1 NOW it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in 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.

2 In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity,

3 The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel [ Means God Strengthens. ] the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans [ Babylon. ] by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him.

4 ¶ And I looked, [ Ezekiel see a vision. sounds a little like Lehi here, and that would make sense since they come from that same period of time and their expressions would have been much the same. ] and, behold, a whirlwind [ A vortex like a tornado. ] came out of the north, [ Notice where they are coming from The North - this was were the ten tribes were taken. The Hebrew word for north is tsafon (צָפוֹן). Tsafon is a feminine noun that means "hidden" or "dark". In the Bible, it's used to refer to the north as a quarter, which is considered gloomy and unknown. In the Bible, the words for left and right are used to refer to the south and north, respectively. This is because the Bible assumes that east is the frame of reference, as Adam was created facing east. In modern Israel, tsafon is also used to refer to the Galilee] a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, [ It appears to Ezekiel that there is a fire in the clouds, coming from these flaming dish shaped crafts. ] and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire. [ These whirlwinds/ships (vs 16-18) appear as burning stars. ]

5 Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. [ These ships carried men. ] And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. [ They looked like men, so maybe they were men with some symbolic representation as to who these men where. ]

6 And every one had four faces, [ See verse 10 for more detail on their faces. ] and every one had four wings.

7 And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot: [ So their feet are like the feet of Oxen. What are the feet like that hold up the baptismal font? They are feet of oxen, why because the symbol for the tribe of Ephraim was an ox. Ephraim was the birthright son of Israel, as such he was given to administer the ordinances of the Ney and everlasting covenant upon the earth. So the fact that these have brass feet may suggest that they are grounded in the gospel of Jesus Christ. ] and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass. [ Even the color of the feet are like many of the oxen in the temples. ]

8 And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.

9  Their wings [ Their mode of transportation. Wings suggest that they were able to move quickly, in way that others of the House of Israel cannot. Just like the woman who was given wings that she could fly away from the dragon for protection. ] were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.

10  As for the likeness of their faces, [ In the Book of Revelations there are described as 4 separate beings here. Where it says one is like a man and one is like an ox, and one is like an eagle. ] they four [ Is this a temple/tabernacle scene by some chance? Looks like the four tribes all represented as the were around the tabernacle/font depictions. Another way to look at this vision is that the kings of all of the animal kingdoms the lion, the eagle and the ox all bow down to the son of Man. Either way there us a lot to decipher here. ] had the face of a man, [ The symbolism here that they are here and represent the four banners that were placed around the tabernacle and represent the tribes of Israel. Ruben had the head of a man as its symbol. ] and the face of a lion, [ The banner for the tribe of Judah. Note just as around the tabernacle Judah is in the East and Ephriam is located in the west. ] on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; [ The banner for the tribe of Ephriam. ] they four also had the face of an eagle. [ Dan was represented by an eagle. So those carried in these crafts suggest that they are the Lost ten tribes. See Isaiah 13:3-6. ]

11 Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.

12 And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went.

13 As for the likeness [ Exekiel trys to compare it to something. ] of the living creatures, their appearance [ Again he is having a rough time describing what he see's. He admits it iver and iver again that this is the best that he can do with his description of what he see's. ] was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.

14 And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.

15 ¶ Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces.

16 The appearance of the wheels [ These ships appear to be like wheels - circular in nature. ] and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: [ Amber. ] and they four had one likeness: [ All four ships looked the same - they were identical. ] and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. [ A wheel within another wheel. ]

17  When they went, [ When they moved. ] they went upon their four sides: [ They could go in any direction that they wanted, and to do so they did not need to turn. ] and they turned not when they went.

18  As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; [ They could move in the vertical direction so fast that it scared Ezekiel. ] and their rings were full of eyes [ The outer rings of these ships had lights. ] round about them four.

19 And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.

20  Whithersoever the spirit was to go, [ Or the captains of these vessels just had to think wher they wanted to go the vessel would just go there. ] they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels [ The power to move things. ] were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

21 When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

22 And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.

23 And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies.

24 And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, [ Was the noise there to announce their coming? ] like the noise of great waters, [ The sounds of the ocean can be pretty loud especially if it is crashing against the rocks. ] as the voice of the Almighty, [ So to make this comparison one would have had to have heard the voice of God. So is he saying in a round about way that they were declaring God, what he would say? Of this same event others say about the same thing Joel 2:5; Micah 2:12; 2 Peter 3:10; 2 Ne 27:2. ] the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings.

25 And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings.

26 ¶ And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.

27 And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about 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 round about.

28  As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud [ The covenant that God gave to Enoch and to Noah. ] in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. [ Every color is here as it was in the tabernacle, hence the likeness of the glory of God as he was in the tabernacle. ] And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.