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May 15, 2012
Mark Dever, Senior Pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., takes us behind the scenes of Scripture with Ezekiel as he receives his first vision in Ezekiel 1. Dever explains that preaching is firmly rooted not in a first-century cultural expression but rather in the fact that we serve a God who speaks to us. Drawing five observations about God from Ezekiel’s vision, Dever presents a magnificent image of who God, the one who speaks to us, truly is.
1aIn the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by bthe Chebar canal, cthe heavens were opened, and I saw dvisions of God.1 2On the fifth day of the month (it was ethe fifth year of fthe exile of King Jehoiachin), 3the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel gthe priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by bthe Chebar canal, and hthe hand of the Lord was upon him there.
4As I looked, behold, ia stormy wind came jout of the north, and a great cloud, with kbrightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, las it were gleaming metal.2 5And from the midst of it came the likeness of mfour living creatures. nAnd this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, 6obut each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. 7Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf's foot. And they sparkled plike burnished bronze. 8Under their wings qon their four sides rthey had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: 9their wings touched one another. sEach one of them went straight forward, qwithout turning as they went. 10As for the likeness of their faces, teach had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle. 11Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while utwo covered their bodies. 12sAnd each went straight forward. vWherever the spirit3 would go, they went, without turning as they went. 13As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was wlike burning coals of fire, wlike the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures. xAnd the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. 14And the living creatures ydarted to and fro, zlike the appearance of a flash of lightning.
15aNow as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them.4 16aAs for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like bthe gleaming of beryl. cAnd the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. 17dWhen they went, they went ein any of their four directions5 fwithout turning as they went. 18And their rims were tall and awesome, gand the rims of all four were full of eyes all around. 19hAnd when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; iand when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. 20jWherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them, jfor the spirit of the living creatures6 was in the wheels. 21hWhen those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; iand when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, jfor the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
22Over the heads of the living creatures there was kthe likeness of an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring lcrystal, spread out above their heads. 23And under the expanse their wings were mstretched out straight, one toward another. nAnd each creature had two wings covering its body. 24And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings olike the sound of many waters, like pthe sound of the qAlmighty, a sound of tumult rlike the sound of an army. When they stood still, they let down their wings. 25And there came a voice from above sthe expanse over their heads. When they stood still, they let down their wings.
26And above the expanse over their heads there was tthe likeness of a throne, tin appearance ulike sapphire;7 and seated above the likeness of a throne was va likeness with a human appearance. 27And wupward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were xgleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and ythere was brightness around him.8 28Like the appearance of zthe bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.
Such was the appearance of the likeness of athe glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, bI fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.
