze 1:6; this gives a reason why they had hands
on their four sides, namely, because they had faces and wings on the
four sides. They moved whithersoever they would, not by active energy
merely, but also by knowledge (expressed by their faces) and divine
guidance (expressed by their "wings").
9. they--had no occasion to turn themselves round when changing their direction, for they had a face (@Eze 1:6) looking to each of the four quarters of heaven. They made no mistakes; and their work needed not be gone over again. Their wings were joined above in pairs (see @Eze 1:11).
10. they . . . had the face of a man--namely, in front. The human face was the primary and prominent one and the fundamental part of the composite whole. On its right was the lion's face; on the left, the ox's (called "cherub," @Eze 10:14); at the back from above was the eagle's.
11. The tips of the two outstretched wings reached to one another,
while the other two, in token of humble awe, formed a veil for the lower
parts of the body.
stretched upward--rather, "were parted from above" (compare Margin;
see on Isa 6:2). The joining together of their wings above
implies that, though the movements of Providence on earth may seem
conflicting and confused, yet if one lift up his eyes to heaven, he will
see that they admirably conspire towards the one end at last.
12. The same idea as in @Eze 1:9. The repetition is because we
men are so hard to be brought to acknowledge the wisdom of God's doings;
they seem tortuous and confused to us, but they are all tending steadily
to one aim.
the spirit--the secret impulse whereby God moves His angels to the
end designed. They do not turn back or aside till they have fulfilled
the office assigned them.
13. likeness . . . appearance--not tautology. "Likeness" expresses
the general form; "appearance," the particular aspect.
coals of fire--denoting the intensely pure and burning justice
wherewith God punishes by His angels those who, like Israel, have
hardened themselves against His long-suffering. So in @Isa 6:2,6,
instead of cherubim, the name "seraphim," the burning ones, is
applied, indicating God's consuming righteousness; whence their cry to
Him is, "Holy! holy! holy!" and the burning coal is applied to his
lips, for the message through his mouth was to be one of judicial
severance of the godly from the ungodly, to the ruin of the latter.
lamps--torches. The fire emitted sparks and flashes of light, as
torches do.
went up and down--expressing the marvellous vigor of God's Spirit,
in all His movements never resting, never wearied.
fire . . . bright--indicating the glory of God.
out of the fire . . . lightning--God's righteousness will at last
cause the bolt of His wrath to fall on the guilty; as now, on Jerusalem.
14. ran and returned--Incessant, restless motion indicates the
plenitude of life in these cherubim; so in @Re 4:8, "they rest not
day or night" (@Zec 4:10).
flash of lightning--rather, as distinct from "lightning"
(@Eze 1:13), "the meteor flash," or sheet lightning
[FAIRBAIRN].
15. one wheel--The "dreadful height" of the wheel (@Eze 1:18)
indicates the gigantic, terrible energy of the complicated revolutions
of God's providence, bringing about His purposes with unerring
certainty. One wheel appeared traversely within another, so that the
movement might be without turning, whithersoever the living creatures
might advance (@Eze 1:17). Thus each wheel was composed of two
circles cutting one another at right angles, "one" only of which
appeared to touch the ground ("upon the earth"), according to the
direction the cherubim desired to move in.
with his four faces--rather, "according to its four faces" or
sides; as there.was a side or direction to each of the four creatures,
so there was a wheel for each of the sides
[FAIRBAIRN]. The four sides
or semicircles of each composite wheel pointed, as the four faces of
each of the living creatures, to the four quarters of heaven.
HAVERNICK
refers "his" or "its" to the wheels. The cherubim and their wings
and wheels stood in contrast to the symbolical figures, somewhat
similar, then existing in Chaldea, and found in the remains of Assyria.
The latter, though derived from the original revelation by tradition,
came by corruption to symbolize the astronomical zodiac, or the sun and
celestial sphere, by a circle with wings or irradiations. But Ezekiel's
cherubim rise above natural objects, the gods of the heathen, to the
representation of the one true God, who made and continually upholds
them.
16. appearance . . . work--their form and the material of their
work.
beryl--rather, "the glancing appearance of the Tarshish stone"; the
chrysolite or topaz, brought from Tarshish or Tartessus in Spain. It was
one of the gems in the breastplate of the high priest
(@Ex 28:20 So 5:14 Da 10:6).
four had one likeness--The similarity of the wheels to one another
implies that there is no inequality in all God's works, that all have a
beautiful analogy and proportion.
17. went upon their four sides--Those faces or sides of the four wheels moved which answered to the direction in which the cherubim desired to move; while the transverse circles in each of the four composite wheels remained suspended from the ground, so as not to impede the movements of the others.
18. rings--that is, felloes or circumferences of the wheels.
eyes--The multiplicity of eyes here in the wheels. and @Eze 10:12,
in the cherubim themselves, symbolizes the
plenitude of intelligent life, the eye being the window through
which "the spirit of the living creatures" in the wheels (@Eze 1:20)
looks forth (compare @Zec 4:10). As the wheels signify the providence
of God, so the eyes imply that He sees all the circumstances of each
case, and does nothing by blind impulse.
19. went by them--went beside them.
20. the spirit was to go--that is, their will was for going
whithersoever the Spirit was for going.
over against them--rather, beside or in conjunction with them.
spirit of the living creature--put collectively for "the living
creatures"; the cherubim. Having first viewed them separately, he
next views them in the aggregate as the composite living creature in
which the Spirit resided. The life intended is that connected with God,
holy, spiritual life, in the plenitude of its active power.
21. over against--rather, "along with" [HENDERSON]; or, "beside" [FAIRBAIRN].
22. upon the heads--rather, "above the heads"
[FAIRBAIRN].
colour--glitter.
terrible crystal--dazzling the spectator by its brightness.
23. straight--erect [FAIRBAIRN],
expanded upright.
two . . . two . . . covered . . . bodies--not, as it might seem,
contradicting @Eze 1:11. The two wings expanded upwards, though
chiefly used for flying, yet up to the summit of the figure where they
were parted from each other, covered the upper part of the body, while
the other two wings covered the lower parts.
24. voice of . . . Almighty--the thunder (@Ps 29:3,4).
voice of speech--rather, "the voice" or "sound of tumult," as in
@Jer 11:16. From an Arabic root, meaning the "impetuous rush of
heavy rain."
noise of . . . host--(@Isa 13:4 Da 10:6).
25. let down . . . wings--While the Almighty gave forth His voice, they reverently let their wings fall, to listen stilly to His communication.
26. The Godhead appears in the likeness of enthroned humanity, as in @Ex 24:10. Besides the "paved work of a sapphire stone, as it were the body of heaven in clearness," there, we have here the "throne," and God "as a man," with the "appearance of fire round about." This last was a prelude of the incarnation of Messiah, but in His character as Saviour and as Judge (@Re 19:11-16). The azure sapphire answers to the color of the sky. As others are called "sons of God," but He "the Son of God," so others are called "sons of man" (@Eze 2:1,3), but He "the Son of man" (@Mt 16:13), being the embodied representative of humanity and the whole human race; as, on the other hand, He is the representative of "the fulness of the Godhead" (@Col 2:9). While the cherubim are movable, the throne above, and Jehovah who moves them, are firmly fixed. It is good news to man, that the throne above is filled by One who even there appears as "a man."
27. colour of amber--"the glitter of chasmal" [FAIRBAIRN]. See on Eze 1:4; rather, "polished brass" [HENDERSON]. Messiah is described here as in @Da 10:5,6 Re 1:14,15.
28. the bow . . . in . . . rain--the symbol of the sure covenant of
mercy to God's children remembered amidst judgments on the wicked; as
in the flood in Noah's days (@Re 4:3). "Like hanging out from the
throne of the Eternal a fing of peace, assuring all that the purpose of
Heaven was to preserve rather than to destroy. Even if the divine work
should require a deluge of wrath, still the faithfulness of God would
only shine forth the more brightly at last to the children of promise,
in consequence of the tribulations needed to prepare for the ultimate
good" [FAIRBAIRN]. (@Isa 54:8-10).
I fell upon . . . face--the right attitude, spiritually, before we
enter on any active work for God (@Eze 2:2 3:23,24 Re 1:17). In this
first chapter God gathered into one vision the substance of all that was
to occupy the prophetic agency of Ezekiel; as was done afterwards in the
opening vision of the Revelation of Saint John.