Look to Me, and be saved. Isaiah 45:22.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2.

We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18.

I loved this in You Are The Beloved by Henri Nouwen: “God cannot be understood: He cannot be grasped by the human mind. The truth escapes our human capacities. The only way to come close to it is by a constant emphasis on the limitations of our human capacities to “have” or “hold” the truth. We can neither explain God nor His presence in history. As soon as we identify God with any specific event or situation, we play God and distort the truth. We only can be faithful in our affirmation that God has not deserted us but calls us in the middle of all the unexplainable absurdities of life. It is very important to be deeply aware of this. There is a great and subtle temptation to suggest to myself or to others where God is working or where not, when He is present and when He is not; but nobody, no Christian, no priest, no monk, has any “special” knowledge about God. God cannot be limited by any human concept or prediction. He is greater than our mind and heart and perfectly free to reveal Himself where and when He wants.”

And now we come to the book of Ezekiel. The notes below help…”1:1 Ezekiel, born and raised in the land of Judah, was preparing to become a priest in God’s temple when the Babylonians attacked in 597 B.C. and carried him away along with 10,000 other captives (2 Kings 24:10-14). The nation was on the brink of complete destruction. Four to five years later, when Ezekiel was 30 (the normal age for becoming a priest), God called him to be a prophet. During the first six years when Ezekiel ministered in the land of the Babylonians (1:3), Jeremiah was preaching to the Jews still in Judah, and Daniel was serving in Nebuchadnezzar’s court. The Kebar River connected to the Euphrates in Babylonia and was the location of a Jewish settlement of exiles.” In my thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. On the fifth of the month – it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin – the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians. There the hand of the Lord was on him. v. 1-3. He goes on to describe what he saw and what he saw was also described by John In Revelation 4:6, 7. I looked and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north – an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was human, but each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight; their feet were like those on a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings, and the wings of one touched the wings of another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved…Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle…Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it…I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces…They sparkled like topaz, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel…Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around…Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked something like a vault, sparkling like crystal, and awesome…When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army…Then there came a voice from above the vault over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be His waist up He looked like a glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down He looked like fire, and brilliant light surrounded Him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around Him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking. v. 4-9, 10, 13, 15, 16, 18, 22, 24, 25-28.

The Jews were so fearful of going into captivity in Babylon, and yet it was there that Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, spoke to Ezekiel in visions so amazing and beautiful. God cannot be limited. And all of Scripture tells us we can trust Almighty Creator God. Our experiences in this life tell us our trust cannot rest in humans or the systems we create. But do we listen? Do we put it all together and realize our need is for God? God tells us over and over…Look to Me and be saved. Our choice, but thanks be to Almighty Creator God…His Will for our Good in Him.