The Vision of Ezekiel

[Sam Jer]

Hello, greetings all,

What are the best explenations you know of for Ezekiel's vision in chapter 1 and the other passages in which similar images appear?
How many Christian views of this are there?
Both modern and historical conmentary is fine so long as I can read it online.

If someone wants to give a general explenation of how to see this prophecy and how it integrates with the rest of the book that's okay too, though I am looking for something a bit more detailed.

 

[Ploutos]

Per Prof. Duguid's commentary, motion is a key theme in Ezekiel's inaugural vision and it contrasts with the "static" visions of Moses, Isaiah, etc. This motion symbolizes God on the move, and not in a good way, because the move is towards the judgment of his own people. Ezekiel is facing the complacency that Jeremiah faced when people would proclaim "the temple of the Lord" and the vision is designed to shake Judah out of that sense of complacency. The imagery itself draws on Near Eastern traditions - the wheels evoking thoughts of chariots - and also on creation imagery.

Judgment is one of Ezekiel's key themes, and the imagery presented here is designed to highlight its inevitability and inescapability (the figures can move in any direction). Yet the mention of the rainbow in 1:28 offers a glimmer of hope.

The material in this post is taken from pp. 55-60 of his commentary, which I have freely referenced and summarized, and I make no claims of originality in what I've said above.

 

[jwithnell]

This work is the only way I've gained a foothold in Ezekiel.

 

[clawrence9008]

I would also strongly recommend Patrick Fairbairn's magisterial commentary on Ezekiel. It's available for free on Monergism. This commentary was eminently helpful when I studied Ezekiel last year.

 

[greenbaggins]

Judgment is certainly in view. I also think, however, that God is reassuring Ezekiel, contrary to the whole "one god per territory" theology of the Ancient Near East, and also contrary to certain Zionist strains of theology that said God was confined to the Holy Land and even to Jerusalem, God is saying that His glory is mobile and can go with Ezekiel into exile. Ezekiel was facing a very difficult prophetic situation, and God reassured him that He was with Ezekiel.

 

[Jack K]

The vision in chapter 1 shows that God is not limited to one throne in one place, but rules all over the world. He is unhindered in where he might decide to act, and quick to be with his people wherever they might live. He isn't just on the move; he moves efficiently, like a helicopter rather than a car, or like a hummingbird rather than a turkey.

The vision should also be understood in connection with chapters 9-11. There, the Lord's movement shows judgment on Jerusalem and the people who remain there (the vision comes five years after the second stage of exile, before the third and final stage). The Lord goes out toward the east, away from his holy mountain—"east of Eden," so to speak, where the ungodly live. But that is where his people have been taken, and he will show favor on them there. Anyone hanging onto the idea that restoration will come by remaining in Jerusalem should see that God has planned instead for it to come through the exile. This theme fits with Jeremiah's message: the good and bad figs in Jeremiah 24, for example.

This adds a redemptive aspect to the vision in Ezekiel 1. The God who is on the move, spanning the whole world, will bring his people home from all nations. The time is approaching when he will accompany them out of Babylon (Isaiah 61:11-12), when he will go with them as they bring the gospel to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8), and when he will return to gather his elect from the four winds and bring them into his eternal city (Matthew 24:31).