Verse 4
Ezekiel saw within the opened heavens a great cloud blown toward him by the north wind with lightning flashing from it almost constantly (cf. 1 Kings 19:11-13; Job 38:1; Job 40:6; Psalms 29:3-5). Israel’s enemies had invaded from the north, so the implication was that an invasion was coming. He also saw a bright light around this cloud and something like hot glowing metal shining in its midst, evidently God Himself (cf. Exodus 13:17-22; Exodus 19:16-18; Deuteronomy 4:24; Hebrews 12:28-29). The biblical writers sometimes described God’s abode as in the north (e.g., Psalms 48:2; Isaiah 14:13; cf. Matthew 24:30; Matthew 26:32; 1 Thessalonians 4:17), and they often associated storms and clouds with theophanies (e.g., Job 38:1; Psalms 29:3-9; Psalms 104:3; Isaiah 29:6; cf. Exodus 13:21; Leviticus 16:2).
As God had riveted the attention of Moses by showing him a bush that was burning but not burning up (Exodus 3:1-15), so God captured Ezekiel’s attention with this vision of a burning cloud.
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