“As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.”
My Notes
What Does Ezekiel 1:28 Mean?
Ezekiel's inaugural vision reaches its climax: the brightness around the throne-figure looks like a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day. This is "the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD." Ezekiel stacks qualifiers — appearance of the likeness of the glory — because the reality exceeds description. He's not seeing God directly. He's seeing the appearance of a likeness of glory. Even that is too much. He falls on his face.
The rainbow echoes God's covenant with Noah (Genesis 9:13). The same sign of mercy and promise that appeared after the flood now appears around God's throne. In the midst of the most overwhelming vision of divine power in the Bible, the covenant symbol of mercy is present. Power and mercy. Judgment and promise. Together.
Ezekiel's response — falling on his face — is the only appropriate reaction. This isn't worship as a choice. It's the involuntary collapse of a human in the presence of uncreated glory.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Does the rainbow around God's throne (mercy around power) change how you picture God's heavenly reality?
- 2.Why do you think Ezekiel stacks qualifiers — 'appearance of the likeness of the glory' — instead of saying he saw God?
- 3.Have you ever experienced something of God that made standing impossible — that produced involuntary worship?
- 4.How does the combination of overwhelming glory and a familiar covenant sign (the rainbow) shape your approach to God?
Devotional
A rainbow. Around the throne. The sign of mercy wrapped around the seat of power.
Ezekiel has been trying to describe the indescribable for twenty-seven verses — wheels within wheels, living creatures, fire, crystal, a sapphire throne, a figure like a man made of amber and flame. And at the end of it all, after exhausting every image he has, he sees a rainbow. And he falls.
The rainbow is the most human-scale element in the entire vision. Everything else is cosmic, overwhelming, incomprehensible. But the rainbow? You've seen one. After a storm. In the sky. Beautiful, familiar, comforting. And God wraps it around the most terrifying throne in the universe.
That's deliberate. The God whose glory makes prophets collapse is the same God who put a rainbow in Noah's sky and said: I remember my covenant. The power hasn't replaced the mercy. The glory hasn't consumed the promise. They coexist. They always have.
Ezekiel falls on his face — not in fear alone, but in the presence of something so far beyond him that standing is physically impossible. This isn't a worship posture he chose. It's what happens to a body in the presence of uncreated light. Gravity changes when glory appears.
And the first thing he hears from the ground? A voice speaking (chapter 2). The God of the rainbow, the God of the consuming throne, speaks to the man on the floor. Glory produces collapse. And then grace speaks to the collapsed.
You can't stand in this presence. But you can listen from the ground.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain,.... The rainbow, which is no other than the…
The rainbow is not simply a token of glory and splendor. The “cloud” and the “day of rain” point to its original message…
As the appearance of the bow - Over the canopy on which this glorious personage sat there was a fine rainbow, which,…
All the other parts of this vision were but a preface and introduction to this. God in them had made himself known as…
The prophet speaks with great reverence. What he saw was the "appearance" of a throne and of one sitting on it and of a…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture