Ezekiel 1:1-14
We now come to the book of Ezekiel, often neglected on account of its difficulty. Let us specially ask the Lord for His help so that we may be built up from its study.
This prophet was a priest, like Jeremiah his contemporary; but, whilst the latter dwelt in Jerusalem, Ezekiel had been a member of the first convoy of captives taken into "the land of the Chaldeans" during the reign of Jehoiachin (v. 3). It is there, by the river Chebar, that the Word of God is addressed to him and that he is the witness of an extraordinary vision. In the midst of the fire and of burnished brass (lit. bronze), a type of divine righteousness in the exercise of its rights, the prophet sees four strange creatures, which are cherubim, guardians and defenders of God’s holiness (Ezekiel 10:1-22). Their features: faces, wings, feet and hands are so many symbols, by which God would make known what His own attributes are in righteousness and in judgment: intelligence, strength, patience, swiftness, represented respectively by the faces of the man, the lion, the ox and the eagle. These symbols re-appear with many others in the Revelation, which also is a book of judgments (see Revelation 4:6-7).