Ezekiel 1:4
And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire. And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.
The vision came to Ezekiel in exile in the land of the Chaldeans beside the river Chebar. It came when Jerusalem lay desolate and he was distressed by tyranny and wrong. What he saw was a whirlwind, a great cloud, a fire enfolding itself, and a brightness round about it. The whirlwind came out of the north, and out of the midst of the fire came an appearance as the color of amber. The scene opened a vision in which God revealed glorious things.
Its details, and the wheels within wheels and associated human forms that follow, can seem intricate and confusing to the finite eye and impossible to explain. Yet the symbols reveal a power above earthly rulers, portraying divine power overruling events and directing earthly rulers, so that the tumult of the nations remains under God's control. The vision shows infinite wisdom at work bringing perfect order from confusion under God's direction, with every wheel working in its proper place in harmony with the whole and with every other part of the machinery.
It shows that heaven is closely connected with events on earth and that the world is not without a ruler: the Lord directs coming events, cares for those loyal to Him, and holds the destiny of nations and the concerns of His church in His care. It taught the exiled prophet to trust in Israel's mighty God and His government of events even when human affairs appeared confused. The first two chapters of Ezekiel, beginning with this verse, hold a deep and important lesson that every one of God's workmen should study carefully with humility and earnest prayer.