The Standing Glory of Yahweh: The Son of God in Ezekiel 3

This article is part of a series on Old Testament Christophanies. For important background information, see An Introduction to Old Testament Christophanies–with Justin Martyr. 

Ezekiel saw the Lord’s glory for the second time in Ezekiel 3. After Ezekiel’s first vision had ended, he came to the exiles at Tel-abib, near the river Chebar. Seven days passed and then the word of Yahweh came to Ezekiel and appointed him a watchman to the house of Israel. Whenever Ezekiel would hear a word from the Lord, he was to warn the Israelites (vv. 15–17). Then, the hand of Yahweh came upon Ezekiel. The Lord told him to go to a nearby plain, where the Lord promised to speak with him (v. 22). It was there where Ezekiel again beheld the Son of God:

So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the glory of the LORD was standing there, like the glory which I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face (Ezek 3:23).

The standing glory of Yahweh was like the glory earlier seen by the river Chebar. This means that Ezekiel again saw the divine figure, glowing and fiery in appearance, with a rainbow around Him. Ezekiel responded in the same way he had before.

And like before, the Holy Spirit entered Ezekiel and lifted him to his feet (v. 24). Ezekiel was brought to his feet to receive instructions from the One standing before him. We continue to read that the Lord told Ezekiel to return to his home and shut himself up in it. Ezekiel was further told that the exiled Israelites would bind him with ropes (likely in the figurative sense) so that he couldn’t go out among them. Moreover, the Lord would make Ezekiel mute. He would only be able to speak when the Lord gave him a message to deliver (vv. 24–27). This made Ezekiel the Lord’s mouthpiece. Ezekiel only leaving his home to deliver the Lord’s messages, and only speaking when he was moved to, must have brought special attention to what the Lord had to say.