Ezekiel 1:1-28

1:1-2 | The thirtieth year may refer to Ezekiel’s age when he began his prophetic career; by law, he would have begun his priestly duties at age 30 (Num. 4:3, 23). The awe-inspiring visions of God and His staggering glory, given at the beginning of Ezekiel’s call, were something the prophet would need as he carried out his very difficult assignment. This first vision occurred in 593 BC.

1:1 | The River Cherbar was a canal that flowed southeast from the city of Babylon, big enough for boats to navigate.

1:3 | The phrases the word of the LORD came expressly to Ezekiel and the hand of the LORD was upon him mark him as a true prophet of God (3:14, 22; 1 Kgs. 18:46). The false prophets of his day delivered more pleasant and palatable messages of their own devices (13:3-16).

1:4-28 | Ezekiel repeatedly uses words such as appearance and likeness to describe his extraordinary visions and to re-create a portion of the awe he felt as he witnessed them.

1:5-14 | While this particular image was unique to this vision, images of creatures that were a composite of human and animal features would have been generally familiar to Ezekiel, as ancient Near Eastern art shows such creatures bearing a royal throne or holding up the sky. The Lord often accommodated His self-revelation to the cultural situation so that He could communicate effectively to His people.

1:15-21 | The wheels represent the unstoppable movement of God’s judgment.

1:28 | The chief point to be gained from Ezekiel’s extraordinary vision is the majesty and utter holiness of God. Much of the Book of Ezekiel focuses on the certain judgment of a holy God on His unrepentant people. As the spokesperson for this holy God, Ezekiel needed to be fully cognizant of the Lord’s infinitely just nature.