mh_parser/vol_split/26 - Ezekiel/Chapter 1.xml

<div2 id="Ez.ii" n="ii" next="Ez.iii" prev="Ez.i" progress="49.77%" title="Chapter I">
<h2 id="Ez.ii-p0.1">E Z E K I E L.</h2>
<h3 id="Ez.ii-p0.2">CHAP. I.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ez.ii-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter we have, I. The common
circumstances of the prophecy now to be delivered, the time when it
was delivered (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.1" parsed="|Ezek|1|1|0|0" passage="Eze 1:1">ver. 1</scripRef>), the
place where (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.2" parsed="|Ezek|1|2|0|0" passage="Eze 1:2">ver. 2</scripRef>), and
the person by whom, <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.3" parsed="|Ezek|1|3|0|0" passage="Eze 1:3">ver. 3</scripRef>.
II. The uncommon introduction to it by a vision of the glory of
God, 1. In his attendance and retinue in the upper world, where his
throne is surrounded with angels, here called "living creatures,"
<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.4-Ezek.1.14" parsed="|Ezek|1|4|1|14" passage="Eze 1:4-14">ver. 4-14</scripRef>. 2. In his
providences concerning the lower world, represented by the wheels
and their motions, <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.15-Ezek.1.25" parsed="|Ezek|1|15|1|25" passage="Eze 1:15-25">ver.
15-25</scripRef>. 3. In the face of Jesus Christ sitting upon the
throne, <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.26-Ezek.1.28" parsed="|Ezek|1|26|1|28" passage="Eze 1:26-28">ver. 26-28</scripRef>. And
the more we are acquainted, and the more intimately we converse,
with the glory of God in these three branches of it, the more
commanding influence will divine revelation have upon us and the
more ready shall we be to submit to it, which is the thing aimed at
in prefacing the prophecies of this book with these visions. When
such a God of glory speaks, it concerns us to hear with attention
and reverence; it is at our peril if we do not.</p>
<scripCom id="Ez.ii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1" parsed="|Ezek|1|0|0|0" passage="Eze 1" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ez.ii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.1-Ezek.1.3" parsed="|Ezek|1|1|1|3" passage="Eze 1:1-3" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.ii-p1.9">
<h4 id="Ez.ii-p1.10">Ezekiel's First Vision by the River
Chebar. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.ii-p1.11">b. c.</span> 595.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.ii-p2" shownumber="no">1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in
the fourth <i>month,</i> in the fifth <i>day</i> of the month, as I
<i>was</i> among the captives by the river of Chebar, <i>that</i>
the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.   2 In the
fifth <i>day</i> of the month, which <i>was</i> the fifth year of
king Jehoiachin's captivity,   3 The word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.ii-p2.1">Lord</span> came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the
son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and
the hand of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.ii-p2.2">Lord</span> was there upon
him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ii-p3" shownumber="no">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
<i>return of the day,</i> and our return to <i>the place of the
altar</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.13.4" parsed="|Gen|13|4|0|0" passage="Ge 13:4">Gen. xiii. 4</scripRef>),
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."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ii-p4" shownumber="no">I. The time when Ezekiel had this vision is
here recorded. It was <i>in the thirtieth year,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.1" parsed="|Ezek|1|1|0|0" passage="Eze 1:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. 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 (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.2" parsed="|Ezek|1|2|0|0" passage="Eze 1:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>) 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 <i>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.</i> 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 <i>fourth month,</i> answering to our
June, and in the <i>fifth day of the month,</i> that Ezekiel had
this vision, <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.2" parsed="|Ezek|1|2|0|0" passage="Eze 1:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. It
is probably that it was on the sabbath day, because we read
(<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.3.16" parsed="|Ezek|3|16|0|0" passage="Eze 3:16"><i>ch.</i> iii. 16</scripRef>) that
<i>at the end of seven days,</i> which we may well suppose to be
the next sabbath, the word of the Lord came to him again. Thus
<i>John was in the Spirit on the Lord's day,</i> when he <i>saw the
visions of the Almighty,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Rev.1.10" parsed="|Rev|1|10|0|0" passage="Re 1:10">Rev. i.
10</scripRef>. God would hereby put an honour upon his sabbaths,
when <i>the enemies mocked at them,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Lam.1.7" parsed="|Lam|1|7|0|0" passage="La 1:7">Lam. i. 7</scripRef>. 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ii-p5" shownumber="no">II. The melancholy circumstances he was in
when God honoured him, and thereby favoured his people, with this
vision. He was <i>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.</i> Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ii-p6" shownumber="no">1. The people of God were now, some of
them, <i>captives in the land of the Chaldeans.</i> 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 <i>good figs,</i> whom God had
<i>sent into the land of the Chaldeans for their good</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.24.5" parsed="|Jer|24|5|0|0" passage="Jer 24:5">Jer. xxiv. 5</scripRef>); and, that
it might be for their good, God raised up a prophet among them, to
<i>teach them out of the law,</i> then when he chastened them,
<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.12" parsed="|Ps|94|12|0|0" passage="Ps 94:12">Ps. xciv. 12</scripRef>. 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, <i>one among a thousand,</i> if
he have but his <i>ear open to discipline,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.23" parsed="|Job|23|23|0|0" passage="Job 23:23">Job xxiii. 23</scripRef>. One of the quarrels God had
with the Jews, when he sent them into captivity, was for <i>mocking
his messengers</i> and <i>misusing his prophets;</i> 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, <i>It was in the fifth year of the
captivity</i> that Ezekiel was raised up amongst them, and not
before. So long God left them without any prophet, till they began
to <i>lament after the Lord</i> and to complain that they <i>saw
not their signs</i> and there was none to <i>tell them how long</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.74.9" parsed="|Ps|74|9|0|0" passage="Ps 74:9">Ps. lxxiv. 9</scripRef>), 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ii-p7" shownumber="no">2. The prophet was himself among the
captives, those of them that were posted by <i>the river
Chebar;</i> for it was <i>by the rivers of Babylon</i> that they
<i>sat down,</i> and on the willow-trees by the river's side that
they <i>hanged their harps,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.137.1-Ps.137.2" parsed="|Ps|137|1|137|2" passage="Ps 137:1,2">Ps.
cxxxvii. 1, 2</scripRef>. 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 <i>among the captives</i> 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 <i>in the land
of the Chaldeans,</i> 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. <i>Undique ad cœlos tantundem
est viæ—From the remotest corners of the earth we may find a way
open heavenward.</i> (5.) When God's ministers are bound <i>the
word of the Lord is not bound,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:2Tim.2.9" parsed="|2Tim|2|9|0|0" passage="2Ti 2:9">2
Tim. ii. 9</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.1.5" parsed="|2Cor|1|5|0|0" passage="2Co 1:5">2 Cor. i. 5</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ii-p8" shownumber="no">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 <i>saw visions of
God,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.1" parsed="|Ezek|1|1|0|0" passage="Eze 1:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. No man
can <i>see God and live;</i> 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
(<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.6.1-Isa.6.13" parsed="|Isa|6|1|6|13" passage="Isa 6:1-13"><i>ch.</i> vi.</scripRef>), to
Jeremiah (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.1-Jer.1.19" parsed="|Jer|1|1|1|19" passage="Jer 1:1-19"><i>ch.</i> i.</scripRef>),
to Abraham (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.7.2" parsed="|Acts|7|2|0|0" passage="Ac 7:2">Acts vii. 2</scripRef>), 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 <i>visions of God the heavens were
opened;</i> 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 (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.3" parsed="|Ezek|1|3|0|0" passage="Eze 1:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>): <i>The word of the Lord came expressly</i> to him,
and what he saw was designed to prepare him for what he was to
hear. The expression is emphatic. <i>Essendo fuit verbum
Dei</i>—<i>The word of the Lord was a really it was to him.</i>
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 <i>came expressly,</i> or accurately,
to him; he did himself clearly understand what he said and was
abundantly satisfied of the truth of it. <i>The essential Word</i>
(so we may take it), <i>the Word who is, who is what he is, came to
Ezekiel,</i> 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: <i>The hand of the
Lord was there upon him.</i> Note, <i>The hand of the Lord</i> goes
along with <i>the word of the Lord,</i> and so it becomes effectual;
those only understand and <i>believe the report to whom the arm of
the Lord is revealed. The hand of God was upon him,</i> as upon
Moses, to cover him, that he should not be overcome by the dazzling
light and lustre of the visions he saw, <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:Exod.33.22" parsed="|Exod|33|22|0|0" passage="Ex 33:22">Exod. xxxiii. 22</scripRef>. It <i>was upon him</i> (as
upon St. John, <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p8.7" osisRef="Bible:Rev.1.17" parsed="|Rev|1|17|0|0" passage="Re 1:17">Rev. i. 17</scripRef>),
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 <i>grace is
sufficient for him,</i> and, in token of that, his <i>hand is upon
him.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.ii-p8.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.4-Ezek.1.14" parsed="|Ezek|1|4|1|14" passage="Eze 1:4-14" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.ii-p8.9">
<h4 id="Ez.ii-p8.10">Vision of the Four Living
Creatures. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.ii-p8.11">b. c.</span> 595.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.ii-p9" shownumber="no">4 And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came
out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a
brightness <i>was</i> about it, and out of the midst thereof as the
colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.   5 Also out of
the midst thereof <i>came</i> the likeness of four living
creatures. And this <i>was</i> their appearance; they had the
likeness of a man.   6 And every one had four faces, and every
one had four wings.   7 And their feet <i>were</i> straight
feet; and the sole of their feet <i>was</i> like the sole of a
calf's foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass.
  8 And <i>they had</i> the hands of a man under their wings
on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.
  9 Their wings <i>were</i> joined one to another; they turned
not when they went; they went every one straight forward.   10
As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a
man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had
the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of
an eagle.   11 Thus <i>were</i> their faces: and their wings
<i>were</i> stretched upward; two <i>wings</i> of every one
<i>were</i> joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.
  12 And they went every one straight forward: whither the
spirit was to go, they went; <i>and</i> they turned not when they
went.   13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their
appearance <i>was</i> like burning coals of fire, <i>and</i> like
the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living
creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth
lightning.   14 And the living creatures ran and returned as
the appearance of a flash of lightning.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ii-p10" shownumber="no">The visions of God which Ezekiel here saw
were very glorious, and had more particulars than those which other
prophets saw. It is the scope and intention of these vision, 1. To
possess the prophet's mind with very great, and high, and
honourable thoughts of that God by whom he was commissioned and for
whom he was employed. It is <i>the likeness of the glory of the
Lord</i> that he sees (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.28" parsed="|Ezek|1|28|0|0" passage="Eze 1:28"><i>v.</i>
28</scripRef>), and hence he may infer that it is his honour to
serve him, for he is one whom angels serve. He may serve him with
safety, for he has power sufficient to bear him out in his work. It
is at his peril to draw back from his service, for he has power to
pursue him, as he did Jonah. So great a God as this must be served
<i>with reverence and godly fear;</i> and with assurance may
Ezekiel foretel what this God will do, for he is able to make his
words good. 2. To strike a terror upon the sinners who remained in
Zion, and those who had already come to Babylon, who were secure,
and bade defiance to the threatenings of Jerusalem's ruin, as we
have found in Jeremiah's prophecy, and shall find in this, many
did. "Let those who said, <i>We shall have peace though we go
on,</i> know that <i>our God is a consuming fire,</i> whom they
cannot stand before." That this vision had a reference to the
destruction of Jerusalem seems plain from <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.43.3" parsed="|Ezek|43|3|0|0" passage="Eze 43:3"><i>ch.</i> xliii. 3</scripRef>, where he says that it
was <i>the vision which he saw when he came to destroy the
city,</i> that is, to prophesy the destruction of it. 3. To speak
comfort to those that feared God, and trembled at his word, and
humbled themselves under his mighty hand. "Let them know that,
though they are captives in Babylon, yet they have God nigh unto
them; though they have not <i>the place of the sanctuary</i> to be
their glorious high throne, they have the God of the sanctuary."
Dr. Lightfoot observes, "Now that the church is to be planted for a
long time in another country, the Lord shows a glory in the midst
of them, as he had done at their first constituting into a church
in the wilderness; and out of <i>a cloud and fire,</i> as he had
done there, he showed himself; and from between <i>living
creatures,</i> as from between the cherubim, he gives his oracles."
This put an honour upon them, by which they might value themselves
when the Chaldeans insulted over them, and this might encourage
their hopes of deliverance in due time.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ii-p11" shownumber="no">Now, to answer these ends, we have in
<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.4-Ezek.1.14" parsed="|Ezek|1|4|1|14" passage="Eze 1:4-14">these verses</scripRef> the first
part of the vision, which represents God as attended and served by
an innumerable company of angels, who are all his messengers, his
ministers, <i>doing his commandments</i> and <i>hearkening to the
voice of his word.</i> This denotes his grandeur, as it magnifies
an earthly prince to have a splendid retinue and numerous armies at
his command, which engages his allies to trust him and his enemies
to fear him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ii-p12" shownumber="no">I. The introduction to this vision of the
angels is very magnificent and awakening, <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.4" parsed="|Ezek|1|4|0|0" passage="Eze 1:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. The prophet, observing the
heavens to open, <i>looked,</i> looked up (as it was time), to see
what discoveries God would make to him. Note, When the heavens are
opened it concerns us to have our eyes open. To clear the way,
<i>behold, a whirlwind came out of the north,</i> which would drive
away the interposing mists of this lower region. Fair weather
<i>comes out of the north,</i> and thence <i>the wind</i> comes
that <i>drives away rain.</i> God can by a whirlwind clear the sky
and air, and produce that serenity of mind which is necessary to
our communion with Heaven. Yet this whirlwind was attended with
<i>a great cloud.</i> When we think that the clouds which arise
from this earth are dispelled and we can see beyond them, yet still
there is a cloud which heavenly things are wrapped in, a cloud from
above, so that <i>we cannot order our speech</i> concerning them
<i>by reason of darkness.</i> Christ here descended, as he
ascended, <i>in a cloud.</i> Some by this <i>whirlwind and
cloud</i> understand the Chaldean army coming <i>out of the
north</i> against the land of Judah, bearing down all before them
as a tempest; and so it agrees with that which was signified by one
of the first of Jeremiah's visions (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.14" parsed="|Jer|1|14|0|0" passage="Jer 1:14">Jer. i. 14</scripRef>, <i>Out of the north an evil shall
break forth</i>); but I take it here as an introduction rather to
the vision than to the sermons. This whirlwind came to Ezekiel (as
that to Elijah, <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.11" parsed="|1Kgs|19|11|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:11">1 Kings xix.
11</scripRef>), to <i>prepare the way of the Lord,</i> and to
demand attention. <i>He</i> that has eyes, <i>that has ears,</i>
let him see, <i>let him hear.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ii-p13" shownumber="no">II. The vision itself. <i>A great cloud</i>
was the vehicle of this vision, in which it was conveyed to the
prophet; for God's pavilion in which he rests, his chariot in which
he rides, is <i>darkness and thick clouds,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.18.11 Bible:Ps.104.3" parsed="|Ps|18|11|0|0;|Ps|104|3|0|0" passage="Ps 18:11,104:3">Ps. xviii. 11; civ. 3</scripRef>. Thus he <i>holds
back the face of his throne,</i> lest its dazzling light and lustre
should overpower us, by <i>spreading a cloud upon it.</i> Now,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ii-p14" shownumber="no">1. The cloud is accompanied with <i>a
fire,</i> as upon Mount Sinai, where God resided in a <i>thick
cloud;</i> but <i>the sight of his glory was like a devouring
fire</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.24.16-Exod.24.17" parsed="|Exod|24|16|24|17" passage="Ex 24:16,17">Exod. xxiv. 16,
17</scripRef>), and his first appearance to Moses was <i>in a flame
of fire in the bush;</i> for <i>our God is a consuming fire.</i>
This was <i>a fire enfolding itself,</i> a globe, or orb, or wheel
of fire. God being his own cause, his own rule, and his own end, if
he be as <i>a fire,</i> he is as <i>a fire enfolding itself,</i> or
(as some read it) <i>kindled by itself.</i> The fire of God's glory
shines forth, but it quickly enfolds itself; for he lets us know
but part of his ways; the fire of God's wrath breaks forth, but it
also quickly enfolds itself, for the divine patience suffers not
all his wrath to be stirred up. If it were not a fire thus
enfolding itself, <i>O Lord! who shall stand?</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ii-p15" shownumber="no">2. The fire is surrounded with a glory:
<i>A brightness was about it,</i> in which it enfolded itself, yet
it made some discovery of itself. Though we cannot see into the
fire, cannot by searching find out God to perfection, yet we see
the brightness that is round about it, the reflection of this fire
from the thick cloud. Moses might see God's back parts, but not his
face. We have some light concerning the nature of God, from the
brightness which encompasses it, though we have not an insight into
it, by reason of the cloud spread upon it. Nothing is more easy
than to determine that God is, nothing more difficult than to
describe what he is. When God displays his wrath as fire, yet there
is a brightness about it; for his holiness and justice appear very
illustrious in the punishment of sin and sinners: even about the
devouring fire there is a brightness, which glorified saints will
for ever admire.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ii-p16" shownumber="no">3. Out of this fire there shines <i>the
colour of amber.</i> We are not told who or what it was that had
this colour of amber, and therefore I take it to be the whole frame
of the following vision, which came into Ezekiel's view <i>out of
the midst of the fire and brightness;</i> and the first thing he
took notice of before he viewed the particulars was that it was
<i>of the colour of amber,</i> or <i>the eye of amber;</i> that is,
it looked as amber does to the eye, of a bright flaming fiery
colour, the colour of <i>a burning coal;</i> so some think it
should be read. The <i>living creatures</i> which he saw coming
<i>out of the midst of the fire</i> were
<i>seraphim</i>—<i>burners;</i> for <i>he maketh his angels
spirits, his ministers a flaming fire.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ii-p17" shownumber="no">4. That which comes out of the fire, of a
fiery amber colour, when it comes to be distinctly viewed, is
<i>the likeness of four living creatures;</i> not the <i>living
creatures</i> themselves (angels are spirits, and cannot be seen),
but <i>the likeness</i> of them, such a hieroglyphic, or
representation, as God saw fit to make use of for the leading of
the prophet, and us with him, into some acquaintance with the world
of angels (a matter purely of divine revelation), so far as is
requisite to possess us with an awful sense of the greatness of
that God who has angels for his attendants, and the goodness of
that God who has appointed them to be attendants on his people.
<i>The likeness of these living creatures came out of the midst of
the fire;</i> for angels derive their being and power from God;
they are in themselves, and to us, what he is pleased to make them;
their glory is a ray of his. The prophet himself explains this
vision (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.10.20" parsed="|Ezek|10|20|0|0" passage="Eze 10:20"><i>ch.</i> x. 20</scripRef>):
<i>I knew that the living creatures were the cherubim,</i> which is
one of the names by which the angels are known in scripture. To
Daniel was made known their number, <i>ten thousand times ten
thousand,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.7.10" parsed="|Dan|7|10|0|0" passage="Da 7:10">Dan. vii. 10</scripRef>.
But, though they are many, yet they are one, and that is made known
to Ezekiel here; they are one in nature and operation, as an army,
consisting of thousands, is yet called a body of men. We have here
an account of,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ii-p18" shownumber="no">(1.) Their nature. They are living
creatures; they are the creatures of God, the work of his hands;
their being is derived; they have not life in and of themselves,
but receive it from him who is <i>the fountain of life.</i> As much
as the living creatures of this lower world excel the vegetables
that are the ornaments of earth, so much do the angels, the living
creatures of the upper world, excel the sun, moon, and stars, the
ornaments of the heavens. The sun (say some) is a flame of <i>fire
enfolding itself,</i> but it is not a living creature, as angels,
those flames of fire, are. Angels are living creatures, living
beings, emphatically so. Men on earth are dying creatures, dying
daily (<i>in the midst of life we are in death</i>), but angels in
heaven are living creatures; they live indeed, live to good
purpose; and, when saints come to be <i>equal unto the angels,</i>
they shall not <i>die any more,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.20.36" parsed="|Luke|20|36|0|0" passage="Lu 20:36">Luke xx. 36</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ii-p19" shownumber="no">(2.) Their number. They are four; so they
appear here, though they are innumerable; not as if these were four
particular angels set up above the rest, as some have fondly
imagined, Michael and Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel, but for the sake
of the four faces they put on, and to intimate their being sent
forth towards <i>the four winds of heaven,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.24.31" parsed="|Matt|24|31|0|0" passage="Mt 24:31">Matt. xxiv. 31</scripRef>. Zechariah saw them as four
chariots going forth east, west, north, and south, <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.6.1" parsed="|Zech|6|1|0|0" passage="Zec 6:1">Zech. vi. 1</scripRef>. God has messengers to
send every way; for his kingdom is universal, and reaches to all
parts of the world.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ii-p20" shownumber="no">(3.) Their qualifications, by which they
are fitted for the service of their Maker and Master. These are set
forth figuratively and by similitude, as is proper in visions,
which are parables to the eye. Their description here is such, and
so expressed, that I think it is not possible by it to form an
exact idea of them in our fancies, or with the pencil, for that
would be a temptation to worship them; but the several instances of
their fitness for the work they are employed in are intended in the
several parts of this description. Note, It is the greatest honour
of God's creatures to be in a capacity of answering the end of
their creation; and the more ready we are to every good work the
nearer we approach to the dignity of angels. These living creatures
are described here, [1.] By their general appearance: <i>They had
the likeness of a man;</i> they appeared, for the main, in a human
shape, <i>First,</i> To signify that these living creatures are
reasonable creatures, intelligent beings, who have the <i>spirit of
a man</i> which is the <i>candle of the Lord. Secondly,</i> To put
an honour upon the nature of man, who is made lower, yet but <i>a
little lower, than the angels,</i> in the very next rank of beings
below them. When the invisible intelligences of the upper world
would make themselves visible, it is in <i>the likeness of man.
Thirdly,</i> To intimate that their <i>delights are with the sons
of men,</i> as their Master's are (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.8.31" parsed="|Prov|8|31|0|0" passage="Pr 8:31">Prov. viii. 31</scripRef>), that they do service to men,
and men may have spiritual communion with them by faith, hope, and
holy love. <i>Fourthly,</i> The angels of God appear in <i>the
likeness of man</i> because in <i>the fulness of time</i> the Son
of God was not only to appear in that likeness, but to assume that
nature; they therefore show this love to it. [2.] By their faces:
<i>Every one had four faces,</i> looking four several ways. In St.
John's vision, which has a near affinity with this, each of the
four living creatures has one of these faces here mentioned
(<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.4.7" parsed="|Rev|4|7|0|0" passage="Re 4:7">Rev. iv. 7</scripRef>); here each of
them has all four, to intimate that they have all the same
qualifications for service; though, perhaps, among the angels of
heaven, as among the angels of the churches, some excel in one gift
and others in another, but all for the common service. Let us
contemplate their faces till we be in some measure changed into the
same image, that we may do the will of God as the angels do it in
heaven. They <i>all four had the face of a man</i> (for in that
likeness they appeared, <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.5" parsed="|Ezek|1|5|0|0" passage="Eze 1:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>), but, besides that, they had <i>the face of a lion,
an ox,</i> and <i>an eagle,</i> each masterly in its kind, <i>the
lion</i> among <i>wild</i> beasts, <i>the ox</i> among <i>tame</i>
ones, and <i>the eagle</i> among fowls, <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.10" parsed="|Ezek|1|10|0|0" passage="Eze 1:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. Does God make use of them for
the executing of judgments upon his enemies? They are fierce and
strong as the lion and the eagle in tearing their prey. Does he
make use of them for the good of his people? They are as <i>oxen
strong for labour</i> and inclined to serve. And in both they have
<i>the understanding of a man.</i> The scattered perfections of the
living creatures on earth meet in the angels of heaven. They have
<i>the likeness of man;</i> but, because there are some things in
which man is excelled even by the inferior creatures, they are
therefore compared to some of them. They have <i>the understanding
of a man,</i> and such as far exceeds it; they also resemble man in
tenderness and humanity. But, <i>First, A lion</i> excels man in
strength and boldness, and is much more formidable; therefore the
angels, who in this resemble them, put on the <i>face of a lion.
Secondly, An ox</i> excels man in diligence, and patience, and
painstaking, and an unwearied discharge of the work he has to do;
therefore the angels, who are constantly employed in the service of
God and the church, put on <i>the face of an ox. Thirdly, An
eagle</i> excels man in quickness and piercingness of sight, and in
soaring high; and therefore the angels, who seek things above, and
see far into divine mysteries, put on <i>the face of a flying
eagle.</i> [3.] By their wings: <i>Every one had four wings,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p20.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.6" parsed="|Ezek|1|6|0|0" passage="Eze 1:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. In the vision
Isaiah had of them they appeared with six, now with four; for they
appeared above the throne, and had occasion for two to cover their
faces with. The angels are fitted with wings to fly swiftly on
God's errands; whatever business God sends them upon they lose no
time. Faith and hope are the soul's wings, upon which it soars
upward; pious and devout affections are its wings on which it is
carried forward with vigour and alacrity. The prophet observes
here, concerning their wings, <i>First,</i> That they were
<i>joined one to another,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p20.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.9" parsed="|Ezek|1|9|0|0" passage="Eze 1:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef> and again <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p20.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.11" parsed="|Ezek|1|11|0|0" passage="Eze 1:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>. They did not make use of their wings for fighting,
as some birds do; there is no contest among the angels. God makes
<i>peace,</i> perfect peace, <i>in his high places.</i> But their
wings were joined, in token of their perfect unity and unanimity
and the universal agreement there is among them. <i>Secondly,</i>
That <i>they were stretched upward,</i> extended, and ready for
use, not folded up, or flagging. Let an angel receive the least
intimation of the divine will, and he has nothing to seek, but is
upon the wings immediately; while our poor dull souls are like the
ostrich, that with much difficulty lifts up herself on high.
<i>Thirdly,</i> That two of their wings were made use of in
covering their bodies, the spiritual bodies they assumed. The
clothes that cover us are our hindrance in work; angels need no
other covering than their own wings, which are their furtherance.
They cover their bodies from us, so forbidding us needless
enquiries concerning them. Ask not after them, for they are
wonderful, <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p20.8" osisRef="Bible:Judg.13.18" parsed="|Judg|13|18|0|0" passage="Jdg 13:18">Judg. xiii. 18</scripRef>.
They cover them before God, so directing us, when we approach to
God, to see to it that we be so clothed with Christ's righteousness
<i>that the shame of our nakedness may not appear.</i> [4.] By
their feet, including their legs and thighs: They were <i>straight
feet</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p20.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.7" parsed="|Ezek|1|7|0|0" passage="Eze 1:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>); they
stood straight, and firm, and steady; no burden of service could
make their legs to bend under them. The spouse makes this part of
the description of her beloved, that <i>his legs</i> were <i>as
pillars of marble set upon sockets of fine gold</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p20.10" osisRef="Bible:Song.5.15" parsed="|Song|5|15|0|0" passage="So 5:15">Cant. v. 15</scripRef>); such are the angels'
legs. <i>The sole of their feet was like</i> that <i>of a calf's
foot,</i> which divides the hoof and is therefore clean: <i>as it
were the sole of a round foot</i> (as the Chaldee words it); they
were ready for motion any way. <i>Their feet were winged</i> (so
the LXX.); they went so swiftly that it was as if they flew. And
their very feet <i>sparkled like the colour of burnished brass;</i>
not only the faces, but the very feet, of those are beautiful whom
God sends on his errands (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p20.11" osisRef="Bible:Isa.52.7" parsed="|Isa|52|7|0|0" passage="Isa 52:7">Isa. lii.
7</scripRef>); every step the angels take is glorious. In the
vision John had of Christ it is said, <i>His feet were like unto
fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p20.12" osisRef="Bible:Rev.1.15" parsed="|Rev|1|15|0|0" passage="Re 1:15">Rev. i. 15</scripRef>. [5.] By their hands (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p20.13" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.8" parsed="|Ezek|1|8|0|0" passage="Eze 1:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): <i>They had the hands of
a man under their wings on their four sides,</i> an arm and a hand
under every wing. They had not only wings for motion, but hands for
action. Many are quick who are not active; they hurry about a great
deal, but do nothing to purpose, bring nothing to pass; they have
wings, but no hands: whereas God's servants, the angels, not only
go when he sends them and come when he calls them, but do what he
bids them. They are <i>the hands of a man,</i> which are
wonderfully made and fitted for service, which are guided by reason
and understanding; for what angles do they do intelligently and
with judgment. They have calves' feet; this denotes the swiftness
of their motion (the cedars of Lebanon are said to <i>skip like a
calf,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p20.14" osisRef="Bible:Ps.29.6" parsed="|Ps|29|6|0|0" passage="Ps 29:6">Ps. xxix. 6</scripRef>); but
they have a man's hand, which denotes the niceness and exactness of
their performances, as the heavens are said to be the work of God's
fingers. Their hands were <i>under their wings,</i> which concealed
them, as they did the rest of their bodies. Note, The agency of
angels is a secret thing and their work is carried on in an
invisible way. In working for God, though we must not, with <i>the
sluggard, hide our hand in our bosom,</i> yet we must, with the
humble, <i>not let our left hand know what our right hand
doeth.</i> We may observe that where these wings were their hands
were <i>under their wings;</i> wherever their wings carried them
they carried hands along with them, to be still doing something
suitable something that the duty of the place requires.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ii-p21" shownumber="no">(4.) Their motions. The living creatures
are moving. Angels are active beings; it is not their happiness to
sit still and do nothing, but to be always well employed; and we
must reckon ourselves then best when we are doing good, doing it as
the angels do it, or whom it is here observed, [1.] That whatever
service they went about <i>they went every one straight forward</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.9 Bible:Ezek.1.12" parsed="|Ezek|1|9|0|0;|Ezek|1|12|0|0" passage="Eze 1:9,12"><i>v.</i> 9, 12</scripRef>), which
intimates, <i>First,</i> That they sincerely aimed at the glory of
God, and had a single eye to that, in all they did. Their going
<i>straight forward</i> supposes that they looked straight forward,
and never had any sinister intentions in what they did. And, if
thus <i>our eye be single,</i> our <i>whole body will be full of
light.</i> The singleness of the eye is the sincerity of the heart.
<i>Secondly,</i> That they were intent upon the service they were
employed in, and did it with a close application of mind. They went
forward with their work; for what their hand found to do they did
<i>with all their might</i> and did not loiter in it.
<i>Thirdly,</i> That they were unanimous in it: <i>They went
straight forward,</i> every one about his own work; they did not
thwart or jostle one another, did not stand in one another's light,
in one another's way. <i>Fourthly,</i> That they perfectly
understood their business, and were thoroughly apprised of it, so
that they needed not to stand still, to pause of hesitate, but
pursue their work with readiness, as those that knew what they had
to do and how to do it. <i>Fifthly,</i> They were steady and
constant in their work. They did not fluctuate, did not tire, did
not vary, but were of a piece with themselves. They moved in a
direct line, and so went the nearest way to work in all they did
and lost no time. When we go straight we go forward; when we serve
God with one heart we rid ground, we rid work. [2.] <i>They turned
not when they went,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.9 Bible:Ezek.1.12" parsed="|Ezek|1|9|0|0;|Ezek|1|12|0|0" passage="Eze 1:9,12"><i>v.</i> 9,
12</scripRef>. <i>First,</i> They made no blunders or mistakes,
which would give them occasion to turn back to rectify them; their
work needed no correction, and therefore needed not to be gone over
again. <i>Secondly,</i> They minded no diversions; as they turned
not back, so they turned not aside, to trifle with any thing that
was foreign to their business. [3.] <i>They went whither the Spirit
was to go</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.12" parsed="|Ezek|1|12|0|0" passage="Eze 1:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>), either, <i>First, Whither</i> their own <i>spirit
was</i> disposed <i>to go;</i> thither <i>they went,</i> having no
bodies, as we have, to clog or hinder them. It is our infelicity
and daily burden that, when <i>the spirit if willing,</i> yet
<i>the flesh is weak</i> and cannot keep pace with it, so that
<i>the good which we would do we do it not;</i> but angels and
glorified saints labour under no such impotency; whatever they
incline or intend to do they do it, and never come short of it. Or,
rather, <i>Secondly,</i> Whithersoever <i>the Spirit</i> of God
would have them <i>go,</i> thither <i>they went.</i> Though they
had so much wisdom of their own, yet in all their motions and
actions they subjected themselves to the guidance and government of
the divine will. Whithersoever the divine Providence <i>was to go
they went,</i> to serve its purposes and to execute its orders. The
Spirit of God (says Mr. Greenhill) is the great agent that sets
angels to work, and it is their honour that they are led, they are
easily <i>led, by the Spirit.</i> See how tractable and obsequious
these noble creatures are. Whithersoever <i>the Spirit</i> is <i>to
go</i> they go immediately, with all possible alacrity. Note, Those
that <i>walk after the Spirit</i> do the will of God as the angels
do it. [4.] They <i>ran and returned like a flash of lightning,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p21.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.14" parsed="|Ezek|1|14|0|0" passage="Eze 1:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. This
intimates, <i>First,</i> That they made haste; they were quick in
their motions, as quick as lightning. Whatever business they went
about they despatched it immediately, in a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye. Happy they that have no bodies to retard their motion in
holy exercises. And happy shall we be when we come to have
spiritual bodies for spiritual work. Satan <i>falls like
lightning</i> into his own ruin, <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p21.5" osisRef="Bible:Luke.10.18" parsed="|Luke|10|18|0|0" passage="Lu 10:18">Luke
x. 18</scripRef>. Angels fly <i>like lightning</i> in their
Master's work. The angel Gabriel flew swiftly. <i>Secondly,</i>
That they made haste back: They <i>ran and returned;</i> ran to do
their work and execute their orders, and then returned to give an
account of what they had done and receive new instructions, that
they might be always doing. They <i>ran</i> into the lower world,
to do what was to be done there; but, when they had done it, they
<i>returned like flash of lightning</i> to the upper world again,
to the beatific vision of their God, which they could not with any
patience be longer from than their service did require. Thus we
should be in the affairs of this world as out of our element.
Though we run into them, we must not repose in them, but our souls
must quickly return like lightning to God their rest and
centre.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ii-p22" shownumber="no">5. We have an account of the light by which
the prophet saw these living creatures, or the looking-glass in
which he saw them, <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.13" parsed="|Ezek|1|13|0|0" passage="Eze 1:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>. (1.) He saw them by their own light, for <i>their
appearance was like burning coals of fire;</i> they are
<i>seraphim-burners,</i> denoting the ardour of their love to God,
their fervent zeal in his service, their splendour and brightness,
and their terror against God's enemies. When God employs them to
fight his battles they are as <i>coals of fire</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.18.12" parsed="|Ps|18|12|0|0" passage="Ps 18:12">Ps. xviii. 12</scripRef>) to <i>devour the
adversaries,</i> as lightnings shot out to discomfit them. (2.) He
saw them by the light of some <i>lamps,</i> which <i>went up and
down among</i> them, the shining whereof <i>was</i> very
<i>bright.</i> Satan's works are works of darkness; he is <i>the
ruler of the darkness of this world.</i> But the angels of light
are in the light, and, though they conceal their working, they show
their work, for it will bear the light. But we see them and their
works only by candle-light, but the dim light <i>of lamps</i> that
go <i>up and down among</i> them; when <i>the day breaks, and the
shadows flee away,</i> we shall see them clearly. Some make the
<i>appearance</i> of these <i>burning coals,</i> and of the
<i>lightning</i> that issues <i>out of the fire,</i> to signify the
wrath of God, and his judgments, that were now to be executed upon
Judah and Jerusalem for their sins, in which angels were to be
employed; and accordingly we find afterwards <i>coals of fire
scattered upon the city</i> to consume it, which were <i>fetched
from between the cherubim,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.10.2" parsed="|Ezek|10|2|0|0" passage="Eze 10:2"><i>ch.</i> x. 2</scripRef>. But by <i>the appearance of
the lamps</i> then we may understand the light of comfort which
shone forth to the people of God in the darkness of this present
trouble. If the ministry of the angels is as a consuming fire to
God's enemies, it is as a rejoicing light to his own children. To
the one this <i>fire</i> is <i>bright,</i> it is very reviving and
refreshing; to the other, <i>out of the fire</i> comes fresh
<i>lightning</i> to destroy them. Note, Good angels are our
friends, or enemies, according as God is.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.ii-p22.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.15-Ezek.1.25" parsed="|Ezek|1|15|1|25" passage="Eze 1:15-25" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.ii-p22.5">
<h4 id="Ez.ii-p22.6">The Vision of the Wheels. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.ii-p22.7">b. c.</span> 595.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.ii-p23" shownumber="no">15 Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold
one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four
faces.   16 The appearance of the wheels and their work
<i>was</i> like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one
likeness: and their appearance and their work <i>was</i> as it were
a wheel in the middle of a wheel.   17 When they went, they
went upon their four sides: <i>and</i> they turned not when they
went.   18 As for their rings, they were so high that they
were dreadful; and their rings <i>were</i> full of eyes round about
them four.   19 And when the living creatures went, the wheels
went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the
earth, the wheels were lifted up.   20 Whithersoever the
spirit was to go, they went, thither <i>was their</i> spirit to go;
and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of
the living creature <i>was</i> in the wheels.   21 When those
went, <i>these</i> went; and when those stood, <i>these</i> stood;
and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were
lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creatures
<i>was</i> in the wheels.   22 And the likeness of the
firmament upon the heads of the living creature <i>was</i> as the
colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads
above.   23 And under the firmament <i>were</i> their wings
straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which
covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that
side, their bodies.   24 And when they went, I heard the noise
of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the
Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of a host: when they
stood, they let down their wings.   25 And there was a voice
from the firmament that <i>was</i> over their heads, when they
stood, <i>and</i> had let down their wings.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ii-p24" shownumber="no">The prophet is very exact in making and
recording his observations concerning this vision. And here we
have,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ii-p25" shownumber="no">I. The notice he took of the <i>wheels,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.15-Ezek.1.21" parsed="|Ezek|1|15|1|21" passage="Eze 1:15-21"><i>v.</i> 15-21</scripRef>. The
glory of God appears not only in the splendour of his retinue in
the upper world, but in the steadiness of his government here in
this lower world. Having seen how God does according to his will in
the armies of heaven, let us now see how he does according to it
among the inhabitants of the earth; for there, <i>on the earth,</i>
the prophet saw the <i>wheels,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p25.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.15" parsed="|Ezek|1|15|0|0" passage="Eze 1:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. <i>As he beheld the living
creatures,</i> and was contemplating the glory of that vision and
receiving instruction from it, this other vision presented itself
to his view. Note, Those who make a good use of the discoveries God
has favoured them with may expect further discoveries; for <i>to
him that hath shall be given.</i> We are sometimes tempted to think
there is nothing glorious but what is in the upper world, whereas,
could we with an eye of faith discern the beauty of Providence and
the wisdom, power, and goodness, which shine in the administration
of that kingdom, we should see, and say, <i>Verily he is a God that
judgeth in the earth</i> and acts like himself. There are many
things in this vision which give us some light concerning the
divine Providence. 1. The dispensations of Providence are compared
to <i>wheels,</i> either the wheels of a chariot, in which the
conqueror rides in triumph, or rather the wheels of a clock or
watch, which all contribute to the regular motion of the machine.
We read of <i>the course</i> or <i>wheel of nature</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p25.3" osisRef="Bible:Jas.3.6" parsed="|Jas|3|6|0|0" passage="Jam 3:6">James iii. 6</scripRef>), which is here set
before us as under the direction of the God of nature.
<i>Wheels,</i> though they move not of themselves, as <i>the living
creatures</i> do, are yet made movable and are almost continually
kept in action. Providence, represented by these <i>wheels,</i>
produces changes; sometimes one spoke of the wheel is uppermost and
sometimes another; but the motion of the wheel on its own axletree,
like that of the orbs above, is very regular and steady. The motion
of the wheels is circular; by the revolutions of Providence things
are brought to the same posture and pass which they were in
formerly; for <i>the thing that is is that which has been, and
there is no new thing under the sun,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p25.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.9-Eccl.1.10" parsed="|Eccl|1|9|1|10" passage="Ec 1:9,10">Eccl. i. 9, 10</scripRef>. 2. The wheel is said to be
<i>by the living creatures,</i> who attended it to direct its
motion; for the angels are employed as the ministers of God's
providence, and have a greater hand in directing the motions of
second causes to serve the divine purpose than we think they have.
Such a close connexion is there between <i>the living creatures</i>
and the <i>wheels</i> that they moved and rested together. Were
angels busily employed? Men were busily employed as instruments in
their hand, whether of mercy or judgment, though they themselves
were not aware of it. Or, Are men active to compass their designs?
Angels at the same time are acting to control and overrule them.
This is much insisted on here (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p25.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.19" parsed="|Ezek|1|19|0|0" passage="Eze 1:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>): <i>When the living creatures
went,</i> to bring about any business, <i>the wheels went by
them;</i> when God has work to do by the ministry of angels second
causes are all found, or made, ready to concur in it; and
(<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p25.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.21" parsed="|Ezek|1|21|0|0" passage="Eze 1:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>) <i>when
those stood these stood;</i> when the angels had done their work
the second causes had done theirs. If <i>the living creatures were
lifted up from the earth,</i> were elevated to any service above
the common course of nature and out of the ordinary road (as
suppose in the working of miracles, the dividing of the water, the
standing still of the sun), <i>the wheels,</i> contrary to their
own natural tendency, which is towards the earth, move in concert
with them, and <i>are lifted up over against them;</i> this is
thrice mentioned, <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p25.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.19-Ezek.1.21" parsed="|Ezek|1|19|1|21" passage="Eze 1:19-21"><i>v.</i>
19-21</scripRef>. Note, All inferior creatures are, and move, and
act, as the Creator, by the ministration of angels, directs and
influences them. Visible effects are managed and governed by
invisible causes. The reason given of this is because <i>the spirit
of the living creatures was in the wheels;</i> the same wisdom,
power, and holiness of God, the same will and counsel of his, that
guides and governs the angels and all their performances, does, by
them, order and dispose of all the motions of the creatures in this
lower world and the events and issues of them. God is the soul of
the world, and animates the whole, both that above and that
beneath, so that they move in perfect harmony, as the upper and
lower parts of the natural body do, so that <i>whithersoever the
Spirit is to go</i> (whatever God wills and purposes to be done and
brought to pass) <i>thither their spirit is to go;</i> that is, the
angels, knowingly and designedly, set themselves to bring it about.
And <i>their spirit is in the wheels,</i> which are therefore
<i>lifted up over against them;</i> that is, both the powers of
nature and the wills of men are all made to serve the intention,
which they infallibly and irresistibly effect, though perhaps
<i>they mean not so, neither doth their heart think so,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p25.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.10.7 Bible:Mic.4.11-Mic.4.12" parsed="|Isa|10|7|0|0;|Mic|4|11|4|12" passage="Isa 10:7,Mic 4:11,12">Isa. x. 7; Mic. iv. 11,
12</scripRef>. Thus, though the will of God's precept be not
<i>done on earth as it is done in heaven,</i> yet the will of his
purpose and counsel is, and shall be. 3. The wheel is said to have
four <i>faces,</i> looking four several ways (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p25.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.15" parsed="|Ezek|1|15|0|0" passage="Eze 1:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), denoting that the providence
of God exerts itself in all parts of the world, east, west, north,
and south, and extends itself to the remotest corners of it. Look
which way you will upon the wheel of Providence, and it has a face
towards you, a beautiful one, which you may admire the features and
complexion of; it looks upon you as ready to speak to you, if you
be but ready to hear the voice of it; like a well-drawn picture, it
has an eye upon all that have an eye upon it. The wheel had so four
<i>faces</i> that it had in it four <i>wheels,</i> which <i>went
upon their four sides,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p25.10" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.17" parsed="|Ezek|1|17|0|0" passage="Eze 1:17"><i>v.</i>
17</scripRef>. At first Ezekiel saw it as <i>one wheel</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p25.11" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.15" parsed="|Ezek|1|15|0|0" passage="Eze 1:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), one sphere;
but afterwards he saw it was four, but <i>they</i> four <i>had one
likeness</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p25.12" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.16" parsed="|Ezek|1|16|0|0" passage="Eze 1:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>); not only they were like one another, but they were
as if they had been one. This intimates, (1.) That one event of
providence is like another; what happens to us is <i>that which is
common to men</i> and what we are not to think strange. (2.) That
various events have a tendency to the same issue and concur to
answer the same intention. 4. <i>Their appearance and their
work</i> are said to be <i>like the colour of a beryl</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p25.13" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.16" parsed="|Ezek|1|16|0|0" passage="Eze 1:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>), <i>the
colour of Tarshish</i> (so the word is), that is, of the sea; the
beryl is of that colour, sea-green; <i>blue Neptune</i> we call it.
The nature of things in this world is like that of the sea, which
is in a continual flux and yet there is a constant coherence and
succession of its parts. There is a chain of events which is always
drawing one way or other. The sea ebbs and flows, so does
Providence in its disposals, but always in the stated appointed
times and measures. The sea looks blue, as the air does, because of
the shortness and feebleness of our sight, which can see but a
little way of either; to that colour therefore are <i>the
appearance and work</i> of Providence fitly compared, because we
cannot find out that which God does <i>from the beginning to the
end,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p25.14" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.11" parsed="|Eccl|3|11|0|0" passage="Ec 3:11">Eccl. iii. 11</scripRef>. We
see but <i>parts of his ways</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p25.15" osisRef="Bible:Job.26.14" parsed="|Job|26|14|0|0" passage="Job 26:14">Job
xxvi. 14</scripRef>), and all beyond looks blue, which gives us to
understand no more concerning it but that in truth we know it not;
it is <i>far above out of our sight.</i> 5. <i>Their appearance and
their work</i> are likewise said to be <i>as it were a wheel in the
middle of a wheel.</i> Observe here again, Their <i>appearance</i>
to the prophet is designed to set forth what <i>their work</i>
really is. Men's appearance and their work often differ, but the
appearance of God's providence and its work agree; if they seem to
differ, it is through our ignorance and mistake. Now both <i>were
as a wheel in a wheel,</i> a less wheel moved by a greater. We
pretend not to give a mathematical description of it. The meaning
is that the disposals of Providence seem to us intricate,
perplexed, and unaccountable, and yet that they will appear in the
issue to have been all wisely ordered for the best; so that though
<i>what God does we know not now,</i> yet <i>we shall know
hereafter,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p25.16" osisRef="Bible:John.13.7" parsed="|John|13|7|0|0" passage="Joh 13:7">John xiii.
7</scripRef>. 6. The motion of these wheels, like that of the
living creatures, was steady, regular, and constant: <i>They
returned not when they went</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p25.17" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.17" parsed="|Ezek|1|17|0|0" passage="Eze 1:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>), because they never went amiss,
nor otherwise than they should do. God, in his providence, takes
his work before him, and he will have it forward; and it is going
on even when it seems to us to be going backward. <i>They went</i>
as the Spirit directed them, and therefore <i>returned not.</i> We
should not have occasion to return back as we have, and to undo
that by repentance which we have done amiss, and to do it over
again, if we were but <i>led by the Spirit</i> and followed his
direction. <i>The Spirit of life</i> (so some read it) <i>was in
the wheels,</i> which carried them on with ease and evenness, and
then <i>they returned not when they went.</i> 7. The <i>rings,</i>
or rims, <i>of the wheels were so high that they were dreadful,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p25.18" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.18" parsed="|Ezek|1|18|0|0" passage="Eze 1:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. They were of
a vast circumference, so that when they were reared, and put in
motion, the prophet was even afraid to look upon them. Note, The
vast compass of God's thought, and the vast reach of his design,
are really astonishing; when we go about to describe the circle of
Providence we are struck with amazement and are even swallowed up.
O the height and depth of God's councils! The consideration of them
should strike an awe upon us. 8. They were <i>full of eyes round
about.</i> This circumstance of the vision is most surprising of
all, and yet most significant, plainly denoting that the motions of
Providence are all directed by infinite wisdom. The issues of
things are not determined by a blind fortune, but by those <i>eyes
of the Lord</i> which <i>run to and fro through the earth,</i> and
<i>are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.</i> Note,
It is a great satisfaction to us, and ought to be so, that, though
we cannot account for the springs and tendencies of events, yet
they are all under the cognizance and direction of an all-wise
all-seeing God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ii-p26" shownumber="no">II. The notice he took of <i>the
firmament</i> above <i>over the heads of the living creatures.</i>
When he saw <i>the living creatures</i> moving, and <i>the wheels
by</i> them, he looked up, as it is proper for us to do when we
observe the various motions of providence in this lower world;
looking up, he saw <i>the firmament stretched forth over the heads
of the living creatures,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.22" parsed="|Ezek|1|22|0|0" passage="Eze 1:22"><i>v.</i>
22</scripRef>. What is done on earth is done under the heaven (as
the scripture often speaks), under its inspection and influence.
Observe, 1. What he saw: <i>The firmament was as the colour of the
terrible crystal,</i> truly glorious, but terribly so; the vastness
and brightness of it put the prophet into an amazement and struck
him with an awful reverence. <i>The terrible ice,</i> or
<i>frost</i> (so it may be read), the colour of snow congealed, or
as mountains of ice in the northern seas, which are very frightful.
Daring sinners ask, <i>Can God judge through the dark cloud?</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p26.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.22.13" parsed="|Job|22|13|0|0" passage="Job 22:13">Job xxii. 13</scripRef>. But that
which we take to be a dark cloud is to him transparent as crystal,
through which, <i>from the place of his habitation, he looks upon
all the inhabitants of the earth,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p26.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.33.14" parsed="|Ps|33|14|0|0" passage="Ps 33:14">Ps. xxxiii. 14</scripRef>. <i>Under the firmament</i> he
saw <i>the wings of the living creatures</i> erect, <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p26.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.23" parsed="|Ezek|1|23|0|0" passage="Eze 1:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>. When they pleased they
used them either for flight or for covering. God is on high,
<i>above the firmament;</i> the angels are <i>under the
firmament,</i> which denotes their subjection to God's dominion and
their readiness to fly on his errands <i>in the open firmament of
heaven,</i> and to serve him unanimously. 2. What he heard. (1.) He
heard the <i>noise of the angels' wings,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p26.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.24" parsed="|Ezek|1|24|0|0" passage="Eze 1:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>. Bees and other insects make a
great noise with the vibration of their wings; here the angels do
so, to awaken the attention of the prophet to that which God was
about to say to him from <i>the firmament,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p26.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.25" parsed="|Ezek|1|25|0|0" passage="Eze 1:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>. Angels, by the providences they
are employed in, sound God's alarms to the children of men and stir
them up to <i>hear his voice;</i> for that is it that <i>cries in
the city</i> and is heard and understood by <i>the men of wisdom.
The noise of their wings</i> was loud and terrible, <i>as the noise
of great waters</i> (like the rout or roaring of the sea), and
<i>as the noise of a host,</i> the noise of war; but it was
articulate and intelligible, and did not <i>give an uncertain
sound;</i> for it was <i>the voice of speech;</i> nay, it was <i>as
the voice of the Almighty,</i> for <i>God,</i> by his providences,
<i>speaks once, yea, twice,</i> if we could by <i>perceive it,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p26.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.14" parsed="|Job|33|14|0|0" passage="Job 33:14">Job xxxiii. 14</scripRef>. The
<i>Lord's voice cries,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p26.8" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.9" parsed="|Mic|6|9|0|0" passage="Mic 6:9">Mic. vi.
9</scripRef>. (2.) He heard a <i>voice from the firmament,</i> from
him that sits upon the throne there, <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p26.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.25" parsed="|Ezek|1|25|0|0" passage="Eze 1:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>. When the angels moved they
<i>made a noise with their wings;</i> but, when with that they had
roused a careless world, they stood still, and <i>let down their
wings,</i> that there might be a profound silence, and so God's
voice might be the better heard. The voice of Providence is
designed to open men's ears to the voice of the word, to do the
office of the crier, who with a loud voice charges silence while
the judge passes sentence. <i>He that has ears to hear, let him
hear.</i> Note, Noises on earth should awaken our attention to the
<i>voice from the firmament;</i> for <i>how shall we escape if we
turn away from him that speaks from heaven!</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.ii-p26.10" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.26-Ezek.1.28" parsed="|Ezek|1|26|1|28" passage="Eze 1:26-28" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.ii-p26.11">
<h4 id="Ez.ii-p26.12">The Vision of the Divine
Throne. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.ii-p26.13">b. c.</span> 595.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.ii-p27" shownumber="no">26 And above the firmament that <i>was</i> over
their heads <i>was</i> the likeness of a throne, as the appearance
of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne <i>was</i>
the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.   27
And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round
about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and
from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were
the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.  
28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of
rain, so <i>was</i> the appearance of the brightness round about.
This <i>was</i> the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.ii-p27.1">Lord</span>. And when I saw <i>it,</i> I
fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ii-p28" shownumber="no">All the other parts of this vision were but
a preface and introduction to this. God in them had made himself
known as Lord of angels and supreme director of all the affairs of
this lower world, whence it is easy to infer that whatever God by
his prophets either promises or threatens to do he is able to
effect it. Angels are his servants; men are his tools. But now that
a divine revelation is to be given to a prophet, and by him to the
church, we must look higher than the living creatures or the
wheels, and must expect that from the eternal Word, of whom we have
an account in these verses. Ezekiel, hearing a voice from the
firmament, looked up, as John did, to <i>see the voice that spoke
with him,</i> and he <i>saw one like unto the Son of man,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p28.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.1.12-Rev.1.13" parsed="|Rev|1|12|1|13" passage="Re 1:12,13">Rev. i. 12, 13</scripRef>. The
second person sometimes tried the <i>fashion of a man</i>
occasionally before he clothed himself with it for good and all;
and the Spirit of prophecy is called the <i>Spirit of Christ</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p28.2" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.1.11" parsed="|1Pet|1|11|0|0" passage="1Pe 1:11">1 Pet. i. 11</scripRef>) and the
<i>testimony of Jesus,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p28.3" osisRef="Bible:Rev.19.10" parsed="|Rev|19|10|0|0" passage="Re 19:10">Rev. xix.
10</scripRef>. 1. This glory of Christ that the prophet saw <i>was
above the firmament</i> that was <i>over the heads</i> of the
living creatures, <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p28.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.26" parsed="|Ezek|1|26|0|0" passage="Eze 1:26"><i>v.</i>
26</scripRef>. Note, The heads of angels themselves are under the
feet of the Lord Jesus; for the firmament that is over their heads
is under his feet. <i>Angels, principalities, and powers are made
subject to him,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p28.5" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.3.22" parsed="|1Pet|3|22|0|0" passage="1Pe 3:22">1 Pet. iii.
22</scripRef>. This dignity and dominion of the Redeemer before his
incarnation magnify his condescension in his incarnation, when he
was <i>made a little lower than the angels,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p28.6" osisRef="Bible:Heb.2.9" parsed="|Heb|2|9|0|0" passage="Heb 2:9">Heb. ii. 9</scripRef>. 2. The first thing he observed was
a <i>throne;</i> for divine revelation comes backed and supported
with a royal authority. We must have an eye of faith to God and
Christ as upon a throne. The first thing that John discovered in
his visions was <i>a throne set in heaven</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p28.7" osisRef="Bible:Rev.4.2" parsed="|Rev|4|2|0|0" passage="Re 4:2">Rev. iv. 2</scripRef>), which commands reverence and
subjection. It is a throne of glory, a throne of grace, a throne of
triumph, a throne of government, a throne of judgment. <i>The Lord
has prepared his throne in the heavens,</i> has prepared it for his
Son, whom he has set <i>King on his holy hill of Zion.</i> 3. On
the throne he saw <i>the appearance of a man.</i> This is good news
to the children of men, that the throne above the firmament is
filled with one that is not ashamed to appear, even there, in the
likeness of man. Daniel, in vision, saw the kingdom and dominion
given to one <i>like the Son of man,</i> who <i>therefore</i> has
<i>authority given him to execute judgment because he is the Son of
man</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p28.8" osisRef="Bible:John.5.27" parsed="|John|5|27|0|0" passage="Joh 5:27">John v. 27</scripRef>), so
appearing in these visions. 4. He saw him as a prince and judge
upon this throne. Though he appeared <i>in fashion as a man,</i>
yet he appeared in more than human glory, <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p28.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.27" parsed="|Ezek|1|27|0|0" passage="Eze 1:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>. (1.) Is God a <i>shining
light?</i> So is he: when the prophet saw him he saw <i>as the
colour of amber,</i> that is, a <i>brightness round about;</i> for
God dwells in light, and <i>covers himself with light as with a
garment.</i> How low did the Redeemer stoop for us when, to bring
about our salvation, he suffered his glory to be eclipsed by the
veil of his humanity! (2.) Is God a <i>consuming fire?</i> So is
he: from his loins, both upward and downward, there was the
<i>appearance of fire.</i> The fire above the loins was <i>round
about within the amber;</i> it was inward and involved. That below
the loins was more outward and open, and yet that also had
<i>brightness round about.</i> Some make the former to signify
Christ's divine nature, the glory and virtue of which are hidden
within the <i>colour of amber;</i> it is what no man has seen nor
can see. The latter they suppose to be his human nature, the glory
of which there were those who saw; the glory as of <i>the only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p28.10" osisRef="Bible:John.1.14" parsed="|John|1|14|0|0" passage="Joh 1:14">John i. 14</scripRef>. He had <i>rays coming out
of his hand, and yet there was the hiding of his power,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.ii-p28.11" osisRef="Bible:Hab.3.4" parsed="|Hab|3|4|0|0" passage="Hab 3:4">Hab. iii. 4</scripRef>. The fire in
which the Son of man appeared here might be intended to signify the
judgments that were ready to be executed upon Judah and Jerusalem,
coming form that <i>fiery indignation</i> of the Almighty which
<i>devours the adversaries.</i> Nothing is more dreadful to the
most daring sinners than <i>the wrath of him that sits upon the
throne, and of the Lamb,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p28.12" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6.16" parsed="|Rev|6|16|0|0" passage="Re 6:16">Rev. vi.
16</scripRef>. The day is coming when <i>the Lord Jesus shall be
revealed in flaming fire,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p28.13" osisRef="Bible:2Thess.1.7-2Thess.1.8" parsed="|2Thess|1|7|1|8" passage="2Th 1:7,8">2
Thess. i. 7, 8</scripRef>. It concerns us therefore <i>to kiss the
Son lest he be angry.</i> 5. The throne is surrounded with a
rainbow, <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p28.14" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.28" parsed="|Ezek|1|28|0|0" passage="Eze 1:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>. It
is so in St. John's vision, <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p28.15" osisRef="Bible:Rev.4.3" parsed="|Rev|4|3|0|0" passage="Re 4:3">Rev. iv.
3</scripRef>. The brightness about it was of divers colours, <i>as
the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain,</i> which, as it
is a display of majesty, and looks very great, so it is a pledge of
mercy, and looks very kind; for it is a confirmation of that
gracious promise God has made that he will not drown the world
again, and he has said, <i>I will look upon the bow and remember
the covenant,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p28.16" osisRef="Bible:Gen.9.16" parsed="|Gen|9|16|0|0" passage="Ge 9:16">Gen. ix.
16</scripRef>. This intimates that he who <i>sits upon the
throne</i> is the <i>Mediator of the covenant,</i> that his
dominion is for our protection, not our destruction, that he
interposes between us and the judgments our sins have deserved, and
that <i>all the promises of God are in him yea and amen.</i> Now
that the fire of God's wrath was breaking out against Jerusalem
bounds should be set to it, and he would not make an utter
destruction of it, for he would <i>look upon the bow and remember
the covenant,</i> as he promised in such a case, <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p28.17" osisRef="Bible:Lev.26.42" parsed="|Lev|26|42|0|0" passage="Le 26:42">Lev. xxvi. 42</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ii-p29" shownumber="no"><i>Lastly,</i> We have the conclusion of
this vision. Observe, 1. What notion the prophet himself had of it:
<i>This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the
Lord.</i> Here, as all along, he is careful to guard against all
gross corporeal thoughts of God, which might derogate from the
transcendent purity of his nature. He does not say, <i>This was the
Lord</i> (for he is invisible), but, <i>This was the glory of the
Lord,</i> in which he was pleased to manifest himself a glorious
being; yet it is not <i>the glory of the Lord,</i> but <i>the
likeness of that glory,</i> some faint resemblance of it; nor is it
any adequate likeness of that glory, but only <i>the appearance of
that likeness,</i> a shadow of it, and not the very <i>image of the
thing,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ii-p29.1" osisRef="Bible:Heb.10.1" parsed="|Heb|10|1|0|0" passage="Heb 10:1">Heb. x. 1</scripRef>. 2.
What impressions it made upon him: <i>When I saw it, I fell upon my
face.</i> (1.) He was overpowered by it; the dazzling lustre of it
conquered him and threw him upon his face; for <i>who is able to
stand before this holy Lord God?</i> Or, rather, (2.) He prostrated
himself in a humble sense of his own unworthiness of the honour now
done him, and of the infinite distance which he now, more than
ever, perceived to be between him and God; he fell upon his face in
token of that holy awe and reverence of God with which his mind was
possessed and filled. Note, The more God is pleased to make known
of himself to us the more low we should be before him. He <i>fell
upon his face</i> to adore the majesty of God, to implore his mercy
and to deprecate the wrath he saw ready to break out against the
children of his people. 3. What instructions he had from it. All he
saw was only to prepare him for that which he was to hear; for
<i>faith comes by hearing.</i> He therefore <i>heard a voice of one
that spoke;</i> for we are taught by words, not merely by
hieroglyphics. When <i>he fell on his face,</i> ready to received
the word, then he <i>heard the voice of one that spoke;</i> for God
delights to teach the humble.</p>
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