Ezekiel's vision of God

Description

Ezekiel's vision of God in Iraq

When Ezekiel first told about his visions, he lived with other Judean exiles in Babylon. He said the vision came “by the Chebar Canal” (Ezekiel 1:1). Scholars say Ezekiel, a priest taken during the Babylonian deportations of 597 BC, lived with fellow exiles near this waterway. They likely farmed and worked the land for their captors.

Chebar isn’t a known river in Iraq today. Most say it was an irrigation canal, not a natural stream. Many link it to the kābaru canals near the ancient city of Nippur or to nearby Tell Abib—the “Tel Aviv” of Ezekiel 3:15.

Babylonians dug huge canals to pull water from the Euphrates. These channels fed crops, floated boats, and kept cities alive. Along their banks, refugees built homes and tried to start over. Ezekiel’s mention of the Chebar pins his story to a real place—a refugee community on one of Babylon’s man-made waterways.

God riding on a sapphire throne

There, far from home and deep in grief, Ezekiel said:

"I saw what looked like a human sitting on a sapphire throne. The figure glowed like fire, shining from head to toe. The scene blazed with color, like a rainbow breaking through a storm. It was the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell face down, and someone began to speak." (Ezekiel 1:26–28)