Ezekiel 1; Ezekiel 2; Hebrews 11:1-19

1 On the fifth day of the fourth month in the thirtieth year, while I was living among the exiles by the Chebar River, the sky opened, and I saw visions from God.

2 On the fifth day of the month, during the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiakin,

3 the LORD spoke his word to the priest Ezekiel, son of Buzi, in Babylon by the Chebar River. The power of the LORD came over Ezekiel.

4 As I looked, I saw a storm coming from the north. There was an immense cloud with flashing lightning surrounded by a bright light. The middle of the lightning looked like glowing metal.

5 In the center of the cloud I saw what looked like four living creatures. They were shaped like humans,

6 but each of them had four faces and four wings.

7 Their legs were straight, their feet were like those of calves, and they glittered like polished bronze.

8 They had human hands under their wings on each of their four sides. All four of them had faces and wings.

9 Their wings touched each other. The creatures went straight ahead, and they did not turn as they moved.

10 Their faces looked like this: From the front, each creature had the face of a human. From the right, each one had the face of a lion. From the left, each one had the face of a bull. And from the back, each one had the face of an eagle.

11 That is what their faces looked like. Their wings were spread out, pointing upward. Each creature had two wings with which they touched each other. The other two wings covered their bodies.

12 Each of the creatures went straight ahead. They went wherever their spirit wanted to go, and they didn't turn as they moved.

13 The living creatures looked like burning coals and torches. Fire moved back and forth between the living creatures. The fire was bright, and lightning came out of the fire.

14 The living creatures ran back and forth like lightning.

15 As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each of them.

16 This is how the wheels looked and how they were made: They looked like beryl. All four wheels looked the same. They looked like a wheel within a wheel.

17 Whenever they moved, they moved in any of the four directions without turning as they moved.

18 The rims of the wheels were large and frightening. They were covered with eyes.

19 When the living creatures moved, the wheels moved with them. When the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose.

20 Wherever their spirit wanted to go, the creatures went. The wheels rose with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

21 So whenever the creatures moved, the wheels moved. Whenever the creatures stood still, the wheels stood still. And whenever the creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

22 Something like a dome was spread over the heads of the living creatures. It looked like dazzling crystal.

23 Under the dome, each creature had two wings that were stretched out straight, touching one another. Each creature had two wings that covered its body.

24 When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings. The sound was like the noise of rushing water, like the thunder of the Almighty, like the commotion in an army camp. When the creatures stood still, they lowered their wings.

25 A voice came from above the dome over their heads as they stood still with their wings lowered.

26 Above the dome over their heads was something that looked like a throne made of sapphire. On the throne was a figure that looked like a human.

27 Then I saw what he looked like from the waist up. He looked like glowing bronze with fire all around it. From the waist down, he looked like fire. A bright light surrounded him.

28 The brightness all around him looked like a rainbow in the clouds. It was like the LORD's glory. When I saw it, I immediately bowed down, and I heard someone speaking.

1 He said to me, "Son of man, stand up, and I will speak to you."

2 As he spoke to me, the Spirit entered me, stood me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.

3 He said to me, "Son of man, I am sending you to the people of Israel. They are people from a nation that has rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have rebelled against me to this day.

4 I am sending you to these defiant and stubborn children. Tell them, 'This is what the Almighty LORD says.'

5 Whether these rebellious people listen or not, they will realize that a prophet has been among them.

6 Son of man, don't be afraid of them or the things they say. Don't be afraid, even though thorns and thistles are around you and you live among scorpions. Don't let the things they say frighten you. Don't be terrified in their presence, even though they are rebellious people.

7 Speak my words to them whether they listen or not, because they are rebellious.

8 But you, son of man, listen to what I say. Don't be rebellious like those rebellious people. Open your mouth, and eat what I am giving to you."

9 As I looked, I saw a hand stretched out toward me. In it was a scroll.

10 He spread the scroll in front of me. There was writing on the front and back. There were funeral songs, songs of mourning, and horrible things written on it.

1 Faith assures us of things we expect and convinces us of the existence of things we cannot see.

2 God accepted our ancestors because of their faith.

3 Faith convinces us that God created the world through his word. This means what can be seen was made by something that could not be seen.

4 Faith led Abel to offer God a better sacrifice than Cain's sacrifice. Through his faith Abel received God's approval, since God accepted his sacrifices. Through his faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

5 Faith enabled Enoch to be taken instead of dying. No one could find him, because God had taken him. Scripture states that before Enoch was taken, God was pleased with him.

6 No one can please God without faith. Whoever goes to God must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

7 Faith led Noah to listen when God warned him about the things in the future that he could not see. He obeyed God and built a ship to save his family. Through faith Noah condemned the world and received God's approval that comes through faith.

8 Faith led Abraham to obey when God called him to go to a place that he would receive as an inheritance. Abraham left his own country without knowing where he was going.

9 Faith led Abraham to live as a foreigner in the country that God had promised him. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who received the same promise from God.

10 Abraham was waiting for the city that God had designed and built, the city with permanent foundations.

11 Faith enabled Abraham to become a father, even though he was old and Sarah had never been able to have children. Abraham trusted that God would keep his promise.

12 Abraham was as good as dead. Yet, from this man came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the grains of sand on the seashore.

13 All these people died having faith. They didn't receive the things that God had promised them, but they saw these things coming in the distant future and rejoiced. They acknowledged that they were living as strangers with no permanent home on earth.

14 Those who say such things make it clear that they are looking for their own country.

15 If they had been thinking about the country that they had left, they could have found a way to go back.

16 Instead, these men were longing for a better country--a heavenly country. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God. He has prepared a city for them.

17 When God tested Abraham, faith led him to offer his son Isaac. Abraham, the one who received the promises from God, was willing to offer his only son as a sacrifice.

18 God had said to him, "Through Isaac your descendants will carry on your name."

19 Abraham believed that God could bring Isaac back from the dead. Abraham did receive Isaac back from the dead in a figurative sense.