The book of Ezekiel is largely unknown to most Christians today. It is certainly a difficult book to understand, likely to leave its readers curious and confused. Yet all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for us. And besides, when you meet Ezekiel in heaven, you would be embarrassed if you had to confess to him that you had never gotten around to reading his book! If we can slow down to listen, God will speak to us through each of these 48 chapters. Ezekiel 1 begins with a historical reference point. Judah’s exile took place in three stages, with young King Jehoiachin and many of the leading priests taken in the second group of captives, deported to Babylon in 597 BC. Seven hundred miles from home, the Jewish community begged God to rescue them, never dreaming that Jerusalem would be utterly destroyed a decade later. It was five years after being exiled with the king (and about five years before Jerusalem’s destruction) that the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel, a thirty-year old priest, while on the banks of a Babylonian canal (v 1-3). He sees an extraordinary vision that begins with a windstorm coming out of the north. “The north” is always the region from which the enemies of Israel invaded. Assyria had already come to scatter the northern tribes. Now it was Babylon threatening to eliminate the southern kingdom of Judah (v 4). Yet amid the dark cloud and flashing fire, there is a vision of God Almighty! It is the LORD Himself who is coming to judge Jerusalem, using the Babylonian army as His instrument of wrath. Ezekiel sees four living creatures, each with wings outstretched, so that together they form a huge, hollow square (v 5-9). Each creature has four faces—signaling God’s intelligence (the human face), His ferocity (the lion), His strength (the ox), and His compassion (the eagle; see Exo 19:4). Beside each creature is a pair of wheels, intersecting each other so that they cannot fall over. This is the mobile throne of God, propelled and directed by the Holy Spirit! (v 10-21). Above the four living creatures, and supported by them, is a vast, awesome platform, sparkling like crystal. Above this “expanse,” there is a sapphire throne and “a figure whose appearance resembled a man” (NLT). He seems to be on fire! And all around Him is the glow of a multi-colored rainbow, perhaps a reminder to the exiles that God is faithful to His promises. No matter your circumstances today, God reigns over all. His people are never forgotten, and He is always on the move—omniscient and omnipotent (v 22-28). For further meditation: