Part 1
Vision of God in a Cosmic War Chariot: Ezekielâs Commission
Ezekiel 1:1â3:27
OVERVIEW
Ezekielâs outline for his book corresponds to that of Israelâs hymnology. Specifically, it is like the hymn celebrating the Lordâs victory over Pharaohâs chariots (Exod. 15:1-21; cf. âAn International Prophet Redefines History,â p. 17). This victory motif appears in Ezekielâs introductory chapters in two major images. The first image is that of the gloiy of the Lord riding on a cosmic war chariot which, in Ezekielâs vision, reaches Mesopotamia in a storm cloud (1:1-28). This imagery introduces the entire book; it is portrayed throughout the book in the three extensive visions (1:1â3:15; 8:1â11:25; 40:1â48:35, esp. 43:1-9).
The second major image of this victory motif is used of a human being, Ezekiel, whom the Lord appoints as a sentinel to warn the house of Israel (3:16-27). This imagery introduces parts two and three of the book, the portrayal of the Lordâs victory over both Jerusalem and the nations (4:1â32:32). The sentinel imagery appears at both the beginning and the end of these judgment oracles (3:16-27; 33:1-22).
The transformation of this Near-Eastern war imagery, employed also throughout the Scripture, was Ezekielâs major gift to the powerless exiles. Building upon Israelâs long tradition against oppression, Ezekiel uses this imagery, not to promote violent resistance to Babylon but to oppose such revolt. But this anticipates the story.
Ezekiel 1:1â3:15
Ezekiel Commissioned for Public Ministry
PREVIEW
Of the few people named in this book (1:2-3; 11:1; 14:14; 26:7; 34:23; 38:2), the most important name is that of Ezekiel, which occurs in the introduction (1:3; cf. 24:24). The last name of the book is that of Gog, which occurs nine times in chapters 38-39. These two persons form a polarity: Gog as mythic leader of a legendary army is the symbolic, universal, human antagonist who opposes the leadership of God and Israel. Ezekiel, on the other hand, is the human protagonistâthe Lordâs messenger who is to set his face against Jerusalem (chaps. 4-24; cf. 4:3; 6:2), against foreign nations and empires (chaps. 25-32; cf. 25:2; 29:2), and finally against this universal antagonist, Gog (chaps. 38-39; cf. 38:2).
Ezekiel is initiated into his task by a callâa tradition which began with Moses (Exod. 3-4; cf. Jer. 1). Both Ezekiel and his hearers would have regarded such a call as entry into the public office of prophet, messenger of the Lordâs word. This call narrative is Ezekielâs claim to political legitimacy. It is the reason the exiles in Babylon, the ruling elite in Jerusalem, and the nations should listen to his public pronouncements.
Called as a prophet, Ezekiel is equipped for his task by incarnating the word of God through symbolic actions. The importance of this embodiment is made clear by the structure of the call narrative. The literary structure may be called a âringâ; its center is formed by Ezekielâs symbolic act of eating the scroll (cf. OUTLINE, below: d. Central Core). Moving out from this center, the first ring is formed by the commission, Ezekielâs appointment to public office (c and câ). The second ring, moving outward, is formed by the chariot vision (b and bâ). The outermost ring is formed by the introduction and conclusion, detailing time, place, persons, and events (a and aâ). [Structure of Ezekiel 1:1-3:15, p. 381.]
These three rings form three envelopes around Ezekielâs symbolic act of eating the scroll. This act both defines Ezekielâs task as one of communication and empowers him for it. Ezekielâs task is to communicate the Lordâs leadership to the exiles as they live among the nations, both as future vision and as present reality. The ring structure confirms the editorial unity of this entire segment, a unity likely structured by Ezekiel himself.
OUTLINE
a. Introduction, 1:1-3
b. The Vision of the Chariot, l:4-28a
1:4-14 | The Living Creatures |
1:15-21 | The Chariot Wheels |
1:22-28a | The Lord Enthroned on the Dome of the Universe |
c. The Commission, 1:28bâ2:7
d. Central Core: Eating the Scroll, 2:8â3:3
c1. The Commission, 3:4-11
b1. The Vision of the Chariot, 3:12-13
EXPLANATORY NOTES
Introduction 1:1-3 (OUTLINE, a)
The introduction and conclusion (3:14-15) form the outer âringâ or âenvelopeâ of this segment (PREVIEW). [Inclusio, p. 379.] In both is a similar phrase:
âŚas I was among the exiles by the river Chebar. (1:1)
I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who lived by the river Chebar. (3:15)
This outer ring is essential to the meaning of the call, for it is important that the vision begins and ends in the real world, with the chariot wheels on the ground. The vision is no flight from reality into a world of fantasy. Instead, it is addressed to a displaced person and concerned with a people in a tragic situation.
The introduction begins by citing a date which has no point of reference: In the thirtieth year (1:1). Some have supposed that it designates Ezekielâs age. Though all âsolutionsâ are only speculations, it is consistent to use the beginning of King Jehoiachinâs exile as the point of reference (597 B.C.; cf. 1:2), since that is the acknowledged anchoring year for all other dates in the book. The majority of Ezekielâs oracles are dated in sequence from year 5 to year 12. [Chronology of Ezekiel p. 377.] Then year 12 leaps to year 25 (32:1, 17; 33:21; 40:1), and year 10, preceding it, leaps to year 27 (29:1, 17). Year 30 logically follows (1:1; 568 B.C.). Perhaps this was the year when Ezekiel âpublishedâ his work (IDB, 2:207). If so, this date is a notation at the head of the book, and the story begins: As I was among the exiles⌠(1:1).
The concept of the heavens âŚopened in a vision is found only here in the OT. It is used twice in the NT. The account of Stephenâs vision echoes Ezekielâs call, using similar vocabulary: spirit, glory; of God, heavens opened, and Son of Man (Acts 7:55-56; Ezek. 2:2; 1:28; 1:1; 2:1, NIV). The vision recorded in Revelation 4:1-8 has many parallels to Ezekiel: the opened heavens, in the spirit. One upon the throne, the rainbow, lightning, thunder, glass like crystal, and four living creatures with faces like a human being, a lion, an ox, and an eagle.
Visions of God may be translated in the singular: a divine vision (cf. NEB). This expression is used also of the two other extended visions of the book (8:3; 40:2). Though here it likely designates Ezekielâs entire experience, it refers in the first instance to what Ezekiel saw (l:4-28a) in contrast to the audition, what he heard (1:28bâ2:7; 3:4-11).
Although the book is written autobiographically (cf. the pronoun I/me in 1:1, 4; 2:1; 6:1; 40:1; etc.), 1:2-3 is an editorial insertion written in the third person. Here the editor supplies the reference point for the dates found throughout the book: the year of the exile of King Jehoiachin, 597 B.C., when Nebuchadnezzar deported Ezekiel and the ruling classes to Babylon (2 Kings 24:10-17). [Chronology of Ezekiel, p. 377.] Counting from 597, the fifth year is 593 (the year of the vision). Jeremiah identifies this year as one in which both Jerusalem and the exiles were plotting revolt (Jer. 27-29).
The story of Jehoiachin and his three-month reign in Jerusalem is told in 2 Kings 24-25 and 2 Chronicles 36 (cf. use of his personal name in Jer. 22:24-28, âConiahâ; 24:1, âJeconiahâ). He and other Jewish captives are mentioned in an administrative text uncovered in the ruins of Babylon, in modern Iraq (ANET: 308). Jehoiachinâs name also appears on several jar handles found at Beth Shemesh and Kiriath-Sepher, Judah. Dating to Zedekiahâs reign, they say, âBelonging to Eliakim, steward of Yaukinâ (âYaukinâ = Jehoiachin; IDB, 2:811). Eliakim was steward of the crown property.
In this editorial insert, the prophet is identified by name, Ezekiel (1:3; cf. 24:24). Related to the name âHezekiahâ (2 Kings 19:20), Ezekiel means âGod strengthens,â a name appropriate to the vision. His identity as the priest (1:3), may explain his interest in dates (cf. Gen. 5), legal forms (Ezek. 18:5-13; cf. Lev. 22:10-16, the main law followed by detailed contingencies, ending with pronouncement of guilt or innocence), and temple (Ezek. 40-48). The Chaldeans (cf. 12:13; 23:14-16, 23; 16:29), an Aramean tribe, invaded Babylon in the ninth century B.C., giving to Babylon their tribal name (cf. Dan. 2:4). The word of the Lord coming to Ezekiel in this foreign land may not have surprised the exiles, since even Sinai law was given outside the land of Israel.
The river Chebar was a canal near the ancient city, Nippur, in what is now southern Iraq (1:3; cf. 1:1; 3:15, 23; 10:15, 20, 22; 43:3). The Murashu archives at Nippur, discovered in 1893 and dated to the fifth century B.C., include Jewish names and mention this canal twice. By such streams the exiles established their places of worship:
By the rivers of Babylonâ
there we sat down and there we wept
when we remembered Zion.
On the willows there
we hung up our harps. (Ps. 137:1-2; cf. Dan. 10:4; Acts 16:13)
Like Isaiah, Ezekiel meets the Lord in a worship setting, though a humble one (Isa. 6).
The editor emphasizes the decisive event for Ezekiel: the word of the Lord cameâŚ; its poetic parallel is, the hand of the Lord was upon him there (1:3, RSV). The clause the word of the Lord came occurs in the book some 50 times. The prophetâs authority lies neither in himself nor in his office, but in the word from God, whose messenger he is. This is why Ezekielâs words were recorded and cherished throughout the millennia and why they are read today. The phrase about the hand of the Lord occurs six other times in the book (3:14, 22; 8:1; 33:22; 37:1; 40:1) and designates an ecstatic experience. Ezekiel revives this feature of early prophecy (1 Sam. 10:5-6; cf. Dan. 10:10). Here the hand both introduces the call and closes it (1:3, 3:14), an âinclusioâ which forms an envelope around this material. [Inclusio, p. 379.]
The Vision of the Chariot l:4-28a (OUTLINE, b)
The second ring from Central Core (d), consists of the chariot vision. The corresponding sections are similar but not the same (OUTLINE, b and b1). Section b begins with an extended description of the creatures and wheels and ascends to the enthroned Glory. A summary, section bâ, begins with the Glory and continues with the sound of wings and wheels (3:12-13). Though this vision reappears independently throughout the book (3:23; 8:1â11:25; 43:2-5), section b is joined so intricately to the call (2:1â3:4) that it likely forms an original unit with it.
1:4-14 The Living Creatures
The words I looked (raâah), used thoughout chapter 1, are the hallmark of vision (1:4; âsawâ in 1:1, 15, 27ab, 28; cf. Rev. 4:1; 5:1; 6:1; 7:1; etc.). This vision is marked by the use of qualifiers: something like (1:5), the appearance of (1:10), something that looked like (1:13), appearance was like (1:16), like (1:7). When the enthroned Lord is described, three qualifiers are used: the likeness; like; and the appearance of a human form (1:26, NRSV/KJV). No qualifiers are employed, however, of the stormy wind (1:4). Ezekielâs vision is likely prompted by an actual windstorm coming from the north, typical weather for lower Iraq in the month of June (for other promptings of a vision, cf. Jer. 1:11; Amos 7:8; 8:1-2).
The storm, often identified with the coming of God (Job 38:1; Ps. 18), was supremely experienced in this way at Sinai (Exod. 19). On the other hand, when Elijah encountered God at Horeb (Sinai), God was not identified with storm or fire, but with âa still small voiceâ (1 Kings 19:12, KJV).
In the middle of the stormâs flashing fire is something like gleaming amber or brass (cf. NEB); and in the middle of the amber, Ezekiel sees something like four living creatures (1:4-5). These creatures, called cherubim in 10:1, were associated at ancient Shiloh with the ark of the covenant (1 Sam. 4:4; cf. Exod. 25:18-22; 1 Kings 6:23-36; Rev. 4:6-9). However, their four faces correspond to ancient Near Eastern art, particularly that of Assyria (1:6; ABD, 1:900). Borrowing centrally from his ancient Israelite tradition, Ezekiel does not hesitate to update this tradition with his own experience in a foreign environment. Facing four directions, each creature moved straight ahead, without turning (1:9). Psalm 18:10 associates the cherub with the âwings of the windâ and the universal, elemental powers which serve the sovereign ...