Every once in a while God parted the curtain between earth and heaven and let someone glimpse him on his heavenly throne. Ezekiel saw more than one of these visions. But before him there was Jacob who saw a ladder stretching from earth to heaven with angels ascending and descending on it. Above the ladder stood the Lord.

In Exodus 24:9-10 Moses and the seventy elders climbed Mt. Sinai and looked up through the crystal blue pavement of heaven and saw the feet of God, seated on his throne. Isaiah was in the temple the day he saw the Lord on his throne, high and lifted up. His royal robes filled the temple with glory (Isaiah 6:1).

Soon we will read about Daniel’s vision of God on his throne, surrounded by fire and those brilliant wheels Ezekiel saw in his visions. Later we will read about the first Christian martyr, Stephen, who saw heaven open and Jesus standing in glory next to his Father (Acts 7:55). Finally, as we finish our Bible reading for this year, we will go with the Apostle John into the throne room of heaven and God’s glory in Revelation 4.

Were the Visions True?

What should serious Bible students think about these ecstatic visions and over-the-top prophecies in the Bible? Were they true, or just the figments of over-charged imaginations?

We can develop answers to those questions by reading the Bible carefully from beginning to end. The more consistently we investigate the Scriptures, the more we can see how all of the parts fit together – history, wisdom literature, and prophecy all connect to create the story of God. The prophetic visions are part of the whole.

This is the fourth time I have studied and written about every book of the Bible over the course of a year. Far from falling apart under careful scrutiny, the Scriptures reveal themselves to be more integrated and internally consistent each time I study them. Every part of the Bible is connected with every other part and I have no trouble believing all of it is true.

God’s Glory at the Temple

God took Ezekiel to the temple in Jerusalem in a great vision. Inside the temple walls the prophet saw Israelites worshiping idols and doing detestable things. God hated what they had done to his dwelling place.

And how different this was from the day King Solomon dedicated the temple. On that day, after the priests installed the Ark of the Covenant in the temple’s Holiest Place,

“[They] withdrew from the Holy Place, and the cloud filled the temple of the Lord. The priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple. Then Solomon said, ‘The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever.’” 1 Kings 8:10-12

“‘But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer . . . May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there.’” 1 Kings 8:27-29

“The Lord said to him: ‘I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.’” 1 Kings 9:3

Israel turned God’s dwelling from a place of glory into a den of iniquity – and Ezekiel saw that the Lord just couldn’t be there anymore.

God’s Glory Leaves the Temple

As Ezekiel watched, the vision of God above the four cherubim appeared again. The Lord was moving, taking his glory away from the place where he said he would always dwell.

“Then the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them. They stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.” Ezekiel 10:18-19

“Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, spread their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. The glory of the Lord went up from within the city and stopped above the mountain east of it. The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Babylonia in the vision given by the Spirit of God. Then the vision went up from me, and I told the exiles everything the Lord had shown me.” Ezekiel 11:22-25

Ezekiel had witnessed a significant event: God had removed his glory from Israel. They had lost their unique relationship with him and his glory no longer dwelt among them.

Response to the Visions

Some of the leaders in Jerusalem felt they were safe in resisting the Lord despite the warnings of the prophets. They fortified their city and their homes and they thought they were as safe as meat inside an iron pot.

But God saw the situation differently. To him the bodies of the many people these leaders had killed were the meat that filled the streets of the city and the Lord was going to drive their murderers out. They were going to flee straight into the hands of their enemies and fall by their swords.

“This city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be the meat in it; I will execute judgment on you at the borders of Israel.” Ezekiel 11:11

Some of the people doubted whether the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel would ever come to pass.

“The word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the land of Israel: ‘The days go by and every vision comes to nothing’? Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to put an end to this proverb, and they will no longer quote it in Israel.’ Say to them, “The days are near when every vision will be fulfilled.’” Ezekiel 12:21-23

Whether the people believed God or not, he was going to do what he had decided to do.

“Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: None of my words will be delayed any longer; whatever I say will be fulfilled, declares the Sovereign Lord.’” Ezekiel 12:28

Faith Comes by Hearing

God asked the people of Israel to believe what he said, not what they could see with their eyes. Ezekiel’s visions were extremely powerful, but he was the only one who saw them. Everyone else had to listen to the prophet and believe what God was saying through him. Their faith had to come by hearing and believing what God said.

The Apostle Paul tackled this problem of believing-without-seeing in Romans 10:14-17.

“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? . . . Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message . . . “

If parts of the Bible – like Ezekiel’s visions – seem unbelievable to you, you are not alone. The people who first heard about the visions had a hard time believing them, too.

But the prophecies in those visions came to pass. As you read the Bible and believe what it says, you put your faith in the story of God – who never lies and never fails.