Ezekiel 1:13 - Exposition

Like burning coals of fire, etc . It may not be amiss to note the fact that the phrase throughout the Bible denotes incandescent wood. The nearest approach to its use by Ezekiel is in 2 Samuel 22:9 , 2 Samuel 22:13 . For "lamps," read, with the Revised Version, "torches." Here the vision of Ezekiel, in which the living creatures were thus incandescent, bathed, as it were, in the fire that played around them, yet not consumed, followed in the path of previous symbols—of the burning bush ( Exodus 3:2 ), of the pillar of fire by night ( Exodus 13:22 ), of the fire on Sinai ( Exodus 19:18 ), of the "fire of the Lord" ( Numbers 11:1-3 ), and the "fire of God" ( 2 Kings 1:12 ). Speaking generally, "fire," as distinct from "light," seems to be the symbol of the power of God as manifested against evil. "Our God is a consuming Fire" ( Deuteronomy 4:24 ; Hebrews 12:29 ). The red light of fire has in it an element of terror which is absent from the stainless white of the eternal glory, or from the sapphire of the visible firmament. Lightning (comp. Exodus 19:16 ; Exodus 20:18 ; Daniel 10:6 ; Revelation 4:5 ; Revelation 8:5 ; Revelation 11:19 ; Revelation 16:18 ).