What happens when we encounter God?

 Read Ezekiel 1.

Ezekiel was a priest and a prophet.  While Jeremiah remained in Jerusalem, Ezekiel, along with many others, had been taken captive from Judah and lived in exile just outside of Babylon.  Verse 1 provides the date of July 31, 593 B. C.  Having reached the age of 30, according to the Law of Moses (Numbers 4:3) he was now qualified to serve as a priest.

We are told two essentials regarding his ministry in verse 3.  First, the message was not his.  He was simply the messenger.  "The word of the LORD came to Ezekiel."  Second, the authority and empowerment was not from him.  "The hand of the LORD was upon him there."  God gave Ezekiel a vivid and graphic vision of Himself, complete with sound.

What Ezekiel saw:    
1. Four living creatures. 
This exactly corresponds to other like visions in Scripture.  Ezekiel 10:2 identifies them as cherubim, a type of angels.  In Exodus, they were depicted in the Tabernacle, with wings extended, hovering over the Ark of the Covenant.  Revelation 4 states that these four fly around the throne of God in heaven, continually crying out, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!"

2. The throne of God.
This pictures a mobile throne.  His presence and power were not limited to the Temple in Jerusalem.  He is omnipresent.  So, when they went into exile, it was reassuring for them to know that God's presence was with them.  The double set of these massive wheels (a wheel within a wheel) allowed the chariot-type throne to move in any direction without turning, as the cherubim.  The mention of multiple eyes refers to the omniscience of God.  He sees and knows everything, including their current suffering.  The brilliance of the sight with its rainbow of colors is what the Apostle John saw in his vision of God's throne in Revelation 4.

3. Ezekiel saw God. 
He compared the appearance to that of a man (vv.26-28).  It reminds one immediately of John's description of Jesus in Revelation 1.  In both instances (and the same experience of Isaiah in Isaiah 6), a glimpse of the glory of God caused them to fall at His feet in submission.   

What Ezekiel heard.
In verse 25, the prophet heard the voice of God.  What Ezekiel records then is direct revelation of God's word.  The Apostle Peter wrote, "Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation.  For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy spirit." (2 Peter 1:20-21)

As we gain a fresh glimpse of God through the reading and study of His word, it should cause us to join the others in falling down in worship before Him.