The Glory of the Lord

 

Ezekiel 1: 1-14

 

October 19, 2023

 

Ezekiel in Babylon

 In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin),  the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the Lord was upon him there.

The Glory of the Lord

As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal.  And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings.  Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf's foot. And they sparkled like burnished bronze.  Under their wings, on their four sides, they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus:  their wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went.  As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle.  Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies.  And each went straight forward. Wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went.  As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures. And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.  And the living creatures darted to and fro, like the appearance of a flash of lightning.

 

It sounds like something Disney would come up with, but if you look at chapter 10:5, it becomes clear that these four living creatures were Cherubim’s.  In fact, the Temple and the Holy of Holy had their imagine.  In Exodus 25:17-22, God is instructing Moses on where to put the images.

 

 “You shall make a mercy seat^[c] of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth.   And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat.  Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be.  And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark, you shall put the testimony that I shall give you.  There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.”

 

In Geneses 3:24, we see them as enforcers of divine judgment; “He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.”

 

One of the dangers of reading Scripture is allowing unbelief to enter your mind.  How could that be true, and all you had to do was tell God, will you allow me to understand this truth.  Sometimes it requires a good study Bible and others just need to read and study the Scriptures.  But there are places in the Scripture that we will not fully understand, and we must always believe God cannot lie, so even if it is not clear I will believe it is the truth.  As a created being of God so are the angels and all the heavenly beings.  Faith is an amazing thing, often when getting on a plane I never see the pilot, I do not know if he is of sound mind, I just put faith in what is unseen, with no fact that he qualified to fly that plane.  But when it comes to God, Paul the apostle makes clear in Romans 1:19-20, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice