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Ezek.1:1. And it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, According to some, this was the thirtieth anniversary year. And the Jews call a fifty-year continuation of time a jubilee. Just as the Romans calculate the cycle of time in fifteen years, so the Jews count it in fifty. This fiftieth anniversary, as others say, the thirtieth year was the year of prophecy. And I, having found the first year of jubilee using the time books, found that the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s captivity coincides not with the thirtieth, but with the twenty-fifth year of the jubilee. Then, taking into account that none of the holy prophets indicated this year anywhere, after research, I found that it was the thirtieth year of captivity. For soon after this, this same Prophet receives a command to recline on his right side and take upon himself the sins of Judah for fourty days, counting a day for a year (Ezek. 4:6). Therefore, taking into account that the humane Master determined the captivity of Judah to be seventy years, and that out of seventy there were forty years left, I understood from this that the Prophet was speaking about the thirtieth year of captivity. Continuing my research and calculating the years, I find that the captivity took place not in thirty, but in thirteen years. But the good and humane God usually calculates the time of punishment not from an actual event, but from the pronouncement of His decree. This is what he did with Patriarch Abraham. Having said: “Your seed will be abject in a land that is not theirs, and they will enslave me and make me embittered for four hundred years” (Gen. 15:13), He did not allow Abraham’s seed to live with the Egyptians all this time, but he counts the number of four hundred years from the time He pronounced this definition. And under Noah, having appointed a period of one hundred and twenty years for repentance and, seeing the growing lawlessness, in order to stop the spread of sin, he did not wait for the end of a certain time. So here too we will find the thirty-year number, making God’s determination the beginning of the calculation. The decree about the captivity and slavery of the Jews was pronounced by God in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah. When the high priest Hilkiah found the lost law of Moses (for lawlessness had become so intense in Judea that the divine was completely forgotten); then the king, having read the law, saw that the people were acting directly contrary to it, and why, being extremely afraid, he began to beg the high priest to appease God; then the high priest comes to the prophetess Oldana, a pious wife who kept God's laws. She, having come to the spirit, having become inspired by God, and being filled with God’s Spirit, said to him: “The Lord God of Israel has spoken to his face: shout, men, to him who sent you to me: Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon those who dwell in it, all the words of the book, which the king of Judah read, even though he forsaken me, and the censer. another god, for let all the deeds of their hands provoke Me to anger, and My wrath may be kindled against this place, and not quenched. And to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, say unto him: Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: Because of these words which thou hast heard, thy heart was softened, and thou humbled Himself before the presence of the Lord, having heard great words against this place and against them that dwell in it, that they should be destroyed, and thou rentest thy garments, and wept. before Me, and when I heard, the Lord spoke. Behold, I will add you to your father, and you will be gathered together in your grave in peace, and you will not see in your eyes all the evil ones, even though I will bring you to this place and to those who live in it” (2 Kings 22:15-20). The book of Chronicles also shows the same thing (2 Chron. 34:23-28). This happened, and it was spoken, in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah, and he reigned thirty-one years. Therefore, from the eighteenth to the thirty-first year is fourteen years. After Josiah, Jehoahaz reigned for three months, which must be included in the same years, because the prophecy was in the eighth month of the eighteenth year. Then, adding the eleven years of Joachim’s reign to the previous years, we find twenty-five years. We will count the three months and several days of Jehoiachin’s reign again for the remaining months of the eighteenth year, and by adding five years of Jehoiachin’s captivity to twenty-five years, we will find the thirty-year number. Thus, we will be able to be convinced of the truthfulness of the seventy-year continuation of the captivity, because from the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah to the first year of the Persian king Cyrus, in which the first permission was given to return from captivity, the period of seventy years was completed. And whoever wants to calculate the seventieth year of the desolation of the church, let him begin with the eleventh year of Zedekiah (for then the church of God was burned), and end with the second year of Darius Istasp, in which the church of God was built again with all care, and the matter was brought to an end. Therefore the Prophet says: In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, I was in the midst of captivity at the river Chebar, and the heavens were opened, and I saw a vision of God 1 . Ezek.1:2. On the fifth day of the month, this is the fifth year of the captivity of King Joachim, And the Prophet himself clearly showed us that this is the fifth year, not just of captivity, but of the captivity of King Joachim, and Jehoiakim, as I said, is called Jehoiakim, who reigned for three months and several days. For his father Joachim, in the eleventh year of his reign, was killed in Jerusalem. “The heavens were opened,” the Prophet said, not in the true sense and in reality, but in a spiritual vision. “And I saw,” he says, “the vision of God,” not the essence of God, but a vision, a kind of revelation, and, as it were, an image intelligible to human nature. “And I was in the midst of captivity,” the pious with the wicked, the righteous with the wicked. For such is the love of the Lord that for the sake of sinners and His servants He gives over to sorrows and disasters. Ezek.1:3. and the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the son of Buzite, a priest in the land of the Chaldeans near the river Chebar. The Sublime is adorned with gifts, priesthood and prophecy; and both are gifts of the Spirit. He also tells the country and place where he was honored with divine revelation, thereby revealing many things: firstly, that the Divinity is indescribable, has power not only in Jerusalem, does not rule over the Jews alone, but is the Creator and Preserver of everything. This also makes it possible to see indescribable goodness, namely, that, having been given over to captivity, it does not leave it neglected, but is worthy of all providence and due care. He honors the Prophet with a vision of the waters, foreshadowing the salvation of all people and foretelling to the pious the future knowledge of God in the rebirth of water. So the godly Daniel contemplated these divine visions by the waters, and the legislator Moses, defeated at the shore, gained salvation through the water. So the very well and the water arranged the marriage, and this happened with the patriarchs who lived before Moses, not only with Jacob, but also with Isaac. But let us return to the interpretation, because in the present case this is not where the prophetic word is heading. And the hand of the Lord be upon me, This is what the Prophet called the effectiveness of God’s Spirit. For the divine Paul, imposing punishment on Elymas who resisted, said this: “Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a time” (Acts 13:11). The effectiveness of the divine Spirit, as Paul himself says, was “in the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God” (Rom. 15:19). “The hand of the Lord be upon me,” says the Prophet. Ezek.1:4. and I saw, and behold, a spirit was lifted up, coming from the north, and a great cloud was in it, and a light was around it, and a fire was shining: It is necessary to first say the reason for this revelation, and then offer a detailed interpretation. At that time, the Prophets were contradicted by many false prophets: and blessed Jeremiah especially gives us information about this. For, when God commanded him to carry “baggage” (Jer. 27:2) and predict the captivity of the king and all the people, a certain false prophet Ananias, having crushed them, began to contradict what the Prophet had said, asserting a lie and crying that not only the city would not be destroyed, but also those who had previously been taken into captivity would return in a short time. Therefore, the Lord God, becoming even more indignant, commands Jeremiah to place iron bonds on himself instead of wooden treasures and to foretell the siege of cities and slavery to those living in Judea, and to write to the captives in Babylon so that they fortify the “churches” and plant helicopter cities (Jer. 29:5), because the definition of the seventy-year captivity is not false. Therefore, it was necessary that not only Jeremiah spoke and wrote this in Judea, but also those in captivity learned this from the prophets who were among them. Therefore, the Prophet Ezekiel sees the future final destruction of Jerusalem. This is what the words mean: “lift up the spirit,” or, as Symmachus said, rushing swiftly, “coming from the north.” The swiftness of the spirit means the invasion of the king of Babylon, the “great cloud” - a cloud of spears, darts and all kinds of arrows; “fire shine” - not only fear instilled in everyone, but also the destruction of the city by fire; “and the light is around”—the glory of God revealed in punishment. since they did not take advantage of the benefits and did not want to know the Benefactor from them, they acquire knowledge through punishment; which is why they cry: “After my captivity, you repented” (Jer. 31:13). Ezek.1:5. and in the midst of it was like a vision of an electr in the midst of fire, and light in it: Hitherto the Prophet has described to us the revelation taken in its entirety, and now let us move on to a detailed description. and in the middle like the likeness of four living creatures. Both man and angel are called rational animals: but the first is a rational mortal, and the second is a rational immortal. Who will be able to clearly interpret this revelation when the Prophet himself fainted in the description? For he did not simply say that he saw four living creatures, or the likeness of four living creatures, but says: “like the likeness of four living creatures.” From which it is clear that the God-wise Prophets contemplated not the very nature of invisible beings, but some similarities and images shown by the Greatly Gifted One every time, in accordance with the need. Therefore, the Prophet also describes the external appearance of the animals that appeared to him. For he says: Ezek.1:5–8. This is the vision of them, the likeness of man in them: and there are four faces to one, and four wings to one, and their legs are right, and their legs are feathered, and sparks are like shining copper, and their wings are light, and the hand of a man is under their wings in their four countries. About the external appearance of the animals that appeared, the Prophet says that they had an upright position and looked like a person, each had four faces, four wings, an equal number of arms and legs covered with feathers. The number of faces and wings of these, bearing the divine image of the Powers, denotes the all-extending vision of the All-King God. And the featheredness signifies the speed of their nature, while the sparks, likened to the brightest copper, signify the clarity and purity of thought, and the hands hidden under the wings mean invisible and diverse effectiveness. To this the Prophet adds: Ezek.1:9. I don’t always ask them to walk: every time I walk right before my face. A person who goes to the north and then wants to go to the south is necessarily converted, because he is given one face; and for those who have four faces, according to the number of four countries of the world, there is nothing behind, but for each country they have a face that sees everything, and, if you like, walks, without having to change position. Ezek.1:10. And the likeness of their faces, the face of a man, and the face of a lion on the right hand of four, and the face of an eagle of four, and the face of a calf of four: these are their faces. But let no one think that invisible forces have the image of beasts and dumb animals. This is given to mean something else, namely the lion - the kingdom, because the lion is a royal animal; the calf - the priesthood, because the calf was sacrificed for the high priest; the eagle is a prophecy, because the eagle is a high-flying and very sharp-sighted animal; and such is prophecy, which contemplates sublime objects and foretells the future from afar. Therefore, the Prophet teaches by what has been said that all human nature and its leaders are subordinate to the All-King of all, and that He has adorned the human race with so many gifts. Ezek.1:11. And their wings were stretched out over four, two of them joined together, and two coverings on the top of their bodies, By this you mean the Prophet that not everything is intelligible to the divine powers, but one thing is obvious to them, and the other is hidden, and they do not exceed the established limits: but they stretch out two wings, enjoying the contemplation given, and with two wings they cover the body, lovingly enduring the ignorance of the hidden and not trying to find out what they are not allowed to know. and each one speaks directly to his face: Ezek.1:12. Wherever there was still spirit, I went and did not turn. The prophet makes it possible to see in everything the obedience of the invisible forces and the fact that they do not abandon the path assigned to them. The divine David himself teaches this, saying: “Bless the Lord, all His angels, who are mighty in strength, who do His word, to hear the voice of His words” (Psalm 102:20). Ezek.1:13. And among the animals there was a vision like the coals of a burning fire, like a vision of a candle coming together among the animals, and the light of fire, and from the fire it came like lightning: Ezek.1:14. and the animal flows, and turns like the vision of Bezek. Symmachus translated it as “like the appearance of a ray of lightning.” This vision is terrible, full of horror and foreshadows the threat of punishment, because the coals of fire, the meeting lights, the lightning emanating from there, the rapid movement to and fro of animals and the light shining during these movements are signs of future disasters. For blessed David also lists this among the punishments, in one place saying: “hail and coals of fire” (Psalm 17:13) and “coals of fire will fall on them” (Psalm 139:11), and in another: “Multiply the lightning, and I am crushed” (Psalm 17:15), and again: “Flash the lightning and make me wife: send Thy arrows, and they dismay me” (Psalm 143:6). Ezek.1:15. And videh, and behold, there is one stake on the earth, holding four living creatures: Ezek.1:16. and the vision of the wheels, and their creation, like the vision of Tarshish (according to the translation of Symmachus, “like the vision of a hyacinth”), and the likeness is one of the four, and their vision and their work are one. The Prophet, with each animal, sees a wheel holding it, shaped like a hyacinth, and notes that he did not see any difference in them, but that all four were completely similar to each other. For he says: “their vision and their work are one.” As if there were a stake in the wheel: Ezek.1:17–18. I marched into their four countries: and I did not turn around, always marching them, their ridges were lower, and their heights were higher than them, and they were terrible. Just as the Prophet says about animals that each had four faces, and this prophetic word means God’s sight extending to everything, so he explains the appearance of the wheels, saying: “As if there were a stake in a wheel.” And this can be understood by anyone by imagining two circles in the mind, and putting one into the other in a cross shape. Through this, something is formed that, lying in one place, is easily movable in all four directions, that is, to the east, west, to the north and south. Therefore, the blessed Prophet says: “As if there were a wheel in the wheel, I would march into four countries, and I would not turn around to travel with them,” because everything that has such an external outline does not need to be turned, but, moving from the same place, it conveniently rushes to each of the countries of the world. And this also signifies God’s presence everywhere, but represented by human weakness in a rough and corporeal way. Ezekiel 1:19–21 And I saw that, and behold, their capes were full of feathers round about four. And whenever the animals marched, the wheel and the wheel that held them walked; and whenever the animals rose up from the ground, the wheels also lifted up. Wherever there were clouds, there the spirit rushed forward and walked: the animal walked, and the wheels went up with them, and the spirit of life was in the wheels. Whenever I walked I walked, and sometimes I stood by them; and when I was lifted up from the earth, I was lifted up with them, as the spirit of life was in the wheels. Blessed Paul clearly teaches us this, enumerating the ranks of invisible natures, and including Thrones among other powers, for he says: “By Him,” that is, by Christ, “all things were created, visible and invisible, whether thrones, whether powers, whether angels, or even powers, by whom all things were created” (Col. 1:16). Consequently, the Thrones are a smart and ethereal rank; That’s why the Prophet says that “the spirit of life was in the wheels,” and why the movement was arbitrary and free: there was no bridle or yoke on the animals, but a cloud preceded them, and a strong and strong wind accompanied them. The divine chariot rolled self-propelled, although the animals walked in front, but the wheels moved by themselves, irrevocably rolling in all four directions. The Prophet says: “Their shoulders were full of feathers,” that is, they were full of knowledge. The meaning of the word: cherub shows the same thing, because this name in translation into Greek is interpreted: “multitude of knowledge.” Ezek.1:22–25. And the likeness above the heads of the animals is like the firmament, like the vision of a terrible crystal stretched over their heads from above. And under the firmament the wing is stretched out, hovering towards each other, two of them, covering their bodies. And when they heard a voice, they shouted, and sometimes they hovered, like the voice of many waters, like the voice of God, the Saddai: and whenever they walked, the voice of the word, like the voice of a regiment; and whenever they stood, they screamed. And behold, a voice from above the firmament of existence, above their heads, always stood before them, and descended and screamed at them. The Divine Prophet uses the word “likeness” everywhere, teaching us that he saw a certain shade, and not the very nature of the invisible. For, having said above that he saw the heavens open, he now sees above the animals, as it were, a semblance of a firmament, and the animals under this firmament move their wings not simply, but according to a voice rushing from above: for, in obedience to this voice, they set the wings in motion, and again kept them motionless. The Prophet explains to us what noise rushed from there, likening it, now to many waters, now to the voice of a regiment, and finally, finding it difficult to express himself decisively, he uses the comparison, “like the voice of God Saddai,” and according to the translation of Aquila and Symmachus, God the All-Satisfied, that is, why am I working, looking for images of the corresponding things, and not finding them anywhere? It is enough to indicate the actor, and thereby make clear the greatness of the noise, because the Actor, as all-satisfied and omnipotent, conveniently does whatever He pleases. Ezekiel 1:26. And above the firmament, even above their head, like a vision of a sapphire stone, the likeness of a throne on it, And this image makes it possible to understand the depth and invisibility of God’s nature. For it is said: “clouds and darkness are all around Him” (Psalm 96:2); and the same Prophet also says: “Put up Your darkness” (Psalm 17:12). And darkness, cloud and darkness mean God’s invisibility, because this unalloyed and unapproachable light is darkness for us, who, due to the weakness of nature, cannot look closely at it. For if someone, wishing to carefully examine the circle of the sun, fixes his gaze on it more than appropriately, loses his last sight, and reaps darkness from the light, then what will he not tolerate who dares to look at the divine and inaccessible light? and in the likeness of a throne the likeness is like that of a man from above. Ezekiel 1:27–28. And I saw like a vision of the electr, like a vision of fire inside around him from the vision of the loins and above, and from the vision of the loins even down to the bottom I saw like a vision of fire, and the light around him. Like the vision of an arc, when there is always a cloud on the day of rain, like the vision of light around. The Prophet everywhere uses the word “likeness” and puts the particle “like” in front, teaching us not to dwell on what has been said, but to know that every vision can be adapted to need. Thus, the Lord of all appeared to Patriarch Abraham as a man, and did not show him anything terrible, as he intended to proclaim good promises to him, and through him to the whole universe, because in the promise about Isaac there was a promise about the birth in the flesh of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Why is the blessing of the pagan peoples connected with the promise of Isaac, for it is said: “By your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 22:18). And when God predicted to Abraham the enslavement of his family, then he did not appear in such a form filled with goodness, but showed both the smoking cave and “the candles of fire that came from the hewing.” (Gen. 15:17) So, wanting to encourage Jacob, who was afraid of Esau, he appeared to him as a man (Gen. 32:24), and first showed Moses something terrible, fire in a bush and a bush that was burning and not burning (Exod. 3:2), after this he talked to him meekly, not showing anything that could lead to horror. And when He wanted to frighten Israel and make His power known to them, then it shows that the whole mountain is smoking, thunder is roaring, trumpets are sounding, great darkness is spreading, in a word, such fear led them that they turned to the Prophet with a request, but “God will not speak to them,” but the Prophet himself will convey to them God’s commands (Ex. 20:10). The great Elijah showed the same difference in visions: first the “coward,” then the “fire,” then the “spirit, ravaging the mountains and breaking the stones,” and after this the breath of “fine cold, and there the Lord” (1 Kings 19:11, 12). For the goodness desired by Him, He is pleased to order human affairs with long-suffering and mercy; but they do great wickedness and lawlessness by using terrible phenomena; that’s why he told Elijah that He is not in them, but in a subtle cold, because terrible phenomena do not happen at His will, but they are needed for people; His nature is characterized by goodness and philanthropy. Therefore, when you hear about various visions of God, do not assume that the Deity is multi-personal. It is ethereal, completely indescribable, simple, uncomplicated, undefined, invisible, inconceivable, not describable by any limit, but it shows visions in images that are needed. Why here, although God showed these terrible visions, he also shows the future good deeds of all people, I mean the economy of the incarnate God and our Savior. Therefore, the Prophet calls both “the human species” and two natures, one electra, the other fire, one bearing, and the other carried. For the nature of God has clothed itself in human nature; why does the Prophet say that he saw from above “like a vision of an electr, and from the loins even to the bottom, like a vision of fire,” and by fire is meant the nature of God; it is said: “Your God, consume fire” (Deut. 4:24), and under the electr is human nature. For such is the electrum 2, it has a sort of mixed appearance, it does not resemble either gold or silver, but is, as it were, a mixture of both. The human body is the same: it is neither earth, nor water taken separately, nor fire, nor air, but is dissolved from the four elements. It’s better to say, such is human nature, it is not one rational soul, not one mortal body, but both together. Why does the Prophet see “from the loins and above, like a vision of an electr”, but also “like a vision of fire around him inside”, because the humanity of God the Word from the nature dwelling in Him became pure, luminous, glorious, immortal, incorruptible. Why did the Prophet very decently say: “and I saw like a vision of the electr, like a vision of fire, inside it around from the vision of the loins and further down to the bottom, like a vision of fire”; because God's nature carried on itself human nature. “And there is light around him. And like the vision of an arc, when there is a cloud on the day of rain, so is the vision of the light around.” And this means God’s gifts, because, emanating from there in the likeness of a ray, they benefit the human race, signifying and bringing the rain descending from there. Thus, having described everything, the Prophet added: According to the correct reading: “visions of God.” In ancient times, ilectrum was a metal alloyed from gold and silver.