Ezekiel 1:15 - Meaning and Application

The prophet is very careful to note and record what he saw in this vision. Here he gives special attention to the wheels in Ezekiel 1:15-21. God’s glory appears not only in the splendor of his heavenly attendants, but also in the steady way he governs this world. After Ezekiel saw how God does whatever he wills among the armies of heaven, he was shown how God does the same among the people of earth. There, on the earth, he saw the wheels.

As Ezekiel looked at the living creatures and thought about the glory of that vision, another vision came into view. Those who make good use of the light God has already given them can expect more light, for to the one who has, more will be given. We often think only the upper world is glorious, but if we could see by faith the beauty of God’s providence, his wise, powerful, and good rule over all things, we would say that he truly is a God who judges on the earth and acts like himself.

Several things in this vision help us understand divine providence, meaning God’s wise care and rule over all that happens. The dispensations of providence, God’s ways of arranging events, are compared to wheels. They may be like the wheels of a chariot, carrying a conqueror in triumph, or more likely the wheels of a clock or watch, where every part helps keep the whole moving in order. James 3:6 speaks of the course, or wheel, of nature, and here that whole course is shown as being under the direction of the God of nature.

Wheels do not move by themselves the way the living creatures do, yet they are always in motion. So providence brings change. Sometimes one part of the wheel is uppermost, and sometimes another is. Still, the wheel keeps moving in a regular and steady way. Its motion is circular, and through the turns of providence, things often return to the same condition they were in before. What is now has been before, and there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10).

The wheel is also said to be beside the living creatures, who guide its motion. This shows that angels are used as servants in God’s providence, and they have more to do with guiding the motions of second causes, the usual causes of events, than we realize. The living creatures and the wheels are so closely linked that they moved and rested together. When angels are active, people are active too, as tools in their hands, whether for mercy or judgment, even when people do not know it. And when people are busy carrying out their plans, angels are at work to direct and overrule them.

This is strongly stressed in Ezekiel 1:19. When the living creatures went to carry out some task, the wheels went beside them. When God has work to do through angels, the ordinary causes of events are all found, or made, ready to join in. In Ezekiel 1:21, when the creatures stood still, the wheels stood still too. When the angels had finished their work, the lower causes had finished theirs as well. If the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, raised to some action beyond the usual course of nature, such as a miracle, the wheels, against their own natural pull toward the earth, moved with them and were lifted up beside them. This is said three times in Ezekiel 1:19-21.

All lower creatures are, move, and act as the Creator directs and influences them through the ministry of angels. What we can see is ruled by causes we cannot see. The reason given is that the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. The same wisdom, power, holiness, will, and purpose of God that guide the angels and all they do also, through them, orders every movement of creatures in this lower world and the results that follow. God is the soul of the world, giving life and motion to all things above and below, so that they move in perfect harmony, like the upper and lower parts of the human body.

Wherever the Spirit goes, that is, wherever God wills and purposes something to be done, there the angels go. They knowingly and willingly work to bring it about. Their spirit is in the wheels as well, so the wheels are lifted up beside them. That means both the powers of nature and the choices of men are made to serve God’s purpose, and they surely accomplish it, even if they do not intend it and do not think that they are doing so (Isaiah 10:7; Micah 4:11-12). So, even though God’s command is not obeyed on earth as it is in heaven, his purpose and counsel are obeyed, and will be.

The wheel is also said to have four faces, looking in four directions (Ezekiel 1:15). This shows that God’s providence works in every part of the world, east, west, north, and south, reaching even the farthest places. However you look at the wheel of providence, it has a face toward you, and it is a fair one. It invites your attention, as if it were ready to speak to you if you are ready to listen. Like a well-made picture, it seems to look back at everyone who looks at it.

The wheel had four faces, and it also had four wheels that moved on their four sides (Ezekiel 1:17). At first Ezekiel saw it as one wheel, one whole sphere (Ezekiel 1:15). Later he saw that it was four, yet the four had one likeness (Ezekiel 1:16). They were alike, and in a sense they were as one. This shows, first, that one act of providence is like another. What happens to us is common to human life, and we should not think it strange. Second, different events often move toward the same outcome and work together for the same purpose.

Their appearance and their work were like the color of beryl, or Tarshish, which likely means the color of the sea, a sea-green or blue color (Ezekiel 1:16). The course of things in this world is like the sea, always moving, yet with a steady connection and order in its parts. Events are linked together, and the chain of what happens is always moving in one direction or another. The sea rises and falls, and so providence seems to rise and fall in its arrangements, but always at the times and limits God has appointed. The sea looks blue, as the sky does, because our sight is weak and cannot see very far into either one. That is a fitting image for providence, because we cannot discover what God does from beginning to end (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

We see only part of God’s ways (Job 26:14). Beyond that, everything seems dim, which teaches us that we do not really know it. His wisdom is far above what we can see.

Their appearance and their work are also said to be like a wheel within a wheel. Notice again that what the prophet saw was meant to show what their work truly is. People’s appearance and their work often do not match, but with God’s providence, his rule over events, the outward picture and the real work agree. If they seem to clash, that comes from our ignorance and error.

These wheels were like a wheel within a wheel, a smaller wheel moved by a larger one. We do not try to give a scientific description of them. The point is that God’s ordering of events often feels complex, tangled, and impossible to explain, yet in the end it will prove to have been wisely arranged for the best. So, though we do not know what God is doing now, we will understand later (John 13:7).

The movement of these wheels, like the living creatures, was steady, regular, and constant: they did not turn back when they went (Ezekiel 1:17), because they never moved wrongly or in a way they should not have moved. God carries his work forward in his providence, and it continues even when it seems to us to be going backward. They went as the Spirit guided them, and so they did not turn back.

We would not need to turn back as often as we do, or undo by repentance what we have done wrong and then do it over again, if we were led by the Spirit and followed his direction. Some read this as meaning the Spirit of life was in the wheels, which carried them on smoothly and evenly, and so they did not turn back when they went.

The rings, or rims, of the wheels, were so high that they were fearsome (Ezekiel 1:18). They were so huge that when they rose and began to move, the prophet was afraid to keep looking at them. The wide reach of God’s thoughts and the great scope of his plans are truly amazing. When we try to describe the circle of providence, we are overwhelmed. O the height and depth of God’s purposes! Thinking about them should fill us with reverence.

They were full of eyes all around. This is the most surprising part of the vision, and also the most meaningful, because it plainly shows that the motions of providence are guided by endless wisdom. The course of events is not decided by blind chance, but by those eyes of the Lord that run to and fro throughout the earth and are everywhere, watching both evil and good. It is a great comfort to us, and it should be, that even though we cannot explain the causes and movements of events, they are all under the care and direction of an all-wise, all-seeing God.

He then noticed the firmament above, over the heads of the living creatures. When he saw the living creatures moving, and the wheels beside them, he looked up, as we should do when we notice the different movements of providence in this world below. Looking up, he saw the firmament stretched out over the heads of the living creatures (Ezekiel 1:22). What happens on earth happens under heaven, as Scripture often says, under its watch and influence.

He saw that the firmament was like the color of terrible crystal, truly glorious, but also awe-inspiring. Its vastness and brightness filled the prophet with wonder and solemn respect. It could also be read as terrible ice, or frost, the color of frozen snow, or like great ice mountains in the northern seas, which are frightening to see. Bold sinners ask, “Can God judge through thick darkness?” (Job 22:13). But what we call a dark cloud is clear as crystal to him, and from his dwelling place he looks on all people on earth (Psalm 33:14).

Under the firmament he saw the wings of the living creatures raised up (Ezekiel 1:23). When they wished, they used them either to fly or to cover themselves. God is above the firmament, and the angels are under it, which shows that they are subject to God’s rule and ready to fly on his errands in the open heaven, serving him together with one purpose.

He also heard the sound of the angels’ wings (Ezekiel 1:24). Bees and other insects make a great noise when they move their wings. Here the angels do so, to wake the prophet’s attention to what God was about to say to him from the firmament (Ezekiel 1:25). Through the providences they are used in, angels sound God’s warnings to people and stir them to hear his voice. That is the cry in the city, heard and understood by wise people.

The sound of their wings was loud and fearful, like the sound of great waters, like the roar of the sea, and like the noise of an army, the sound of war. Yet it was clear and meaningful, not confused or uncertain, for it was the voice of speech. More than that, it was like the voice of the Almighty, because God speaks through his providences once, yes twice, if we could only notice it (Job 33:14). The Lord’s voice calls out (Micah 6:9).

He also heard a voice from the firmament, from the One who sits on the throne there (Ezekiel 1:25). When the angels moved, they made a noise with their wings. But after they had roused a careless world, they stood still and let down their wings, so there could be deep silence and God’s voice could be heard more clearly. The voice of providence is meant to open people’s ears to the voice of the word, like a town crier who calls for silence in a loud voice while the judge gives sentence.

Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear. The noises on earth should awaken us to listen to the voice from the firmament, for how will we escape if we turn away from the One who speaks from heaven?