Read: Ezekiel 1⤒🔗

In our previous study we looked at God's marvellous instruction to Noah concerning providence. Ezekiel was given even greater insight into providence. Noah had lived in the wake of the flood; Ezekiel on the eve of the exile. God had told Noah about providence; to Ezekiel He displayed visibly the mystery of providence. Noah learned the structure of providence; Ezekiel the dynamics of providence. Yet, the substance of what they learned was the same, and both caught sight of the rainbow (Gen. 9:16; Ezek. 1:28).

We are not told how Noah reacted to this lesson in providence. Certainly, it must have been similar to what Ezekiel did: Ezekiel writes: "And when I saw it, I fell upon my face..." (Ezek. 1:28). In our passage, then, we see Ezekiel admiring providence. When we look carefully at the chapter, we see that he admires the framework of providence; the features of providence; and the focus of providence.

Admiring the Framework of Providence←↰⤒🔗

Ezekiel 1 is one of the most difficult chapters of the Bible. Many turn away from it bewildered and unedified. However, they turn away too soon. Verse 28 tells that the chapter is a graphic description of the "appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord."

Before Christ was born, He appeared a number of times in special form. For example, He appeared to Abraham in the plains of Mamre (Gen. 18); to Gideon under the oak at Ophrah (Judg. 6); and to Isaiah in the temple (Isa. 6). One preferred way was in the appearance of a glory-cloud, such as to Israel in the wilderness and over Solomon's temple (1 Kings 8). As part of his call to be a prophet, Ezekiel also received such an appearance. Christ came to Ezekiel in a vision of a glory cloud. It has many resemblances to what John saw at Patmos (Rev. 1).

This vision of Ezekiel has three distinct parts: 4-14: Four living creatures in a fire-cloud; 15-25: The mysterious wheels on the earth; and 26-28: The Son of Man on the throne.

The three parts of the vision correspond to three tiers to make a unified picture. The vision first focuses on the middle tier: the created spiritual realm of the cherubs (4-14). These cherubs are created, spiritual beings, likely angels, who do God's bidding. Here they form a fiery chariot platform, to transport God's glory, as we discover in verses 26 to 28. Second, Ezekiel sees the wheelwork of this chariot that touches the earth (vv.15-25). It is not difficult to understand that this wheelwork denotes the realm of providence, for what is providence but God's sovereign rule executed on the earth? This wheelwork, like the cherubs, can go in any and every direction. In fact, it follows the movements of the cherubs (v.19). Finally, Ezekiel focuses on the likeness of a man upon the throne above the firmament (vv.26-28). The three tiers, then, are from top to bottom: Dominion, Creation (especially the spiritual creation), and Providence. The overall effect of this vision is to picture Christ's perfect sovereignty over all events of history (compare Rev. 5).

What does this vision tell us about the framework of providence?

1. We cannot understand providence without spiritual revelation and illumination. Ezekiel needed a vision. We need the word of God and His Spirit to illumine our minds in order to understand providence.
2. We cannot understand providence if we only look at one event at a time. That would be like understanding a whole battle from one imprint of a chariot wheel. Understanding providence involves believing that God exercises His sovereignty through a created world that does His bidding.
3. We cannot understand providence without profoundly admiring it. When Ezekiel saw the whole of it, he fell on his face.

Admiring the Features of Providence←↰⤒🔗

I mentioned that the wheelwork of this chariot represents the domain of provi­dence. Why is providence compared to a wheel? Rather than strictly speaking wheels, Ezekiel sees "a whirling," a circular motion. This "wheel" appears as if it had four sides. The "wheel in the middle of a wheel" probably denotes a whirling transverse to the other whirling. What he sees then is more like a sphere, or ball or globe. It enabled the chariot throne to turn any direction at any time. Unlike a typical an­cient chariot, which could make turns only with great difficulty, this divine chariot can move any way at any time.

What features of providence does this comparison highlight?

1. Providence is always changing. Just as the wheels of a moving vehicle are rotating up and down, so providence goes up and down and in circles. One nation falls, and another rises. One generation dies and another takes its place. We exchange prosperity at one moment for adversity. Nevertheless, as a moving vehicle, the wheels of providence go forward till the last day.
2. Providence governs all things. Just as Ezekiel's wheel had four faces, for each direction on earth, so there is not a part of this earth that is not under the providence of God. Moreover, the "rings" at the edge of the wheels or "whirling" were full of eyes (v.18). Nothing escapes the all-searching eye behind providence, God's omniscience.
3. Providence makes no mistakes. Ezekiel notes that the wheels "turn not" (v.17). Of course, this doesn't mean that the wheels stop rotating. It means that the chariot of God's governance does not need to turn around. It never goes too far one way and never needs to backtrack.
4. Providence is directed by a higher world. Matthew Henry explains: "The same wisdom, power, and holiness of God, the same will and counsel of His, that guides and governs the angels and all their performances, does, by them, order and dispose of all the motions of the creatures in this lower world and the events and issues of them."

Each of these features of providence deserves to be admired, and Ezekiel does this when he falls on his face (v.28).

Admiring the Focus of Providence←↰⤒🔗

Ezekiel was given to understand not only the framework of providence and its features, but also its focus. We see a threefold focus:

1. Providence serves the glory of God. All events in history, as well as in our own lives, are subservient to God's glory. God's glory rides, as it were, enthroned over all events, great and small. Paul derived much comfort from this: "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Cor. 4:17-18).
2. Providence serves the cause of the gospel. Why did Ezekiel receive this vision? He was being called to prophesy (see further chapter 2). Among the things he was to prophesy was the death and resurrection of Christ (1 Pet. 1:10-11), and the application of its benefits. In fact, the greatest rotation of the wheel of providence was, of course, the cross and empty tomb of Christ.
3. Providence serves the kingdom of God. Through providence, the universe's greatest and only King exerts His control perfectly. Each rotation of God's chariot cries, as it were, "Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever."

Does this induce us to fall on our faces like Ezekiel? Matthew Henry writes: "The vast compass of God's thought, and the vast reach of his design, are really astonishing; when we go about to describe the circle of Providence we are struck with amazement and are even swallowed up. O the height and depth of God's councils! The consideration of them should strike an awe upon us."

Questions:←↰⤒🔗

1. We often suffer from a limited view of God's providence. In what ways does Ezekiel 1 expand our horizons?
2. Trace the motions of the wheel of providence in the life of Joseph, both up-and-down and forward.
3. God uses the living creatures to direct providence (v.19). The Bible speaks of the ministry of angels in the lives of believers (Heb. 1:14; Matt. 18:10; Dan. 9; Acts 12, etc.). Typically, we don't give this much thought. Some, like the Roman Catholics, have abused this doctrine. How can we profit from this doctrine without abusing it?
4. Spurgeon wrote: "There is no half way between a mighty God that worketh all things by the sovereign counsel of his will and no God at all. A God that cannot do as he pleases — a God whose will is frustrated, is not a God, and cannot be a God." What does this say about the many that do hold to "a half-way"?
5. Why are we not more "on our faces" like Ezekiel?
6. What is the significance of the rainbow (v.28)?