April Sixteenth.
INFOLDING FIRE.
"A whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself"—Ezek. i. 4.
EZEKIEL was, by Nebuchadnezzar, carried a captive to Babylon, together with Jehoiachin the king of Judah, and about three thousand of the principal inhabitants of Judea, and was stationed with other captives on the banks of the river Chebar, in Mesopotamia. Here, to the prophet the heavens were opened! he was, as to his spirit, elevated into heaven; in this elevation the hand of the Lord was upon him —the Divine power sustained him while he "saw visions of God." (v. 1.) "I looked and behold (he said) 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." This singular appearance is a representative of the Word of God, shewing that divine truth, as the WORD, in its descent from Deity, passing through the heavens, and clothed at last in the language of men on earth, presents different appearances, to illustrate the internal states of those who receive it. The divine word issuing from the bosom of Deity, contains the most profound instruction relative to love, wisdom, and life; hence we perceive it contain three distinct senses, celestial, spiritual, and natural: these exist each within the other, forming a perfect whole; that is called celestial which relates to the will, that spiritual relating to the understanding, and that natural which regards the
