Ezekiel 1:24

When they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a tumult like the noise of an army; and when they stood still, they let down their wings.

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Ezekiel 1:23

And under the firmament their wings spread out straight, one toward another. Each one had two which covered one side, and each one had two which covered the other side of the body.

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Ezekiel 1:22

The likeness of the firmament above the heads of the living creatures was like the color of an awesome crystal, stretched out over their heads.

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Ezekiel 1:21

Ezekiel did not choose to see "visions of God"; God took the initiative:"...prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Pet. 1:21)

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Ezekiel 1:21

Living Creature:

When those went, these went; when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up together with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels....

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Ezekiel 1:20

Wherever the spirit wished to go, there the wheels went, and they were raised together with the living creatures; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

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Ezekiel 1:19

When the living creatures moved, the wheels moved with them; and when the living creatures were raised from the ground, the wheels also were raised.

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Ezekiel 1:18

The four of them had rims, and I saw that their rims were full of eyes all around.

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Ezekiel 1:17

When they moved, they went toward any one of four directions; they did not turn aside when they went.

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Ezekiel 1:16

The appearance of the wheels and their workings was like the color of beryl, and all four had the same likeness. The appearance of their workings was, as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel.

 

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Ezekiel 1:15

Now as I looked at the living creatures, behold, a wheel was on the earth beside each living creature with its four faces.

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Ezekiel 1:14

And the living creatures ran back and forth, in appearance like a flash of lightning.

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Ezekiel 1:13

As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and out of the fire went lightning.

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Ezekiel 1:12

And each one went straight forward; they went wherever the spirit wanted to go, and they did not turn when they went.

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Ezelkiel 1:11

Thus were their faces. Their wings stretched upward; two wings of each one touched one another, and two covered their bodies.

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Ezekiel 1:10

As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four had the face of an eagle.

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Ezekiel 1:9

Their wings touched one another. The creatures did not turn when they went, but each one went straight forward.

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Ezekiel 1:8

[[posterous-content:pid___0]]The hands of a man were under their wings on their four sides: and each of the four had faces and wings.

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Ezekiel 1:7

Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of calves' feet. They sparkled like the color of burnished bronze.

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Ezeziel 1:6

Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings.

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Ezekiel 1:5

Also from within it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man.

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Ezekiel 1:4

As I looked, a stormwind came from the North, a huge cloud with flashing fire [enveloped in brightness], from the midst of which [the midst of the fire] something gleamed like electrum.

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Ezekiel 1:3

the word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was upon him there.

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Ezekiel 1:2

On the fifth day of the month, which was in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity.

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Ezekiel 1:1

Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the River Chebar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God . . . Ezekiel did not choose to see "visions of God", God took the initiative." . . .prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." (2Pet. 1:21)

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The Chariot vision of Ezekiel.....

The mysterious whir of the mighty wings was followed by an equally mysterious silence. The wings dropped. The chariots stopped. Above the heads of the creatures was a crystal floor on which rested a sapphire throne, and on the throne Almighty God Himself, a figure of supernatural brilliance and glory. The terror of divine majesty was softened by the sight of a lovely rainbow around the throne. Little wonder that when Ezekiel saw this vision he fell prostrate. The vision was to destroy all self-confidence that the prophet might have.

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The Book of Ezekiel

Ezekiel's complex character makes him one of the most interesting figures in Israelite prophecy. In many ways he resembles the more primitive type of prophet represented by Elijah and Elisha; yet he clearly depends on all his predecessors in prophecy, and his teaching is a development of theirs. His unique contribution to the history of prophetism lies in his manifest interest in the temple and the liturgy, an interest paralleled in no other prophet---not even Jeremiah who, like Ezekiel, was also a priest. Particularyly because of this interest, Ezekiel's influence on postexilic religion was enormous, and not without reason has he been called "the father of Judaism." This has resulted in his prophecies reaching us with the evident marks of editing and addition by the postexilic circles that shared his intense interest. However, we may be sure that in this book we have throughout what is in substance the prophet's own work.

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Catholicism

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The Text of Ezekiel

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In the New Testament, the Gospels do not quote any text from Ezekiel. Matthew 13, 32 refers to Ezekiel 17,23; Matthew 25, 35 to Ezekiel 18, 17, and there are a few more allusions. The most obvious debt is the portrayal of Jesus as the Good Shepherd (Mt 18, 12-14; Jn 10, 1-18), which comes from Ezekiel 34. First Peter 3, 9 harks back to Ezekiel 18, 23 and 33, 11. The New Testament book that makes constant reference to Ezekiel is Revelation (Apocalypse), usually in brief snatches and allusions. A few examples: Revelation 4, 1-8 develops the throne vision of Ezekiel 1; and Revelation 5,1;10,1-4,8-11 pick up the image of the eating of the scroll from Ezekiel 2, 8-9; Revelation 17, 1-6, 15-18 use the figure of the prostitute (Ez 16 and 23) to condemn Babylon; Revelation 19 and 20 derive the image of God from Ezekiel  38, 19; and Revelation 11, 21-22 are built on the vision of the new temple-city in Ezekiel 40--48. Revelation 7, 1-4 is linked to Ezekiel 7,2 and 9, 4-6;Revelation 21, 15-16 uses Ezekiel 40, 3-5. Among the Apostolic Fathers, Ezekiel is the least cited of the prophets; in one count he is cited nine times in contrast to Isaiah, who is cited fifty-four times.

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The Text of Ezekiel

In rabbinic literature, Ezekiel became a favorite of unorthodox forms of Judaism and thus was regarded with some caution by the rabbis. Four aspects of Ezkiel's prophecy were singled out. First, the divine chariot revelation in chaper 1 became the basis of Jewish mysticism and also of heretical speculation of various kinds. The mysticism is sometimes referred to as "merkabvah (chariot) mysticism." Second, the rabbis feared that Ezekiel's severe denunciations of Israel in the first part of the book could be used by Christians in an anti-Jewish way and so were unacceptable. Third, the resurrection of the dry bones in 37, 1-14 was a favorite of sectarian groups and hence was played down by the rabbis. Fourth, Ezeliel's vision of the future temple and his laws seemed to contradict the Pentateuchal instructions and nearly led to the exclusion of the book from the canon.

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The Text of Ezekiel

Oral proclamation can change greatly when written down, because the writer or disciple now has a new and quite significance, for it helps readers to interpret the prophet's proclamation for a different situation. The editing and arranging of Ezekiel was done with such care and intelligence that is is a further step in the prophetic task of interpretation and exhortation. Thus, the additions to the book of Ezekiel do not obscure his prupose but make it available to readers. Israel never regarded the prophetic books primarily as biographies or histories. Rather, the bvooks were and are still regarded as preaching the divine word to every generation.

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The Text of Ezekiel

The older position, which is still the majority position today, believes that that additions and expansions were added to the text in course of copying it. Many expansions could have been made by Ezekiel himself, who apparently realized early on that the prophetic book itself could carry on his god-given task of instructing Israel.

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The Text of Ezekiel

Scholars are divided on how to explain the longer Hebrew text and the apparent doublets, repetitions, and expansions, many of which are in the Greek text as well as the Hebrew. A few scholars defend the position that Ezekiel is the author of virtually the entire book and so attribute the repetitions and expansions to the prophet's rhetorical style.

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The Text of Ezekiel

The Hebrew text is a later form of that text, which has been supplemented by systematic additions, some of which resemble language and concepts in Deuteronomy. The additions are mostly minor: additions of parallel words or phrases, explanations, filling out of the context, harmonizing additions, and Deuteronomistic formulations. The textual situation is much like that in Jeremiah, where the Greek text is 15 percent shorter than the Hebrew, and is an earlier version of the text.

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The Theology of the Book

It is his vision of the process of judgment that Ezekiel makes his greatest contribution to the Christian Bible. In the confusing and destructive events of the early sixth century. Ezekiel recognized the judgment of the Lord. He allowed the Lord to act in justice and compassion and do a new thing---bring about a restored people living peacefully and happily with God at the center. Without panic, steadily and insistently, he instructed the people how to live in the judgment process. He showed them its immediate goal (33-37) and its ultimate goal (40-48). They thus could endure, trust in God alone, and hope in the world that God would bring in.

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