My Scrolls
01397

The Divine Commentary on The Book of Ezekiel - Ch 01 (7.10.11)

Eze 1:1   Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the River Chebar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.

Divine Commentary –

“The visions seen by Ezekiel have rightly been ascribed to God,

                                                               have rightly been viewed as from God,

                                                               have rightly been perceived as from the throne of God.

The visions seen by Ezekiel were manifest and true,

                                                              were captured and described,

                                                              were inscribed upon a scroll with a destiny of centuries,

                                                              with a destiny of instruction,

                                                              with a destiny of forbearance,

                                                              with a destiny conjoined with the ending of the age of grace.

The visions seen by Ezekiel are of tolerance and discipline,

                                                             are of reason and responsibility,

                                                             are of damage and repair.

The visions seen by Ezekiel suffer punishment for sin,

                                                             suffer the pain drawn down into the present,

                                                             suffer the watchman on the battlements,

                                                                           the guard within the watchtower.

The visions seen by Ezekiel speak of the wanderers who know not where to stand,

                                                                                                                    who know not how to blow a trumpet,

                                                                                                                    who know not how to arouse the bewildered and befogged.”

Eze 1:2   On the fifth day of the month, which was in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity, 

Eze 1:3   the word of the LORD came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was upon him there.

Divine Commentary –

“The visions of God are often not recorded by man,

                                                                  not recorded as a marker from his God,

                                                                  not recorded as a marker within his life,

                                                                  not recorded as a marker for his offspring.

The visions of God are often left to fall as a leaf upon the earth,

                                                                 left to fall into a waste bin filled with the approaches of God,

                                                                 left to fall from where such are never resurrected,

                                                                 left to fall as clutter without value from a shuttered spirit with a shuttered soul.

The visions of God should be deemed as turning points in the life of man,

                                           should be validated by the spirit,

                                           should be welcomed by the soul,

                                           should be actioned by the body,

                                           should be written for the record in a time of celebration,

                                           should be borne as testimony of The Living God.

The visions of God should be nurtured to fruition, 

                                           should be seen to build line upon line,

                                           should be seen to impart precept upon precept,

                                           should be a part of all which whispers of a calling,

                                                                                            which leads into assuredness,

                                                                                            which confirms the direction of the footsteps in the comfort of The Lord,

                                                                                            which affirms the counsel of My Spirit to the heart of man.”

Eze 1:4   Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire. 

Eze 1:5   Also from within it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man. 

Eze 1:6   Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings. 

Eze 1:7   Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of calves' feet. They sparkled like the colour of burnished bronze. 

Eze 1:8   The hands of a man were under their wings on their four sides; and each of the four had faces and wings. 

Eze 1:9   Their wings touched one another. The creatures did not turn when they went, but each one went straight forward. 

Eze 1:10   As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four had the face of an eagle. 

Eze 1:11   Thus were their faces. Their wings stretched upward; two wings of each one touched one another, and two covered their bodies. 

Eze 1:12   And each one went straight forward; they went wherever the spirit wanted to go, and they did not turn when they went. 

Eze 1:13   As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and out of the fire went lightning. 

Eze 1:14   And the living creatures ran back and forth, in appearance like a flash of lightning. 

Eze 1:15   Now as I looked at the living creatures, behold, a wheel was on the earth beside each living creature with its four faces. 

Eze 1:16   The appearance of the wheels and their workings was like the colour of beryl, and all four had the same likeness. The appearance of their workings was, as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel. 

Eze 1:17   When they moved, they went toward any one of four directions; they did not turn aside when they went. 

Eze 1:18   As for their rims, they were so high they were awesome; and their rims were full of eyes, all around the four of them. 

Eze 1:19   When the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. 

Eze 1:20   Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, because there the spirit went; and the wheels were lifted together with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. 

Divine Commentary –

“The vision of Ezekiel has a simile in man,

                                                 links understanding of the environment of heaven to the reality of man,
                                                 speaks wisdom to the the spirit of man as comprehension of a vision brings perception of intent to the

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    mind of man.

The vision of Ezekiel is a transplant designed to flourish,

                                               is the sketching of an artist,

                                               is the visual which imposes difficulties on the vocabularies of man,

                                               is the footprint of heaven placed beside the footprint of man,

                                               is the proffered hand of God there for the grasp of man,

                                               is the handshake of the heavens awaiting the handshakes of the earth.”

Eze 1:21   When those went, these went; when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up together with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. 

Divine Commentary –

“For as the vision of Ezekiel unfolds so the actions become apparent,

                                                                                so the relevance is seen,

                                                                                so the purpose is displayed before the eyes and ears of man as bounded by his spirit.

Oh that man would extend the bounding of his spirit.

Oh that man would set the scene of welcome for The Holy Spirit.

Oh that man would seek the wisdom of God –

                                                  the harbinger of knowledge,

                                                              replete with understanding,

                                                                            in this age of grace.”

Eze 1:22   The likeness of the firmament above the heads of the living creatures was like the colour of an awesome crystal, stretched out over their heads. 

Divine Commentary –

“So the vision of Ezekiel includes aspects of the earth with aspects of the heavens,

                                                      includes translation to the earth,

                                                      includes transition to the heavens.

So the vision of Ezekiel brings consideration of the divine into the consideration of man,

                                                    brings the glory of a kingdom into one about to be,

                                                    brings the foreshadowing of expectation into the reality of man.

So the vision of Ezekiel carries clarity of detail,

                                                    carries fullness of expression,

                                                    carries that which lingers until the closure of the age of grace,

                                                    carries in faith and substance the intended message as sent from God to man.”

Eze 1:23   And under the firmament their wings spread out straight, one toward another. Each one had two which covered one side, and each one had two which covered the other side of the body. 

Divine Commentary –

“So the wings of might change their orientation,

                                                   change their spatial relationships,

                                                   change to conform to the environment wherein they are,

                                                   change to reflect the image of the moment,

                                                   change to enhance the honouring of the circumstance,

                                                   change to portray the holiness of being,

                                                   change to satisfy the compliance due to heaven.”

Eze 1:24   When they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a tumult like the noise of an army; and when they stood still, they let down their wings. 

Divine Commentary –

“So the positioning of the wings,

         the actions of the wings,

         the posture of the wings are of exceeding importance within the vision of Ezekiel.

So the the noise of the wings is emphasized,

 so the sound of the wings is compared,

 so the folding of the wings is noted at their standing still,

 so the wings convey their meanings within the vision of Ezekiel.”

Eze 1:25   A voice came from above the firmament that was over their heads; whenever they stood, they let down their wings. 

Divine Commentary –

“The voice of God can speak into a vision,

                                         can speak into a dream,

                                        can speak into the written word,

                                        can speak into the scripture,

                                        can speak into the mind of man,

                                        can speak into the ear of man.

The voice of God can speak into the lifelines of two-way communication,

                                       can speak into the reception of the sixth sense of man,

                                       can welcome a transmission from the sixth sense of man.

The voice of God can speak without occurrence of delay of distance,

                                       can speak in response faster than the light is emitted from the sun,

                                       can speak across the cosmos without attenuation.

The voice of God is everywhere abounding,

                                      is heard with clarity of diction,

                                      is not in need of man’s translation,

                                      is neither subject to a fade nor wane,

                                      is without impediment to understanding,

                                      is transmitted by My Spirit in accordance with My message.”

Eze 1:26   And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. 

Divine Commentary –

“The vision of Ezekiel continues unabated,

                                                 continues as he lifts his eyes,

                                                 continues with what his eyes beheld.”

Eze 1:27   Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the colour of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. 

Divine Commentary –

“The vision of Ezekiel continues with his description of a figure garbed above the waist –

                                                                        with the appearance of amber-coloured fire as if contained within;

                                                                                                                                      while also garbed upon his lower half –

                                                                         with the appearance of fire whereon fell surrounding brightness.”

Eze 1:28   Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking.

Divine Commentary –

“The vision of Ezekiel has a meaning for these days of fulfilment;

                                                                                 for as grace draws to a close,

                                                                                 for as the bride minds her white linen:

                                                                                                             so this vision of Ezekiel has significance.

This,

       My commentary,

               is for the end-time understanding of man.

As Ezekiel looks he beholds a whirlwind of fire,

                                                               a boiling cauldron of fire feeding on itself,

                                                                                                                       engulfing whilst expanding,

                                                                                                                       raging within a cloud radiating brightness from its midst –

                                                                                                   a transparent envelope with an amber colour arising from the centre of the fireball.

The four sentinels of God emanate from within the fireball in the image of the likeness of a man:

                                                             to stand the test of time until a mystery of God reaches its set time for disclosure.

Each sentinel has four faces,

 each sentinel has four wings,

 each sentinel is a semblance of four living creatures –

                                                                    the guardians of the throne room of God.

Their legs are straight –

                       are not the cause of deviations.

The soles of their feet are fresh and still tender –

                                          like those of calves –

                         for bringing ‘Good News’ unto the mountains:

                                                                                             the high places,

                                                                                             the pinnacles,

                                                                                             the citadels –

                                                           where false claims to sovereignty are often not disturbed.

The soles of their feet are clean and glisten,

                                                  are polished to a shine in preparation for development:

        so ‘You who bring good tidings,

                         Get up into the high mountain;

              O Jerusalem,

                         You who bring good tidings,

                         Lift up your voice with strength,

                         Lift it up,

                                     be not afraid;

                         Say to the cities of Judah,

                                    “Behold your God!” ’*

So each face is endowed with two hands of a man enclosed on each side under their wings;

                          are under the authority of a man and the authority of the Holy Spirit –

                                                                                                                                        the bearers of the two sets of wings.

Their wings are in accord,

              touch to signify the unity in the counselling by the Holy Spirit of the spirit of a man.

             They do not vary from a direct line in their travels forward.

Each of their four faces are likened to those within the experience of man.

To the front of each is the face of an eagle –

        at the front to lead with the power and authority of the Holy Spirit which goes before to guide and to counsel –

                       My Spirit as now known to man –

                               He who is The Comforter –

                               He who prepares the way –

                               He who brings counselling as to the will of God –

                               He who sheds light into the darkness:

                                                                                           unto the feet of man.

To the right side of each is the face of a lion –

                       The Lion of Judah –

                       The Lord Jesus –

                       The Messiah –

                       the elder brother of a man –

                       the senior member of a relationship:

                                 as a man becomes adopted into The Family of God.

To the left side of each is the face of an ox –

       with the strength,

                   the might,

                   the presence of The Father:

       with the wisdom and authority to oversee an act of love,

                                                                             to oversee an act of sacrifice,

                                                                             to oversee an act of forgiveness,

                                                                             to oversee an act of judgment in the kingdom of His Son,

                                                                                                                                                 in the presence of a man.

So attention is drawn to the semblance of a man being in the loving presence,

                                                                                                             being in the bounding presence,

                                                                                          of the semblances of The Trinity of God.

To the rear is the face of a man:

               that his semblance may move,

                            in faith and by his testimony,

                                           as he follows the leading of My Spirit.

Their wings stretch upwards as they point to a destination.

Their two upper wings are those of an eagle –

                  a semblance of The Holy Spirit with the word of The Lord.

       These two wings are –

                  The Truth of the counsel of My Spirit and The Purity of the bride of Christ.

The two lower wings are those of a man –

                  his Faith and his Testimony –

       the two which cover their bodies in semblance of their likeness.

When they stand they let down their wings in reverence,

when they are under the firmament their wings spread out straight in acknowledgment.

The strength of the wings determines the temporary assignment of surroundings.

Each sentinel has freedom of movement –

       accompanies the spirit of man wherever the spirit chooses to go –

                  never leaves the spirit,

       always moves in straight lines maintaining righteousness –

                               does not deviate,

                               does not bend,

                               does not compromise the straightness of direction,

                  which confirms and leads,

                                                     to the destination.

Their appearance is like burning coals of fire,

                                             like incandescent flames, 

                                             like fiery embers with full ignition,

                                             like the glowing basis of a furnace, 

                                             like the Holy Fire of God.

For both My Spirit and the spirit of a man accompany each sentinel,

       each spirit can carry a flaming torch fed from the fire of heaven:

                  the fire of My Spirit’s torch which ignites the torch of the spirit of a man.

So the torches ascribed to each sentinel are seen going back and forth,

                                                                                          are seen going to and fro,

                                 as if search lights in among the sentinels,

                                            as they traverse their surroundings.

The fire in its brightness is laced with offshoots of lightning –

                                 as if despatched as arrows from a bow.

As they run back and forth so the living creatures appear to be like a flash of lightning –

                                                                                                                                             like a flash from an arrow tipped with fire –

                                                                                                                                                                      with but a short time of existence.

Then Ezekiel sees a wheel on the earth beside each sentinel with its four faces.

All four wheels,

       with their workings,

                  appear a transparent pale blue,

                             while also being of the same likeness.

All four of their workings are,

                  as they so appear to be,

       each existing as a wheel in the middle of a wheel. 

My Spirit is in harmony,

                           in unison,

       with the spirit of a man –

       a wheel within a wheel –

                    both meshing with the other in unity of purpose –

       wherein My Spirit is closely aligned with the spirit of a man.

My Spirit is with a man –

       in close contact with the spirit of a man.

When the wheels move,

       they go towards any one of four directions,

                  do not deviate from their path of choice –

                                                   from their highway of intent –

                                                   from their direction of travel.

The wheels stop at the way stations of The Lord,

                                      at the turning points of life,

                                      at a call for a change in direction,

                                      at a visit for inspection.

My Spirit and the spirit of a man make use of the eyes of a man,

                  see everything he sees,

       can see as if located on enormous bounding rims –

                                                           the peripheries –

                                                           the perimeters,

       can see through all the degrees found within a turning circle,

                                                                        as the body moves its head,

                                                                        as the body rotates,

                                                                        as the eyes look up and down.

When the sentinels of God go,

                                        the wheels go beside them,

when the sentinels of God stand,

                                        the wheels stand,

when the sentinels are lifted up from the earth,

                                        the wheels are lifted up.

So it is The Spirit of the Living God accompanies the spirit of a man:

                                                                         as a man exercises his freewill when on the earth.

So it is The Spirit of the Living God still accompanies the spirit of a man when the sentinels of his body are lifted up from the earth,

                                                                                                                                                                       are lifted up from the grave of a man,

                                                                                                                                                                       are lifted up towards the firmament,

                                                                                                                                              above which is a likeness of a throne.

On the likeness of a throne is a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it.

So Ezekiel’s eyes beheld that which he has recorded,

                  as being within the appearance of bright fire,

                  as being like a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day giving the appearance of brightness all around –

                                                                                                                                                                              of the likeness of the glory of The Lord.

The vision of Ezekiel speaks of where a body goes and why;

                                                               of how a body goes and when.

The vision of Ezekiel speaks into this age of grace,

                                               speaks into the immortality of a man as he rises unto judgment,

                                                                                                                                  as he rises unto blessings,

                                                                                                                                  as he rises from the grave.”

Scribal Note: *Scripture reference for that as selected by The Lord for insertion here – Isaiah 40:9 NKJV

NKJV Footnotes:

     * (1:1) Following Masoretic Text, Septuagint, and Vulgate; Syriac and Targum read a vision.

     * (1:3) Or Babylonians, and so elsewhere in this book

     * (1:20-21) Literally living creature; Septuagint and Vulgate read spirit of life; Targum reads creatures.

     * (1:22) Following Septuagint, Targum, and Vulgate; Masoretic Text reads living creature.

The Blue Letter Bible is acknowledged with gratitude for its practical assistance with NKJV Text entry.

www.blueletterbible.org/

Copyright Information, New King James Version (NKJV)

New King James Version, © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

NKJV: What does NU-Text and M-Text mean in the footnotes?

For example, see Matthew 1:7.

  Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa[1]. 

[1] NU-Text reads Asaph.

The following is quoted from the front matter of the New King James Version.

  New King James Footnotes Important textual variants in the Old Testament are identified in a standard form. The textual notes in the present edition of the New Testament make no evaluation of readings, but do clearly indicate the manuscript sources of readings. They objectively present the facts without such tendentious remarks as "the best manuscripts omit" or "the most reliable manuscripts read." Such notes are value judgments that differ according to varying viewpoints on the text. By giving a clearly defined set of variants the New King James Version benefits readers of all textual persuasions. Where significant variations occur in the New Testament Greek manuscripts, textual notes are classified as follows:

    1. NU-Text These variations from the traditional text generally represent the Alexandrian or Egyptian type of text described previously in "The New Testament Text." They are found in the Critical Text published in the twenty-seventh edition of the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament (N) and in the United Bible Societies fourth edition (U), hence the acronym, "NU-Text."

    2. M-Text This symbol indicates points of variation in the Majority Text from the traditional text, as also previously discussed in "The New Testament Text." It should be noted that M stands for whatever reading is printed in the published Greek New Testament According to the Majority Text, whether supported by overwhelming, strong, or only a divided majority textual tradition.

  The textual notes reflect the scholarship of the past 150 years and will assist the reader to observe the variations between the different manuscript traditions of the New Testament. Such information is generally not available in English translations of the New Testament.

SIGN UP FOR EMAIL UPDATES

You’ll be the first to know when new scrolls are added
Email*

CONTACT THE ADVENT
CHARITABLE TRUST


scribe@thewebsiteofthelord.org.nz