John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 10:20

"This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim." — Ezekiel 10:20 (ASV)

He repeats what we have seen before, namely, that one vision was offered twice because God wished to mark distinctly what otherwise would have been doubtful. The Prophet indeed was sufficiently persuaded that God had appeared to him, but its confirmation was not in vain, because he would have to sustain great conflicts.

Meanwhile, it must be observed that the vision was confirmed a second time, not for the private advantage of a single person, but so that this drawing attention to it might benefit the whole people, or at any rate render inexcusable those who so despised the favor of God, so manifest and so clearly revealed to them.

He says, therefore, this was the living creature which he had seen under the God of Israel. In the first chapter, he related that there was a throne in the open firmament of heaven, where One sat who was like a man in external form, and yet was not a man.

There we saw that the true and only God was alluded to, and yet this description could not apply to the Father, but necessarily belonged to the Son. These two things, then, are to be kept in mind; and the Prophet here removes all doubt when he names this appearance the God of Israel like a man, which could not apply to the person of the Father.

That likeness, then, ought to be agreed upon among the pious. Controversy, therefore, on this point ought not to be engaged in, for Sabellius, who took away the distinction of persons, was sufficiently refuted by his own extravagance. Since, therefore, the Father never took on the form or likeness of man, and it is nowhere read in the Scriptures that He is compared to a man, we must explain this as referring to Christ.

And now Ezekiel bears witness that He is the God of Israel. We see, therefore, how foolishly the triflers of our day babble, who desire to disturb the Churches by making Christ a sort of deity transfused from the substance of the Father.

They confess, indeed, that He is God, but this confession is a mere pretense, since they say that "the God of Israel" means God the Father, and that this title cannot apply to either the Son or the Spirit.

Consequently, the Spirit would be mistaken when He says by the Prophet’s mouth, the God of Israel appeared in human form. This passage, therefore, is remarkable for refuting that delusion by which foolish men weary themselves and others.

For while they allow Christ to be God, they yet deprive Him of His true deity, because they say that His deity is derived from the Father.

He also says, that he knew them to be cherubim. Now, although he knew that God had appeared to him before, he still had no certain knowledge concerning the living creatures, for with regard to them, he remained in suspense. But now, after God plainly explained the vision in the temple to him, he says that he was taught that they were cherubim.

So what we said yesterday is confirmed: that the face of the ox was changed into that of a cherub, so that the Prophet understood that angels were indicated by the form of cherubim, even those that surrounded the ark of the covenant. Let us proceed.