14 And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.
For who hath despised the day of small things? Yea, they shall rejoice [even] those seven -- and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel: these are the eyes of Jehovah, which run to and fro in the whole earth.
For as the lightning goes forth from the east and shines to the west, so shall be the coming of the Son of man.
whilst I was yet speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, flying swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
And he shall send his angels with a great sound of trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from [the one] extremity of [the] heavens to [the other] extremity of them.
For as the lightning shines which lightens from [one end] under heaven to [the other end] under heaven, thus shall the Son of man be in his day.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Ezekiel 1
Commentary on Ezekiel 1 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
First Half - The Prophecies of Judgment - Ezekiel 1-32
The Consecration and Calling of Ezekiel to the Office of Prophet - Ezekiel 1-3:21
In a vision of God, Ezekiel beholds in a great cloud, through which shone the splendour of fire, and which a tempestuous wind drives from the north, the glory of the Lord above the cherubim upon a majestic throne in human form (Ezekiel 1), and hears a voice, which sends him as a prophet to Israel, and inspires him with the subject-matter of his announcements (Ezekiel 2:1-3:3). He is thereafter transported in spirit to Tel-abib on the Chebar, into the midst of the exiles, and the duties and responsibilities of his calling laid before him (3:4-21). By this divine appearance and the commission therewith connected is he consecrated, called, and ordained to the prophetic office. The whole occurrences in the vision are subdivided into the copious description of the theophany, Ezekiel 1, by which he is consecrated for his calling; and into the revelation of the word, Ezekiel 2:1-3:21, which prepares him for the discharge of the same. From these contents it clearly appears that these chapters do not constitute the first section of the book, but the introduction to the whole, to which the circumstantial notices of the time and place of this revelation of God at the commencement, Ezekiel 1:1-3, also point.
The Appearance of the Glory of the Lord. - Ezekiel 1:1-3. Time and place of the same. - Ezekiel 1:1. Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth (month), on the fifth (day) of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. Ezekiel 1:2 . On the fifth day of the month, it was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity, Ezekiel 1:3 . The word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Busi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was there upon him.