Ezekiel 1:23

The surface that looked like the sky, shining like crystal, separated God’s realm from the human realm. It marked the boundary between heaven (the place of God’s presence) and earth.

The vision includes images of the sky, the cherubim (see study note on Ezekiel 1:11–14), and the rainbow (Ezekiel 1:28). These images remind us of the opening chapters of Genesis. They suggest that the story about to unfold concerns the destruction of what God had created, followed by its re-creation (making it new again).

In Genesis, God destroyed the world with a flood and later restored it through Noah. In a similar way, Ezekiel’s world was being undone and would later be restored.

The language of this opening vision describes a theophany (a visible appearance of God; see study note on Deuteronomy 1:33). Ezekiel found it hard to describe what he saw. He often used phrases such as "the appearance of," "looked like," and "the likeness of." These words show that the vision was beyond normal human experience.

Even so, the message is clear and serious. The vision combines movement with symbols of judgment. It warns that God’s judgment would surely come upon rebellious Jerusalem.

Old Testament prophetic books often begin with a “call narrative.” A call narrative describes how God chose and sent a prophet to serve in this role (for example, Jeremiah 1:4–19).

This account showed that the prophet’s message was legitimate. It made clear that the prophet spoke as the Lord’s ambassador (a representative sent with authority). The call narrative also introduced important themes that the book would explain more fully later.

In Ezekiel, the call narrative focuses on the Lord’s coming judgment on his people.