A revelation of fire.
The prophet is visited with a series of new visions under fresh circumstances. No longer walking among the weeping captives by the waters of Babylon, or standing in solitude upon the great plain, Ezekiel is now in his own house receiving a deputation of Jewish leading men, who have evidently bees impressed by his earlier prophecies, and who have come to consult him on the condition and prospects of his nation, when he is seized with an inspired rapture. The house and the visitors melt away from his consciousness, and there in the very presence of these waiting and astonished guests the prophet's eyes are opened to a vision of God, and he is carried in imagination to scenes of sin and shame in the temple at Jerusalem. Was ever there a more unlikely time and setting of revelation? Truly the Spirit breatheth where it listeth. God may visit a soul in company as well as in solitude, in the home as well as in the temple or in the seclusion of nature. He, is ever present. The only question in—When and how will the veil be lifted?
I. A VISION OF GOD. It is evidently a Divine appearance, a theophany, that is here portrayed. Not that man at any time can see God with the outward eye, for flesh cannot see spirit. But in vision and representative form God now manifests himself to Ezekiel.
1. The vision of God precedes the revelation of truth. It was usual for this great seer of visions, Ezekiel, to have a new series of revelations opened by some overwhelming manifestation of God's presence. The same occurred with St. John's visions in the Apocalypse. We must know God before we can understand Divine truth. The vision of God in the soul must come first. Then truth can be seen in his light.
2. The vision of God precedes the revelation of man. Ezekiel is about to see awful sights of sin. He must first behold the pure fire of God's presence. We cannot know man till we see him in the light of God. The Bible that gives us our highest knowledge of God also gives us our deepest insight into man. Vague ideas of God lead to light thoughts of sin. When about to visit the haunts of wickedness, the Christian should first come into communion with God. This will help him to see the horror of sin, to keep himself from contamination, and to feel the right commiseration for the fallen.
II. A VISION OF FIRE. The Divine manifestation seems to have been in a human shape, but in one of fire—burning flames below, brilliant radiance above.
1. The fire below suggests wrath against sin. "Our God is a consuming Fire" (Hebrews 12:29). Christ came to baptize with fire, and to burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire (Matthew 3:11, Matthew 3:12). There is a righteous indignation against sin, the lack of which would mean moral feebleness. God burns to consume all evil.
2. The brightness above suggests the supreme glory of God. The crowning characteristic of God is nut wrath. Above the fire is the serene radiance. There is terror in the holiness of God when this touches the sin of man. Yet God himself is supremely calm and beautiful. If we can rise from the flaming wrath about his feet, and behold the beauty of his countenance, we shall see on it the expression of eternal goodness.