July 16, 2025 • 34 mins
Have you ever wondered what God's arrival somewhere actually looks like? Ezekiel chapter 1 gives us perhaps the most vivid glimpse found anywhere in Scripture—and it's absolutely mind-bending.
Glenn and Steve dive deep into the prophet's extraordinary vision, exploring the whirlwind of fire, the four-faced living creatures, the mysterious wheels within wheels covered with eyes, and the overwhelming splendor that caused Ezekiel to fall flat on his face in reverent awe. But rather than getting lost in symbolic interpretations, they focus on experiencing the emotional impact and theological significance of this cosmic encounter.
The conversation reveals how modern believers have often domesticated our concept of God into something comfortable and manageable. Biblical encounters with the divine were never casual—they were overwhelming, sometimes leaving prophets physically ill for days afterward. This should make us skeptical of contemporary claims about casual heavenly visits where people claim to high-five Jesus or treat Him like an ordinary friend.
What emerges from this exploration is a portrait of God whose omniscience is depicted through beings with faces looking in every direction and wheels covered with watchful eyes. His omnipresence and responsiveness are illustrated through supernatural mobility in any direction without turning. His transformative glory causes everything in His presence to shine with reflected light.
Most profoundly, the hosts reflect on the theological depth of this vision: "Would we really want a God we could fully understand and explain? That's not really a God—it's a pet or a machine." True divinity transcends our comprehension while inviting our worship.
Whether you're a longtime Bible student or just curious about Scripture's more mysterious passages, this episode offers fresh insights into the awesome nature of God and reminds us that approaching Him requires both reverence and wonder. Take a journey with us beyond the veil and discover a God who's bigger, more glorious, and more present than you might have imagined.
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May God Bless you!! - Glenn and Steve
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Hello and welcome to Reasoning Through the Bible.
My name's Glenn.
I'm here with Steve.
We are in the book of Ezekiel,chapter 1.
If you have your copy of theWord of God, turn there.
Today we are going to bereading the great vision that
opens up the book of Ezekiel.
We're going to be in the loftyheights of heaven because we're
(00:41):
going to see a glimpse here ofGod's throne room and it's going
to be quite amazing.
This is a quite fantasticvision, Steve.
I think this is really, if Ithink about it, there's probably
more detail here in this firstchapter of Ezekiel that talks
about the beings around God andhis throne.
(01:02):
We just see more detail herethan most any other place in
Scripture, do we not?
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yes, and the detail is a little bit curious probably
is a good way to put it as faras what Ezekiel has seen so much
curious because we don't see itin other parts of Scripture
that there's a lot ofspeculation that I think has
been taken during the years totry and completely understand it
(01:29):
.
I'm not so sure that we need tocompletely understand it,
because it is such a dynamicexpression of God and the
creatures that surround God thatwe're just not familiar with.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
What we have here is this description of what Ezekiel
sees when God arrives.
If I were to give a descriptionof this chapter one, I would
say it's God arriving andEzekiel just describing what he
sees when God's chariot arriveson the scene.
And there's been many verywell-meaning Bible teachers,
(02:07):
very intelligent Bible teachersover the centuries try to go
through and give interpretationsto all of the images that he
sees.
We'll see flying beings withfour faces and we're going to
see wheels within wheels.
There's people that try toexplain what those are and what
the symbolic meaning is behindthese.
(02:29):
My position is that that reallyjust doesn't seem to be a wise
path to take, simply because,when the text doesn't give us
clues as to the meaning of themAlso, I just don't think there's
any symbolic meaning behind it.
I think it really is just Godarriving and God is so amazing
that Ezekiel is describing thisamazing sight that he's seeing.
(02:52):
Now we can learn some thingsabout God from things that we're
about to see, but I reallydon't think like, for example,
go through and well, the fourfaces on the beings, what do
each of the faces mean and whatdo the wheels mean?
That just seems to be an unwisepath to take.
Not only because there's notextual clues that really tell
(03:16):
us what that means, but this isreally lofty literature.
It's really the heavenlyheights of Scripture.
We really should justexperience this and meditate on
what it tells us about God, andnot try to unpack it in some
mathematical way.
It just seems to be a crimeagainst nature, or at least a
(03:38):
crime against the Scriptures, totry to go through some sort of
detailed interpretation.
We'll learn some things aboutGod as we look through this, but
these images in chapter 1 don'tseem to have any kind of hidden
meaning.
If they do, it's a fool'serrand to try to interpret them.
Rather, ezekiel, chapter 1,should be explained without any
(04:01):
symbolic meaning.
There's no way to explain anyhidden meaning behind these
images.
Instead, we should read Ezekiel1 and merely experience the
emotion of what is describedaround the throne of God.
We should merely hear thesedescriptions and sit in awe of
(04:21):
how amazing God is.
I think of passages that talkabout how amazing God's love is.
Christ's love surpasses allunderstanding.
It says in Ephesians 3.16, andit says in Romans neither height
nor depth, nor any othercreated thing will be able to
separate us from the love of Godwhich is in Christ Jesus, our
(04:43):
Lord, romans 8.39.
With these lofty ideas, weshould just enjoy them and
experience them, and enjoy God'sawe and God's amazingness, and
not try to come up with somesort of a detailed mathematical
explanation.
The first few verses in Ezekieltold us about his captivity,
(05:07):
and then he quickly goes intowhat he calls a vision.
I really don't think it's avision in the sense of like an
animated movie that God wouldshow him.
I think these are actually realthings that he is seeing.
God has to open his spiritualeyes to be able to see these
things because they are heavenlythings, but it's not like an
(05:30):
animated movie of something thatGod has created.
Am I right, steve?
He's looking at something quitereal is he not?
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Oh, I absolutely believe that he's looking at
something real.
Just because we've never seenthem doesn't mean that they're
not real.
Just because they're oddlooking and it's a little bit
difficult to understand exactlyhow they look doesn't mean that
they're real.
But no, I don't think Ezekielis having some sort of a
(05:58):
drug-induced vision or something.
I think that he is actuallyseeing some of the creatures
that surround God in theheavenly dimensions, in the
heavenly realm that we have notseen now.
Ezekiel has, but we will seehim someday whenever we get
(06:19):
there.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Let's go ahead and read this and, as we go through,
just listen and experience thisamazing sight that Ezekiel's
seeing.
What we're going to see here isunity of purpose, and we're
going to see God as beingorderly and not chaotic.
We're going to see the strengthof God and the power of God and
(06:39):
the majesty of God, and thatGod can go anywhere without
turning.
We're going to learn thatthere's all kinds of things
going on with God.
There's more to the spiritualworld than what we realize.
Steve, can you go ahead andstart at Ezekiel, chapter 1,
verse 4, and read this entirevision?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
As I looked, behold, a storm wind was coming from the
north, a great cloud with fireflashing forth continually and a
bright light around it, and inits midst, something like
glowing metal in the midst offire.
Within it, there were figuresresembling four living beings,
(07:22):
and this was their appearance.
They had human form.
Each of them had four faces andfour wings.
Their legs were straight andtheir feet were like calves'
hooves, and they gleamed likeburnished bronze.
Under their wings, on theirfour sides, were human hands.
(07:42):
As for the faces and wings ofthe four of them, their wings
touched one another.
Their faces did not turn whenthey moved.
Each went straight forward.
As for the form of their faces,each had the face of a man, all
four had the face of a lion onthe right and the face of a bull
(08:03):
on the left, and all four hadthe face of a lion on the right
and the face of a bull on theleft, and all four had the face
of an eagle.
Such were their faces.
Their wings were spread outabove.
Each had two touching anotherbeing and two covering their
bodies, and each went straightforward Wherever the spirit was
about to go.
They would go without turning,as they went In the midst of the
(08:28):
living beings, there wassomething that looked like
burning coals of fire, liketorches, darting back and forth
among the living beings.
The fire was bright andlightning was flashing from the
fire, and the living beings ranto and fro like bolts of
lightning.
Now, as I looked at the livingbeings, behold, there was one
(08:50):
wheel on the earth beside theliving beings.
For each of the four of them,the appearance of the wheels and
their workmanship was likesparkling barrel, and all four
of them had the same form, theirappearance and workmanship
being as if one wheel werewithin another.
(09:11):
Whenever they moved, they movedin any of their four directions
without turning as they moved.
As for their rims, they werelofty and awesome, and the rims
of all four of them were full ofeyes round about.
Whenever the living beingsmoved, the wheels moved with
them, and whenever the livingbeings rose from the earth, the
(09:33):
wheels rose.
Also, whenever the spirit wasabout to go, they would go in
that direction and the wheelsrose close beside them, for the
spirit of the living being wasin the wheels.
Whenever those went, these went, and whenever those stood still
, these stood still.
(09:54):
And whenever those rose fromthe earth, the wheels rose close
beside them, for the spirit ofthe living beings was in the
wheels.
Now, over the heads of theliving beings, there was
something like an expanse, likethe awesome gleam of crystal
spread out over their heads.
Under the expanse, their wingswere stretched out straight one
(10:19):
toward the other.
Each one also had two wingscovering its body, on the one
side and on the other.
I also heard the sound of theirwings like the sound of
abundant waters as they went,like the voice of the Almighty,
a sound of tumult, like thesound of an army camp.
(10:39):
Whenever they stood still, theydropped their wings and there
came a voice from above theexpanse that was over their
heads.
Whenever they stood still, theydropped their wings.
Now, above the expanse that wasover their heads, there was
something resembling a throne,like lapis lazuli in appearance,
(11:01):
and on that, which resembled athrone, high up was a figure
with the appearance of a man.
Then I noticed, from theappearance of his loins and
upward, something like glowingmetal that looked like fire all
around within it.
And from the appearance of hisloins and downward, I saw
(11:23):
something like fire and therewas a radiance around him as the
appearance of the rainbow inthe clouds on a rainy day, so
was the appearance of thesurrounding radiance.
Such was the appearance of thelikeness of the glory of the
Lord, and when I saw it, I fellon my face and heard a voice
(11:46):
speaking.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
There's a passage in the book of Revelation where it
talks about 30 minutes ofsilence.
That happened in heaven.
Well, I feel now like we shouldhave 30 minutes of silence just
to enjoy what we just heard,but we're not going to do that
here right now.
Anyways, we can talk about itfor a minute, but boy, I don't
think we'll ever really plumbthe depths of all of that.
(12:07):
You can see how some Bibleteachers would go through and
try to explain each of theimages and again, we just feel
like it's really the best thingto do is just view this for what
it presents in the text, whichis this is God arriving?
God is so amazing and he'sdescribing all of the things
around God and we can learn somethings.
(12:29):
But boy, it's just so beautiful.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Glenn, the last portion.
There Ezekiel says, when hearrived, that he was overtaken
so much that he bowed down andthat he laid down in front of
God showing up as you'vedescribed it.
You know that's an indicator, Ithink, of these people that
(12:52):
claim that they have gone toheaven and that they have seen
Jesus, and that they throw theirarm around Jesus and he's a
friend of theirs, and stuff likethat.
Every time in scripture that wesee prophets or people
encountering God, or evenencountering angels who they
think are God, they're awestruckand they fall to the ground in
(13:15):
a form of worship.
So beware of these modern daypeople that treat heaven and
Jesus as if they're just buddiesthat they can throw their arm
around.
No, it's God, and the throneroom of God is overwhelming and
heaven is overwhelming.
(13:35):
So the proper response ifanybody that is actually seeing
a vision is one, I think, ofEzekiel here they're awestruck
at the vision and they'reoverpowered by what they're
seeing, so much that they justwant to bow down and worship.
And I think that's exactly howwe're going to be whenever we
(13:57):
experience heaven and we getthere.
We're going to be sooverwhelmed with the presence of
God that we just want toworship him.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
I remember in Daniel, in one of his visions, after he
saw some of these heavenlyimages, he says he was sick for
days.
That's what we do see when wesee these people in the
Scriptures that see an angel orexperience an appearance of God
is they're so overwhelmed thatthey fall to the ground.
If I was asking the nextquestion, as we read that
(14:28):
amazing description, what's theimpression that it leaves?
And the impression that I getis that God is amazing and it's
almost at a loss for words.
It's so fantastic and there'sso much more there.
I think we have a too small viewof God.
Again, this was just Godarriving all of this amazing
(14:49):
thing with the wheels withinwheels, that he arrives in a
whirlwind or a tornado andthere's fire and there's
lightning and there's all thismovement, but stability.
He can move any directionwithout turning and all these
amazing things that are.
We get a loss for words and wejust sit at his feet in awe and
(15:11):
worship the Lord.
That's my impression, steve,when you first read that.
Can you put any words to it?
What your impression?
Speaker 2 (15:18):
would be.
One of the impressions I get iswhat you've described, but I
also see God.
When they came out of theExodus, he led them by a pillar
of cloud during the day, whichgave them shadow, and then also
a pillar of fire at night.
Whenever they would camp afterthey had built the tabernacle,
(15:41):
he was dwelling there and thepeople could see that pillar of
fire in the evening time thatwould help to light up the area,
and then also during the daythey would.
Also, whenever Moses would gointo the tent of meeting, they'd
all stand up to watch Moses goin and meet with God.
Glenn, what it impresses me isthat I think you and I and us of
(16:06):
this era of the Christian age,I don't think we have a full
appreciation of how awesome Godis, because we see these
descriptions here from theHebrew scriptures, the Old
Testament, of God and his power.
I mean, I know I just said thisa while ago, but that's the
(16:28):
impression that it leaves on me.
We just don't have anunderstanding of who God is.
We think that we're worshipinghim whenever we go to our
churches and we sing, and thenwhenever we hear the pastors
preach his word, but because wehaven't experienced God in the
(16:49):
way that these peopleexperienced him in the Old
Testament.
I just think that we reallydon't truly have an appreciation
for how he is.
One of the things here it saysthat is when the voice that came
out was like lightning.
Remember again, when Moses wason Mount Sinai, it was thunder.
While he was up there voicingcommandments to Moses and
(17:11):
talking to him, there waslightning that was going on.
There was a sound of thunderthat was going on.
God is just something that isoverwhelming and it's
overwhelming to the senses.
We just don't have anappreciation for it.
But I can tell you what I'mlooking forward to being able to
experience it someday myself.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
We can learn some things about God from this
vision.
So let's go through.
I think we can pick up somehigh points here.
At the very beginning of thisdepiction that he gives, verse 4
, god arrives in a whirlwind atornado if you will.
This is not the only time inthe Bible that it connects God
(17:51):
with a whirlwind.
God speaks to Job out of awhirlwind in Job 40, verse 6.
Elijah is taken up to heaven ina whirlwind, 2 Kings 2.1.
Isaiah 66.15 says the Lord willcome with fire and a whirlwind.
Three times in Isaiah God'swrath goes out from him like a
(18:14):
whirlwind and the Lord has hisway in the whirlwind.
It says in Nahum 1.3.
So oftentimes in the Bible atornado or a whirlwind is
associated with God.
If we've ever seen images of atornado or a big storm, it blows
down things, blows apart houses.
(18:35):
The image here is that there'sall kinds of energy and power.
That's what it speaks to.
A fiery whirlwind describedhere shows God's great power and
energy.
The original word for wind alsomeans spirit and we're going to
see that as we go through here.
So the same original languageword in Hebrew for wind also
(19:00):
means spirit.
Therefore, god shows up the verybeginning of this vision, god
shows up in a very powerful,fiery spirit.
Think of this as a tornado ofthe Holy Spirit.
God is the source of all powerand energy.
He is a driving force.
He is not static, he has allpower.
(19:23):
He is the source of power.
Then, as the description goeson, there's these four beings
with wings and faces, andthey're holding up a platform an
expanse is what it says with athrone on top, and it talks
about the beings.
The beings have faces thatpoint in all four directions, so
(19:46):
they can see in all fourdirections.
It also talks about the wheelshaving eyes all around them.
So if the beings can see in allfour directions and the wheels
within wheels all have eyesaround them, what can we
conclude, steve, from thesefaces and what they see Whenever
(20:07):
we see something?
What does that tell us aboutGod?
Speaker 2 (20:11):
I think that's a depiction of his omniscience and
his omnipresence, hisall-knowing of everything and
his presence everywhere.
And that's what we're seeing inthis depiction of the eyes on
the wheels and the facespointing all four directions God
sees everything.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
There's nothing hidden from God's eyes.
It does speak to hisomniscience.
He knows all because he seesall.
Even his attendants see all.
They see every direction.
Can we therefore then go hidesomething from God, that thing
that I thought was only insecret, that I'm the only one
that knows it happened?
Does God still see?
Speaker 2 (20:52):
even that.
Yeah, there was a psalm thatDavid wrote of the various
places.
I could go to the mountaintop,and God you'd be there.
I could go to the deepestvalley, and God you'd be there.
I could go even to the depthsof Sheol, and God you'd be there
.
The purpose of that psalm thatDavid gave was that there is no
place where God can't be ordoesn't know about or can't see
(21:17):
what's going on.
So, no, there's no place thatwe could go, hide and run away
from God without him knowingwhere we are, what we're doing,
what we're thinking and what ourrelationship is with him.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Cain killed Abel and thought nobody saw.
But God saw it.
God knew.
I remember when Joshua hadtaken Jericho, when he was
conquering the land.
He conquers Jericho and then hegoes to the little town of Ai.
There was a man who had tooksome loot from Jericho and hid
it under his tent.
God even saw that too.
(21:52):
God sees the things that we doin secret.
When we think and I think I gotaway with it, then God really
knows why.
Because he sees.
He sees all and he knows all.
Look at verse 12.
What does it tell us?
When these beings in thechariot could move in every
direction without turning?
They're always ready to moveand they moved quickly, like
(22:16):
lightning.
What does that tell us aboutthe character and nature of God?
Speaker 2 (22:21):
That he can go anywhere, that there's not any
place that's out of bounds forhim and he can go in a quick way
, quick fashion and in a waythat we're not familiar with
necessarily.
You know, glenn, it's likeanother dimension.
God is showing himself in thisother dimension or coming into
(22:43):
our dimension.
There is a very often used wayto describe this, as if you have
a person that lives in only atwo-dimensional world, where, in
other words, they can only seestraight in front of them in a
direction, but they don't have athird dimension.
They can't see up and out ordown, they can only see the
(23:07):
things that are straight out,flat to them.
But if we from a third dimensioncome in and put our finger into
that two-dimension world, thatperson would see something just
as a circle that would come in,or a line.
Actually, as we continue withour finger and our finger gets
fatter, then the line would justexpand.
(23:30):
That's a very crude way to putit that there's another
dimension out there and we'retold over and over again in
Scripture the visions of seeingthese other beings from the
other dimension that will appearand become visible to different
people.
I think this is describing thatGod is coming from his
(23:51):
dimension into our dimension and, when it happens, it's just
something that Ezekiel is justtrying to explain on our terms,
to make us understand what he'sseeing based upon the things
that we know.
It's just an exercise of tryingto explain something that's
never been seen before, ourparticular way of creatures and
(24:16):
beings that we can relate to.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
He's trying to explain the unsplainable and
unscrew, the inscrutable.
Look at verse 12 again.
You're talking about thesebeings.
Each went straight forward.
Wherever the Spirit was aboutto go, they would go without
turning.
As they went.
They followed the Spirit, theyfollowed God's Spirit, just like
we should follow God's Spirit.
But it tells us that God canmove.
(24:40):
He's not stable, he's notasleep, he's not slow about
doing things.
He can move in any directionwithout turning.
God never turns, he neverchanges in the sense he is
stable in the sense that henever changes, but he's not
stable in the sense that he justsits in one spot and never
(25:02):
looks at our needs.
If we have a need, then Godknows about it, he sees it and
he's quick to know about it andto do something about it.
We don't have to sit and yelland get his attention because he
might be looking away from us.
If we're thinking God is movingaway, or he's paying attention
to something else, or he's notlooking in my direction and I
(25:25):
have to yell real loud, wave myhands to try to get his
attention.
No, no, he sees and he is quickabout things.
He is not slow like men areslow.
God is always aware ofeverything he always sees.
He has the power and wisdom andmight to solve our problems.
That's the thing we can learnhere from Ezekiel, chapter 1.
(25:47):
It also says in verse 11, thesebeings each had two wings that
covered themselves, and in verse7 and verse 13, they sparkled
and shined like fire andlightning.
Why did they shine?
They shined because they werenear God.
God's overwhelming glory was sopowerful that even the beings
(26:09):
around him was glowing.
Steve, remember Moses' facewhenever he would go into the
temple.
What happened to Moses' facewhen he would go in and be near
God?
Speaker 2 (26:19):
It would shine Whenever he came out and came
down from the mountain, he hadto put a veil over his face
because it was a reflection ofthe glory of God, and the rabbis
through the years came up witha description of it that's not
really depicted in the textitself of the Hebrew scriptures,
(26:39):
but they came and coined it asthe Shekinah glory of God.
It's God's presence, but toanswer your question of Moses,
his face glowed so much that hehad to put a veil over it
because it was a reflection ofthe glory of God whenever he
would come face to face and talkwith him.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
A similar thing with Jesus on the Mount of
Transfiguration, when heunveiled his flesh and let the
glory shine through.
It was bright as the noondaysun overwhelmingly bright.
God is so powerful and so fullof glory that the normal man
can't look upon it.
Jesus on the Mount ofTransfiguration shone like the
(27:22):
sun here.
Even these beings that arearound the throne are shining
simply because of God's powerand his energy and his glory.
Revelation 6, verse 15, saysthis Then the kings of the earth
and the great men and thecommanders and the rich and the
strong and every slave and freeman hid themselves in the caves
(27:44):
and among the rocks of themountains and they said to the
mountains and to the rocks fallon us and hide us from the
presence of him who sits on thethrone, and from the wrath of
the Lamb, for the great day oftheir wrath has come.
And who is able to standUnquote?
So the Bible presents God asoverwhelming and powerful, and
(28:07):
those that love him can just sitat the feet of the throne and
be overwhelmed by the glory andend up shining like Moses' face.
But those that are not hischildren want to hide from the
glory.
They want to go hide in thecaves and let the mountains fall
on them because his power is sooverwhelming.
(28:27):
You know these people todaythat don't believe in Christ,
that don't believe in God.
They're real good at sittinghere and criticizing until God
actually shows up, until Godarrives and he's so
overwhelmingly powerful thatthey fall and try to hide
themselves.
The creatures around God'sthrone shine because they're in
(28:49):
the presence of God.
The question for us is do weshine when we're in the presence
of God?
We should have an air of theHoly Spirit around us.
People should see wow, there'ssomething different about that
man or that woman.
They have some glow about themthat is different.
That's what I just think isimportant.
Verse 20,.
Wherever the Spirit wanted togo, they went.
(29:11):
So the question for us is wheredo we go?
Do we go where God leads us?
Are we sensitive to the HolySpirit?
We should go through thescriptures, such as here in
Ezekiel.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
I think, glenn, it's just like what you started off
with.
They feel intimidated becausethey feel that they have to
explain these faces and whatthey mean and all that.
But no, just take in theappreciation of what's being
described and the awesomeness ofGod and the glory of God.
That's enough.
Because they feel, I think,intimidated.
(30:08):
People don't hear it, peopledon't understand and read these
texts about God.
If we would read more often ofhow God is described in these
Old Testament texts, I justthink that we would have a
better appreciation of who he isand would want to follow him
and want to be wherever he isand to do whatever it is that he
(30:32):
wants us to do, because one wayor another we're going to be in
that position to do that.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
Then, at the end of verse 16 and 17 and 18, it talks
about the wheels within a wheeland it says their appearance in
workmanship being as if onewheel were within another.
Wherever they moved, they movedat any of their four directions
without turning as they moved.
Their rims were lofty andawesome.
Steve, can you explain to mehow that works?
Speaker 2 (31:00):
No, I can't and I don't think that we need to.
No, I can't explain that.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
I think that's really sort of the point here is that
there's more to God than we canexplain.
I can't explain how a wheel'swithin a wheel and how they can
go in every direction withoutmoving.
I know that it happens and Iknow that's what Ezekiel saw and
I know that it's reasonable,but it tells me that there's
(31:26):
things about God that I can'tfigure out.
I can't sit here and explainhow the three persons of the
Trinity really interact witheach other, can't explain that.
I can say that it's true and Ican't explain how God can really
be omnipresent or how God canreally be all-powerful.
But I know that it's true and Iknow that it's reasonable.
(31:49):
I think this leaves us withwould we really want a God that
we could understand and explain?
Well, that's not really a God.
It's a pet or it's a machine.
That's not really a god it's apet or it's a machine.
We have a god that is sooverwhelmingly good and
overwhelmingly simple but at thesame time so overwhelmingly
(32:10):
profound, that we can enjoy himforever and we can plumb his
depths and sit at the feet ofhis throne and be amazed and
never get tired of viewing hisawesomeness and will never
really understand him fully.
To me, that's really theamazing lesson to walk away with
from this vision, glenn this isjust chapter one.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
We're just now starting to get into Ezekiel and
we have this wonderful visionof God.
I think it's a good way tostart out Ezekiel, because now
we're going to go into thedifferent areas of God and
giving instructions to Ezekielto act out as an object lesson
to the people.
But we have a betterappreciation of why Ezekiel is
(32:54):
going to be able to do it andwhy he's going to want to do it
from this vision that he hasgiven us the description in
chapter one.
So again.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
This image that he saw is real.
It's not like an animated movie, but it's so awesome.
It communicates God's majestyand his overwhelming awesomeness
.
We lose track of words here,but all of this that we just
went through is really just Godarriving.
(33:23):
God arrives with his chariot inchapter 1, and in chapter 2, we
see the message that he gives.
So I think oftentimes, steve,we've gotten so accustomed to
hearing God's words that we losethe fact that the words of God
are equally as profound as thebeing of God, and we're going to
(33:44):
see that as we get to the restof the book.
Chapter 1 is God arriving.
Chapter 2 we'll get to nexttime, where we see God's message
to Ezekiel, and God will give agreat and glorious message to
Ezekiel to give to the people ofIsrael.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
So be sure to join us as we continue, through the
book of Ezekiel, to give to thepeople of Israel.
So be sure to join us as wecontinue through the book of
Ezekiel and go to our websitefor these resources that we have
for you, that we went throughin session one and that we'll
also have as we go through.
That.
It's on our resource page.
Join us again next time as wecontinue to reason through not
(34:20):
only the Bible but the book ofEzekiel.
Thank you so much for watchingand listening.
May God bless you.
Hello and welcome to Reasoning Through the Bible.
My name's Glenn.
I'm here with Steve.
We are in the book of Ezekiel,chapter 1.
If you have your copy of theWord of God, turn there.
Today we are going to bereading the great vision that
opens up the book of Ezekiel.
We're going to be in the loftyheights of heaven because we're
(00:41):
going to see a glimpse here ofGod's throne room and it's going
to be quite amazing.
This is a quite fantasticvision, Steve.
I think this is really, if Ithink about it, there's probably
more detail here in this firstchapter of Ezekiel that talks
about the beings around God andhis throne.
(01:02):
We just see more detail herethan most any other place in
Scripture, do we not?
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yes, and the detail is a little bit curious probably
is a good way to put it as faras what Ezekiel has seen so much
curious because we don't see itin other parts of Scripture
that there's a lot ofspeculation that I think has
been taken during the years totry and completely understand it
(01:29):
.
I'm not so sure that we need tocompletely understand it,
because it is such a dynamicexpression of God and the
creatures that surround God thatwe're just not familiar with.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
What we have here is this description of what Ezekiel
sees when God arrives.
If I were to give a descriptionof this chapter one, I would
say it's God arriving andEzekiel just describing what he
sees when God's chariot arriveson the scene.
And there's been many verywell-meaning Bible teachers,
(02:07):
very intelligent Bible teachersover the centuries try to go
through and give interpretationsto all of the images that he
sees.
We'll see flying beings withfour faces and we're going to
see wheels within wheels.
There's people that try toexplain what those are and what
the symbolic meaning is behindthese.
(02:29):
My position is that that reallyjust doesn't seem to be a wise
path to take, simply because,when the text doesn't give us
clues as to the meaning of themAlso, I just don't think there's
any symbolic meaning behind it.
I think it really is just Godarriving and God is so amazing
that Ezekiel is describing thisamazing sight that he's seeing.
(02:52):
Now we can learn some thingsabout God from things that we're
about to see, but I reallydon't think like, for example,
go through and well, the fourfaces on the beings, what do
each of the faces mean and whatdo the wheels mean?
That just seems to be an unwisepath to take.
Not only because there's notextual clues that really tell
(03:16):
us what that means, but this isreally lofty literature.
It's really the heavenlyheights of Scripture.
We really should justexperience this and meditate on
what it tells us about God, andnot try to unpack it in some
mathematical way.
It just seems to be a crimeagainst nature, or at least a
(03:38):
crime against the Scriptures, totry to go through some sort of
detailed interpretation.
We'll learn some things aboutGod as we look through this, but
these images in chapter 1 don'tseem to have any kind of hidden
meaning.
If they do, it's a fool'serrand to try to interpret them.
Rather, ezekiel, chapter 1,should be explained without any
(04:01):
symbolic meaning.
There's no way to explain anyhidden meaning behind these
images.
Instead, we should read Ezekiel1 and merely experience the
emotion of what is describedaround the throne of God.
We should merely hear thesedescriptions and sit in awe of
(04:21):
how amazing God is.
I think of passages that talkabout how amazing God's love is.
Christ's love surpasses allunderstanding.
It says in Ephesians 3.16, andit says in Romans neither height
nor depth, nor any othercreated thing will be able to
separate us from the love of Godwhich is in Christ Jesus, our
(04:43):
Lord, romans 8.39.
With these lofty ideas, weshould just enjoy them and
experience them, and enjoy God'sawe and God's amazingness, and
not try to come up with somesort of a detailed mathematical
explanation.
The first few verses in Ezekieltold us about his captivity,
(05:07):
and then he quickly goes intowhat he calls a vision.
I really don't think it's avision in the sense of like an
animated movie that God wouldshow him.
I think these are actually realthings that he is seeing.
God has to open his spiritualeyes to be able to see these
things because they are heavenlythings, but it's not like an
(05:30):
animated movie of something thatGod has created.
Am I right, steve?
He's looking at something quitereal is he not?
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Oh, I absolutely believe that he's looking at
something real.
Just because we've never seenthem doesn't mean that they're
not real.
Just because they're oddlooking and it's a little bit
difficult to understand exactlyhow they look doesn't mean that
they're real.
But no, I don't think Ezekielis having some sort of a
(05:58):
drug-induced vision or something.
I think that he is actuallyseeing some of the creatures
that surround God in theheavenly dimensions, in the
heavenly realm that we have notseen now.
Ezekiel has, but we will seehim someday whenever we get
(06:19):
there.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Let's go ahead and read this and, as we go through,
just listen and experience thisamazing sight that Ezekiel's
seeing.
What we're going to see here isunity of purpose, and we're
going to see God as beingorderly and not chaotic.
We're going to see the strengthof God and the power of God and
(06:39):
the majesty of God, and thatGod can go anywhere without
turning.
We're going to learn thatthere's all kinds of things
going on with God.
There's more to the spiritualworld than what we realize.
Steve, can you go ahead andstart at Ezekiel, chapter 1,
verse 4, and read this entirevision?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
As I looked, behold, a storm wind was coming from the
north, a great cloud with fireflashing forth continually and a
bright light around it, and inits midst, something like
glowing metal in the midst offire.
Within it, there were figuresresembling four living beings,
(07:22):
and this was their appearance.
They had human form.
Each of them had four faces andfour wings.
Their legs were straight andtheir feet were like calves'
hooves, and they gleamed likeburnished bronze.
Under their wings, on theirfour sides, were human hands.
(07:42):
As for the faces and wings ofthe four of them, their wings
touched one another.
Their faces did not turn whenthey moved.
Each went straight forward.
As for the form of their faces,each had the face of a man, all
four had the face of a lion onthe right and the face of a bull
(08:03):
on the left, and all four hadthe face of a lion on the right
and the face of a bull on theleft, and all four had the face
of an eagle.
Such were their faces.
Their wings were spread outabove.
Each had two touching anotherbeing and two covering their
bodies, and each went straightforward Wherever the spirit was
about to go.
They would go without turning,as they went In the midst of the
(08:28):
living beings, there wassomething that looked like
burning coals of fire, liketorches, darting back and forth
among the living beings.
The fire was bright andlightning was flashing from the
fire, and the living beings ranto and fro like bolts of
lightning.
Now, as I looked at the livingbeings, behold, there was one
(08:50):
wheel on the earth beside theliving beings.
For each of the four of them,the appearance of the wheels and
their workmanship was likesparkling barrel, and all four
of them had the same form, theirappearance and workmanship
being as if one wheel werewithin another.
(09:11):
Whenever they moved, they movedin any of their four directions
without turning as they moved.
As for their rims, they werelofty and awesome, and the rims
of all four of them were full ofeyes round about.
Whenever the living beingsmoved, the wheels moved with
them, and whenever the livingbeings rose from the earth, the
(09:33):
wheels rose.
Also, whenever the spirit wasabout to go, they would go in
that direction and the wheelsrose close beside them, for the
spirit of the living being wasin the wheels.
Whenever those went, these went, and whenever those stood still
, these stood still.
(09:54):
And whenever those rose fromthe earth, the wheels rose close
beside them, for the spirit ofthe living beings was in the
wheels.
Now, over the heads of theliving beings, there was
something like an expanse, likethe awesome gleam of crystal
spread out over their heads.
Under the expanse, their wingswere stretched out straight one
(10:19):
toward the other.
Each one also had two wingscovering its body, on the one
side and on the other.
I also heard the sound of theirwings like the sound of
abundant waters as they went,like the voice of the Almighty,
a sound of tumult, like thesound of an army camp.
(10:39):
Whenever they stood still, theydropped their wings and there
came a voice from above theexpanse that was over their
heads.
Whenever they stood still, theydropped their wings.
Now, above the expanse that wasover their heads, there was
something resembling a throne,like lapis lazuli in appearance,
(11:01):
and on that, which resembled athrone, high up was a figure
with the appearance of a man.
Then I noticed, from theappearance of his loins and
upward, something like glowingmetal that looked like fire all
around within it.
And from the appearance of hisloins and downward, I saw
(11:23):
something like fire and therewas a radiance around him as the
appearance of the rainbow inthe clouds on a rainy day, so
was the appearance of thesurrounding radiance.
Such was the appearance of thelikeness of the glory of the
Lord, and when I saw it, I fellon my face and heard a voice
(11:46):
speaking.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
There's a passage in the book of Revelation where it
talks about 30 minutes ofsilence.
That happened in heaven.
Well, I feel now like we shouldhave 30 minutes of silence just
to enjoy what we just heard,but we're not going to do that
here right now.
Anyways, we can talk about itfor a minute, but boy, I don't
think we'll ever really plumbthe depths of all of that.
(12:07):
You can see how some Bibleteachers would go through and
try to explain each of theimages and again, we just feel
like it's really the best thingto do is just view this for what
it presents in the text, whichis this is God arriving?
God is so amazing and he'sdescribing all of the things
around God and we can learn somethings.
(12:29):
But boy, it's just so beautiful.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Glenn, the last portion.
There Ezekiel says, when hearrived, that he was overtaken
so much that he bowed down andthat he laid down in front of
God showing up as you'vedescribed it.
You know that's an indicator, Ithink, of these people that
(12:52):
claim that they have gone toheaven and that they have seen
Jesus, and that they throw theirarm around Jesus and he's a
friend of theirs, and stuff likethat.
Every time in scripture that wesee prophets or people
encountering God, or evenencountering angels who they
think are God, they're awestruckand they fall to the ground in
(13:15):
a form of worship.
So beware of these modern daypeople that treat heaven and
Jesus as if they're just buddiesthat they can throw their arm
around.
No, it's God, and the throneroom of God is overwhelming and
heaven is overwhelming.
(13:35):
So the proper response ifanybody that is actually seeing
a vision is one, I think, ofEzekiel here they're awestruck
at the vision and they'reoverpowered by what they're
seeing, so much that they justwant to bow down and worship.
And I think that's exactly howwe're going to be whenever we
(13:57):
experience heaven and we getthere.
We're going to be sooverwhelmed with the presence of
God that we just want toworship him.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
I remember in Daniel, in one of his visions, after he
saw some of these heavenlyimages, he says he was sick for
days.
That's what we do see when wesee these people in the
Scriptures that see an angel orexperience an appearance of God
is they're so overwhelmed thatthey fall to the ground.
If I was asking the nextquestion, as we read that
(14:28):
amazing description, what's theimpression that it leaves?
And the impression that I getis that God is amazing and it's
almost at a loss for words.
It's so fantastic and there'sso much more there.
I think we have a too small viewof God.
Again, this was just Godarriving all of this amazing
(14:49):
thing with the wheels withinwheels, that he arrives in a
whirlwind or a tornado andthere's fire and there's
lightning and there's all thismovement, but stability.
He can move any directionwithout turning and all these
amazing things that are.
We get a loss for words and wejust sit at his feet in awe and
(15:11):
worship the Lord.
That's my impression, steve,when you first read that.
Can you put any words to it?
What your impression?
Speaker 2 (15:18):
would be.
One of the impressions I get iswhat you've described, but I
also see God.
When they came out of theExodus, he led them by a pillar
of cloud during the day, whichgave them shadow, and then also
a pillar of fire at night.
Whenever they would camp afterthey had built the tabernacle,
(15:41):
he was dwelling there and thepeople could see that pillar of
fire in the evening time thatwould help to light up the area,
and then also during the daythey would.
Also, whenever Moses would gointo the tent of meeting, they'd
all stand up to watch Moses goin and meet with God.
Glenn, what it impresses me isthat I think you and I and us of
(16:06):
this era of the Christian age,I don't think we have a full
appreciation of how awesome Godis, because we see these
descriptions here from theHebrew scriptures, the Old
Testament, of God and his power.
I mean, I know I just said thisa while ago, but that's the
(16:28):
impression that it leaves on me.
We just don't have anunderstanding of who God is.
We think that we're worshipinghim whenever we go to our
churches and we sing, and thenwhenever we hear the pastors
preach his word, but because wehaven't experienced God in the
(16:49):
way that these peopleexperienced him in the Old
Testament.
I just think that we reallydon't truly have an appreciation
for how he is.
One of the things here it saysthat is when the voice that came
out was like lightning.
Remember again, when Moses wason Mount Sinai, it was thunder.
While he was up there voicingcommandments to Moses and
(17:11):
talking to him, there waslightning that was going on.
There was a sound of thunderthat was going on.
God is just something that isoverwhelming and it's
overwhelming to the senses.
We just don't have anappreciation for it.
But I can tell you what I'mlooking forward to being able to
experience it someday myself.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
We can learn some things about God from this
vision.
So let's go through.
I think we can pick up somehigh points here.
At the very beginning of thisdepiction that he gives, verse 4
, god arrives in a whirlwind atornado if you will.
This is not the only time inthe Bible that it connects God
(17:51):
with a whirlwind.
God speaks to Job out of awhirlwind in Job 40, verse 6.
Elijah is taken up to heaven ina whirlwind, 2 Kings 2.1.
Isaiah 66.15 says the Lord willcome with fire and a whirlwind.
Three times in Isaiah God'swrath goes out from him like a
(18:14):
whirlwind and the Lord has hisway in the whirlwind.
It says in Nahum 1.3.
So oftentimes in the Bible atornado or a whirlwind is
associated with God.
If we've ever seen images of atornado or a big storm, it blows
down things, blows apart houses.
(18:35):
The image here is that there'sall kinds of energy and power.
That's what it speaks to.
A fiery whirlwind describedhere shows God's great power and
energy.
The original word for wind alsomeans spirit and we're going to
see that as we go through here.
So the same original languageword in Hebrew for wind also
(19:00):
means spirit.
Therefore, god shows up the verybeginning of this vision, god
shows up in a very powerful,fiery spirit.
Think of this as a tornado ofthe Holy Spirit.
God is the source of all powerand energy.
He is a driving force.
He is not static, he has allpower.
(19:23):
He is the source of power.
Then, as the description goeson, there's these four beings
with wings and faces, andthey're holding up a platform an
expanse is what it says with athrone on top, and it talks
about the beings.
The beings have faces thatpoint in all four directions, so
(19:46):
they can see in all fourdirections.
It also talks about the wheelshaving eyes all around them.
So if the beings can see in allfour directions and the wheels
within wheels all have eyesaround them, what can we
conclude, steve, from thesefaces and what they see Whenever
(20:07):
we see something?
What does that tell us aboutGod?
Speaker 2 (20:11):
I think that's a depiction of his omniscience and
his omnipresence, hisall-knowing of everything and
his presence everywhere.
And that's what we're seeing inthis depiction of the eyes on
the wheels and the facespointing all four directions God
sees everything.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
There's nothing hidden from God's eyes.
It does speak to hisomniscience.
He knows all because he seesall.
Even his attendants see all.
They see every direction.
Can we therefore then go hidesomething from God, that thing
that I thought was only insecret, that I'm the only one
that knows it happened?
Does God still see?
Speaker 2 (20:52):
even that.
Yeah, there was a psalm thatDavid wrote of the various
places.
I could go to the mountaintop,and God you'd be there.
I could go to the deepestvalley, and God you'd be there.
I could go even to the depthsof Sheol, and God you'd be there
.
The purpose of that psalm thatDavid gave was that there is no
place where God can't be ordoesn't know about or can't see
(21:17):
what's going on.
So, no, there's no place thatwe could go, hide and run away
from God without him knowingwhere we are, what we're doing,
what we're thinking and what ourrelationship is with him.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Cain killed Abel and thought nobody saw.
But God saw it.
God knew.
I remember when Joshua hadtaken Jericho, when he was
conquering the land.
He conquers Jericho and then hegoes to the little town of Ai.
There was a man who had tooksome loot from Jericho and hid
it under his tent.
God even saw that too.
(21:52):
God sees the things that we doin secret.
When we think and I think I gotaway with it, then God really
knows why.
Because he sees.
He sees all and he knows all.
Look at verse 12.
What does it tell us?
When these beings in thechariot could move in every
direction without turning?
They're always ready to moveand they moved quickly, like
(22:16):
lightning.
What does that tell us aboutthe character and nature of God?
Speaker 2 (22:21):
That he can go anywhere, that there's not any
place that's out of bounds forhim and he can go in a quick way
, quick fashion and in a waythat we're not familiar with
necessarily.
You know, glenn, it's likeanother dimension.
God is showing himself in thisother dimension or coming into
(22:43):
our dimension.
There is a very often used wayto describe this, as if you have
a person that lives in only atwo-dimensional world, where, in
other words, they can only seestraight in front of them in a
direction, but they don't have athird dimension.
They can't see up and out ordown, they can only see the
(23:07):
things that are straight out,flat to them.
But if we from a third dimensioncome in and put our finger into
that two-dimension world, thatperson would see something just
as a circle that would come in,or a line.
Actually, as we continue withour finger and our finger gets
fatter, then the line would justexpand.
(23:30):
That's a very crude way to putit that there's another
dimension out there and we'retold over and over again in
Scripture the visions of seeingthese other beings from the
other dimension that will appearand become visible to different
people.
I think this is describing thatGod is coming from his
(23:51):
dimension into our dimension and, when it happens, it's just
something that Ezekiel is justtrying to explain on our terms,
to make us understand what he'sseeing based upon the things
that we know.
It's just an exercise of tryingto explain something that's
never been seen before, ourparticular way of creatures and
(24:16):
beings that we can relate to.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
He's trying to explain the unsplainable and
unscrew, the inscrutable.
Look at verse 12 again.
You're talking about thesebeings.
Each went straight forward.
Wherever the Spirit was aboutto go, they would go without
turning.
As they went.
They followed the Spirit, theyfollowed God's Spirit, just like
we should follow God's Spirit.
But it tells us that God canmove.
(24:40):
He's not stable, he's notasleep, he's not slow about
doing things.
He can move in any directionwithout turning.
God never turns, he neverchanges in the sense he is
stable in the sense that henever changes, but he's not
stable in the sense that he justsits in one spot and never
(25:02):
looks at our needs.
If we have a need, then Godknows about it, he sees it and
he's quick to know about it andto do something about it.
We don't have to sit and yelland get his attention because he
might be looking away from us.
If we're thinking God is movingaway, or he's paying attention
to something else, or he's notlooking in my direction and I
(25:25):
have to yell real loud, wave myhands to try to get his
attention.
No, no, he sees and he is quickabout things.
He is not slow like men areslow.
God is always aware ofeverything he always sees.
He has the power and wisdom andmight to solve our problems.
That's the thing we can learnhere from Ezekiel, chapter 1.
(25:47):
It also says in verse 11, thesebeings each had two wings that
covered themselves, and in verse7 and verse 13, they sparkled
and shined like fire andlightning.
Why did they shine?
They shined because they werenear God.
God's overwhelming glory was sopowerful that even the beings
(26:09):
around him was glowing.
Steve, remember Moses' facewhenever he would go into the
temple.
What happened to Moses' facewhen he would go in and be near
God?
Speaker 2 (26:19):
It would shine Whenever he came out and came
down from the mountain, he hadto put a veil over his face
because it was a reflection ofthe glory of God, and the rabbis
through the years came up witha description of it that's not
really depicted in the textitself of the Hebrew scriptures,
(26:39):
but they came and coined it asthe Shekinah glory of God.
It's God's presence, but toanswer your question of Moses,
his face glowed so much that hehad to put a veil over it
because it was a reflection ofthe glory of God whenever he
would come face to face and talkwith him.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
A similar thing with Jesus on the Mount of
Transfiguration, when heunveiled his flesh and let the
glory shine through.
It was bright as the noondaysun overwhelmingly bright.
God is so powerful and so fullof glory that the normal man
can't look upon it.
Jesus on the Mount ofTransfiguration shone like the
(27:22):
sun here.
Even these beings that arearound the throne are shining
simply because of God's powerand his energy and his glory.
Revelation 6, verse 15, saysthis Then the kings of the earth
and the great men and thecommanders and the rich and the
strong and every slave and freeman hid themselves in the caves
(27:44):
and among the rocks of themountains and they said to the
mountains and to the rocks fallon us and hide us from the
presence of him who sits on thethrone, and from the wrath of
the Lamb, for the great day oftheir wrath has come.
And who is able to standUnquote?
So the Bible presents God asoverwhelming and powerful, and
(28:07):
those that love him can just sitat the feet of the throne and
be overwhelmed by the glory andend up shining like Moses' face.
But those that are not hischildren want to hide from the
glory.
They want to go hide in thecaves and let the mountains fall
on them because his power is sooverwhelming.
(28:27):
You know these people todaythat don't believe in Christ,
that don't believe in God.
They're real good at sittinghere and criticizing until God
actually shows up, until Godarrives and he's so
overwhelmingly powerful thatthey fall and try to hide
themselves.
The creatures around God'sthrone shine because they're in
(28:49):
the presence of God.
The question for us is do weshine when we're in the presence
of God?
We should have an air of theHoly Spirit around us.
People should see wow, there'ssomething different about that
man or that woman.
They have some glow about themthat is different.
That's what I just think isimportant.
Verse 20,.
Wherever the Spirit wanted togo, they went.
(29:11):
So the question for us is wheredo we go?
Do we go where God leads us?
Are we sensitive to the HolySpirit?
We should go through thescriptures, such as here in
Ezekiel.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
I think, glenn, it's just like what you started off
with.
They feel intimidated becausethey feel that they have to
explain these faces and whatthey mean and all that.
But no, just take in theappreciation of what's being
described and the awesomeness ofGod and the glory of God.
That's enough.
Because they feel, I think,intimidated.
(30:08):
People don't hear it, peopledon't understand and read these
texts about God.
If we would read more often ofhow God is described in these
Old Testament texts, I justthink that we would have a
better appreciation of who he isand would want to follow him
and want to be wherever he isand to do whatever it is that he
(30:32):
wants us to do, because one wayor another we're going to be in
that position to do that.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
Then, at the end of verse 16 and 17 and 18, it talks
about the wheels within a wheeland it says their appearance in
workmanship being as if onewheel were within another.
Wherever they moved, they movedat any of their four directions
without turning as they moved.
Their rims were lofty andawesome.
Steve, can you explain to mehow that works?
Speaker 2 (31:00):
No, I can't and I don't think that we need to.
No, I can't explain that.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
I think that's really sort of the point here is that
there's more to God than we canexplain.
I can't explain how a wheel'swithin a wheel and how they can
go in every direction withoutmoving.
I know that it happens and Iknow that's what Ezekiel saw and
I know that it's reasonable,but it tells me that there's
(31:26):
things about God that I can'tfigure out.
I can't sit here and explainhow the three persons of the
Trinity really interact witheach other, can't explain that.
I can say that it's true and Ican't explain how God can really
be omnipresent or how God canreally be all-powerful.
But I know that it's true and Iknow that it's reasonable.
(31:49):
I think this leaves us withwould we really want a God that
we could understand and explain?
Well, that's not really a God.
It's a pet or it's a machine.
That's not really a god it's apet or it's a machine.
We have a god that is sooverwhelmingly good and
overwhelmingly simple but at thesame time so overwhelmingly
(32:10):
profound, that we can enjoy himforever and we can plumb his
depths and sit at the feet ofhis throne and be amazed and
never get tired of viewing hisawesomeness and will never
really understand him fully.
To me, that's really theamazing lesson to walk away with
from this vision, glenn this isjust chapter one.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
We're just now starting to get into Ezekiel and
we have this wonderful visionof God.
I think it's a good way tostart out Ezekiel, because now
we're going to go into thedifferent areas of God and
giving instructions to Ezekielto act out as an object lesson
to the people.
But we have a betterappreciation of why Ezekiel is
(32:54):
going to be able to do it andwhy he's going to want to do it
from this vision that he hasgiven us the description in
chapter one.
So again.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
This image that he saw is real.
It's not like an animated movie, but it's so awesome.
It communicates God's majestyand his overwhelming awesomeness
.
We lose track of words here,but all of this that we just
went through is really just Godarriving.
(33:23):
God arrives with his chariot inchapter 1, and in chapter 2, we
see the message that he gives.
So I think oftentimes, steve,we've gotten so accustomed to
hearing God's words that we losethe fact that the words of God
are equally as profound as thebeing of God, and we're going to
(33:44):
see that as we get to the restof the book.
Chapter 1 is God arriving.
Chapter 2 we'll get to nexttime, where we see God's message
to Ezekiel, and God will give agreat and glorious message to
Ezekiel to give to the people ofIsrael.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
So be sure to join us as we continue, through the
book of Ezekiel, to give to thepeople of Israel.
So be sure to join us as wecontinue through the book of
Ezekiel and go to our websitefor these resources that we have
for you, that we went throughin session one and that we'll
also have as we go through.
That.
It's on our resource page.
Join us again next time as wecontinue to reason through not
(34:20):
only the Bible but the book ofEzekiel.
Thank you so much for watchingand listening.
May God bless you.
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