Let's read beginning in Ezekiel chapter 1 with the first verse. Now it came to pass in the 30th year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Kibar that the heavens were open, and I saw visions of God. In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of King Jehorakim's captivity, the word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel, the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Kibar, And the hand of the Lord was there upon him. And I looked, and behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud and a fire unfolding itself. And a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof, as a color of amber, out of the midst of the fire. Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures, and this was their appearance. They had the likeness of a man. Everyone had four faces, and everyone had four wings, and their feet were straight feet, and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot. And they sparkle like the color of burnished brass. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides. And they four had their faces and their wings. Their wings were joined one to another. They turned not when they went. They went, everyone, straight forward. As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man and the face of a lion on the right side, and they four had the face of an ox on the left side, and they four also had the face of an eagle. Thus were their faces, and their wings were stretched upward. Two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies. And they went, everyone straight forward, whether the spirit was to go, they went, and they turned not as they went. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps. It went up and down among the living creatures, And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold, one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures with his four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like under the color of a barrel. And they four had one likeness, and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. When they went, they went upon their four sides, and they turned not as they went. As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful. And their rings were full of eyes round about them four. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them. And when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. Whether forever the spirit was to go, they went. Thither was their spirit to go, and the wheels were lifted up over against them, for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. When these went, or when those went, these went. And when those stood, these stood. And when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them, for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the color of the terrible crystal stretched forth over their heads above. And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other. Every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies. And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the voice of a host. When they stood, they let down their wings. And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads when they stood and had let down their wings. And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne as the appearance of a sapphire stone. And upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above it. And I saw, as the color of ember, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward. I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake." You got that? I've read this chapter many times, and I usually come away from it scratching my head. We don't know much about Ezekiel except what we learn from this book. one of the prophets, he was a priest, to the whole house of Israel during the 70 years of the Babylonian captivity, where Judah was carried away captive. So this is when this book was written. Ezekiel, you notice, ends with E-L. It shows something relating to God every time you see a name that is spelled with an E-L on the end. There are many men in the Old Testament whose name ends with E-L. Some prominent ones were Daniel, Samuel, Achiel, And there are many others. I mean, there are scores of them. Ezekiel literally means God strengtheneth or hardeneth. Now, he was a son of Buzi, a priest who was probably of the family of Zadok. And Ezekiel was one of those that went into captivity. into exile with King Jehoiachin, and it occurred about 600 BC. In 2 Kings chapter 24 and verse 12 through 14, we read about Jehoiachin. And Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his servants and his princes and his officers. And the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house. and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon, king of Israel, had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said. And he carried away all Jerusalem and all the princes and all the mighty men of valor, even 10,000 captives. and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained save the poorest sort of the people of the land. So it appears that Ezekiel was in that group that went away with this king. Now, he was a contemporary with both Jeremiah and Daniel, but his ministry was different. Jeremiah cried against Judah before they were carried away to Babylon. And he was left in the land, went to Egypt, and then eventually came back. Daniel was taken probably at the same time, and we know that he was raised up to a place of prominence later, and then wrote his book of Daniel. We read this in the first verse of this chapter. It came to pass in the 30th year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Kibar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. We'll talk about this a bit more in just a minute. But I do want to bring this out to you. This man suffered such great things during this time. He was a young man. I think when it talks about the 30th year, it's talking about the 30th year of his life. Because that's a time that The priest actually began their work. All of the Levites, in fact, began their work in their 30th year. Ezekiel lived in a house of his own. He was married. And later on in this book, we find that the Lord, for his own purpose, had took Ezekiel's wife. Ezekiel died, and he was forbidden to cry when his wife died to show the people of Judah that they were going to lose their loved ones and their relatives, and they would be to the point where they could weep no longer. Boy, you talk about an awful time. This was an awful time and it's almost unexplainable about what all happened during this time. The Lord prepared this man especially to preach and prophesy to the Israelites with the understanding right up front God said to him, they won't hear you. I tell you, I'd hate to be sent to a bunch of people knowing that they weren't gonna listen to anything I had to say. But that's what the Lord told Ezekiel. Now we have to wonder, well, why in the world would God send a man to speak to them knowing that they weren't going to hear. Well, you know, God gives a warning when he's about to send judgment on people. He sends men, and many times they won't listen. I think that's what's happening to the people generally. In our country today, they're just not going to listen. Now let's read this about Ezekiel in chapter three, just a minute, verses one through nine. And notice what the Lord said to him. Moreover, he said unto me, son of man, eat that thou findest. eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it, and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel. Not to many people of a strange speech and a hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee. Isn't that an amazing thing? God said, if I'd have sent you to a foreign country with this message, they would have heard you. Well, you'd ask yourself, well, why didn't he do that if he knew they would hear? Because it was God's purpose. He was dealing with his covenant nation, and he was judging them at this point and chastening them. Now, but the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee, for they will not hearken unto me, for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted. Behold, I've made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads, as an adamant Harder than flint have I made thy forehead. Fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. So God had prepared this man to face their awful looks and their fearsome words, and he always prepares his servants to do the work that he calls them to do. Now, let's get into the chapter and we've got to try to get through it. And so let's dive right into the first verse. Now it came to pass in the 30th year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Kibar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. I want you to keep that in mind as we go through these other verses that Ezekiel was being shown visions of God. Now, I can't find any other point to begin to find out what he means by the 30th year, except to say that I believe that he had just had his 30th birthday, and he was to begin his work as a priest. And we read back in the book of Numbers about how this occurs. Numbers chapter four, verses one through three says this. The Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi after their families by the house of their fathers from 30 years old and upward, even unto 50 years old, all that enter into the host to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation. Now it says that, six more times in that same chapter. And it's clear that the Levites began at age 30 to do their work. Ezekiel was among those of Israel who had been led away captive to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. This river Reading all I could read about it, it just said it's a place about 200 miles north of where Babylon was. And it ran into the river Euphrates. Anyway, this is where Ezekiel was located. He said that the heavens were open and I saw visions of God. Just like when the Lord was baptized, the Bible says, the heavens were open. When Stephen was stoned, the heavens must have been open because he saw the Son of God standing, waiting for him. In the second verse, we read this. In the fifth year of the month, which was the fifth year of King Jehorakim's captivity, This is the month Tammuz, if you're familiar with the different months of the Hebrew calendar. So Jehoiakim was carried away to Babylon about 600 BC. So we understand he'd been captive about five years when Ezekiel saw this vision. In the third verse we read, the word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Kibar, and the hand of the Lord was there upon him. The word of the Jehovah came clearly and certainly to Ezekiel. Here he's said to be the priest. I don't know anything about Buzi, his father. It's the only place in scriptures where his name appears, but he must have been a Levite. So he's by the River Kibar, and it says, the hand of the Lord was there upon him. It's like God's word came to him with power. God was moving this man. I think this is so interesting. This expression is found exactly seven times in the book of Ezekiel. God's hand was upon this priest and this prophet. And what did he see when he saw the visions of God? Let's look at it, verse four. And I looked, and behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud. It looked like it was something to get his attention, a whirlwind. It's like when God spoke to Job. Remember, in the 38th chapter of Job, That, it says, the Lord answered Job out of a whirlwind. He got his attention. He captured his eyes. He was ready to speak to him. So there was a whirlwind, cloud and fire. That, it's what I can understand, enfolding itself. It came from the north. which I think speaks of the judgment sin of the Lord upon Israel, which came to them from the north. You remember Babylon was north of Israel. God had raised up King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, whom he called my servant, I don't think Nebuchadnezzar knew the Lord, but he called him my servant because he had raised him up for the express purpose of chastening the children of Israel. That was his mission. Actually, when he was done with King Nebuchadnezzar, then he got rid of him. Verse 5 says, also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance. They had the likeness of a man. Now, as we studied the Revelation, we studied about four living creatures. I don't think these are the same, but The ideas are the same. They are living creatures. And Ezekiel said they had the appearance of a man. Some years ago, I was attending a class at the University of Alaska in Anchorage. And there was a history professor that was trying to make fun of the Bible. And he was talking about a book written by a man named Eric Vondonicant that is called The Chariot of the Gods. And in that book, this man tried to explain why Ezekiel is saying what he's saying here by using an illustration that happened over in the islands of the Pacific. He said these natives had never, ever understood what an airplane was. They had seen them flying around. And one day, one of them crash landed on the island. And when the explorers went in there to find out what the problem was with the airplane, they found out that these natives had fought that this was a chariot of the gods. And they were, they had this thing fixed up and they were bowing themselves down to it like it was a god. Anyway, the professor was saying what Ezekiel did was he just could not hardly explain everything, so it must have been something very much like that. No. If you had been there, and the Lord had taken you there to see this vision, you would have seen almost, or if not, exactly the same thing. The likeness of four living creatures, like a man. Four is the Bible number for creation. These were created by the Lord for his own glory. It's interesting to me that the living creatures who are about the Lord and about God speak of something the Lord is going to do or is doing. And that's what's happening here with Ezekiel. In verse six we read, every one of them had four faces. and every one had four wings. That's clear enough. Someone said, it's the seraphim. It's not the seraphim. When Isaiah saw the seraphim in the sixth chapter, he said, each one had six wings, not four. With twain, he covered his face, and with twain, he covered his feet, and with twain, he did fly. Now, Ezekiel goes on to describe these living creatures in verse 7. And their feet were straight feet, and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot, and they sparkled like the color of burnished brass. What does it mean, straight feet? It's like he's talking about the legs that these men had the appearance of a man. They were not crooked like a cow or like an elephant or like a horse. They had straight feet, not protruding in any way, but like a man. And the Bible says the sole of their foot was like the sole of a calf's foot. How many of you have ever seen a calf's foot? Well, if you pick up his leg and look at the foot, it's kind of a like that, and the bottom of it is fixed so that he don't scoot as he walks. Anyway, that's the explanation. It's like the bottom of their feet were cloven. The firmness and the round foot of a calf seems to point to a comparison. And it says they sparkle like the color of burnished brass. That is, the feet did. Like burnished brass, that means polished. I remember something about polishing brass when I was in the military. It's very pretty when it's clean, it's very ugly when it's not. So that's like polished brass. Verse eight, and they had the hands of a man under their wings on their foresides. And they forehad their faces and their wings. A man's hand under the wings. I don't know what else to say about that. It just means what it says. So, he returns to what he'd said already. They four had their faces and their wings. In the ninth verse, it says their wings were joined one to another. They turned not when they went, they went every one straight forward. Now, he will say this two or three times. They had no occasion to turn themselves around when they changed direction because they had four faces, so they went straight forward. They didn't turn like we would turn. It's like they're looking to the four quarters of the heavens. Their wings were joined in pairs, as we'll see in verse 11. Verse 10 says, as for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion on the right side, and they four had the face of an ox on the left side. They four also had the face of an eagle. So we see the likeness of their faces. And when we say that, Ezekiel is explaining it as best he can. Looked like a man to him, face of a man. Apparently, the way this is worded, the man's face was in the front, the lion on the right side, the ox on the left side, and the eagle in the rear. The tenth, in Ezekiel chapter 10 verse 14, the ox is called a cherub. I don't know why that is. But we can see something of the likeness of the Lord in these living creatures. The face of the man, I think it speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of Man. The lion speaks of him as a lion of the tribe of Judah. The ox speaks of him as the one who has made himself of no reputation and took the form of a servant. And finally, the eagle speaks of him as a lofty God of heaven. In verse 11 and 12, we read this, thus were their faces. And their wings were stretched upward. Two wings joined together, and with two they covered their bodies. And they went, everyone, straight forward. Whether the spirit was to go, they went, and they turned not when they went. I think if we kind of get a picture of this from going back to the mercy seat in the tabernacle, it's like their wings were up and the tips touched one another. There was one spirit which speaks of one conscious life of these created creatures. and it guided them in all the motions they made, all in perfect harmony, nothing was out of order. Verse 13, as for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps, and went up and down among the living creatures, And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. Remember, he's saying likeness, similitude, resemblance. As he looked at these living creatures, their appearance like burning coals of fire. This must have been an awesome sight for this old prophet. Bright, moving. intense, like you look at a bed of coals. That's the best way he could describe it. And he said it's like the appearance of lamps, like torches that give off sparks and flashes of light. And he said, it went up and down among the living creatures. That is, these torches, these lights, lamps, went up and down. The light was moving inside. And the fire was bright. And out of the fire went forth lightning, bright like the glory of God. When the Lord came down on Mount Sinai, Just before the giving of the law, there was a similar kind of thing written about that. In the book of Exodus, chapter 19, we read a couple of verses here. In verse 16, we read this. It came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud, so that all the people that was in the camp trembled." You know, brothers and sisters, I think if we could just get a close glimpse of God and the things about him, the majesty about him, I think we would tremble as well because we're sinful creatures. In the 18th and 20th verses of chapter 19 in Exodus, it says, Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke. because the Lord descended upon it in fire, and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long and waxed louder, And louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai on the top of the mount, and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount, and Moses went up. The Israelites were shaking in their boots when God appeared on Mount Sinai. Back to our text in verse 14, it says, and the living creature ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. Quick, swift, powerful. Ezekiel is being shown visions of God. Verse 15, he says, now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures with his four faces. First mention of the wheel. Appears that the wheel was by the living creatures, and it explains what it looked like. In verse 16, the appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the color of burl. And they four had one likeness, they were all alike. And their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel, in the middle of a wheel. Color of burl. Burl is a color of seawater, beautiful, pea green, blue green. The four wheels were all alike. Ezekiel said it looked like a wheel in a wheel. So, as we read on, I think we can kind of see what this was like. There was, years ago, in the black churches in the south, they had what they called spiritual songs, and one of them was called Ezekiel Saw the Wheel, and it had to do with this. It never did explain what it was, but it just said he saw the wheel. Verse 17 says, when they went, they went upon their four sides, and they turned not when they went. It's still speaking of the wheels. It suggests the wheel inside a wheel in four directions, like a globe, like there's an equator on the globe and the meridians. the other line to go up and down, so the wheels were opposite, inside the wheel. As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful, and their rings were full of eyes round about them four. First mention of the rings. And it seemed to speak of the circumference of the wheel and how big it was. It must have been a great big thing. And it was full of eyes round about, like those four creatures that were there before the throne in the Book of Revelation. It says they were so high that they were dreadful. They were fearful. It must have been not just a small thing, but a big thing. full of eyes round about. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them. And when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. It all worked together. Verse 20, wherever the spirit was to go, they went. Thither was their spirit to go, and the wheels were lifted up over against them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheel." I don't, I can't even grasp that. I'm just lost when it comes to trying to explain what that means. All four creatures together with the wheels are called here the living creature because it was like it was, it formed a whole, one in motion, one in will, one in spirit. It reminds us, to me it reminds me, God is three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. But all three are one God, and God's purpose is one. And as we read the pages of the scripture, I cannot help but be struck with the fact that God has purposed things totally in unity and in union with the other persons in the Trinity. And that's the way, it seems to me, that these work together. When those went, the living creatures, these went, the wheels. When those stood, the living creatures, these stood, the wheels. And when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them. For the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. Some further explanation. Verse 22, and the likeness of the firmament upon the head of the living creature was as the color of the terrible crystal stretched forth over their heads above. Now we have a firmament. What is a firmament? It's the same word that translated firmament all the way back in the beginning of the book of Genesis. And God made a firmament. He made an expanse. And it was like it was over their heads, each one of them. And Ezekiel said it looked like crystal. It must have been an amazing sight. It said it was the color of terrible crystal. Words fail me to describe that. I don't know. I can't tell you. Crystal, I know, is very beautiful. My wife, when we were over across the sea, she would go to some of these parties that ladies have, and sometimes they would sell crystal that was made in Germany. And she brought back quite a bit of that stuff from over there. Very, very pretty. But I doubt if it's anything like we're reading about here. Verse 23, under the firmament were two wings, were their wings straight. The one toward the other, every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side their bodies. I think that's just a further explanation of what the 11th verse said. The purpose for their wings, the purpose was to cover, to fly, and whatnot. Verse 24, And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host. When they stood, they let down their wings. So their wings, when they moved, made a great noise like the voice of the Almighty, like a voice. like a great multitude, like a host of people. Great noise. And when they stood, they let their wings down. Verse 25, and there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads. When they stood and let down their wings, this appears to be the voice of the Almighty. from the expanse over their head when they stood still. That's what Ezekiel saw and heard. And then he sees a different thing in verse 26. And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne as the appearance of a sapphire stone. And upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above it. Brethren, I think this is a vision of the Almighty on His throne. It's much like the description that John gives us in the Revelation. In chapter 4 and verses 2 and 3 he said, immediately I was in the spirit and behold a throne was set in heaven and one sat on the throne and he that sat was to look upon like a jasper in a sardine stone. And there was a rainbow round about the throne in sight, like unto an emerald. As you read this on, you see that it's very similar to what John saw when he was caught up into the heavens. It's also similar to what Moses and the elders saw in the wilderness when the Lord appeared to them in Exodus chapter 24, verses 9 and 10. Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and the 70 of the elders of Israel. And they saw the God of Israel. And there was under his feet, as it were, a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were, a body of heaven in his clearness. All of these things describe how men viewed what they saw of Almighty God. Verse 27 says, I saw as a color of amber as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward. And from the appearance of his loins, even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about." You see a lot of expression about fire. Our God is a consuming fire. It's a description of what Ezekiel saw on the throne above the living creatures, and I have no doubt he was shown the glory of God. He had visions of God. You know, our Lord Jesus Christ declared him. But there, we have to take what these men say. and try our best to just, though we can't explain every part of it, just believe that that's exactly what he saw. I think that's what we would see. Verse 28 said, As the appearance of the bowl that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face and I heard a voice. Remember what happened when Isaiah said, I saw the Lord high and lifted up. And he fell on his face because he was a man of unclean lips. I think if we could see into the heavens today and see the Heavenly Father, I think we would fall on our face. No question, no doubt about that. Ezekiel saw the brightness round about the throne was like a rainbow in the cloud in the day of rain. One of the most beautiful sights on earth. Many times after a rain, especially here in Alaska, I've never seen such vivid colors as we see in the rainbow that comes after the rain. And I can imagine that there in the throne of God, it's much more vivid, much more beautiful. He said, this was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. Remember in the very first verse, He said, the heavens were open and I saw visions of God. Precisely what he saw. And when he did, he fell on his face. Glory to God. I wish I could dig something out of that that was helpful to you. I hope it's been a blessing to you to read through it. and comment about it, and I look forward to speaking to you from other parts of the book of Ezekiel in the days ahead. God bless you, thank you so much.