Dawn over a wide, straight canal in the flat Babylonian plain: reed beds and date palms below, low mud-brick houses on the far bank, and far off to the north a towering storm cloud with a faint amber glow inside it.

Visions of glory

Ezekiel 1

Have you ever felt farther from God than you have ever been?

28 verses≈ 6 min1 personBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

Tap any post to go deeper

In this chapter

Where we are

1–3Visions of gloryBy the Kebar, about 593 BC: the throne, the scroll, the watchmanChapter 1
4–7Signs of the siegeA brick, a ration, a razor: the end has come
8–11The glory departsAbout 592 BC: the temple’s abominations, the mark, the glory goes east
12–15False hopesExile acted out, false prophets, a useless vine
16–19Parables and lamentsAn unfaithful bride, two eagles, the one who sins
20–24The sword drawnRebellion retold; the siege begins, about 588 BC
25–32The nations judgedAmmon to Egypt: the LORD is Judge of all the earth
33–36A new heartThe city falls; the Good Shepherd; cleansed and made new
37–39Dry bones liveOne people raised up, and Gog of Magog defeated
40–48The LORD is thereAbout 573 BC: the new temple, the river, the land

Ezekiel’s Vision by the River Kebar

Ezekiel

Ezekiel

In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles by the River Kebar, the heavens opened and I saw visions of God.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin— the word of the LORD came directly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Kebar. And there the LORD’s hand was upon him.

The Four Living Creatures

Ezekiel

I looked and saw a whirlwind coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing back and forth and brilliant light all around it.

Ezekiel

In the center of the fire was a gleam like amber, and within it was the form of four living creatures.

Ezekiel

And this was their appearance: They had a human form,

but each had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the hooves of a calf, gleaming like polished bronze.

Ezekiel

High in a storm-dark sky lit from within, great outspread wings of bronze-white fire, their tips touching to make a ring, every feather edged with light.

Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four living creatures had faces and wings, and their wings were touching one another. They did not turn as they moved; each one went straight ahead.

Ezekiel

The form of their faces was that of a man, and each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and also the face of an eagle. Such were their faces.

Ezekiel

Their wings were spread upward; each had two wings touching the wings of the creature on either side, and two wings covering its body.

Each creature went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they moved.

Ezekiel

Inside a vast storm cloud, glowing coals of fire and flaring torch-like flames move in the dark, lightning flashing out from among them, sparks streaming.

In the midst of the living creatures was the appearance of glowing coals of fire, or of torches. Fire moved back and forth between the living creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it. The creatures were darting back and forth as quickly as flashes of lightning.

Question

Quick question

Go back to the first verse before you answer. Where the vision comes matters as much as what it shows.

Where was Ezekiel when the heavens opened?

The Four Wheels

Ezekiel

On the dark plain under storm light, one immense upright wheel taller than a house, its rim high and gleaming pale gold-green like beryl, a second wheel set crosswise within it.

When I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. The workmanship of the wheels looked like the gleam of beryl, and all four had the same likeness. Their workmanship looked like a wheel within a wheel.

Ezekiel

As they moved, they went in any of the four directions, without pivoting as they moved. Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around. So as the living creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them, and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose.

Ezekiel

Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise alongside them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When the creatures moved, the wheels moved; when the creatures stood still, the wheels stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose alongside them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

The Divine Glory

Ezekiel

Seen from below, a vast clear expanse spread like a shining floor high above the storm, gleaming like ice-crystal with light behind it, the tips of great fiery wings stretched toward one another beneath it.

Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was the likeness of an awesome expanse, gleaming like crystal. And under the expanse, their wings stretched out toward one another. Each one also had two wings covering its body.

Ezekiel

And there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads as they stood still with their wings lowered.

Ezekiel

Above the expanse over their heads was the likeness of a throne with the appearance of sapphire, and on the throne high above was a figure like that of a man. From what seemed to be His waist up, I saw a gleam like amber, with what looked like fire within it all around. And from what seemed to be His waist down, I saw what looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded Him.

Ezekiel

A still of brilliant white light filling the upper sky over a dark rain cloud, a full rainbow arching through the falling rain beneath it, the flat plain and canal dark and wet below.

The appearance of the brilliant light all around Him was like that of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell facedown and heard a voice speaking.

0:16

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Pray

LORD of glory, You came to Your people far from home. Open my eyes to see You as You are, and when I see You, let me fall down and listen. Amen.

What Ezekiel saw

Whiteboard

Again and again Ezekiel says ‘like’ and ‘the appearance of’. The glory is more than words can hold.

You’ve experienced

Ezekiel 1

0 of 48 chapters read

A verse to carry with you

Ezekiel 1:28

or swipe left