Ezekiel 1:11 Komentář

The circumstances of the vision which Ezekiel saw, and in which he received his commission and instructions, are here very particularly set down, that the narrative may appear to be authentic and not romantic. It may be of use to keep an account when and where God has been pleased to manifest himself to our souls in a peculiar manner, that the return of the day, and our return to the place of the altar (Gen 13:4), may revive the pleasing grateful remembrance of God's favour to us. "Remember, O my soul! and never forget what communications of divine love thou didst receive at such a time, at such a place; tell others what God did for thee." I. The time when Ezekiel had this vision is here recorded. It was in the thirtieth year, v. 1. Some make it the thirtieth year of the prophet's age; being a priest, he was at that age to enter upon the full execution of the priestly office, but being debarred from that by the iniquity and calamity of the times, now that they had neither temple nor altar, God at that age called him to the dignity of a prophet. Others make it to be the thirtieth year from the beginning of the reign of Nabopolassar, the father of Nebuchadnezzar, from which the Chaldeans began a new computation of time, as they had done from Nabonassar 123 years before. Nabopolassar reigned nineteen years, and this was the eleventh of his son, which makes the thirty. And it was proper enough for Ezekiel, when he was in Babylon, to use the computation they there used, as we in foreign countries date by the new style; and he afterwards uses the melancholy computation of his own country, observing (Eze 1:2) that it was the fifth year of Jehoiachin's captivity. But the Chaldee paraphrase fixes upon another era, and says that this was the thirtieth year after Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law in the house of the sanctuary, at midnight, after the setting of the moon, in the days of Josiah the king. And it is true that this was just thirty years from that time; and that was an event so remarkable (as it put the Jewish state upon a new trial) that it was proper enough to date form it; and perhaps therefore the prophet speaks indefinitely of thirty years, as having an eye both to that event and to the Chaldean computation, which were coincident. It was in the fourth month, answering to our June, and in the fifth day of the month, that Ezekiel had this vision, Eze 1:2. It is probably that it was on the sabbath day, because we read (Eze 3:16) that at the end of seven days, which we may well suppose to be the next sabbath, the word of the Lord came to him again. Thus John was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, when he saw the visions of the Almighty, Rev 1:10. God would hereby put an honour upon his sabbaths, when the enemies mocked at them, Lam 1:7. And he would thus encourage his people to keep up their attendance on the ministry of his prophets every sabbath day, by the extraordinary manifestations of himself on some sabbath days. II. The melancholy circumstances he was in when God honoured him, and thereby favoured his people, with this vision. he was in the land of the Chaldeans, among the captives, by the river of Chebar, and it was in the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity. Observe, 1. The people of God were now, some of them, captives in the land of the Chaldeans. The body of the Jewish nation yet remained in their own land, but these were the first-fruits of the captivity, and they were some of the best; for in Jeremiah's vision these were the good figs, whom God had sent into the land of the Chaldeans for their good (Jer 24:5); and, that it might be for their good, God raised up a prophet among them, to teach them out of the law, then when he chastened them, Psa 94:12. Note, It is a great mercy to have the word of God brought to us, and a great duty to attend to it diligently, when we are in affliction. The word of instruction and the rod of correction may be of great service to us, in concert and concurrence with each other, the word to explain the rod and the rod to enforce the word: both together give wisdom. It is happy for a man, when he is sick and in pain, to have a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, if he have but his ear open to discipline, Job 36:10. One of the quarrels God had with the Jews, when he sent them into captivity, we for mocking his messengers and misusing his prophets; and yet, when they were suffering for this sin, he favoured them with this forfeited mercy. It were ill with us if God did not sometimes graciously thrust upon us those means of grace and salvation which we have foolishly thrust from us. In their captivity they were destitute of ordinary helps for their souls, and therefore God raised them up these extraordinary ones; for God's children, if they be hindered in their education one way, shall have it made up another way. But observe, It was in the fifth year of the captivity that Ezekiel was raised up amongst them, and not before. So long God left them without any prophet, till they began to lament after the Lord and to complain that they saw not their signs and there was none to tell them how long (Psa 74:9), and then they would know how to value a prophet, and God's discoveries of himself to them by him would be the more acceptable and comfortable. The Jews that remained in their own land had Jeremiah with them, those that had gone into captivity had Ezekiel with them; for wherever the children of God are scattered abroad he will find out tutors for them. 2. The prophet was himself among the captives, those of them that were posted by the river Chebar; for it was by the rivers of Babylon that they sat down, and on the willow-trees by the river's side that they hanged their harps, Psa 137:1, Psa 137:2. The planters in America keep along by the sides of the rivers, and perhaps those captives were employed by their masters in improving some parts of the country by the rivers' sides that were uncultivated, the natives being generally employed in war; or they employed them in manufactures, and therefore chose to fix them by the sides of rivers, that the good they made might the more easily be conveyed by water-carriage. Interpreters agree not what river this of Chebar was, but among the captives by that river Ezekiel was, and himself a captive. Observe here, (1.) The best men, and those that are dearest to God, often share, not only in the common calamities of this life, but in the public and national judgments that are inflicted for sin; those feel the smart who contributed nothing to the guilt, by which it appears that the difference between good and bad arises not from the events that befal them, but from the temper and disposition of their spirits under them. And since not only righteous men, but prophets, share with the worst in present punishments, we may infer thence, with the greatest assurance, that there are rewards reserved for them in the future state. (2.) Words of conviction, counsel, and comfort, come best to those who are in affliction from their fellow sufferers. The captives will be best instructed by one who is a captive among them and experimentally knows their sorrows. (3.) The spirit of prophecy was not confined to the land of Israel, but some of the brightest of divine revelations were revealed in the land of the Chaldeans, which was a happy presage of the carrying of the church, with that divine revelation upon which it is built, into the Gentile world; and, as now, so afterwards, when the gospel kingdom was to be set up, the dispersion of the Jews contributed to the spreading of the knowledge of God. (4.) Wherever we are we may keep up our communion with God. Undique ad coelos tantundem est viae - From the remotest corners of the earth we may find a way open heavenward. (5.) When God's ministers are bound the word of the Lord is not bound, Ti2 2:9. When St. Paul was a prisoner the gospel had a free course. When St. John was banished into the Isle of Patmos Christ visited him there. Nay, God's suffering servants have generally been treated as favourites, and their consolations have much more abounded when affliction has abounded, Co2 1:5. III. The discovery which God was pleased to make of himself to the prophet when he was in these circumstances, to be by him communicated to his people. He here tells us what he saw, what he heard, and what he felt. 1. He saw visions of God, Eze 1:1. No man can see God and live; but many have seen visions of God, such displays of the divine glory as have both instructed and affected them; and commonly, when God first revealed himself to any prophet, he did it by an extraordinary vision, as to Isaiah (Isa 6:1-13), to Jeremiah (ch. 1), to Abraham (Act 7:2), to settle a correspondence and a satisfactory way of intercourse, so that there needed not afterwards a vision upon ever revelation. Ezekiel was employed in turning the hearts of the people to the Lord their God, and therefore he must himself see the visions of God. Note, It concerns those to be well acquainted with God themselves, and much affected with what they know of him, whose business it is to bring others to the knowledge and love of him. That he might see the visions of God the heavens were opened; the darkness and distance which hindered his visions were conquered, and he was let into the light of the glories of the upper world, as near and clear as if heaven had been opened to him. 2. He heard the voice of God (Eze 1:3): The word of the Lord came expressly to him, and what he saw was designed to prepare him for what he was to hear. The expression is emphatic. Essendo fuit verbum Dei - The word of the Lord was as really it was to him. There was no mistake in it; it came to him in the fulness of its light and power, in the evidence and demonstration of the Spirit; it came close to him, nay, it came into him, took possession of him and dwelt in him richly. It came expressly, or accurately, to him; he did himself clearly understand what he said and was abundantly satisfied f the truth of it. The essential Word (so we may take it), the Word who is, who is what he is, came to Ezekiel, to send him on his errand. 3. He felt the power of God opening his eyes to see the visions, opening his ear to hear the voice, and opening his heart to receive both: The hand of the Lord was there upon him. Note, The hand of the Lord goes along with the word f the Lord, and so it becomes effectual; those only understand and believe the report to whom the arm of the Lord is revealed. The hand of God was upon him, as upon Moses, to cover him, that he should not be overcome by the dazzling light and lustre of the visions he saw, Exo 33:22. It was upon him (as upon St. John, Rev 1:17), to revive and support him, that he might bear up, and not faint, under these discoveries, that he might neither be lifted up nor cast down with the abundance of the revelations. God's grace is sufficient for him, and, in token of that, his hand is upon him.

This chapter contains a vision, which is the introduction to the prophet's call and commission to perform his office; in the account of which may be observed the time when it was seen, Eze 1:1; and the place both where the prophet was when he saw it, and the object or things that were beheld by him; and the original, form, and manner of the vision, Eze 1:3; next follow the particulars of it; and first, four living creatures appear, described by their general likeness, as human, Eze 1:5; and, in particular, by their faces, feet, hands, and wings, Eze 1:6; by their motion and progress, and the spirit by which they were influenced, Eze 1:12; and by their forms of light, brightness, and heat, in which they appeared and moved, Eze 1:13; and next the wheels, described by their number; for, though they seemed to be as one, they were four; and by their situation on the earth, and by the side of the living creatures, Eze 1:15; by their appearance, which was alike in them all, and as the colour of beryl, and as a wheel within a wheel, Eze 1:16, by their motion, which was on their sides, and not retrograde, Eze 1:17; by their rings or circumferences, which were high, dreadful, and full of eyes, Eze 1:18; by their dependence on the living creatures, moving as they, having the same spirit they had, Eze 1:19; and then a firmament is seen, described by its situation, over the heads of the living creatures; and by its colour, as the terrible crystal, Eze 1:22; by what were under it, the wings of the living creatures of which a more particular account is given, Eze 1:23; by what was heard from it, a voice, Eze 1:25; and by what was above it, a throne; described by its colour, as a sapphire stone; and by a person on it, who had the appearance of a man, Eze 1:26; who, in general, looked like the colour of amber; within which was the appearance of fire from his loins upwards, and from his loins downwards; the fire had a brightness round about it; and that brightness was like a rainbow in a cloud, on a rainy day; and this appearance was no other than that of a divine and glorious Person; which, when seen by the prophet, caused him, through reverence, to fall upon his face; when he heard a voice speaking to him what is recorded in the following chapter, Eze 1:27.

Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward,.... The former clause, "thus were their faces", either belongs to Eze 1:10; and the meaning is, this, as now represented, was the likeness of their faces, and this the position of them: or it may be read in connection with the following clause, and be rendered, "and their faces and their wings were stretched upwards"; as they are in the Chaldee paraphrase, the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions: "their faces were stretched upwards", showing that the ministers of the Gospel look up to Christ for fresh supplies of gifts and grace, of light, knowledge, wisdom, and strength, to enable them to perform their work: "and their wings were stretched upwards", that is, two of them; not four, as the Arabic version has it; for two covered their bodies, as is after said. Those that were stretched upwards answer to the two with which Isaiah's seraphim flew; for these were, as in the original text, "parted upwards" (p); though they were joined together at the bottom of them, as in Eze 1:9; yet being spread in flying, they opened wider and wider, and were at a greater distance from each other in their extreme points. This may design the agility, swiftness, and readiness of ministers in the performance of their work; two wings of everyone were joined one to another: with which they, covered their heads and faces, as did Isaiah's seraphim, as conscious of their unworthiness and infirmities; looking upon themselves to be less than the least of all saints, unfit to be ministers of the Gospel; acknowledging they have nothing but what they have received and therefore would not glory as though they had not received, and as ashamed of their poor performances and ministrations; and two covered their bodies; their lower and secret parts called their feet in Isaiah; which however to others beautiful upon the mountains, running and bringing the good news of peace, righteousness, and salvation by Christ; yet sensible of their deficiencies, they cover them, and confess, when they have done all they can, they are but unprofitable servants; from hence it appears that these living creatures had six wings, as the seraphim in Isaiah, and the four beasts in John's vision. (p) "disjunctae", Montanus; "divisae", Calvin, Starckius. So Ben Melech.

Two are stretched out and lift themselves up on high and signify heavenly preaching, in everything that pertains to the majesty of God. Two cover their bodies, for human knowledge is excluded, and perfect consideration is not offered.

(Verse 11) And their faces and wings were stretched out from above, with two wings of each joined together and two covering their bodies. And above we have said that the Gospels and the seasons are joined together, and all rational creatures, and the four virtues, so that whoever lacks one lacks all. And that the two are stretched out and rise up high signifies heavenly preaching and all things tending towards the majesty of God. But two things hinder the knowledge of bodies: human knowledge is excluded, and perfect intuition is not provided, as the Apostle says: For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away with (1 Cor. 13:9).

He shows by these things not that everything is to be understood by divine power but that some things are clear to them and others are unknown, and they do not go beyond the limit set down for them. They stretch out two wings in their exultation, for the gift of contemplation has been granted, and they cover their bodies with two wings, covering those things that are hidden in happy ignorance, and they do not struggle in order to observe things that it is not right for them to see.

The face and the extended wings are described above because every intention and every contemplation of the saints stretches beyond itself, so that it may attain what it desires in heavenly things. For whether one is vigilant in good work or in contemplation, then what one does is truly good when one desires to please Him from whom it comes. For he who appears to do good things but through these desires to please not God but men presses down the face of his intention. And he who contemplates in sacred Scripture the things that pertain to divinity so that through what he understands he might be occupied with disputes—because he does not desire to be satisfied by the sweetness of the sought-after blessedness but rather to appear learned—such a one certainly does not extend the wings of his understanding upward; but because he occupies the vigilance of his mind in earthly desire, he lays down in the depths the wings which he could have raised on high and by which he himself could have been raised. In this matter it must be considered that every good that is done should always be raised toward heavenly things through intention. For he who through the good things he does desires earthly glory presses down his wings and his face. Hence through the prophet it is said of certain ones: "They were carrying their victims down into the depths." For what else are the tears of prayer but the victims of our offering? As it is written: "A sacrifice to God is a troubled spirit." And there are some who afflict themselves with lamentations in prayer in order to acquire earthly benefits or to appear holy to men. What do these do but carry their victims into the depths? Because the things they seek are in the lowest place, they lay down the sacrifice of their prayer below. But the elect, who desire to please almighty God in good work and through the grace of contemplation long to taste eternal blessedness even now, extend their faces and wings above.

It had been said: "And their faces and their wings were stretched out above," and immediately what we have brought forward was added, that "two wings of each were joined." Here it is openly understood that they were both stretched out above and joined, while two covered their bodies. But what are the wings of the animals called except pinions? In this matter we must inquire with diligent investigation what the four wings of the saints are, of which two stretched out above are joined, while two cover their bodies. For if we look attentively, we find there are four virtues that lift every winged creature from earthly actions: namely, love and hope concerning future things, but fear and penitence concerning past things. Therefore the wings joined to each other are stretched out above, because love and hope lift the mind of the saints to things above. These are also fittingly called joined, because the elect without doubt both love the heavenly things they hope for and hope for what they love. But two cover their bodies, because fear and penitence hide their past evils from the eyes of almighty God. Thus two wings, as was said, are joined above, when love and hope elevate the hearts of the elect to higher things, suspend them toward heavenly things. But two wings cover their bodies, when fear and penitence hide their past evils from the sight of the eternal judge. For in that they remember that they have sinned, because they fear greatly and weep, what else do they do but cover their body? They who hide their carnal deeds from the strict examination by good works placed over them. For it is written: "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered." For we cover sins when we place good deeds over evil actions. For everything that is covered is placed beneath; and that by which it is covered is drawn over it from above. Therefore when we renounce the evils we have done and choose the good things we should do, we as it were draw a covering over that thing which we are ashamed to have seen.

However holy men may be in this life, they still have that which they ought to cover before the eyes of God, because it is utterly impossible that they should never sin in deed, or in speech, or in thought. Hence blessed Job, who had indeed spoken perfect things to men, yet hearing the voice of God and reproving himself for that very perfect speech of his, said: "I will lay my hand upon my mouth." For in the hand is work, in the mouth is speech. Therefore to lay the hand upon the mouth is to cover the sins of speech by the virtue of good work. It pleases me, dearest brothers, to call the teacher of the Gentiles as a witness to this matter, and to see how that holy living creature rests upon four wings, of which with two it flies upward; but with two wings it covers its body, because it hides the past things it had done. Let us see, therefore, how great a love raises him to heavenly things: "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Let us recognize with how great a hope he is raised to higher things: "Our citizenship is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior Jesus Christ our Lord." Let us see if, even when established in such great virtues, he still fears: "I chastise my body and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway." Let us recognize if he repents of having done evil: "I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God." In these words of his, what else is accused but the hardness of our mind? Because he mourns what he had committed before baptism, while we have committed many things even after baptism, and yet we refuse to weep. Therefore the holy living creatures use four wings, because through love and hope they fly to heavenly things, and through fear and repentance they lament the unlawful deeds within themselves.

But because it was said: "The two wings of each were joined," this is perhaps understood to mean that they do not join their own wings by raising them, but that the wings of one are conjoined to another, so that evidently the raised wings mutually agree with each other in their joining. In this matter a question arises: if the two wings that elevate designate love and hope, while the two that cover the bodies designate fear and penitence, why are the two that are extended said to be conjoined, and the two that cover the body are not said to be? But in this matter, by the Lord's granting, an easy explanation presents itself: the two wings of the saints that are conjoined are love and hope, while the two that cover the bodies are not conjoined to one another, namely fear and penitence. For David was afflicted by fearing and doing penance for the fall of the flesh. Peter wept bitterly for the fall of faithlessness. Paul laments the cruelty of his past persecution in himself. Yet all seek one homeland, all hasten to reach the one author of all things. Therefore the two wings of each are conjoined, and the two are not, because through love and hope what they desire is one, but through fear and penitence what they lament is diverse.

This chapter contains that extraordinary vision of the Divine glory with which the prophet was favored when he received the commission and instructions respecting the discharge of his office, which are contained in the two following chapters. The time of this Divine manifestation to the prophet, Eze 1:1-3. The vision of the four living creatures, and of the four wheels, vv. 4-25. Description of the firmament that was spread over them, and of the throne upon which one sat in appearance as a man, Eze 1:26-28. This vision, proceeding in a whirlwind from the North, seems to indicate the dreadful judgments that were coming upon the whole land of Judah through the instrumentality of the cruel Chaldeans, who lay to the north of it. See Jer 1:14; Jer 4:6; Jer 6:1.

EZEKIEL'S VISION BY THE CHEBAR. FOUR CHERUBIM AND WHEELS. (Eze. 1:1-28) Now it came to pass--rather, "And it came," &c. As this formula in Jos 1:1 has reference to the written history of previous times, so here (and in Rut 1:1, and Est 1:1), it refers to the unwritten history which was before the mind of the writer. The prophet by it, as it were, continues the history of the preceding times. In the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign (Jer 51:59), Jeremiah sent by Seraiah a message to the captives (Jer. 29:1-32) to submit themselves to God and lay aside their flattering hopes of a speedy restoration. This communication was in the next year, the fifth, and the fourth month of the same king (for Jehoiachin's captivity and Zedekiah's accession coincide in time), followed up by a prophet raised up among the captives themselves, the energetic Ezekiel. thirtieth year--that is, counting from the beginning of the reign of Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar, the era of the Babylonian empire, 625 B.C., which epoch coincides with the eighteenth year of Josiah, that in which the book of the law was found, and the consequent reformation began [SCALIGER]; or the thirtieth year of Ezekiel's life. As the Lord was about to be a "little sanctuary" (Eze 11:16) to the exiles on the Chebar, so Ezekiel was to be the ministering priest; therefore he marks his priestly relation to God and the people at the outset; the close, which describes the future temple, thus answering to the beginning. By designating himself expressly as "the priest" (Eze 1:3), and as having reached his thirtieth year (the regular year of priests commencing their office), he marks his office as the priest among the prophets. Thus the opening vision follows naturally as the formal institution of that spiritual temple in which he was to minister [FAIRBAIRN]. Chebar--the same as Chabor or Habor, whither the ten tribes had been transported by Tiglath-pileser and Shalmaneser (Kg2 17:6; Ch1 5:26). It flows into the Euphrates near Carchemish or Circesium, two hundred miles north of Babylon. visions of God--Four expressions are used as to the revelation granted to Ezekiel, the three first having respect to what was presented from without, to assure him of its reality, the fourth to his being internally made fit to receive the revelation; "the heavens were opened" (so Mat 3:16; Act 7:56; Act 10:11; Rev 19:11); "he saw visions of God"; "the word of Jehovah came verily (as the meaning is rather than 'expressly, English Version, Eze 1:3) unto him" (it was no unreal hallucination); and "the hand of Jehovah was upon him" (Isa 8:11; Dan 10:10, Dan 10:18; Rev 1:17; the Lord by His touch strengthening him for his high and arduous ministry, that he might be able to witness and report aright the revelations made to him).

The tips of the two outstretched wings reached to one another, while the other two, in token of humble awe, formed a veil for the lower parts of the body. stretched upward--rather, "were parted from above" (compare Margin; see on Isa 6:2). The joining together of their wings above implies that, though the movements of Providence on earth may seem conflicting and confused, yet if one lift up his eyes to heaven, he will see that they admirably conspire towards the one end at last.

First Half - The Prophecies of Judgment - Ezekiel 1-32 The Consecration and Calling of Ezekiel to the Office of Prophet - Ezekiel 1-3:21 In a vision of God, Ezekiel beholds in a great cloud, through which shone the splendour of fire, and which a tempestuous wind drives from the north, the glory of the Lord above the cherubim upon a majestic throne in human form (Ezekiel 1), and hears a voice, which sends him as a prophet to Israel, and inspires him with the subject-matter of his announcements (Ezekiel 2:1-3:3). He is thereafter transported in spirit to Tel-abib on the Chebar, into the midst of the exiles, and the duties and responsibilities of his calling laid before him (3:4-21). By this divine appearance and the commission therewith connected is he consecrated, called, and ordained to the prophetic office. The whole occurrences in the vision are subdivided into the copious description of the theophany, Ezekiel 1, by which he is consecrated for his calling; and into the revelation of the word, Ezekiel 2:1-3:21, which prepares him for the discharge of the same. From these contents it clearly appears that these chapters do not constitute the first section of the book, but the introduction to the whole, to which the circumstantial notices of the time and place of this revelation of God at the commencement, Eze 1:1-3, also point.