Ezekiel 1:1-3 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month… Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, etc. Our text authorizes the following observations. The Divine summons to the prophetic mission - I. WAS ADDRESSED TO EZEKIEL AT A TIME WHICH HE VERY MINUTELY RECORDS. "Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity." This statement made with so much detail suggests: 1. That Ezekiel received this summons in vigorous manhood. We take "in the thirtieth year" as referring to the age of the prophet. The mighty call reached him when he had passed beyond the inexperience and immaturity of youth, and before the approach of the decay of either his physical or mental powers. Thirty years was the age at which the Levites in the wilderness entered upon their laborious duties (Numbers 4:3). Jerome says that the priests entered upon their office at the same age; but the statement is very questionable. John the Baptist began his ministry on the completion of his thirtieth year. And "the Light of the world" was not publicly manifested until our Lord had attained the same age. 2. That he desired to place the reality of his predictions beyond question. Some of these are very remarkable. "We should deem it impossible for any one," says Fairbairn, "in a spirit of candour and sincerity, to peruse the wonderful and discriminating predictions contained in his writings respecting either the Jews themselves (those, for example, in ch. 5., 6., 11., 17., 21.), or the neighbouring nations, more particularly those of Tyre and Egypt - predictions which foretold in regard to the subjects of them very different and varying fortunes, and such as necessarily required ages for their accomplishment - we should deem it impossible for any one in a proper spirit to examine these, and compare them with the fulfilment, without being persuaded that they afford indubitable evidence of a supernatural insight into the far distant future." And the minuteness of the statement of time in the text, and the chronological order which is observed and stated in the prophecies, would emphasize the genuineness of these predictions and the certainty of their Divine origin. 3. That the summons made a deep impression upon the sold of the prophet. The careful particularity of the record indicates that Ezekiel felt profoundly the importance of that which he records. Those seasons in which God approaches most near to the soul, and communicates most directly with us, are momentous; they constitute epochs in our spiritual history. II. WAS ADDRESSED TO HIM IN SIGNIFICANT CIRCUMSTANCES. 1. In a heathen land. "In the hind of the Chaldeans," whither he had been carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar. The Chaldeans were idolaters. The Jewish rabbins assert that the Holy Spirit inspired the prophets only in the Holy Land. But here in Chaldea the inspiration of God quickens the soul of Ezekiel, heaven is opened unto him, visions of God are unfolded unto him, and the voice of God speaks to him. In the same land the Divine inspiration came to Daniel. And it was not at Jerusalem, but in Patmos, that St. John beheld his marvellous and glorious visions, and heard the mighty and awful voices of the great apocalypse. God is not limited to any place whatsoever. His Spirit can work as freely and effectively in one place as in another. 2. In a captive condition. "As I was among the captives," or, "in the midst of the captivity." With others of his fellow countrymen Ezekiel had been taken from Judaea and settled in Chaldea. That some of the captives painfully felt their condition is clear kern Psalm 137. To the patriotic and the pious there was much in their exile to cause grief. They would mourn for the fatherland with its stirring and sacred memories, and for the temple and its precious privileges, kern which they had been removed. These sorrows the godly had to suffer in common with the wicked. Those who were faithful to the Lord their God had to bear the captivity which had come upon the people by reason of the general unfaithfulness. Ezekiel, Daniel, and his three noble companions in the court of Nebuchadnezzar, men eminent for their religious fidelity, suffered the privations and griefs of the captivity not less, but perhaps much more, than they did whose sins caused that captivity. In every age the good are subject to the same outward afflictions and trials as the wicked. They have no exemption from the common calamities of life. In this respect "all things come alike to all," etc. (Ecclesiastes 9:2). 3. By the river of Chebar. We cannot with certainty identify this river. According to some it is "the modern Khabour, which rises near Nisibis, and flows into the Euphrates near Kerkesiah, two hundred miles north of Babylon." But Professor Rawlinson is of opinion that it "is the Nahr Malcha, or Royal Canal of Nebuchadnezzar - the greatest of all the cuttings in Mesopotamia." It is probable that there was quiet and solitude by this river, and these are favourable to the reception of Divine communications. It was amid the awful heights of Sinai that Moses on two occasions was alone with God forty days and forty nights (Exodus 24:15-18; Exodus 34.). And somewhere in the seclusion of the same mountain region "the Lord passed by" the Prophet Elijah, and the voice of God spake unto him (1 Kings 19:8-18). And our Lord and Saviour frequently sought retirement for communion with his Father (Matthew 14:22, 23; Mark 1:35; Luke 4:42; Luke 5:16). Devout solitude and serenity are congenial with Divine manifestation and communication. Moreover, there is something very suggestive about a river. It tends to hush the tumults of the mind and to stimulate peaceful and pure thought. When the spirit of Elisha was agitated, he was incapable of exercising his prophetic office, but when the agitation was allayed by music, he was able to prophesy. "When the minstrel played the hand of the Lord came upon him." And, as has been suggested by another, the gentle murmutings and rhythmic ripplings of the waters of the river may in like manner have attuned the spirit of Ezekiel to prophetic action and utterance. III. WAS ACCOMPANIED BY DIVINE VISIONS. "The heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God." These words indicate: 1. A remarkable faculty in man. He has power to behold "visions of God." 1 do not attempt to determine whether he saw them with the eye of the body or of the mind. To me it seems almost certain that the vision was spiritual. But whether it was physical or spiritual does not affect the great truth that we have power to receive spiritual and Divine revelations. Doubtless the seeing faculty in the case of the prophet was purified and strengthened for beholding these sublime and celestial scenes (cf. 2 Kings 6:17); but no new or additional faculties were given unto him. It behoves us to respect our nature, seeing that it is capable of beholding visions and hearing voices from God. 2. Great condescension in God. He opened the heavens, unfolded the glorious revelations, and empowered the prophet to behold them. The prophet speaks of them as "visions of God." The expression indicates that: (1) God was their Author. They proceeded from him. (2) God was their Object. It is true that "no man hath seen God at any time." The essential Deity "no man hath seen, nor can see;" yet these visions were manifestations of his majesty. Schmieder has beautifully said, "The Lord stooped to him, and his spirit was caught up to see God." IV. WAS ACCOMPANIED BY DIVINE COMMUNICATIONS. "The word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest." Or, more correctly, "The word of Jehovah came in reality unto Ezekiel." The prophet not only saw Divine visions, but he also "heard the voice of One that spake" (ver. 28). The true prophet is himself taught of God. His authority with men arises from the fact that he speaks not his own thoughts, opinions, or conclusions, but the word which he has received from God; that he conies to them with an assured "Thus saith the Lord." V. WAS ACCOMPANIED BY THE DIVINE IMPARTATION OF POWER. And the hand of the Lord was there upon him." The power of God was acting upon the spirit of Ezekiel as an inspiring, strengthening, constraining force. "The hand of Jehovah was on Elijah," and though weary, he put forth great physical exertion (1 Kings 18:46). The right hand of the glorified Lord was laid upon St. John in his dread swoon, and he was revived and strengthened. Whom God summons to arduous service he strengthens for the discharge of the same. He gives power commensurate with duty. - W.J. Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
    |