Ezekiel Saw the Wheel

Ezekiel Saw the Wheel

Ezekiel Chapters 1-4

Introduction

Ezekiel as a book is almost certainly the words of the prophet Ezekiel. There is, according to scholars, some evidence of editorial work on the text, but the editor may have been Ezekiel himself. The chronology of Ezekiel is fairly well ordered, and there are references to events for which the dates can be established via external sources. The setting of the book is slightly more difficult to establish. The author himself states that he is among the exiles in Babylon. Much of the prophecy, however, is directed to the city of Judah, and the prophet makes a visionary visit to the city itself. After the fall of Judah, there are many oracles against the surrounding nations.

Among the themes of Ezekiel are the following.

1. God is beyond our understanding.
2. We have sinned.
3. Judgment is sure.
4. Redemption is possible.

Ezekiel Saw the Wheel

Chapter 1 begins in verses 1-3 to identify Ezekiel and establish the time and setting. What exactly is meant by “in the thirteenth year” we do not know, but it has been translated “in my thirteenth year” and may mean when Ezekiel was thirteen years old. If so, it would be the time that Ezekiel would become a man and, if he had been in his homeland, begin to participate in the priestly duties. Instead he received a strange vision from God.

The record of the vision itself begins in verses 4-18. The vision is quite complex, and there has been a great deal of speculation as to the meaning of the figures in the vision. Lately, of course, there has even been speculation that what Ezekiel saw was a spaceship flown by aliens. Others look for symbolism in each feature of each creature and device. Whether Ezekiel intended or was aware of such symbolism we do not know. It is clear that he was struggling to describe what he saw using the language and imagery he had at his disposal.

As the vision continues, Ezekiel’s struggle continues, and his imagery begins increasingly to fail. In verses 25-28, we find that what Ezekiel is seeing in his vision is a throne platform. He has difficulty describing the throne itself, and as for what he sees on the throne, he can at last only say “This was the appearance of the likeness of the Lord.”

They Will Know

In Chapter 2, God calls Ezekiel to be a prophet. As recorded in verses 1-5, the Lord tells Ezekiel first to “get up” as there is a time for abject worship and a time when work is to be done. The Lord says that the prophet must speak, even though the people may not listen. This may at first seem like callous disregard for their fate, but it is regard for their fate that caused the Lord to call Ezekiel and many other prophets. “How are they to hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14)

We should note that the Lord begins here to call Ezekiel “Son of man” and continues to use that title for Ezekiel as recorded throughout the remainder of the book. This is significant because it is also the favorite title that Jesus used for himself. Though it did in later writings have a Messianic significance, its use here is to emphasize Ezekiel’s humanity in the face of his experience with the Lord; Ezekiel was not only a man, but the son of man – the very essence of man, and very different from God.

Sweet as Honey

Ezekiel’s commissioning continues on into Chapter 3, with the story of the eating of the scroll, which is recorded in 2:8-3:3. Besides being edible and tasty, the scroll has the curious feature of having writing on both front and back. A number of suggestions have been made as to the meaning of this, the most obvious being that there were simply too many words of lamentation and woe to fit on one side of the scroll, so the scroll was jam-packed with them on both sides.

Though the imagery may be unique to Ezekiel, the idea is not. The Psalmist speaks of ordinances of the Lord being sweeter than honey (Psalm 19:9-11; Psalm 119:102-104) and Jeremiah says he ate the words of the Lord (Jeremiah 15:16). The idea behind the imagery was that once Ezekiel was called, he must be prepared; he was not to go speaking his on mind in the name of the Lord, but to speak the words the Lord gave him.

A Watchman

In verses 16-21, the Lord tells Ezekiel that he bears an awesome responsibility. It would be so easy to misrepresent this responsibility so that it becomes our burden to instruct and even to force others to behave as we understand they should, but the Lord was very clear that it was Ezekiel’s task to do as he was told. This responsibility for others was not limited to Ezekiel, but Christ passed it on to us, when he gave us the keys to the kingdom (Matthew 16:19).

Not What We Expect

In verses 22-23, the Lord tells Ezekiel the Lord tells Ezekiel to go out to the plain. Ezekiel does, and there he sees the glory of the Lord, just as he did at the Kebar River. This must have been very strange for Ezekiel, in a number of ways, but he was a priest, after all, and so he knew where God dwelt, and were to go to experience the glory of the Lord, and it was not by the river or out on the plain or anywhere in Babylon, but back in Jerusalem. He only had an inkling of what God wanted him to say, but he did find that God was judging, not only the actions of those rebellious sinners he would be preaching to, Ezekiel’s actions, as well. It was not what we expected.

It’s comforting to have a God we expect. It is nice to know where to go to find God. It is easy to believe we know what God wants for our lives. But someday we may find ourselves by the Kebar River, far from everything we ever expected for our lives, and without anything we planned to depend on. If we do, it will be good to encounter a God that is bigger than our expectations and has plans that go beyond our dreams.