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When I was in high school, I remember going into an independent Christian bookstore and seeing a book on UFOs. I immediately pulled it from the shelf and flipped through it. One of the chapters was about Ezekiel 1 and how the prophet saw a UFO. I was fascinated and read through the argument. I’m not sure at that point that I’d ever read Ezekiel 1, much less thought about its meaning.
Since that encounter with a UFO book, I’ve heard people bring up Ezekiel 1 and UFOs from time to time. When I teach Old Testament Survey at Boyce College and Southern Seminary, I now bring up the issue during our study of Ezekiel. Most recently, Tucker Carlson made some waves on the interwebs by saying in an interview that Ezekiel 1 contained a description of UFOs.
So, is it true? Is Ezekiel 1 about a close encounter of an alien kind?
The Vision
Ezekiel 1 has twenty-eight verses. Verses 1–3 introduce the chapter—and the book—by locating the man Ezekiel in Babylonian exile. Originally from Jerusalem, Ezekiel was deported to Babylon in approximately 597 BC. And in 593 BC the Lord called him into prophetic ministry.
Then a vision commences in 1:4–28. And it’s the language in this vision that some people have interpreted as a description of a UFO.
Verses 4 and 5 mention “a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal. And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures.”
Each creature had four faces, and each had four wings, straight legs, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot (1:6–7). Under the wings were human hands (1:8). The faces looked like a human face, a lion, an ox, and an eagle (1:10). The creatures “darted to and fro, like the appearance of a flash of lightning” (1:14).
Ezekiel “saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them” (1:15). When the wheels moved, “they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went. And their rims were tall and awesome, and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around” (1:17–18).
Above the living creatures “was the likeness of an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring crystal, spread out above their heads” (1:22). And above the expanse “there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance” (1:26).
What in the world is going on in Ezekiel 1?
The Interpretation
Ezekiel did not see a UFO.
First, the descriptions in chapter 1 were part of a vision. In 1:3, the phrase “the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest,” and the immediately following section narrates a visionary disclosure from the Lord to the prophet.
Second, later places in the book identify the earlier creatures. In 10:1 the prophet said, “Then I looked, and behold, on the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something like a sapphire, in appearance like a throne.” In 1:22 the expanse was above the living creatures, and in 10:1 we learn that these living creatures are cherubim. A voice told a man clothed in linen, “Go in among the whirling wheels underneath the cherubim” (10:2). In 10:20–21 the prophet said, “These were the living creatures that I saw underneath the God of Israel by the Chebar canal; and I knew that they were cherubim. Each had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath their wings the likeness of human hands.”
Cherubim are angels, and angels are what Ezekiel saw in the opening vision of the book. The descriptions of fire, brightness, wheels, movement, wings, and faces are highly figurative language that would fit with apocalyptic visions.
Third, at the end of chapter 1, we read: “Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking” (1:28). This is an important interpretive point because it serves as a lens through which we can understand what we read in previous verses. The point of Ezekiel 1 is the man’s visionary encounter with the majesty and glory of God. The splendor of the encounter is heightened by the fearsome and supernatural presence of the living creatures—the cherubim.
The encounter in chapter 1 is followed by Ezekiel’s call to prophetic ministry in chapters 2 and 3. The Lord is setting him apart to speak to the people of Israel.
Consider how chapters 1–3 parallel what we read in Isaiah 6. In Isaiah 6 there is a vision of the Lord’s majesty and glory: “I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple” (Isa. 6:1). And what else was in the vicinity? Angelic creatures, each with six wings (6:2). This encounter in Isaiah 6 was followed by a call to prophetic ministry.
Ezekiel 1 is full of bizarre imagery, yes. But the content is not about what we call a UFO. The chapter is a vision of heavenly creatures—called cherubim—and the majesty of Yahweh. The heavenly throne was supported by wheels, as if God sat upon a throne-chariot. God is exalted, transcendent, reigning supreme.