# Ezekiel 01 📖: The Vision of God's Glory [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Ezekiel Overview]] | [[Lamentations 05]] | [[Ezekiel 02]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) [[#Verse 01.]] In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles at the Kebar River, the heavens opened and I saw a divine vision. [[#Verse 02.]] (On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile— [[#Verse 03.]] the Lord’s message came to the priest Ezekiel the son of Buzi, at the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians. The hand of the Lord came on him there.) [[#Verse 04.]] As I watched, I noticed a windstorm coming from the north—an enormous cloud, with lightning flashing, such that bright light rimmed it and came from it like glowing amber from the middle of a fire. [[#Verse 05.]] In the fire were what looked like four living beings. In their appearance they had human form, [[#Verse 06.]] but each had four faces and four wings. [[#Verse 07.]] Their legs were straight, but the soles of their feet were like calves’ feet. They gleamed like polished bronze. [[#Verse 08.]] They had human hands under their wings on their four sides. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, [[#Verse 09.]] their wings touched each other; they did not turn as they moved, but went straight ahead. [[#Verse 10.]] Their faces had this appearance: Each of the four had the face of a man, with the face of a lion on the right, the face of an ox on the left, and also the face of an eagle. [[#Verse 11.]] Their wings were spread out above them; each had two wings touching the wings of one of the other beings on either side and two wings covering their bodies. [[#Verse 12.]] Each moved straight ahead—wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went. [[#Verse 13.]] In the middle of the living beings was something like burning coals of fire or like torches. It moved back and forth among the living beings. It was bright, and lightning was flashing out of the fire. [[#Verse 14.]] The living beings moved backward and forward as quickly as flashes of lightning. [[#Verse 15.]] Then I looked, and I saw one wheel on the ground beside each of the four beings. [[#Verse 16.]] The appearance of the wheels and their construction was like gleaming jasper, and all four wheels looked alike. Their structure was like a wheel within a wheel. [[#Verse 17.]] When they moved they would go in any of the four directions they faced without turning as they moved. [[#Verse 18.]] Their rims were high and awesome, and the rims of all four wheels were full of eyes all around. [[#Verse 19.]] When the living beings moved, the wheels beside them moved; when the living beings rose up from the ground, the wheels rose up too. [[#Verse 20.]] Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise up beside them because the spirit of the living being was in the wheel. [[#Verse 21.]] When the living beings moved, the wheels moved, and when they stopped moving, the wheels stopped. When they rose up from the ground, the wheels rose up from the ground; the wheels rose up beside them because the spirit of the living being was in the wheel. [[#Verse 22.]] Over the heads of the living beings was something like a platform, glittering awesomely like ice, stretched out over their heads. [[#Verse 23.]] Under the platform their wings were stretched out, each toward the other. Each of the beings also had two wings covering its body. [[#Verse 24.]] When they moved, I heard the sound of their wings—it was like the sound of rushing waters, or the voice of the Sovereign One, or the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings. [[#Verse 25.]] Then there was a voice from above the platform over their heads when they stood still. [[#Verse 26.]] Above the platform over their heads was something like a sapphire shaped like a throne. High above on the throne was a form that appeared to be a man. [[#Verse 27.]] I saw an amber glow like a fire enclosed all around from his waist up. From his waist down I saw something that looked like fire. There was a brilliant light around it, [[#Verse 28.]] like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds after the rain. This was the appearance of the surrounding brilliant light; it looked like the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I threw myself face down, and I heard a voice speaking. --- ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary **Overall**. - Goes with what John saw in [[Revelation 04]] (4 Living Creatures) ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24. ###### Verse 25. ###### Verse 26. ###### Verse 27. ###### Verse 28. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. Ezekiel's name means "God strengthens" or "God makes strong." 2. Ezekiel was a priest, the son of Buzi (1:3), taken to Babylon with King Jehoiachin in 597 BC. 3. The vision is dated to the fifth year of Jehoiachin's exile (1:2), around 593 BC. 4. Many scholars think "the thirtieth year" (1:1) was Ezekiel's age, the age when priests normally began serving (Numbers 4:3). 5. The Kebar River was likely a large irrigation canal near the city of Nippur in Babylonia. 6. Each living creature had four faces: a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle (1:10). In chapter 10 Ezekiel identifies them as cherubim (10:20). 7. Ezekiel uses careful, layered language like "the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord" (1:28), showing that God cannot be fully described. 8. The rims of the wheels were full of eyes all around (1:18), a picture of God's all-seeing presence. 9. John's vision of God's throne in Revelation 4 uses many of the same images, including four living creatures and a rainbow. 10. Ancient Jewish teachers treated Ezekiel 1 with such reverence that the Mishnah restricted how it could be taught in public. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the glory of God in human form. Ezekiel saw a figure like a human being seated on the throne (1:26), and Jesus is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being (Hebrews 1:3). ## 🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. Ezekiel was an exile by a river in Babylon, far from the temple, when the heavens opened (1:1-3). What does that teach about where God can meet us? 2. The living creatures and wheels moved wherever the Spirit went (1:12, 20). What would it look like for your life to move in step with the Spirit? 3. When Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord, he fell facedown (1:28). How should a true view of God shape the way we worship? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 1: The heavens opened, and Ezekiel saw visions of God by the Kebar River. - 📖 verse 26: Above the platform was a throne, and on it a figure like a human being. - 📖 verse 28: The glory of the Lord shone like a rainbow, and Ezekiel fell facedown. ## 🔗 Related Passages - 🔗 - 🔗 - 🔗 [[Revelation 04#Verse 02.|Revelation 4:2-8]] - The throne, the rainbow, and the four living creatures. - 🔗 [[Isaiah 06#Verse 01.|Isaiah 6:1-4]] - Isaiah sees the Lord high and lifted up. - 🔗 [[Exodus 24#Verse 09.|Exodus 24:9-10]] - The elders see the God of Israel above a pavement like sapphire. - 🔗 [[Daniel 07#Verse 09.|Daniel 7:9-10]] - The Ancient of Days on a throne of fire. - 🔗 [[Hebrews 01#Verse 03.|Hebrews 1:3]] - The Son is the radiance of God's glory. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Ezekiel 01 - SOAP|What To Do When You Encounter God]] ## 📂 Internal Notes