Enthralling Ezekiel

I’ve been enthralled with the first three chapters of Ezekiel for some weeks now; it’s like I can’t get away from them. Every time I read and reread them, it’s as if another little nugget pops off the page. It’s been an amazing experience for me, and I wanted to share some of what the Lord has been showing me.

Ezekiel 1

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

“Visions of God” is what I want us to note in the passage above.

There’s one other time when you read of someone having a similar experience and the heavens were opened up.  As you recall, that would be Saint John in the Book of Revelation on the Island of Patmos. It’s a very, very similar experience.

² On the fifth day of the month, which was in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity,

By the way, Ezekiel is in captivity when this is taking place.

³ The word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel the priest,”

The “Word of the Lord” is the next important point. Why is that important?

1. We need a vision of God.
2. We need the Word of the Lord.

When we’re talking about the Word of the Lord, we’re not simply referencing reading the Bible. We’re talking about the rhema word, something that is being revealed to us, by God, through the Spirit.

“ . . . the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was upon him there.”

Point three is that the “hand of the Lord” was upon Ezekiel. We need to be living, moving, and operating in such a way as having the hand of the Lord upon our lives. We need the vision of God, we need a Word from God, and we need the hand of God upon our lives.

^4 “Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire.”

We could get so much out of that verse as well, but we’re not going to rest there.

^5 “Also from within it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man.”

“The likeness of a man” is worth noting, in fact, it’s the most predominant of the four living creatures that are mentioned. He’s seeing a four-headed, or four-faced creature. We know from the Word that this being evidently had four distinct faces. Each face pointed a different direction (North, South, East, West). Other commentators say that it could have been a four-headed creature.

^6 “Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings. ⁷ Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of calves’ feet. They sparkled like the color of burnished bronze. ⁸ The hands of a man were under their wings on their four sides; and each of the four had faces and wings. ⁹ Their wings touched one another. The creatures did not turn when they went, but each one went straight forward.”

The creatures did not turn when they went. That is point number four.  They did not go left nor right; they went where the Spirit directed. I’ll show you that in just a moment.

^10 “As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four had the face of an eagle. ¹¹ Thus were their faces. Their wings stretched upward; two wings of each one touched one another, and two covered their bodies. ¹² And each one went straight forward; they went wherever the spirit wanted to go, and they did not turn when they went.”

They went where the Spirit wanted to go; that is point number five.  Let’s review those five points.

1. They have a vision of God.
2. They have the Word of the Lord.
3. The hand of the Lord was upon them.
4. They’re moving straight forward (which would indicate moving with purpose).
5. They’re going where the Spirit goes.

^17 “When they moved, they went toward any one of four directions; they did not turn aside when they went.”

^20 “Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, because there the spirit went; and the wheels were lifted together with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.”

These are all important, relevant points for us as believers today as well. I invite you to meditate and mull over these Scriptures with me, and we’ll discuss them even further in next week’s blog.

Grace and peace,
PG