Chapter 1

2024 - This verse:

1 In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. [Eze 1:1 ESV].  I think it is important to note that Ezekiel tells us straight out that he was seeing visions.  Contrast this with John in Revelation, who says "1 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." [Rev 4:1 ESV]".  John was physically, bodily there. Ezekiel has a vision - either distinctly and clearly, or, as visions often are, a representation of reality, possibly fully symbolic.  Here are some other verses where the same Hebrew word is used, to give us a better idea of what it means:

2 And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, "Jacob, Jacob." And he said, "Here I am." [Gen 46:2 ESV]

6 And he said, "Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. [Num 12:6 ESV]

3 He put out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head, and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. [Eze 8:3 ESV]

7 And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. [Dan 10:7 ESV]

We should think of Ezekiel's visions along the same lines as we think of our dreams.  They are sort of like dreams directed by God.  In dreams, we often recognize the characters.  We know who it is we are seeing, but they rarely have enough detail for us to know, for instance, how old they are, what exactly they are wearing, and so on.  So we have a recognizable person, but not all the detail that actual sight would give us.  Not the detail that John has in Revelation.

2025 - Addendum:  Look at the little parenthetical insert in vss 2, 3.  It is in third person.  It is as if this is an insert by a scribe who was copying what Ezekiel had written, or maybe Ezekiel didn't write it at all, someone unknown wrote it, but made a literary decision to tell it in first person, but wants to clarify editorially who and where this was written.  I had not noticed this before.

A new book begins.  A major book.  Ezekiel.  MSB says Ezekiel began his ministry in 592/3 BC.  He was in captivity in Chebar.  So he would have been contemporary with Daniel - who was the same age and who Ezekiel mentions in his book.  Also with Jeremiah, who was 20 years older, and Zechariah.  Ezekiel prophesied 20 years, and is only mentioned in this one book.  No references in the NT.  The first 24 chapters are prophecies of the ruin of Jerusalem.  This dates Ezekiel's ministry.  The 5th year of the exile of King Jehoiachin.  Ezekiel sees visions.  So he is already in captivity himself when he has visions of Jerusalem's ruin.  These of the final destruction, in Zedekiah's reign.

Four living creatures described (as in Revelation).  At first, since they are coming from the north, I thought they might represent Babylon's attacking force, but in the rest of the context, it seems unlikely.  Four faces, 4 wings.  Description continues through vs 14.  Two of the wings of each creature extend out and touch the wings of the next creature (vs. 9).  Their wings touched each other's wings.  With the other two wings, they covered their bodies.  They went without turning.  Wherever the spirit willed.  They carry out God's "unturnable" will?

2025 - If every creature had two wings touching the wings of two other creatures, they could not have been in a line.  In a line, the creatures on the ends would only be able to touch one other creature.  A square perhaps, but whatever it was we can think of it as having four sides.  Then the wheels, below them?  At their sides?  If below, then a cube would be formed.  A cube that moves altogether in a single direction.  No independent action on the part of any creature.  To keep the wings touching, they all had to move in unison.  Surely this is symbolic of something...and how do these creatures descriptions compare to the four in Revelation?

Each one had a wheel within a wheel.  The spirit of the creatures was in the wheels.  Wherever the creatures went, the wheels went.  The wheels rims were covered with eyes-God sees all, past present, and future.  He knows how the past is linked to the future.

Above the creatures an expanse.  Above that, a throne, like sapphire.  One looking like a human on the throne.  The appearance is the likeness of the glory of the Lord.

Everything below here was added in 2022.

Going off the track a little, but it is just too similar not to mention.  This verse:

4 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. [Eze 1:4 ESV]

Is this not exactly precisely what we see in the movie "Independence Day" when the aliens show up? 

They surely copied this description from Ezekiel. 

2024 - These verses:

5 And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, 6 but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. [Eze 1:5-6 ESV] So this would be a different sort of angel/messenger/creature than say, Gabriel.  The word used for likeness is the same word we see in Genesis when God made man in his "likeness".  These creatures have a human likeness.  Head, body, arms and legs I would say.  But also, they had four wings.  These are cherubim.  These are the angels that, made of gold, were in the Holy of Holies above the mercy seat.  These function in the presence of God.  Four faces, four wings, never turning.  Vs 8 seems to say they had four hands also.  They had four wings, and they never turned, they always went forward.  Four faces, all going forward only.  So...think of their bodies as having four sides, one in front of each face.  Forward, backward, left and right.  One wing draped down each "side".  If they wanted to go forward or backward, without turning, they would spread the wings on the left and right, and use them for flying forward or back.  To go left or right, the front and back wings would be spread, and the left and right wings would rest, and so "cover the body".  So always, only two wings at a time were in use for movement.  I think this is a good representation of them.

2024 - Continuing the description of the creatures...lion looking right, ox looking left.  The other two faces, front and back, were human and eagle.  Ezekiel does not call these front and back, because they are BOTH fronts.  Hmm...Here is another thought.  Perhaps they only have their wings touching when they are "at rest".  When sent out, they go singly.  So when at rest, they are in a square, each with two adjacent, not opposite, wings extended.  So the cherubim at back left would extend a wing to the right, towards the cherubim on the back right, and a wing to the "front" towards the cherubim on the "front" left.  The one on the back right would extend one of his wings to the left towards the extended wing of the back left, and another toward the cherubim on the front right.  Each could then be dispatched initially in two directions, but could then go in any other direction without turning.  So it finally makes sense to me how that would all work.  But....then there is this verse:

24 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. [Eze 1:24 ESV].  This seems to say that when they were at rest, all four wings are down.  If that's what it means, then perhaps they must all move together, always, else their wings would never need to touch because they'd be down when all resting together.  But why send four every time, and this verse: 14 And the living creatures darted to and fro, like the appearance of a flash of lightning. [Eze 1:14 ESV] surely implies that they move separately.  So.  It's a vision.  It worked for Ezekiel, it gives us an idea of a spectacular place with spectacular creatures and wheels, but it is not enough information to let us translate the vision into concrete understanding.  So I will let it lay.

This verse:

10 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. [Eze 1:4, 10 ESV]. 

Human, Lion, Ox, and Eagle.  What were Daniel's four beasts?  Lion, bear, leopard, beast.  So not much in common beyond the lion.  The creatures Ezekiel saw were carrying out God's commands, the four beasts in Daniel were serving Satan.  You wouldn't expect any overlap...so why the Lion represented in both?  One of the interpretations of the lion in Daniel 7 is that it is Nebuchadnezzar.  Surely the Bible is clear that Neb was chosen by, empowered by, and directed by God.  So this might be a corroboration of that in these visions.  Lions work both sides?

And this...

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. 12 And each went straight forward. Wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went. [Eze 1:11-12 ESV]  The part about each having two wings that touch the wings of two others requires that they were in a circle.  Else the two on the ends would only be touching one other.  Which face looked in, the eagle or the human face?  The lion and the ox always face each other - left/right.  As described, I would say it was the eagle face that looked inward.  You can extrapolate that each human face looked in a different cardinal direction, and the fact that they are in a circle means that all four creatures go where any one creature goes.  The four act as one.  Four is the number of man.  The four carry God's commands from God to man. 

2026 - This observation:

12 And each went straight forward. Wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went. [Eze 1:12 ESV].  They never turn.  Straight forward only, and there are only four directions available.  So the only way to go 45 degrees left or right is to zigzag.  Otherwise, there are many many directions they just cannot physically go and I don't think that's right.  It would be the least efficient to do 45 degrees, most efficient to go straight in one of the cardinal directions.  Does this tell us anything about the timing of messages sent to earth by angels?  Think about Daniel, when that angel is delayed.  Was that at 45 degrees or was it just opposed?  Probably reading too much into it, but Ezekiel is making a pretty big deal about it.  He says it twice after all.

2026 - Then those wheels.  The only part of these creatures that ever touches the earth is the wheel.  They come down only so far, and the wheel touches down while they are still above.

This.  I just cannot seem to get done quickly on my notes these days.  I guess Lamentations went pretty quickly, but I am really going slow on this today. 

14 And the living creatures darted to and fro, like the appearance of a flash of lightning. [Eze 1:14 ESV].  In English, this could either mean the creatures moved like lightning independently, or all moved together as quickly as lightning.  If they must all touch, the second seems more likely to me.  Moving like lightning signifies the instantaneous execution of God's commands.  I went to the Interlinear to see whether the verbs in this verse were singular or plural, and it seems they are neither.  The interlinear is based on the KJV, which reads this way:

14 And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. [Eze 1:14 KJV].  So two verbs, ran, and returned.  Both are shown in the Interlinear as "infinitive absolutes".  As I read it, this is a very special case.  Most verbs are like ours, with a person and tense.  So I think these verbs just mean that the action is always and continuous - not past, present or future - and there is no gender, either masculine or feminine, and they are neither singular nor plural...perhaps because they refer to four moving and acting as a single entity.  It is a very very interesting verse.

Well...I've started it I might as well keep going.  This 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. [Eze 1:15 ESV].   This is pretty specific that each of the four creatures had this wheel on the earth.  But it is not "below" each one, it is "beside" them.  Interlinear expands on that and says it is a sort of beside and in the proximity of, but the idea of beside rather than under is always there.  So the wheels would seem unconnected to the creatures in any physical sense.

Wherever the creatures go, the wheels maintain their relative position.  Up, or in any direction.  It says the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.  I read this as the wheels being extensions of the creatures as differentiated from being controlled by the creatures.  The wheels need no direction because they are a part of the whole. 

When they stand still, they let down their wings.  They are independent creatures.  Not four in one, four acting as one.  Their wings go out straight when they are under the expanse.  Perhaps meaning that when they are "up", and not transacting God's business, the circle relaxes to a line, and they assume a rest position.

2026 - This verse: 

12 And each went straight forward. Wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went. ... 24 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. [Eze 1:12, 24 ESV].

There are times during the conquest of Canaan when we hear the should of chariots or the sound of a might wind in the trees.  Were these creatures dispatched to fight on behalf of Israel at those times?  Is that why the sound matters?

This verse:

26 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. [Eze 1:26 ESV]

Earth, expanse, throne.  This indicates the third heaven I would say.  This throne is in heaven proper.  The appearance of the one on the throne, as best Ezekiel could record it, includes these images - A rainbow likeness, transparent metal encasing fire above the waist, fire itself below the waist, sitting on a sapphire blue throne.

Ezekiel falls to the ground in overwhelmed awe.  And a voice begins to speak....