WWUTT 2674 Ezekiel's Vision of Creatures and Wheels (Ezekiel 1:4-28)

Ezekiel’s Vision Reveals the Glory of God

The prophet Ezekiel saw a magnificent vision of God, and it's difficult for us to understand what he describes, but if anything, we should know God is glorious, and we need to be righteous when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we feature New Testament study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our Q &A on Friday.

Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the book of Ezekiel, we come back to chapter one. Last week, we looked at just the first three verses, doing an introduction to Ezekiel and an overview of the book. Today, we are gonna look at the rest of this chapter.

If you'll recall from last week, there is a magnificent description of the glory of God here in chapter one. Ezekiel seeing God, and then these creatures that are around him, and these wheels, and it is just kind of baffling what it is that he is describing.

You could copy what Ezekiel writes here, and you could post it to an AI, and the AI could render for you a visual of what Ezekiel is describing. But I still don't think that's gonna help us in understanding this.

Some of the things that Ezekiel describes are rather metaphorical or symbolic, not necessarily literal. We'll consider that as we look at our text. Let me come back to verse four, and I'll go ahead and read through verse 28 to start things off.

Ezekiel Describes the Storm, Living Creatures, and Wheels

Hear the word of the Lord. 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.

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 in 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. Now, as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them.

As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction, their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl. And the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being, as it were, a wheel within a wheel.

When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went. And their rims were tall and awesome. And the rims of all four were full of eyes all around. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them.

And when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went and the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

When those went, these went, and when those stood, these stood. And when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. Over the heads of the living creatures, there was the likeness of an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring crystal spread out above their heads.

And under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another, and each creature had two wings covering its body. And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings, like the sound of many waters, like the sound of the Almighty, a sound of tumult, like the sound of an army.

When they stood still, they let down their wings, and there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads, when they stood still, they let down their wings. And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire, and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance, and upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around.

And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him, like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.

Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking. Now, what the Lord will say to him, we won't get to until next week when we get into Ezekiel chapter two.

Symbolic Language and the Limits of Human Understanding

But let's consider this vision that Ezekiel has and what he is describing. Like I said, some of this visual is symbolic. And we know that because of the language that Ezekiel uses. He will say the likeness of, or he uses this phrase, the way that it's translated into English anyway, as it were.

We have that even in verse four. I looked and behold, there was fire flashing forth continually in the midst of the fire as it were gleaming metal. So it's not really gleaming metal, but he's trying to find something to compare it to.

And that's the visual that he uses, gleaming metal. Metal that is so hot that it is brightened by the fire that it is in. And so it's sparkling like gleaming metal. That's the best that he can come up with to describe what it is that he sees.

Ezekiel is seeing something heavenly, something that physical creatures cannot behold and be able to talk about it. And so how does he describe what it was that he was privileged to see? That's why these visuals are pretty complicated.

Even when we get to the book of Revelation, and there's so many things that are happening there that are complicated for us to wrap our minds around. Well, it's because we're looking beyond the heavenly veil into something that we as finite creatures can barely understand.

And John does the best that he can with what he sees to recall to us his vision so that we might have an idea of what God is doing in the world and what he is planning to do, what has yet to come to fruition.

As we look even into the future of what God plans to accomplish in this course of redemptive history that he has laid out, he knows everything that's going to happen from beginning to end because he is the one that established it.

We can barely understand things that God in his divine majesty has ordained. God himself is triune, right? He is one God, but he is father, son, and Holy Spirit. How do we wrap our minds around that? We can't because we're not God.

If we're three people, we can't be one person. We don't have the capability of doing that in our finite bodies. We can't be one person and three people. God is also not one person and three people. He is one God and three persons.

But again, our understanding of that is going to be limited because we're not God. But we are told this in scripture, 1 John 3, 2, we will see him as he is because we will be made to be like him. So on that day that we enter into glory, a lot of these visuals that we get in scripture of heavenly things will make sense to us, though we may not fully understand them now.

You can go online. As I said earlier, you can go on Google and you can do a search of Ezekiel chapter one. And what was it that Ezekiel saw? And you will get some pretty interesting artist's representations, but I don't really think any of them are accurate because, again, some of the things that Ezekiel describes here are simply symbolic.

But we'll understand what those symbols mean as we try to digest this description. So let's come back to verse four. As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north. Now, this is not an unusual way for the Lord to present himself.

Remember that when Job saw the Lord, it was in a whirlwind, the whirlwind that came in, the voice of the Lord came out of it. He doesn't really see the physical presence of God, but he hears the voice of God coming out of the whirlwind.

The north is the direction that God comes from. Now, the enemy that had come against Jerusalem also came out of the north. Remember, we had read that previously in Isaiah and in Jeremiah. So the fact that God is coming out of the north is also demonstrating that he is a power that is greater than the Babylonians who came from that direction.

So the stormy wind is coming 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. Whatever this is that Ezekiel says, whatever he sees, rather, it's terrifying.

And he's just doing the best that he can to describe to us what he saw, though it would be impossible for us even to describe it if we had been privileged to see it. Verse 5, from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures.

The Cherubim and Their Unusual Appearance

So Ezekiel is describing these creatures that he sees. They're a likeness of something. They exist spiritually, though. How is it that you take these spirits and describe them in physical ways? And so some of their description, some of it is exactly as Ezekiel saw, and some of it is meant to be taken symbolically.

And this was their appearance, he says. They had a human likeness, but each had four faces and each of them had four wings. So they have a human likeness, but they have four faces? How is that human? And then some of the other things that he describes about the creatures are not human at all, like having a calf's foot, having an eagle's head, and all this kind of stuff.

So how is it that they have a human likeness? I think really what Ezekiel is attempting to define here is that there are faces that they have that are human, but also that there's definition to them. So they have a human likeness, there is definition, and there's definition that appears human.

Like having a face, having arms, having legs, even the fact that they have wings has a human aspect to it because he can define it as having definition. But each had four faces, he says, and each of them had four wings.

There's somewhat similarity here to Isaiah's vision that he had in Isaiah 6. Those creatures had six wings. There's also some similarity to the four creatures around the throne that John sees in Revelation chapters 5 and 6.

There are some aspects of these creatures that are different than those, though. So we shouldn't necessarily think that these four creatures are exactly like those four creatures. These creatures are cherubim.

They are of the rank of angels that are described as cherubim, and we know that because that's what Ezekiel calls them later on in chapter 10. So these angelic beings, these creatures are cherubim. Verse 7, 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 of them went straight forward without turning as they went.

Now, whenever Ezekiel describes their movement, that's what he says. They go this way or that way, but they never turn. They don't turn in the direction that they have to go because they don't have to.

It's not like they have to reorient their face this way so they can see where they're going. These are spiritual beings, so they don't need eyes to function in the same way that we need eyes to function.

There are certain things in this vision that Ezekiel is being shown so that it helps him to grasp what he's seeing a little bit better, but it's not necessarily that the eyes that they have are used in the same way that we have eyes that we need to use.

Your eyes are in one side of your head. You can't see what's behind your head. You need to turn your eyes to see what's to your left or to your right, whereas these beings apparently don't need to do that at all.

Wherever they want to move, they move, and their bodies don't need to reorient themselves to the direction that they're moving. So there's somewhat of a gyroscopic aspect to their movement the way that Ezekiel describes it here.

The Four Faces Represent the Scope of Creation

So going on to verse 10, as for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. I think that's a right description. That's apt for us to picture, you know, there's like a man's head or something there.

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. Now, what is significant about these four faces? Well, the human face represents the peak of God's creation, which is the creation of man.

We are the crowning jewel of all that God has made. We've been made in the likeness of God. We have been made to have dominion over the things that God has made, that we would fill the earth even and subdue it.

So there is an aspect of us that bears the likeness of God. So these four creatures, they represent creation in a certain sense. The number four in the Bible represents creation. Like you have four seasons, you have four directions, north, south, east, and west.

So that's what the number four is intended to communicate, especially when we see it symbolically in prophetic vision, in apocalyptic vision, and things like this. So these four creatures have four faces.

And the first face that's described is the human face, especially as Ezekiel would describe them as being human in likeness. They also have the face of a lion. So this is the most feared of the beasts that God has made.

Like the apex creature of the beasts of the earth, the lion is the king of the beasts, right? So one of these faces is that of a lion. Another face is that of an ox. And that would be the creature that represents domesticated animals.

You can't tame a lion. You can't own a lion. You are the lion's prey. You don't have dominion over the lion. Like even to this day, people who have been lion trainers and tigers and bears and some of these fearsome creatures, they never really seem to contain or tame those creatures, do they?

You'll hear every once in a while some lion tamer got attacked or somebody who thought he was friends with a bear got his head bitten off or something like that. You really cannot tame these creatures.

But domesticated animals like an ox, which especially in this time period, this is the most valuable animal that a person can have. A lot of things you can do with an ox. An ox helps you to plow your fields.

An ox could feed you and your family for an entire season. And you know that a person's wealth and worth was sometimes measured by how many oxen they had. How many head of cattle do they have? And so this is the most valued of the domesticated animals.

And then the fourth face is that of an eagle. So the most majestic bird that rules the skies. Verse 11, 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 I think what Ezekiel is really describing here is their orientation and that they're of an organized stance and close to one another. Each went straight forward, wherever the spirit would go, they went without turning.

The Wheels Display God’s Omniscient Rule

As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire. They're glowing, they're gleaming. This is bright and stunning what it is that Ezekiel says. Like the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures.

The fire was bright. Out of the fire went forth lightning. And the living creatures darted to and fro, like the appearance of a flash of lightning. So their movement can also be sudden. It can also be like an instantaneous transportation from this point to this point, as well as smoothly moving from one direction to the other without having to turn as they go.

Verse 15, now, as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them. As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction, their appearance was like that of gleaming barrel.

And the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. Now, the wheels are probably the most difficult for us to comprehend. It's one thing to try to grasp the appearance of these creatures.

It's something else to go, okay, now we got wheels on this thing. What in the world are we talking about here? Wheel within a wheel, and it's covered with eyes. The creatures themselves have actually been defined by other civilizations.

There are others that have attempted to create likenesses of what Ezekiel has described here. And with depictions that are even older than what Ezekiel describes. The Babylonians have creatures that are like this.

The Syrians have also in their art, in the architecture that's been uncovered from the Syrians, they'll have these winged genies that kind of looks something like what it is that Ezekiel is describing here.

So there could have been appearances of these cherubim to other people at this time period, even outside of Israel. Others could have seen these creatures as well. But instead of worshiping God who made them, they worship the creatures instead.

And so that's why you find in some of that ancient Near Eastern art, depictions of these beasts, of these beings, that looks something like what Ezekiel is describing here. They're worshiping the angels though, rather than worshiping the God whom they serve.

Pretty common among many of these pagan cultures. They see a magnificent being, and they're going to worship that being rather than God. God remains hidden. He remains invisible. He doesn't show himself or reveal himself to everyone.

In this case, he reveals himself only to Ezekiel. And Ezekiel describes the vision of the appearance of God as well as we continue on. But we have these wheels again. Their rims were tall and awesome.

They were full of eyes all around. Now they may not have had actual literal eyes. This could be something like a studded chariot wheel that emperors would have. Emperors or kings, when they would have their very ornamented and decorated chariots, they would have a lot of studs on them.

And so what Ezekiel is describing is that instead of these studs, it's rather eyes. But this is a demonstration of how these spiritual beings, as commanded by God, are able to see so many things that are going on in the earth.

Or they could also serve as eyes of God in seeing what is happening in the earth. Wherever the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them. When the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose.

Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went. The wheels rose along with them for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. Again, we have to remember that what we are reading about is something spiritual, not something physical.

Though it certainly has a likeness that Ezekiel can see and describe. Again, there are things here that are meant to be taken symbolically or metaphorically rather than literally. Going on to verse 22.

The Throne Above the Expanse Reveals Divine Majesty

Over the heads of the living creatures, there was the likeness of an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring crystal spread out above their heads. Now, what Ezekiel is seeing now at this point, he's actually saying is even more magnificent than what I saw in these creatures.

I'm seeing this expanse. And under the expanse, their wings were stretched out straight one toward another and each creature had two wings covering its body. And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the sound of the Almighty.

This is the first time that Ezekiel is describing sound and it is roaring and loud. Have you ever been near a majestic waterfall? It's really, really loud. Have you ever gone to see the ocean? The ocean can be incredibly loud and it could even be difficult for you to talk to a person next to you.

I grew up near the ocean. Like the roar of that water, you can hear before you ever even see the beach. Beaches are really, really noisy. So Ezekiel is talking about how this sound that they're making is just an incredible roar.

When they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the sound of the Almighty, a sound of tumult, like the sound of an army. When they stood still, they let down their wings.

And there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads. When they stood still, they let down their wings. So now things are getting even more magnificent. Above the expanse over their heads, there was the likeness of a throne in the appearance like sapphire and seated above the likeness of a throne.

Again, this isn't a literal throne. It is the likeness of a throne. And there is seated above it, the likeness of someone with a human appearance. And upward from what had the appearance of his waist, I saw as it were gleaming metal.

Again, we have likeness, appearance, as it were. These things tell us that some of what Ezekiel is saying is just, it's metaphorical. He's giving it to us in the words that he knows to give to us in the best way that he can.

But that isn't necessarily literally what he saw. Remember that God is spirit. He's not a man. Just as Jesus describes God in John 4. Even if the likeness that Ezekiel sees is of the son of God, the second person of the Trinity, rather than God the father, it's understood that's who Isaiah saw as well in Isaiah 6 because of what John says in John 12, whom Isaiah saw was the son of God.

And so if that's what Ezekiel is seeing, even then the son of God has not yet become incarnate. So he doesn't have the body of a man. He doesn't have eyes and hands and those kinds of things. God describes himself in these ways to us, like upholding us with his righteous right hand, or the eyes of God are always searching in the earth.

Whenever we read passages like that, he will describe himself to us in that way. It doesn't mean that he actually has those things. So even here, as God is revealing this vision to Ezekiel, he is seeing one seated on the throne, but God is giving him a visual that he can grasp, that he can understand.

Even when John talks about one seated on the throne in Revelation 5, he doesn't describe that person sitting on the throne as being one who looks like a man. So for this vision, at least, God is revealing himself in this way, though he's not limited physically to this kind of appearance.

Makes sense? Verse 27, and upward from what had the appearance of his waist, I saw gleaming metal, fire enclosed all around, and downward from what had the appearance of his waist, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was a brightness around him, like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain.

So was the appearance of the brightness all around. And John sees the same thing in Revelation 5, he describes a rainbow around the throne of God. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord, Ezekiel says, and when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

Holy Fear Leads to Righteousness Through Christ

Yeah, this is terrifying. These are things that mankind are not meant to see and even be able to stand. Remember that when God descended down on Mount Sinai and spoke to the people, the 10 commandments, even that terrified them.

And they went to Moses and said, we can't handle this. Let's go back to the arrangement where you go talk to God and you come and tell us what God told you. That terrified the people too. So this is scary to Ezekiel, he falls down on his face.

But remember something that I mentioned yesterday as we were finishing up Paul's sermon at the Areopagus, Paul feared only God. He did not fear man or anything else. Just like Charles Spurgeon said, fear God and nothing else.

That this fear, which would be a healthy reverent fear unto the Lord, would drive us toward righteousness and keep us away from sin. We would desire to be in the holy presence of this magnificent God that has been described to us here.

We would never be able to enter into that righteous presence unless we were also righteous. And the only way we are made righteous is by faith in Jesus Christ. Remember that the book of Hebrews tells us, without holiness, no one will see the Lord.

And we need the holiness that only Christ can give. May we continue to live in that holiness in our days until we get to see the Lord face to face. Heavenly Father, I'm thankful for what we've read here.

Some magnificent symbols, difficult for us to understand or comprehend, but I hope that at the very least, it helps us to recognize the majesty of the glory of God. We could barely comprehend it. Even our words are not enough to contain the majesty of God.

One day we will see it. We don't quite understand it now, but in these days, keep us walking in holiness, turning away from sin to the Lord Jesus Christ. In all things, thank you for the gift of your son who died for us, who rose again for the dead so that whoever believes in him will not perish under the judgment of God we all deserve, but we will have everlasting life, even with you in glory.

It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.