Ezekiel 1:27

1:26-28 The eternal Son, the second Person in the Trinity, who afterwards took the human nature, is here denoted. The first thing observed was a throne. It is a throne of glory, a throne of grace, a throne of triumph, a throne of government, a throne of judgment. It is good news to men, that the throne above the firmament is filled with One who appears, even there, in the likeness of a man. The throne is surrounded with a rainbow, the well-known emblem of the covenant, representing God's mercy and covenanted love to his people. The fire of God's wrath was breaking out against Jerusalem, but bounds should be set to it; he would look upon the bow, and remember the covenant. All the prophet saw was only to prepare him for what he was to hear. When he fell on his face, he heard the voice of One that spake. God delights to teach the humble. Let sinners, then, humble themselves before him. And let believers think upon his glory, that they may be gradually changed into his image by the Spirit of the Lord.

And I saw as the colour of amber,.... That is, the man upon the throne looked like the colour of amber; of which See Gill on Ezekiel 1:4 ; as the appearance of fire round about within it; which may denote the deity of Christ, or Christ as God, who is a consuming fire to his enemies; a fire enlightening and warming to his people; as a wall of fire protecting them; and as a pillar of fire guiding and directing them, as he did the Israelites in the wilderness; and who has such light and glory in him, as is incomprehensible to us; and therefore this fire appeared round about within, the colour of amber, and under his human nature, through which it broke forth: from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire; it reached upwards and downwards, as well as all around him: and it had brightness round about; the fire; which shone through the human nature, and was upon it, in virtue of its union to the Son of God; and through the Gospel, in which, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord is seen; and which will be brighter and brighter in the latter day; which may be signified by the appearance of his loins downward.

(27) As the colour of amber. —See on the same expression Ezekiel 1:4 . Literally, as an eye of bright metal. The rest of the verse is simply an attempt, by various repetitions, to convey an idea of the exceeding brightness and glory of the vision, yet also with the notions of purity and holiness, of power and activity always associated with fire. (Comp. Exodus 24:17 ; Daniel 7:9 ; Revelation 1:14-15 ; Revelation 4:5 .)

Verse 27. - As the colour of amber. The "amber" ( see note on ver. 4) represents the purity and glory of the Divine nature - the truth that " God is light" in his eternal essence. The "fire" which, here as ever, represents the wrath of God against evil, is round about within it, i.e. is less absolutely identified with the Divine will, of which it is yet an almost constant manifestation. It is, in the language of the older logicians, an inseparable accident rather than part of its essential nature. Ezekiel 1:27

27 . the colour of amber ] the glance (lit. eye). See Ezekiel 1:4 . fire round about within it ] This is the natural sense, but “round about” and “within it” seem to contradict one another. The rendering “fire that is enclosed round about,” and therefore brighter by contrast with what surrounds it (Hitz.), expresses a thought more ingenious than probable, and assumes an unlikely construction. The clause is wanting in LXX. it had brightness round about ] Rather: and a brightness round about him , viz. him who sat on the throne ( Ezekiel 1:28 ).

And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire {n} around within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness on all sides. (n) By which was signified a terrible judgment toward the earth.

Sapphire - Clear heavenly blue. The appearance of a man - Deeply significant is the form of this manifestation. Here is no angel conveying God's message to man, but the glory of the Lord Himself. We recognize in this vision the prophetic annunciation of the Holy Incarnation. We are told little of the extent to which the human form was made evident to the prophet. For the vision was rather to the mind than to the bodily eye, and even inspired language was inadequate to convey to the hearer the glory which eye hath not seen or ear heard, and which only by special revelation it hath entered into the heart of man to conceive.

I saw as the colour of amber: see Ezekiel 1:4 , and what is said there to this phrase. In this colour does Christ now appear against the rebellious Jews; he that would have been a Saviour to them, clot, bed with the garments of salvation, now puts on the garments of vengeance, and is clad with that zeal which is best, but not fully, expressed by such metaphors. As the appearance of fire round about within it; of most intense degree; as that fire which is shut up in oven or furnace, so this was the appearance of a fire which had a house to it round about (as the Hebrew). The just indignation of Christ, and his glorious majesty, are hereby set forth to us also, which appear within the amber. From the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire; as was his upward part, so the lower parts also, they appeared as fire. Provoked to wrath, and proceeding to judge, he comes in flames of fire taking vengeance, 2 Thessalonians 1:8 . And it had brightness round about: see Ezekiel 1:4 , where the phrase is explained. Majesty, justice, and unstained holiness shine round about Christ, though he comes in greatest wrath against enemies.

The throne of Jehovah. - Ezekiel 1:22 . And over the heads of the creature there appeared an expanse like the appearance of the terrible crystal, stretched out over their heads above. Ezekiel 1:23 . And under the expanse were their wings, extended straight one towards another: each had two wings, covering to these, and each two (wings), covering to those, their bodies. Ezekiel 1:24 . And I heard the sound of their wings, as the sound of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, as they went: a loud rushing like the clamour of a camp: when they stood, they let down their wings. Ezekiel 1:25 . And there came a voice from above the expanse which was above their heads; when they stood, they let their wings sink down. Ezekiel 1:26 . Over the expanse above their heads was to be seen, like a sapphire stone, the figure of a throne: and over the figure of the throne was a figure resembling a man above it. Ezekiel 1:27 . And I saw like the appearance of glowing brass, like the appearance of fire within the same round about; from the appearance of his loins upwards, and from the appearance of his loins downwards, I saw as of the appearance of fire, and a shining light was round about it. Ezekiel 1:28 . Like the appearance of the bow, which is in the clouds in the day of rain, was the appearance of the shining light round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Jehovah.

And I saw it, and fell upon my face, and I heard the voice of one that spake. - Above, over the heads of the figures of the cherubim, Ezekiel sees something like the firmament of heaven ( Ezekiel 1:22 .), and hears from above this canopy a voice, which re-echoes in the rushing of the wings of the cherubim, and determines the movement as well as the standing still of these creatures. The first sentence of Ezekiel 1:22 literally signifies: "And a likeness was over the heads of the creature - a canopy, as it were, stretched out." רקיע is not the genitive after דּמוּת, but an explanatory apposition to it, and before רקיע; neither has כּ fallen out (as Hitzig supposes), nor is it to be supplied. For דּמוּת denotes not any definite likeness, with which another could be compared, but, properly, similitudo, and is employed by Ezekiel in the sense of "something like." רקיע, without the article, does not mean the firmament of heaven, but any expanse, the appearance of which is first described as resembling the firmament by the words כּעין הקּרח. It is not the firmament of heaven which Ezekiel sees above the heads of the cherubim, but an expanse resembling it, which has the shining appearance of a fear-inspiring crystal. נורא, used of crystal, in so far as the appearance of this glittering mass dazzles the eyes, and assures terror, as in Judges 13:6 , of the look of the angel; and in Job 37:22 , of the divine majesty.