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Context No. 2251 of 4322 · Ezekiel

Context · Reflection

Ezekiel 1:22-28: in context

22Over the head of the living creature there was the likeness of an expanse, like an awesome crystal to look at, stretched out over their heads above. 23Under the expanse, their wings were straight, one toward the other. Each one had two which covered on this side, and each one had two which covered their bodies on that side. 24When they went, I heard the noise of their wings like the noise of great waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a noise of tumult like the noise of an army. When they stood, they let down their wings. 25There was a voice above the expanse that was over their heads. When they stood, they let down their wings. 26Above the expanse that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone. On the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man on it above. 27I saw as it were glowing metal, as the appearance of fire within it all around, from the appearance of his waist and upward; and from the appearance of his waist and downward I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. 28As the appearance of the rainbow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. This was the appearance of the likeness of the LORD’s glory. When I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of one that spoke.

Ezekiel's opening vision reaches its climax. Above the living creatures is an expanse gleaming like crystal, and above that a throne like sapphire, and on the throne a figure with the likeness of a man, gleaming like fire, surrounded by brightness. And around the brightness, Ezekiel sees the likeness of a rainbow, such as appears in a cloud on a day of rain. This, he says, was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when he saw it, he fell on his face. The overwhelming glory of God brought the prophet down in awe and worship.

Two things in this vision are worth holding together. The first is the overwhelming majesty of God's glory. Ezekiel sees the glory of the LORD, radiant, gleaming like fire, surrounded by brightness, enthroned in splendor beyond describing, and he can only stammer of likenesses and appearances, for the reality exceeds his words. And the sight overwhelms him: he falls on his face. The glory of God rightly evokes awe, reverence, and worship; those who glimpse it are brought low before it. The vision reminds us of the majesty of the God we approach, before whom the fitting response is awe and worship, falling on our faces as Ezekiel fell. The second is the rainbow around the throne. Amid all the fire and brightness, Ezekiel sees the likeness of a rainbow encircling the glory. The rainbow is the sign of God's covenant, given after the flood as a token of his mercy and faithfulness. And here it encircles the throne of glory, so that the God of overwhelming majesty is also the God of covenant mercy; his glory is ringed with the token of his faithfulness. Majesty and mercy are seen together: the awesome glory that brings the prophet down is encircled by the rainbow of covenant grace. This holds together two truths we can hold apart. We can think of God's majesty and his mercy as separate, even opposed: the majestic God distant and terrifying, the merciful God near and gentle. But in Ezekiel's vision they are one: the glory of God is encircled by the rainbow of his mercy. The God of overwhelming majesty, before whom we fall in awe, is the God of covenant faithfulness, whose throne is ringed with the sign of his grace. His majesty does not cancel his mercy, nor his mercy diminish his majesty; both are seen together in the glory of the LORD. This calls us to approach God with both awe and hope. The vision of God's glory, before which Ezekiel fell on his face, calls us to awe and reverence, to worship the God of overwhelming majesty. And the rainbow around the throne calls us to hope, for the majestic God is also the God of covenant mercy, whose glory is encircled by the token of his faithfulness. We approach a God who is both awesome and merciful, whose majesty brings us low in worship and whose mercy, signed by the rainbow around his throne, gives us hope to draw near. The glory of the LORD, before which Ezekiel fell, is encircled by the rainbow of his covenant grace; and we come before a God of both overwhelming majesty and covenant mercy, worshiping his glory and hoping in his grace.

Do I hold God's majesty and his mercy apart, thinking of the majestic God as distant and terrifying and the merciful God as separate from him, and can Ezekiel's vision of the glory of the LORD, so overwhelming that he fell on his face, encircled by the rainbow of covenant mercy, teach me to hold both together, approaching a God whose majesty brings me low in worship and whose mercy, signed by the rainbow around his throne, gives me hope to draw near, both awesome and merciful in one glory?

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