John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 1:10

"As for the likeness of their faces, they had the face of a man; and they four had the face of a lion on the right side; and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four had also the face of an eagle." — Ezekiel 1:10 (ASV)

He now turns to the faces or countenances of the living creatures themselves. The face is properly used with reference to the whole body, but the Prophet only means the countenance. He says therefore that there was on the right, as it were, the face of a man and of a lion, and on the left, the face of an ox and of an eagle. We explained yesterday why four heads and as many faces are attributed to the angels of God: because the dullness of the people was so great that they did not recognize God's providence over all parts of the world.

For we know that they were so intoxicated with foolish confidence that they wished to confine God, as it were, within a prison: for their temple was, as it were, God’s prison. Therefore, the Prophet shows how God's providence shines over other parts of the world.

But since there is vigor in animals, for brevity’s sake he presents four remarkable species of animals. Yet one question remains—and it is a difficult one—for in Ezekiel 10:14, he substitutes a cherub for an ox. Some think, or at least suggest, that at a distance it appeared to be the face of an ox, but nearer, it was that of a cherub.

Everyone sees that this is sophistry, and because they cannot otherwise escape the difficulty, they have invented that fiction, which has no substance. Others think that cherub and ox are identical, but this can be refuted from many passages, for cherubim do not have the heads of oxen, as everyone knows very well.

Therefore, I have no doubt that there was some difference in the second vision, when God appeared to His own prophet in the Temple. It is called the same vision on account of the likeness, but it does not follow that all particulars were exactly the same. Nor should this conjecture be rejected, because when God made Himself known to His servant in Chaldea (as I have said before), He wished to reprove the people's sloth by this multiform image; but when He appeared a second time in the Temple, it was something more divine there.

This, therefore, explains the variety: each animal then bore the face of a cherub instead of that of an ox. Therefore, besides the stature of the whole body, there was a remarkable feature from which the Prophet could more easily and familiarly recognize these living creatures to be cherubim or angels. This reason also seems to explain why God showed His prophet a form that more closely resembled that of the sanctuary and the two cherubim who surrounded the ark.

Furthermore, some think that the heads were so arranged that the man’s head would look towards the east, and the opposite head towards the west. But it can scarcely be doubted that the four faces had the same aspect and turned their eyes in the same direction, with the two forms we have mentioned—a man and a lion—on the right, and on the left, those of an ox and an eagle.