_

Perhaps this verse was moved out of it's original position, for it
returns to the description of the creatures. You may have noticed that
many of the verses are written so that it is in part, an enlargement
of the thought put forward in the preceding verse, and part new
thought, to be enlarged upon in the following verse. Verses twenty-two
and twenty-three _seem_ to go together. Both would fit the rest of the
chapter better if they were between verses twelve and thirteen.

What is meant by "firmament"? These people had no term for a
hollow-sphere. Most spherical objects were not hollow. They had no
soap, so they had no soap bubbles. The most common thing to compare a
hollow sphere to was the sky, the bowl of the heavens--the firmament.
This crystal-clear bubble was over the heads of the creatures, one on
each creature.

We will come to the word firmament again, but notice that this is,
"... the _likeness_ of the firmament ...", not the firmament itself.
Later verses speak only of the "firmament".

_23. And under the firmaments were their wings straight, the one
toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and
every one had two which covered on that side, their bodies._

If you changed "... under the firmament ..." to, "... below the sky"
you would get a clearer picture. If you look at the picture of a
house, the roof is, "below the sky," if you start at the top and work
down. If you start at the ground and work up, the roof is, "at the
top" of the house. Ezekiel's description of the wings, which is
continued in this verse, concerns the wings "at the top." They are
(connected), "... one toward the other, about like in figure one."

_24. And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the
noise of great waters, like the voice of the Almighty, the voice of
speech, as the noise of the host: when they stood they let down their
wings._

If you have ever stood near a running tip-jet, or any jet engine, I
think you will know what Ezekiel means. The last statement is most
interesting. It seems that when the creatures landed again they
detached the helicopter mechanisms and set them down, as anyone will
with a heavy back-pack who is resting or waiting.

_25. And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their
heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings._

This voice, or sound, was not from the _likeness_ of the firmament,
but from the sky, as they stood there wi