Ezekiel 1:4 – God wants to purify His people

Ezekiel means God strengthens. For effectiveness and faithfulness in life and ministry, every one of us needs His strengthening. Ezekiel certainly needed it. The pertinent question to ask then is: How can we find strength to run and serve with Him? This is what God says to us in Isaiah 40:29-31:    

He gives power to the faint,
    and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
    and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.

 

A quick glance at the book of Ezekiel will help us to see that his writing is neatly divided into several phases of God’s dealing with His people. In Ezekiel 1-3, we see the Ezekiel’s re-assignment. He was a priest redeployed to do the work of a prophet. In chapters 4-24, the message would center on God’s judgments on Judah and Jerusalem. From chapters 25-32 would be God’s vengeance on the nations before the exiles return from the Babylonian captivity in chapters 33-39. Since prophetic messages always include a message of hope, in Ezekiel 40-48 we see the restoration of the temple in Jerusalem.

The reassignment of Ezekiel from being a priest to a prophet kicked off with a series of visions. We will deliberate on the visions one at a time. We will start by looking at what he saw in Ezekiel 1:4. Here he said, “As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal (ESV).” 

What Ezekiel first saw was a stormy wind, much like a typhoon, approaching from the north. He saw was a great upheaval of nature. The scene is attended to by a great cloud, gleaming bright reflection from the light thrown by the peals of thunders in the dark thunderstorm. Amid the scene, Ezekiel saw fire bring a glow that reflected like shiny bronze. It was God’s way of calling for his attention. This remarkable scene was the manifestation of God. Just like the burning bush to Moses. Like when He came down to the people at the foot of Mount Sinai, He came with lightning, smoke, and fire.  Like when He guided the people in their exodus, He provided the pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day. What Ezekiel saw in the thunderstorm was a representation of the coming Babylonian invasion of Judah and Jerusalem.  

On deeper reflection, we cannot get away from the fact that what Ezekiel saw here was a storm of immense intensity. The fire not only represents the presence of God but that He, the all-consuming fire was coming to refine and purify.  Those whom God loves; He chastens. He loves us too much to leave us as we are and allow us to be destroyed. Hence. We must discern God’s purpose and learn to rejoice not only in hope but also in times of tribulation.