Ezekiel 1:21

Ezekiel 1:21 says, When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.  To me, this means that the Holy Spirit was with the living creatures at all times and that their spirit rested in His spirit.  As followers of Christ, wherever we are, the Holy Spirit is with us and we are lifted up above the cares and concerns of this world as we become a part of God’s kingdom and are guided by His principles and not by our own.   

Verse twenty-two adds, And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.  Ezekiel saw the heavens above as a beautiful crystal that was also somewhat terrifying. When we look up to the heavens, or to God Who dwells there, it should be a beautiful sight and yet somewhat terrifying because we recognize our own unworthiness to enter into God’s kingdom.  It is only by accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord that we are made worthy. 

Verse twenty-three continues, And under the firmament were 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.  The living creatures were under the firmament, or under God’s authority or direction.  Their wings could be used to either cover themselves or to take flight as God directed them.  As Christians, we are under the authority of God and should be ready to move as He directs us, but we cannot cover our sins.  Only the blood of Jesus Christ can do that, and we simply have to place ourselves under His purifying blood.   

Verse twenty-four states, 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 an host: when they stood, they let down their wings.  Ezekiel said that when the living beings moved that the sound of their wings was like great waters moving.  Matthew Henry said this noise was to get the attention of Ezekial, and then he heard the Voice, not of the living creatures, but the Voice of the Almighty.  It may not be by the sound of angel wings, but God will get our attention before He speaks to us. We just have to recognize His voice when he does.   

Verse twenty-five adds, And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings.  Ezekiel makes it clear that the Voice that the living creatures heard was from above them, out of the heavens, and they let down their wings in submission, I believe.  This would also eliminate the noise and make it easier for them to hear.  Sometimes, we need to just shut out the noise of the world and listen to the Voice of God.   

 

Ezekiel 1:15

Ezekiel 1:15 says, Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces.  Ezekiel now has a second vision concerning the things on the earth as opposed to heavenly things that he had been seeing, according to Matthew Henry.  We need to understand that even with all the trouble in the world, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are already living our everlasting life as a part of God’s family.   

Verse sixteen adds, The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.  Ezekiel said that the wheels and the work of the four living creatures were as though they were one.  Matthew Henry says that those who make good use of the discoveries of God will be blessed to make other discoveries about Him.  He also said that we often think of glorious things as existing only in the upper world, or heaven, but that glorious things exist in the lower world, or the earth.  Of course, we must establish a spiritual relationship with God by putting our faith in Jesus Christ in order to see this.   

Verse seventeen continues, When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went.  Wheels, unlike the living creatures, do not move on their own but must be moved by some outside force.  As Christians, we do not move spiritually on our own, but must be moved by an outside force, the Holy Spirit.  We might say that He isn’t an outside force if He dwells in us, but He is still outside of our spiritual self.  Wheels are also made to be moved and are steady in bearing their load.  We as Christians should be ready to move as the Holy Spirit directs us, and we should be willing to bear any burden that our faith puts on us.  Like the four living creatures and the wheels moved together and didn’t turn away from the direction they were moving in, we as Christians must work together and should not turn away from the way that God leads us.   

Verse eighteen states, As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four.  Ezekiel then stated that the rings of the wheels had eyes that were up so high that they were dreadful.   Ezekiel was even afraid to look at the wheel because it was so large.  Matthew Henry says this represents God being able to look everywhere at once and our limited ability to understand His greatness.   

Verse nineteen adds, 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.  Ezekiel said that when the living creatures went somewhere that the wheels went with them and when they were lifted up from the earth, so were the wheels.  I believe this would represent the fact that God sees everything that the living creatures, or angels, do, and He sees everything that we do as well.  Matthew Henry says the wheels represent secondary causes of the work of the living creatures, but this would put them in charge of what was seen, I believe, so I am not sure I agree with him on this point.   

Verse twenty continues, Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.  This verse seems to state that the Spirit, and I interpret this to refer to the Holy Spirit, lifted up the spirit of the living creatures, and it is added that the spirit of the living creature was in the wheel.   My understanding of this would be that we are to be directed by God’s Holy Spirit, which goes with us whenever we go and sees all the obstacles that might be in the way of our accomplishing His will.   

Ezekiel 1:26 says, And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.  Matthew Henry says that all the things that Ezekiel saw before this was to point him to seeing God on His glorious throne.  God will do all that he can to get us to acknowledge Him and accept His gift of salvation, but everything that He does to do so becomes unimportant once we hear Him and acknowledge Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.  How we come to accept Him is unimportant, but the fact that we do makes all the difference.  Ezekiel also saw the likeness of the appearance of a man on the throne.  This would be a reference to Jesus Christ, Who even in heaven is unashamed to identify with mankind, though without sin. 

Verse twenty-seven adds, 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.  Though the One on the throne had the appearance of a man, He was so much more.  He was the Light of the world, Who appeared as a bright fire.  We know that our works will be tried by fire, even after we accept the Light of Christ into our life.   

Verse twenty-eight continues, As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.  Ezekiel said the appearence of the brightness all around was like a rainbow after the rain.  It brings beauty where before there had only bee gloom, and when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, He will bring a spiritual beauty where before there had only been darkness.  Ezekiel said he then fell on his face and heard the Voice of the One Who spoke, or the Voice of God speaking to Him.  No matter how bad or how glorious things around us may be, the important thing is that we hear the voice of God when He speaks to us.