Ezekiel 3:12, commentary and pictures

The verse belongs to Ezekiel's commission to speak God's words to rebellious Israel whether they will listen or refuse to listen. In it the Spirit lifts Ezekiel up, and behind him he hears a great rushing sound blessing the glory of the Lord from its place, accompanied by the sound of the living creatures' wings touching one another and the sound of the wheels. Afterward he goes in bitterness in the heat of his spirit with the hand of the Lord strong upon him.

The chapter teaches complete dependence on God joined with faithful human service, requiring God's workers to depend on God and the Holy Spirit rather than on human direction. God is the instructor and mighty worker who prepares the way and brings perfect order and harmony under infinite wisdom, with interlocking wheels, wheel within wheel, all working in harmony with one another. Every person is to stand at his post of duty and do his part for this time, trusting everything to God for the advancement of the work and not seeking power to manage and control what belongs to the great I AM, and the chapter is to be studied as a lesson by all entrusted with God's work.

As at the taking of Jericho, where the Lord God of Hosts acted as general, made the plan, and united heavenly and human agencies yet allowed no human hand to touch the walls so that people could take no credit and God alone was glorified, so now glory is not to be given to human agencies but the Lord alone is to be magnified. Even so, God still needs every agency that holds the truth in righteousness to stand in view of the cross, proclaim Christ crucified, and proclaim the third angel's message with power and glory. The verse is part of the Scriptures to be brought before the people as a present message, applying to those who have set themselves decidedly against the messages of the Lord and showing that the Lord will deal with His people at the present time as He dealt with them in the past in sending Ezekiel to a rebellious house.