Ezekiel’s Vision by the River Kebar// Psalm 137:1–9
1In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles by the River Kebar, the heavens opened and I saw visions of God.
- EZK 1:1[NOTE]THE THIRTIETH YEAR. Probably Ezekiel's age. Levites began their work at the tabernacle at thirty, Numbers 4:3. Instead of a temple, he got a canal in Babylon, and God showed up there.
2On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin— 3the word of Yahweh came directly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Kebar. And there Yahweh’s hand was upon him.
- EZK 1:2[NOTE]KING JEHOIACHIN. Babylon took him away in 597 BC, with Ezekiel and thousands more, 2 Kings 24:12 to 16. Babylonian tablets list his food rations, see The Jehoiachin Ration Tablets, 2 Kings.
- EZK 1:3[NOTE]THE RIVER KEBAR. A big canal near the city of Nippur in Babylonia. Tablets from Nippur name a canal Kabaru, which may mean the great canal.
The Four Living Creatures
4I looked and saw a whirlwind coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing back and forth and brilliant light all around it. In the center of the fire was a gleam like amber, 5and within it was the form of four living creatures.
- EZK 1:4[MIRACLE]Ezekiel sees a storm and four living creatures
And this was their appearance: They had a human form, 6but each had four faces and four wings. 7Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the hooves of a calf, gleaming like polished bronze.
- EZK 1:5[NOTE]LIVING CREATURES. In chapter 10 Ezekiel learns they are cherubim, 10:20. John sees four like them around God's throne, Revelation 4:6 to 8. See The Wheels and the Living Creatures.
8Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four living creatures had faces and wings, 9and their wings were touching one another. They did not turn as they moved; each one went straight ahead.
10The form of their faces was that of a man, and each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and also the face of an eagle. 11Such were their faces.
- EZK 1:10[ALLUDED TO]The New Testament refers to this → REV 4:7
Their wings were spread upward; each had two wings touching the wings of the creature on either side, and two wings covering its body. 12Each creature went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they moved.
13In the midst of the living creatures was the appearance of glowing coals of fire, or of torches. Fire moved back and forth between the living creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it. 14The creatures were darting back and forth as quickly as flashes of lightning.
The Four Wheels
15When I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. 16The workmanship of the wheels looked like the gleam of beryl, and all four had the same likeness. Their workmanship looked like a wheel within a wheel. 17As they moved, they went in any of the four directions, without pivoting as they moved. 18Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around. 19So as the living creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them, and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose.
- EZK 1:16[NOTE]WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS. Wheels that roll any way without turning. God's throne is not stuck in Jerusalem; it goes wherever He wants, even to Babylon.
20Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise alongside them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. 21When the creatures moved, the wheels moved; when the creatures stood still, the wheels stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose alongside them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
The Divine Glory
22Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was the likeness of an awesome expanse, gleaming like crystal. 23And under the expanse, their wings stretched out toward one another. Each one also had two wings covering its body.
24When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings like the roar of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army.
When they stood still, they lowered their wings. 25And there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads as they stood still with their wings lowered.
26Above the expanse over their heads was the likeness of a throne with the appearance of sapphire, and on the throne high above was a figure like that of a man. 27From what seemed to be His waist up, I saw a gleam like amber, with what looked like fire within it all around. And from what seemed to be His waist down, I saw what looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded Him.
- EZK 1:26[MIRACLE]A likeness of a man on a throne with a rainbow around Him
28The appearance of the brilliant light all around Him was like that of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh. And when I saw it, I fell facedown and heard a voice speaking.
- EZK 1:28[NOTE]THE GLORY OF YAHWEH. The key words of the book. The glory leaves the temple in chapters 10 and 11 and comes back in chapter 43.