What was Ezekiel’s vision of the wheels?

In Ezekiel 1, the book opens with a dazzling vision of living creatures, “wheels within wheels,” and the glory of God. In this study, Dr. Toby Holt explains what this strange vision reveals about God.

By a river in exile, the priest Ezekiel sees four living creatures and gleaming wheels full of eyes, with the glory of the Lord enthroned above. Dr. Holt explains the meaning: the wheels that can move in any direction picture God’s presence everywhere — proof that God was with His people even in Babylon, not confined to the temple. The eyes picture His all-seeing knowledge. And it is God who comes to Ezekiel, not the other way around — a God who pursues His people, even in exile.

Questions this study answers:

1. What does the chariot-like vision signify? God’s majestic, mobile presence. He is not tied to one place but reigns over all the earth.

2. What did the wheels and eyes represent? The wheels picture God’s presence everywhere; the eyes picture His complete knowledge. He is everywhere and sees everything.

3. What does this teach us about God? That He is present even in our exile and hardship, all-knowing and all-powerful — and that He comes to seek His people.

“Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.” — Ezekiel 1:28 (NKJV)

Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt is the President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, a Reformed seminary in Colorado Springs. He is known for clear, down-to-earth Bible teaching, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio.

Listen and go deeper: This sermon is part of the Ezekiel Explained study from New Geneva Theological Seminary. Find more verse-by-verse teaching across the Bible at newgeneva.org. To support this teaching ministry, visit newgeneva.org/give.