The Likeness of Yahweh's Glory

Ezekiel's book opens with a date: the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day. Ezekiel was a priest, but he was not in Jerusalem near the temple. He was among the captives by the river Chebar in Babylonia. There, he says, the heavens were opened and he saw visions of God, and Yahweh's hand was on him.

The vision is full of movement and light. A stormy wind brought a great cloud, with fire flashing and glowing metal in the middle. Ezekiel describes four living creatures with four faces and four wings, sparkling like burnished bronze. They went straight forward wherever the spirit was to go. Beside them were wheels, a wheel within a wheel, with high rims full of eyes. The noise of their wings was like great waters, like the voice of the Almighty.

Above an expanse like crystal was the likeness of a throne like sapphire, with a likeness like a man on it. Fire and brightness surrounded him, like the rainbow in the cloud on a day of rain. Ezekiel is careful with his words: this was the appearance of the likeness of Yahweh's glory. Even among the captives, far from the temple, God showed his glory, and Ezekiel fell on his face. In the New Testament, Revelation 4:3 describes a rainbow around the throne in heaven: There was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald to look at.