To better understand the strength that God our Lord has, today in Your Online Bible we bring you Ezekiel 1 which belongs to the book of one of the major prophets of the Bible. His words teach us to believe in God’s plan, in the need to be united in the face of adversity… We don’t want to go on any longer, go ahead with the article! And above all, we hope you have an enjoyable and comforting read.
We will begin by explaining a little about who Ezekiel was, what his book is about and finally the complete verses with their subsequent reflection. Here we go!
Ezekiel 1 complete from the King James Bible
The vision of divine glory
1 And it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, when I was in the midst of the captives by the river Chebar, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
2 In the fifth year of the deportation of king Jehoiakim, on the fifth day of the month,
3 The word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; the hand of the LORD came upon him there.
4 And I looked, and, behold, there came from the north a stormy wind, and a great cloud, with a fire round about it, and round about it a brightness, and in the midst of the fire something like gleaming brass,
5 and in the middle of it the figure of four living beings. And this was their appearance: there was in them the likeness of a man.
6 Each had four faces and four wings.
7 And their feet were straight, and the sole of their feet like the sole of a calf’s foot; and they shone like highly polished brass.
8 Under their wings, on their four sides, they had the hands of men; and their faces and their wings on their four sides.
9 With their wings they joined each other. They did not turn as they walked, but each walked straight ahead.
10 And the appearance of their faces was the face of a man, and the face of a lion on the right side of the four, and the face of an ox on the left side of the four, and the face of an eagle on the four.
11 This is what their faces looked like. And they had their wings stretched out above, each one two, which were joined together; and the other two covered their bodies.
12 And every man walked straight forward; whithersoever the spirit moved them to go, they went; and when they went, they turned not again.
13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like a vision of burning coals of fire, walking among the living creatures; and the fire shone, and out of the fire went forth lightning.
14 And the living creatures ran and returned in the likeness of lightning.
15 While I was looking at the living creatures, behold, a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, on the four sides.
16 The appearance of the wheels and their work was similar to the color of the chrysolite. And all four had the same likeness; their appearance and their work were as a wheel in the midst of a wheel.
17 When they walked, they moved to their four sides; they did not turn when they walked.
18 And their hoops were high and dreadful, and full of eyes round about on all four.
19 And when the living creatures walked, the wheels walked beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.
20 Whither the spirit moved them to go, they went; whither the spirit moved them to go, the wheels also arose behind them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
21 When they walked, they walked, and when they stood, they stood; likewise when they arose from the earth, the wheels arose after them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
22 And over the heads of the living creatures there appeared an expanse like a wondrous crystal, stretched out above their heads.
23 And under the expanse their wings were straight, stretching out one toward the other; and each had two wings covering his body.
24 And I heard the sound of their wings as they went, like the sound of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the noise of a multitude, like the noise of an army. When they stopped, they lowered their wings.
25 And when they stood and lowered their wings, a voice was heard from above the expanse above their heads.
26 And above the expanse that was over their heads there was the likeness of a throne that looked like a sapphire stone; and on the likeness of the throne there was the likeness of a man sitting on it.
27 And I saw an appearance like the appearance of glowing bronze, like the appearance of fire within it round about, from the appearance of its loins even upward; and from its loins even downward, I saw that it seemed like fire, and that it had brightness round about it.
28 As the rainbow seems to be in the clouds on the day it rains, so was the appearance of the radiance all around.
This was the vision of the likeness of the glory of Jehovah. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and heard the voice of one speaking.
Explanation and meaning on Ezekiel 1
Unlike previous articles, today we only want to end this one with a more general reflection. We really enjoyed reading it because of the ease of the words and how fun it is to understand the different stories. Many of the morals are also applicable to many situations, so we hope that the reading has given you something, personal growth, inner peace, …
Book of Ezekiel
Having seen who the prophet Ezekiel was, let us now turn to his work. The book of Ezekiel summarizes the life and visions of the prophet in a very complete, yet entertaining way.
The book can be divided into three parts with an established plot order:
- In the first part, Ezekiel narrates the reasons for the fall of Jerusalem, recovering the arguments of divine punishment already used by Isaiah and Jeremiah.
- After this introduction, in the second part Ezekiel sets out to restore the morale of the faithful with prophecies against the invading nations and enemies of his people. Although Jerusalem had to fall in order to rebuild the Jewish faith, if the believers faithfully followed God, they could regain their territory They could regain their territory by driving back the conquerors.
- Finally, and as the last part of the book, Ezekiel gives a message of hope to his people in which he speaks of the coming of the Messiah to save them in the future.
Who was Ezekiel of the Bible?
Ezekiel was one of the 12 major prophets of the Bible and unlike other prophets, he is closely linked to images, mainly for the reasons explained below.
On the one hand, due to a great use of visual metaphors in his texts to facilitate the reader’s understanding. On the other hand, because of the visions he had, which were later confirmed.
These characteristics were pillars during Ezekiel’s ministry, coinciding with a time when the morale of the population was very low after their defeat and the loss of something as important as the first temple in Jerusalem. After their defeat and after the loss of something as important as the first temple in Jerusalem.
This is why Ezekiel’s great objective was to restore hope to the people, encouraging them to correct their lives and follow God’s word. With his work, the people of Israel were to build a new and true faith, which worshipped the one God and lived according to his will.
We say goodbye, but not before, we encourage you to visit new articles that we are sure you will like! God bless you and see you next time!