A Fresh Vision of God (Ezekiel 1–3)

Fear has a way of sounding timeless. A line from 1857 calls it a gloomy moment in history, and that mood could describe our feeds today—yet Ezekiel meets that same anxiety on the banks of the Kebar Canal with a vision that reframes everything. We follow the story from Babylon’s invasions through the lives of Daniel and Jeremiah to a young priest turning thirty, interrupted by a whirlwind, living creatures, wheels full of eyes, and a throne that moves with purpose.

We unpack what Ezekiel actually saw and why it matters: cherubim as guardians of divine presence, a chariot-throne able to surge any direction without turning, and a human-like figure robed in fire and ringed with a rainbow of promise. The language strains because glory is hard to contain, but the takeaway is clear—God’s sovereignty is not static, and his attention is total. That vision sets the stage for Ezekiel’s hard assignment. Called “son of man” to stress his need, he’s given a scroll filled with lament and woe, told to eat it, and finds it sweet as honey. Truth can confront and still be sweet when it’s God’s. From there, the watchman mandate lands: warn faithfully, release the outcomes.

Along the way, we connect the exile timeline, the overlap between Jeremiah’s warnings in Judah and Ezekiel’s ministry in Babylon, and the courage that flows when worship comes first. If you’ve felt undercut by uncertainty, this journey offers a way forward: see the King before you speak, taste the message before you teach, and remember that the throne still moves. We close with a charge to serve under the soon-coming King of kings and Lord of lords with grounded hope rather than brittle optimism.

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Transcript

Gloom Then And Now

SPEAKER_00 0:54

An article appeared in Harper's Weekly Magazine way back in 1857. Frankly, you'd think it was written yesterday. It said this It is a gloomy moment in history. Not for many years has there been so much apprehension. Never has the future seemed so uncertain. Well, little did this author know that four years later the American Civil War would break out, or that fifty-seven years later World War I would begin. Let me tell you, beloved, every generation can claim that statement for themselves. Never has the future seemed so uncertain. That'll never change until the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, brings his kingdom to earth. Well, today we begin our wisdom journey through the book of Ezekiel at a time when the same description of life is undoubtedly being expressed by the Jewish exiles who've been taken into captivity in Babylon. This is indeed a gloomy moment in their history filled with apprehension. The fall of Jerusalem, which Jeremiah witnessed firsthand, that took place in 586 B.C. The Babylonians had already invaded Judah 19 years earlier in 605 B.C., and they had taken young men back to Babylon to put them through the university system to prepare them for top-level positions in that empire. One of those young men was Daniel, who eventually became the prime minister of Babylon. Well, in 597 BC, just a few years after Daniel was deported, the Babylonian army returned to the land of Israel to put down a rebellion, and they took more people captive, and this time one of those captives was a young priest by the name of Ezekiel. There's no doubt in my mind that Ezekiel and Daniel would have known each other. I wouldn't be surprised if they compared notes as they wrote their prophecies about the future of planet Earth. Now the prophet Jeremiah's ministry had taken place in the land of Israel. But Ezekiel's ministry is going to take place in the land of Babylon. Their messages are going to be similar. In fact, Ezekiel would have been a little boy when Jeremiah began preaching in Jerusalem. He knew the messages of judgment. He probably heard Jeremiah preach about a future restoration. But now as Ezekiel arrives in Babylon, what the exiles need are those messages. But let me tell you, the people of God here in Babylon also need more than those messages. I think of the famous poet Alfred Lord Tennyson, who lived during that same time. Harper's weekly magazine called it a day of gloom and uncertainty. In fact, as Tennyson neared his death, someone asked him, Is there anything that you need? And his answer was yes, I need a fresh vision of God. Well, quite frankly, beloved, that's exactly what we need today, and that's what the people here in Ezekiel's day needed. Now the opening verses here in Ezekiel chapter 1 set the context for the entire book of prophecy. Ezekiel is a priest. He's living with other exiles of Judah along the Kebar Canal, that's south of the city of Babylon. The mention here of the 30th year in the opening verse more than likely refers to Ezekiel's age. In other words, he's now reached the age when a priest can officially begin his ministry, as we're told in Numbers chapter 4, verses 1 to 3. Priests were highly respected and revered among the people. Now, that was not the case with the prophets of God, even the true prophets of God. They were categorically despised, they were disliked, they were usually ignored. Ezekiel the priest is about to be called by God to a new and very difficult ministry because he's also going to become a prophet. Now, maybe you can identify with Ezekiel. Maybe you've been called by God to a tough assignment. You're underappreciated, you're undervalued, maybe you're underpaid. You and Ezekiel are going to have a lot to talk about one day. Now, here in the fifth year of his exile, Ezekiel receives this fresh vision of God. Verse 3 tells us The word of the Lord came to Ezekiel, the priest, and the hand of the Lord was upon him there. Now, this vision that is described for us throughout the rest of chapter 1, I've got to tell you it's really strange, to say the least. It begins here in verse 4 with a hurricane wind coming from the north, and inside this great wind appear four creatures. Ezekiel writes here in verse 5, and this was their appearance. They had a human likeness, but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. Down here in verse 10 we're told that the four faces are those of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle, and each face is facing a different direction. Now, a lot of Bible scholars have weighed in on what these characteristics symbolize, but they frankly don't fully agree, and I'm not going to settle the argument today. But what we do know is that over here in chapter 10, we're given this answer in verse 15, where Ezekiel writes, the cherubim mounted up. These were the living creatures that I saw by the Kebar canal. Well, cherubim are a special class of holy angels created by God. Cherubim is the plural form of cherub. And let me tell you, a cherub isn't exactly, you know, that fat little baby flying around shooting people with his little bow and arrow. Cherubim are the mightiest of God's created angelic order. Satan himself was created the highest ranking angel among all the cherubim. He originally stood closest to the glory of God. In fact, when when cherubim appear in Scripture, they seem to be associated with the presence of God and the glory of God. And that's what's being emphasized here. Now, back in chapter one, Ezekiel describes four wheels here in verse 15, one wheel for each of the four cherubim. Each wheel has a second wheel inserted at a right angle, and this allows the wheels to move quickly in any direction. Verse 18 tells us, even more strangely, the rims of all four wheels were full of eyes all around. This entire contraption is what Charles Feinberg called a supernatural chariot. Upon these wheels we're told there is the likeness of a throne, verse 26. And seated on the throne is a likeness with a human appearance. Now Ezekiel describes this figure surrounded by brilliant light and a beautiful rainbow. So what's Ezekiel seeing? Well, I believe he's having a hard time describing the indescribable. Namely, he's being given a vision of the Lord in his glory seated upon his throne. Theologians call this a Christophany. This is a pre-incarnate appearance of the Son of God. And Ezekiel's response, by the way, is exactly what ours would be if we saw the same thing. Verse 28, and when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking. Well, God is now going to tell Ezekiel what he's got to do, and that's chapter two now, and verse three. Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendants also are impudent and stubborn. Now you'll notice here that God addresses Ezekiel as he does throughout this book as a son of man. This term is going to take on messianic meaning in Daniel's prophecy, and Jesus will use it in reference to himself, will call himself the son of man. But here in Ezekiel's prophecy, this phrase simply emphasizes Ezekiel's human weakness. He is a son of man or a son of mankind. And for Ezekiel, this is going to be a reference or a reminder of his need to depend upon the Lord. Well, with that, the Lord issues a rather strange command to him here. Ezekiel's given a scroll that verse 10, here in chapter 2, says is filled with words of lamentation and mourning and woe. Then here in chapter 3 and verse 1, God tells Ezekiel to eat the scroll. And when he eats it, he finds it sweet as honey. Now the symbolism here is that by eating the scroll, Ezekiel is accepting the message of God. In fact, God tells Ezekiel here in verse 17 that he is now a watchman for the house of Israel. Now, what that means is he's not responsible for how they respond, but he is responsible to warn them with the word of God. And to this day, beloved, we are to deliver the word of God to our world. Whether people choose to listen or not, well, that's not our responsibility, but we need to be faithful watchmen. Let's make sure we're tasting the honey of God's word. Then let's remember this vision of God in his glorious splendor as we serve him. We are serving our soon-coming, resplendent, glorious King of kings and Lord of Lords. Well, with that, we're going to have to stop here for now. Until our next wisdom journey, beloved, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.