Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Ezekiel
Book: Ezekiel
Chapter: 1
Overview:
Ezekiel's
Vision of
God, and of the angelic
Host.
(1-14) The
conduct of Divine
Providence.
(15-25) A
Revelation of the Son of
Man upon his heavenly
Throne.
(26-28)
1-14 It is a
Mercy to have the
Word of God brought to us, and a
duty to attend to it diligently, when we are in affliction. The
voice of
God came in the
Fulness of
Light and power,
By the Holy
Spirit. These visions seem to have been sent to possess the
Prophet's mind with great and high thoughts of
God. To strike
terror upon sinners. To speak comfort to those that feared
God,
and humbled themselves. In ver. 4-14, is the first part of the
Vision, which represents
God as attended and served
By a vast
company of angels, who are all his messengers, his ministers,
doing his
Commandments. This
Vision would impress the mind with
solemn awe and fear of the Divine displeasure, yet raise
expectations of blessings. The
Fire is surrounded with a
Glory.
Though we cannot
By searching find out
God to
Perfection, yet we
see the brightness round about it. The likeness of the living
creatures came out of the midst of the
Fire; angels derive their
being and power from
God. They have the understanding of a
Man,
and far more. A lion excels in strength and boldness. An
Ox
excels in diligence and patience, and unwearied discharge of the
work he has to do. An
Eagle excels in quickness and piercing
sight, and in soaring high; and the angels, who excel
Man in all
these respects,
Put On these appearances. The angels have wings;
and whatever business
God sends them upon, they lose
No time.
They stood straight, and firm, and steady. They had not only
wings for motion, but hands for action. Many persons are quick,
who are not active; they hurry about, but do nothing to purpose;
they have wings, but
No hands. But wherever the angels' wings
carried them, they carried hands with them, to be doing what
duty required. Whatever service they went about, they went every
one straight forward. When we go straight, we go forward; when
we serve
God with one
Heart, we perform work. They turned not
when they went. They made
No mistakes; and their work needed not
to be gone over again. They turned not from their business to
trifle with any thing. They went whithersoever the
Spirit of
God
would have them go. The
Prophet saw these
Living creatures By
their own
Light, for their appearance was like burning coals of
Fire; they are
Seraphim, or "burners;" denoting the ardour of
their
Love to
God, and fervent zeal in his service. We may learn
profitable lessons from subjects we cannot fully enter into or
understand. But let us attend to the things which relate to our
peace and duty, and leave secret things to the
Lord, to whom
alone they belong.
15-25 Providence, represented
By the wheels, produces changes.
Sometimes one spoke of the
Wheel is uppermost, sometimes
another; but the motion of the
Wheel On its own axletree is
regular and steady. We need not despond in adversity; the wheels
are turning round and will raise us in due time, while those who
presume in prosperity know not how soon they may be cast down.
The
Wheel is near the
Living creatures; the angels are employed
as ministers of
God's
Providence. The
Spirit of the living
creatures was in the wheels; the same
Wisdom, power, and
Holiness of
God, that guide and govern the angels,
By them order
all events in this lower world. The
Wheel had four faces,
denoting that the
Providence of
God exerts itself in all parts.
Look every way upon the
Wheel of
Providence, it has a
Face
toward you. Their appearance and work were as a
Wheel in the
middle of a
Wheel. The disposals of
Providence seem to us dark,
perplexed, and unaccountable, yet are all wisely ordered for the
best. The motion of these wheels was steady, regular, and
constant. They went as the
Spirit directed, therefore returned
not. We should not have to undo that
By Repentance which we have
done amiss, if we followed the guidance of the
Spirit. The
rings, or rims of the wheels were
So vast, that when
Put in
motion the
Prophet was afraid to look upon them. The
consideration of the height and depth of
God's counsel should
awe us. They were full of eyes round about. The motions of
Providence are all directed
By infinite
Wisdom. All events are
determined
By the eyes of the
Lord, which are in every place
beholding the evil and the good; for there is
No such thing as
Chance or fortune. The
Firmament above was a
Crystal, glorious,
but terribly
So. That which we take to be a dark
Cloud, is to
God clear as
Crystal, through which he looks upon all the
inhabitants of the
Earth. When the angels had roused a careless
world, they let down their wings, that
God's voice might be
plainly heard. The voice of
Providence is to open men's ears to
the voice of the
Word. Sounds
On Earth should awaken our
attention to the voice from
Heaven; for how shall we escape, if
we turn away from Him that speaks from thence.
26-28 The eternal Son, the second Person in the
Trinity, who
afterwards took the human nature, is here denoted. The first
thing observed was a
Throne. It is a
Throne of
Glory, a
Throne
of
Grace, a
Throne of triumph, a
Throne of government, a
Throne
of
Judgment. It is good news to men, that the
Throne above the
Firmament is filled with One who appears, even there, in the
likeness of a
Man. The
Throne is surrounded with a
Rainbow, the
Well-known emblem of the
Covenant, representing
God's
Mercy and
covenanted
Love to his people. The
Fire of
God's wrath was
breaking out against
Jerusalem, but bounds should be set to it;
he would look upon the
Bow, and remember the
Covenant. All the
Prophet saw was only to prepare him for what he was to hear.
When he fell
On his
Face, he heard the voice of One that spake.
God delights to teach the humble. Let sinners, then, humble
themselves before him. And let believers think upon his
Glory,
that they may be gradually changed into his image
By the
Spirit
of the
Lord.