Ezekiel 1:18 Kommentar

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.

As for their rings, they were so high, that they were dreadful,.... The circles and circumferences of them were "high": which may denote the visibility and extensiveness of the churches of Christ, especially in the latter day; when they shall be exalted above the mountains and hills, the kingdoms and states of this world; and there shall be such numerous additions to them, that the place will be too strait for the members of them to dwell in, Isa 2:2; and "they were dreadful"; terrible, as the churches of Christ will be to their enemies to look at, when they shall be in their exalted state, Rev 11:12; or the words may be rendered, "and they had fear" (s); there was fear and reverence in them; the fear of God, and a reverential affection for him; they were waiting on him, and attending his worship with great reverence and godly fear: and their rings were full of eyes round about them four; everyone of the four wheels, and each of their four semicircles, were full of eyes; expressive of the knowledge of the Gospel, and the truths of it, in church members; their continual looking to Christ for fresh supplies of grace and strength; and their constant watchfulness over each other. (s) "et timor illis erat", Cocceius; "et timor ipis", Starckius; "and they were reverent", so Dr. Lightfoot, Prospect of the Temple, &c. c. 38. p. 2055.

(Verse 15 and following) And as I looked at the animals, a wheel appeared on the earth beside the animals, having four faces. And the appearance of the wheels and their work was like the vision of the sea, and the four of them had the same likeness, and their appearance and work was as a wheel within a wheel. They went in the four directions, and they did not turn as they walked. The wheels also had a height and a terrifying appearance, and the whole body was full of eyes all around the four of them. LXX: And I saw, and behold, a wheel was following animals four over the earth. And the appearance of the wheels and their construction was like the color of tarshish. And their appearance was in four: and their work was as it were a wheel within a wheel. They walked in their four parts, and did not turn back when they walked. And their backs and their height were to them. And I saw them, and their backs were full of eyes all around the four. Up to this point, the picture describes the four living creatures that had four faces, following the spirits and the cloud that was in the midst of the spirit, now the individual wheels are mentioned for each animal, which were not attached to the animals but followed them. Or a wheel appeared upon the Earth, which, divided into four, had as many faces as the number of animals that followed. And such was the similarity of the four wheels to the four following animals, that one wheel was truly believed. And their work and creation was like the vision of tharsis, which we turn into the sea. The eagle placed the hyacinth; which stone resembles the sky. And their appearance was like one wheel in another, so that you would not believe it was one wheel, but rather one wheel joined to another. They were moving in four directions, and they were not being dragged or turned back. For how could they turn back when they were following animals that always move towards the front? The height and size of the wheels were also so great that it amazed those who saw it. The entire body and backs were filled with light all around, so that you could not see any part that did not have the light of eyes: like the stories of the poets describe Argus, who had a hundred or many eyes, which Juno turned into a peacock for his careless watch, so that what is a miracle of God the Creator would be a punishment for adultery without recompense. All things celestial and terrestrial, and whatever falls under human understanding, are turned by the wheels of the Sun. The Sun travels through its yearly circle, with the Moon coursing through each month. The Morning Star itself, known as Lucifer, as it twinkles from East to West, tempers the darkness of the night with a small light and completes its course in two years. The four other wandering stars, called planets, and everything that shines in the sky, as well as the varieties of crops, trees, and herbs, follow their courses in four seasons on their own respective wheels; and we behold nothing that has not existed before. The spirit moves by whirling and returns to its own circles. All rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full (Ecclesiastes 1:6-7). Why? Because they return to their sources from the deep abyss. But of the Gospels, that is, of the four living creatures that breathe, live, and understand, if anyone considers the wheel and its course, in a short time he will see the world to be complete with the Apostolic proclamation. The wheel is also within a wheel, or the joining of the two Testaments, which indicates the ladder of Jacob (Genesis 28) and the prophetic word of Isaiah (Isaiah 6) and the double-edged sword. Or it represents the harmonious Gospels whose course and stature tend towards heaven and touch the earth only briefly, always hastening towards the heights. About which it is said elsewhere: Holy stones roll upon the earth (Zech. IX, 16); from which the celestial Jerusalem is built. I believe this signifies the same thing as what is sung in the psalm: The voice of your thunder is in the wheel (Psalm LXXVI, 19). And elsewhere: Which sets the wheel of birth on fire (James III, 6). The meaning of these testimonies in their proper places is not of this time. But whoever sees that there is nothing in the Gospels that does not shine with its own light and illuminate the world with its splendor, will approve the whole body and the backs filled with eyes, so that even the things considered small and lowly may shine with the majesty of the Holy Spirit.

Three things are equally indicated in the animals and the wheels; when they stand, when they walk and when they arise, what they do as animals and wheels and what they do in common.

Those who are over others are to be warned that through prudence they should attain watchful eyes within and round about and strive to become living creatures of heaven. For the living creatures of heaven are described as full of eyes round about and within. So it is fitting that those who are over others should have eyes within and round about, so that in striving to please the inward judge and in serving outwardly as examples of life, they may detect the things that should be corrected in others.

What is it that in the words of Sacred Scripture these three things are said to be present, so that they are mentioned as having stature, height, and a horrible appearance, that is, a terrible one? We must greatly inquire what is called the stature of divine Scripture, what is its height, what is its horrible appearance. Therefore it must be known that to stand corresponds to the life of one who works well. Hence it is said through Paul: Let him who stands take heed lest he fall. He who also says to his disciples: So stand in the Lord, beloved. And the prophet, who saw himself standing before the Lord in life and conduct, said: The Lord lives, in whose sight I stand. Height, however, is the promise of the heavenly kingdom. Which is reached when all corruption of mortal life is now subdued. The horrible appearance, however, is the terror of hell, which tortures the reprobate without end, and always preserves them in torment. Therefore stature is in the rectitude of precept, height in the loftiness of the heavenly promise, and horrible appearance in the threats and terrors of the punishment that follows. Sacred Scripture therefore has stature, because it directs conduct toward standing, so that the minds of hearers may not be bent toward earthly desire. It has height, because it promises the joys of eternal life in the heavenly homeland. It also has a horrible appearance, because it threatens all the reprobate with the punishments of hell. Therefore it shows its stature in the building of conduct, it shows its height in the promise of rewards, it shows its horrible appearance in the terrors of punishments. For it is upright in precepts, lofty in promises, horrible in threats. It has stature when it says through the prophet: Cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the orphan, defend the widow. And again: Break your bread for the hungry, and bring the needy and wandering into your house; when you see the naked, cover him, and do not despise those of your own flesh. It has height when it says through the same prophet: The sun shall no longer be your light by day, nor shall the splendor of the moon illuminate you; but the Lord shall be your everlasting light, and your God shall be your glory. It has a horrible appearance when, describing hell, it says: The day of vengeance of the Lord, the year of retribution for the judgment of Zion; and its torrents shall be turned into pitch, and its soil into sulphur; and the land shall be burning pitch, day and night it shall not be extinguished forever. Which blessed Job also describes, saying: A land of darkness and covered with the mist of death, a land of misery and darkness, where is the shadow of death, and no order, but everlasting horror dwelling there. It has stature when through it the Lord graciously promises, saying: As the new heavens and the new earth, which I make to stand before me, says the Lord; so shall your seed and your name stand. For they truly stand before the Lord who do not waste their life in wickedness. It has height when it immediately adds: And there shall be month after month, and Sabbath after Sabbath, and all flesh shall come to worship before my face, says the Lord. What is a month but the perfection of days? And what is the Sabbath but rest in which servile work is not permitted? Therefore month after month means that those who live perfectly here are led to the perfection of glory there. And Sabbath after Sabbath means that those who cease from wicked work here rest in heavenly reward there. It also has a horrible appearance when it immediately adds: And they shall go out and see the corpses of the men who have transgressed against me. Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be extinguished. For what can be said or thought more horrible than to receive the wounds of damnation, and never to end the pains of the wounds! Of this horrible appearance of the wheels it is well said through Zephaniah, when the day of judgment is announced as coming upon hard hearts: The great day of the Lord is near, near and exceedingly swift. The voice of the day of the Lord is bitter, the strong man shall be troubled there. That day is a day of wrath, a day of tribulation and distress, a day of calamity and misery, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of cloud and whirlwind, a day of trumpet and clamor. But since we have set forth the statements about the outer wheel, it remains now that we should also present the stature, height, and terrifying appearance of the inner wheel. Indeed, the inner wheel has its stature when through the holy Gospel it forbids us to bend toward earthly desires, saying in the words of our Redeemer: "Take heed lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing and drunkenness, or with the cares of this life." It has height when it promises concerning the same Redeemer, saying: "But as many as believed in him, he gave them power to become sons of God." For what can be said to be higher than this power, what more sublime than this height, in which every created being is made a son of the Creator? It has a terrifying appearance when it speaks of the reprobate, saying: "These shall go into everlasting punishment." It has stature when the Truth admonishes the disciples, saying: "Sell what you possess and give alms. Make for yourselves purses that do not grow old." It has the height of promise when it says: "They shall come from the East and the West, and shall recline with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven." It has a terrifying appearance when it adds: "But the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." To whom again it is said by the voice of Truth: "You shall die in your sins." It has stature when it says in the words of the first pastor: "Supply in your faith virtue, and in virtue knowledge, and in knowledge self-control, and in self-control patience, and in patience godliness, and in godliness brotherly love, and in brotherly love charity." It has height when shortly after it says: "For so an entrance shall be ministered to you abundantly into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." Who again promises to good pastors, saying: "When the chief Shepherd appears, you shall receive the unfading crown of glory." It has a terrifying appearance when it says: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief, in which the heavens shall pass away with great violence, and the elements shall be dissolved with heat. Since all these things are to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God, whereby the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with the ardor of fire?" It has stature when through Paul it raises us from earthly desires, saying: "Mortify your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, lust, evil desire, and covetousness, which is the service of idols." It has height when it promises, saying: "Your life is hidden with Christ in God. For when Christ your life shall appear, then you also shall appear with him in glory." It has a terrifying appearance when it threatens, saying: "In the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ from heaven, with the angels of his power in a flame of fire, giving vengeance to those who do not know God, and who do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall suffer eternal punishments from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his power." It has stature when it admonishes us, saying: "See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good toward one another and toward all." It has height when it promises, saying: "If we die with him, we shall also live with him; if we endure, we shall also reign with him." And again: "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the future glory that shall be revealed in us." It has a terrifying appearance when it threatens, saying: "A certain fearful expectation of judgment, and the fury of fire which shall consume the adversaries." Who again says: "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." All of which it also draws together in a brief statement, saying: "That you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth." For charity is broad, because it encompasses even the love of enemies, and through that charity by which Almighty God loves us broadly, he also bears with us patiently. Therefore we ought to show to our neighbors what we see being shown to us who are unworthy by our Creator. And so breadth and length pertain to stature, because through love it enlarges our conduct, so that charity may patiently bear the faults of the brethren. But height is that reward of eternal prizes, of whose immensity it is said: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for those who love him." Therefore it has height in its sublimity, because the eternal joys of the saints cannot now be penetrated by any thought. The depth also is that inestimable condemnation of punishments, which plunges those whom it receives into the lowest depths. In these things the sacred words have a terrifying appearance, because they strike inestimable terror into those who hear, when they speak of the punishments of hell. Rightly therefore it is said: "There was also stature in the wheels, and height, and terrifying appearance," because Sacred Scripture in both Testaments is upright in admonishing, lofty in promising, and terrible in threatening. Let it suffice, dearest brethren, for us to have said these things on this day by the Lord's bounty, so that we may return refreshed by rest to discuss the things that follow, trusting in God the author of all things and our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, through all ages of ages. Amen.

As you know, dearest brothers, it is the custom of prophecy to look now at this, now at that, and suddenly to turn words from one thing to another, as the Psalmist, when speaking of the Lord, said: "God is a just judge, strong and patient; is He angry every day? Unless you are converted, He has brandished His sword, He has bent His bow and made it ready; and in it He has prepared instruments of death, He has made His arrows for those who burn"; suddenly he adds: "He conceived sorrow and brought forth iniquity; he opened a pit and dug it out, and fell into the hole he made." Behold, when he was narrating the Lord's justice, as if without changing his voice, he suddenly introduced the guilt of the sinner. Let it suffice that I have said this one example by way of illustration, because whoever has practice in reading the prophets knows how frequently they do this. Hence now the prophet Ezekiel, when he was speaking about the wheels, added: "And the whole body was full of eyes around the four of them." For he who said "of them" (masculine) rather than "of them" (feminine) clearly indicates that his speech suddenly returned from the wheels to the living creatures. By these, as was said before, all perfect persons are designated. Therefore the bodies of the living creatures are described as full of eyes, because the action of the saints is circumspect on every side, desirously providing for good things, skillfully guarding against evil things. And this is more laborious where the mind of the saints vigilantly watches lest evils hide themselves before their eyes under the appearance of good things. Therefore the life of the saints is circumspect, lest it be so free as to be proud, because often pride exceeds in words, and desires to appear as the freedom of purity. Lest it be so humble as to be fearful, because sometimes fear constrains the mind and does not presume to speak what is right, yet in that same timid thought it pretends to be humility. Lest it be so sparing as to be grasping, because very often greed desires to be considered frugality, so that it may seem to hold justly and necessarily whatever it does not wish to mercifully expend upon a needy neighbor. Lest it be so merciful as to be wasteful, because sometimes it thinks wastefulness to be mercy. For it is one thing to give necessities to neighbors from the zeal of piety, and another to scatter what one possesses without intention of reward. Therefore whatever is done must be weighed in the root of intention, by what merit it may be held at the judgment of the Creator. Hence the same Creator says: "If your eye be simple, your whole body will be full of light." Calling the eye, of course, intention, and the body, action. Because if our intention is simple before God, our action will not be dark in His judgment. Therefore, because holy men skillfully watch so that they may look upon themselves from every side and guard themselves everywhere, lest they either desire evils for their own sake, or do these same things under the appearance of good things—namely, lest vices deceive them into thinking they are virtues—they have the whole body full of eyes round about, because all their action is both filled and surrounded by the providence of solicitude. Hence it is that the Apostle Paul, when he perceived that the Corinthians wished to show mercy to a certain penitent for a crime he had committed, says: "If you have forgiven anyone anything, so have I. For what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I have done for your sake in the person of Christ, lest we be outwitted by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his designs." For if pardon was to be granted, why did that excellent teacher associate himself with such humility to the will of his disciples, so that neither he himself seemed divided from his disciples, nor they from him, in the matter of compassion, unless because with the watchful eye of providence he observed that very often when one pardons, another grows angry? And what kind of sacrifice of mercy is that which is offered together with discord toward one's neighbor? Hence he rightly says: "Lest we be outwitted by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his designs." Because, that is to say, from the very source where he sees one person performing a work of piety, he is accustomed to cast the evil of strife into another's heart. For the good is imperfect which is done in such a way that no attention is paid lest some evil creep up on it from another side, unless perhaps it would be a fault not to do that which cannot be done without giving offense to someone. We say this, however, to make known to your love that in our good work we must sometimes beware of scandalizing our neighbor, but sometimes it must be despised as nothing. We learned this from our own Author, who, when tribute was sought from Peter after inquiry, first proposed an example through which he answered that he owed nothing, saying: "The kings of the earth, from whom do they receive tribute or tax—from their own sons, or from strangers?" When he was told "From strangers," he immediately replied: "Therefore the sons are free." But after he showed that he was free, lest perhaps he cause scandal to anyone, he added: "But so that we may not scandalize them, go to the sea and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a coin; take that and give it to them for me and for you." Again, when he said that everything which enters the mouth does not defile a man, then the disciples came and said to him: "Do you know that the Pharisees, having heard this word, were scandalized?" But he answered and said: "Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Leave them alone; they are blind, and guides of the blind." Behold, the Master Truth, lest scandal be generated in the hearts of some, paid the tribute that he did not owe; and again, because he saw that scandal against truth was being generated in the hearts of some, he allowed them to remain in their scandal. From which matter we must consider that, insofar as we are able without sin, we ought to avoid giving scandal to our neighbors. If, however, scandal is taken from the truth, it is more profitable to permit scandal to arise than for truth to be abandoned. Therefore the bodies of the living creatures are full of eyes when they cautiously look around themselves on every side. But we must know that often, while we are attending to some things, it happens that we neglect others; and where we neglect, there without doubt we do not have an eye. For that Pharisee who had gone up to the temple to pray, as the Gospel attests, we have recognized what he said. For he said: God, I thank you. And rightly he gave thanks to God, from whom he had received the good things he had done. He also added: That I am not like the rest of men, robbers, unjust, adulterers, even like this Publican; I fast twice on the Sabbath, I give tithes of all that I possess. Behold, the Pharisee had an eye for displaying abstinence, for bestowing mercy, for giving thanks to God, but he did not have an eye for guarding humility. And what does it profit if a city is carefully guarded almost entirely against the ambushes of enemies, if one opening is left exposed through which enemies may enter? What then does a guard profit that is placed almost everywhere around, when the whole city is opened to enemies through the neglect of one place? But the Pharisee who practiced fasting, gave tithes, returned thanks to God, as it were kept watch almost completely around in guarding his city. But because he did not attend to one opening of pride in himself, there he suffered the enemy, where through negligence he closed his eye. Because therefore the minds of the saints keeping watch examine themselves on every side, and in all their work lead around the eye of fear and solicitude, lest they either do wrong things, or fail to do right things that are commanded, or having completed good actions, become swollen in their thoughts, and offend all the more grievously the more they appear righteous outwardly and sin more secretly, it is rightly said: Their whole body is full of eyes round about. It should also be known that in the old translation it does not read: "Their whole body was full of eyes round about," but rather it says: "Their backs were full of eyes." This statement, of course, does not depart from the sense of edification. For sinful people are often accustomed to guard those things which are in front. But righteous men, because they guard themselves even in those things which are not readily seen and in front, are said to have eyes in their backs. Therefore those who examine even the things that are hidden, and guard themselves from those very things that lie concealed, certainly have eyes in their backs. This, however, can also be understood in another way: because we see the things that are before our face, but another person sees our backs in us, and we ourselves cannot see them. But since holy men carefully examine themselves in those matters by which they can be judged by others, and strictly see themselves just as they are often strictly seen by others—they who are not ignorant even of those things in themselves that could remain hidden—they carry light on their back.

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.

As for their rings - The strakes which form the rim or periphery. They were dreadful - They were exceedingly great in their diameter, so that it was tremendous to look from the part that touched the ground to that which was opposite above. Were full of eyes - Does not this refer to the appearance of nails keeping on the spokes, or strakes or bands upon the rim?

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).

rings--that is, felloes or circumferences of the wheels. eyes--The multiplicity of eyes here in the wheels, and Eze 10:12, in the cherubim themselves, symbolizes the plenitude of intelligent life, the eye being the window through which "the spirit of the living creatures" in the wheels (Eze 1:20) looks forth (compare Zac 4:10). As the wheels signify the providence of God, so the eyes imply that He sees all the circumstances of each case, and does nothing by blind impulse.

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.