Ezekiel 1:1-9 - The hand of the Lord was on him

1:1-3

There are two introductions to the book of Ezekiel. The first one is personal (1:1) and the second in the third person (1:2,3). Ezekiel was among the exiles living in the region of the Kebar River. Babylon had a system of irrigation canals, and  the “thirtieth year” probably refers to Ezekiel’s age. If it is correct to assume that Ezekiel was a priest, then the thirtieth year is the time when he would have entered the temple to start to serve there (Num 3:4). Because of the traumatic events of the Babylonian conquest of Judah he was not able to do that. Some of the later visions reveal the depth of corruption in the Jewish religion, so in a sense he may have been “lucky” not to have to be part of that corrupt system. Instead he was serving in a greater temple. 

So verse 1 is very personal, and 1:2,3 may have been added in order to put things in a more general context that readers would understand. There are Babylonian records naming King Jehoiachin. Verse 2 and 3 also state things in the more normal prophetic terms, “the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel”. And “the hand of the Lord was on him”. 

1:4-9

Ezekiel had some strange visions, and they formed an important part of his prophecy. The violent storm could have been a natural event which then moved into a vision, or it could all have been a vision from the outset. Assyrian and Babylonian art depicted images bearing some resemblance to what Ezekiel saw. The wings touching one another bears some resemblance to the cherubim in 1 Kings 6:27.