May I share with you that really touched my heart during the darkest day in my, and my people’s history?
All who serve God with purity of soul will know that He is jealous that His honour should be preserved. Many of the most glorious revelations recorded in the Bible were made by the Lord in the darkest days of the church’s history.
The Lord has given these revelations of His glory in order that men may be deeply impressed regarding the sacredness of His service. Impressions have been made that should bear with solemn force on the mind, showing that God is God, and that He has not lost His glory. He requires the utmost fidelity in His service today. The impression must be left on human minds that the Lord God is holy, and that He will vindicate His glory.
Lets continue where we left off last time.
Eze 1:4 I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north—an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, Eze 1:5 and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was human, Eze 1:6 but each of them had four faces and four wings.
With all the strange variety of details that I will yet be described, the chief impression was that the living creatures had a human form. They stood and moved upright like men.
The four living creatures were identical in appearance. Each of them had four distinct faces, those of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle. Let me read it to you in verse 10:
Eze 1:10 Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle.
Eze 1:7 Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze.
The structure was such as to make the creatures fitted equally for motion in all directions, without the necessity of turning, as the vision further indicates. ( Let’s jump ahead to verse 17).
Eze 1:17 As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not change direction as the creatures went.
Let us continue with verse 8:
Eze 1:8 Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings. Let’s read about these human hands in. Eze 10:8 (Under the wings of the cherubim could be seen what looked like human hands.) The two scriptures represent the same figure. Tshe hands do not belong to the living creatures as a part of their bodies. They represent instead the hand of God placed underneath the wings for the purpose of guidance.
What a comforting thought! If we allow God, His hand will lead us, uphold us and cares for us.
Eze 1:9 and the wings of one touched the wings of another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved. Joined. Compare verse 9 with verse 1:11:
Such were their faces. They each had two wings spreading out upward, each wing touching that of the creature on either side; and each had two other wings covering its body.
“Turned not.”
There was no necessity for turning, for since the faces looked in all directions, any direction was a forward movement. The feet being “straight” (see v. 7) made it equally easy to go in any way. We could picture a square-shaped creation that was always moving in the same direction, never rotating on its axis.
Eze 1:10 Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle.
“Their faces.” There was but one body to each of these creatures, but each body had four faces. The faces were on the four sides, so that each of the four creatures looked in all four directions at once.
I, Ezekiel, does not interpret the symbols of my vision, and since the Scriptures elsewhere do not directly state the significance of these faces, we can only conjecture as to the specific application of the symbols.
Inspiration has not left us in darkness as to the teaching objective of my vision of the living creatures The statements here referred to set forth first the background of the vision. The prophetic presentation I have given you are aimed to give courage to the Jews at a moment when much of our country lay in ruins through successive invasions and many of the inhabitants were captives in a foreign land. To my oppressed people it appeared that God was no longer in control.
The plundering of the heathen nations at will was interpreted by many as though God no longer cared. The people failed to see the hand of God in the course of history. They were unaware of the fact that a divine, overruling purpose was at work in the recent developments, as indeed it had been in all ages.
The vision God has given me was to show that an overruling Power , God Himself, had to do with the affairs of earthly rulers and that He was still in control. This was the over-all objective of my vision. Any interpretation attempted must be consistent with this objective.
My dear reader the living creatures represent heavenly beings (see 5T 751). As already noted, it is not necessary to imagine that in the service of God are four-headed, four-winged beings. Inspiration nowhere requires such a conclusion.
The forms I saw in vision are designed to symbolize heavenly messengers in their plentitude of offices, capabilities, and adoptabilities.
Eze 1:11 Such were their faces. They each had two wings spreading out upward, each wing touching that of the creature on either side; and each had two other wings covering its body.
Eze 1:12 Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went.
“Wherever the Spirit would go.” There is no independent action on the part of these creatures. Their movements are in harmony with the directions of the Spirit. This is further emphasized in v. 20:
Eze 1:20 Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
What a comforting thought. The Holy Spirit is such a necessity in our lives to direct us which way to go and how to be victorious.
Eze 1:13 The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it.
A further reference to the fire mentioned in v. 4. Ezekiel is now able to observe at closer range. He attempts to describe in human language the interesting spectacle of vibrating lamps and emanating flashes that were continuously active among the creatures.
Eze 1:14 The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.
The speed of these creatures is represented as they hasten to and return from their various missions. “The bright light going among the living creatures with the swiftness of lightning represents the speed with which the work of God will finally go forward to completion” (5T 754).
My dear reader to us it often appears that the divine purposes are long delayed. One day soon, with ominous swiftness, bursting forth as an overwhelming surprise, the end will come, more quickly than men expect.
Listen to what else I saw in this vision:
Eze 1:15 As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces.
While still gazing at these four living creatures I Ezekiel, had another wonder portrayed before me. In all there were four wheels (see vs. 16, 19). These wheels touched the earth, whereas the cherubim had appeared in a cloud (vs. 4, 5).
Eze 1:16 This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like topaz, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel.
The unique construction and arrangement of the wheels presented an apparently confused picture; nevertheless the movements were in perfect harmony.
Eze 1:17 As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not change direction as the creatures went.
As in the case of the living creatures, there was no turning upon the axis, but motion was possible and carried out in all directions. There was, further, no change in the relative position of the living creatures and the wheels in motion.
Eze 1:18 Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.
“Full of eyes.” This signifies that my vision was not dealing with mere physical forces, but with forces embodying intelligence. God knows with His unlimited divine intelligence how to lead us in the ways of righteousness.
Eze 1:19 When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose.
Eze 1:20 Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
Eze 1:21 When the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
There is in vs. 19–21 somewhat of a repetition, but also a variety of expression. The description emphasizes the perfect coordination of the movements of the living creatures and the wheels. There is no independent operation, either on the part of the wheels or of the living creatures.
Dear reader. The wheels that I saw in vision, so complicated in their arrangement, represent human affairs and the events of history in all their play and counterplay. What to the unskilled observer appears to be hopeless confusion, the outworking of chance, the result of human ambition and caprice, is here presented as a harmonious pattern wrought out and guided by an infinite hand toward predetermined ends.
Eze 1:22 Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked something like a vault, sparkling like crystal, and awesome.
The reference is to the expanse above the living creatures. The picture is one of a gorgeous display, perhaps faintly resembled by the morning sun falling upon the eternal snows of some lofty mountain peak.
Eze 1:23 Under the vault their wings were stretched out one toward the other, and each had two wings covering its body.
I am trying to represent each part of the vision in its proper relationship to the other parts. Two of the wings of each creature were straight, that is, outstretched toward the firmament above, not necessarily to support it. The other two wings were folded reverently over the bodies of the living creatures.
Eze 1:24 When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.
The sound of the wings in motion that I, Ezekiel hears, strikes me as different from the ordinary sounds I am is accustomed to hear. I searched for a simile to use to describe the music that moves my spirit. The sound of large waves, such as a raging torrent or a tumbling waterfall, serves as a partial metaphor for me. But the comparison falls short.
In addition to the voice of God, I also detects the voice of a great host, as though a large number of beings are involved in the movements of the living creatures and the movements of the wheels.
Eze 1:25 Then there came a voice from above the vault over their heads as they stood with lowered wings.
This means that the voice comes from the throne, which, according to v. 26, was above the firmament. This voice is to be distinguished from the sound previously heard and described.
“With Lowered wings. Compare v. 24.
The repetition of the idea suggests a fresh act of reverence toward the Majesty above. When the voice was heard the cherubim stood still, the mighty sounds of their going were hushed, and their wings lowered motionless in the attitude of reverential attention.
Eze 1:26 Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man.
Here is the grand climax of my vision. The greatest glory has been kept till the last. Above the crystalline firmament appears what first seemed to me, the prophet a concentration of the richest, deepest blue. The Heb. reads, “like the appearance of a sapphire stone, even the likeness of a throne.” The likeness to stone no doubt impressed itself first. Then as the detail became more distinct the prophet noticed the form of a throne.
“A figure like that of a man.” In vision I saw only a representation of the original (see on v. 10). I did not see the Divine Being Himself, but rather a representation of the Deity. In describing the Being as a man, I employed extreme caution, using the combination of terms, “A figure like that of a man.”
No man has seen God at any time, and so human beings are unable to give an accurate description of His actual essence. God reveals Himself to men in vision or actuality in various forms: to Abraham, He came as a wayfarer (Gen. 18:1); to Jacob, as an assailant (Gen. 32:24); to Joshua, as a warrior (Joshua 5:13).
My “visions of God” gave me the needed assurance of the genuineness of my call and added the requisite authority to my message.
The God who rules in the heavens is not an absentee Lord. Il saw the firmament and the throne directly above the heads of the living creatures. These, in turn, were in position beside each of the wheels that, when at rest, touched the ground.
What a comfort, my dear reader and friend to know that He who sits above the cherubim is in control, that He guards His people still, and that every earthly power that seeks to exalt itself against the God of heaven will be subdued, and God will be all in all!
Eze 1:27 I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him.
By various repetitions I attempts to describe the exceeding brightness and glory of the scene. Yet the display is but a dim replica of the original; for the Eternal Father dwells “in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see”.
Eze 1:28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
I, Ezekiel was reminded of the gracious promise in Gen. 9:13. Gen 9:13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
As discouraging and foreboding of disaster as the national outlook presented itself to me, I knew that God’s thoughts toward His people were thoughts of peace and not of evil. Thus the majestic presentation of God’s glory was completed.
Overpowered by the heavenly brilliance of the scene, I fell on my face, but a voice bade me arise and hear the word of the Lord.
The rainbow encircling the throne of God is our assurance of His eternal love. “The throne arched with the rainbow of promise, [is] the righteousness of Christ. … The rainbow encircling the throne represents the combined power of mercy and justice” It is “a token of the mercy of God toward the repentant sinner”
A few comforting thoughts from the pen of Ellen White:
Divine Power Gives Success—In Ezekiel’s vision, God had His hand beneath the wings of the cherubim. This is to teach His servants that it is divine power that gives them success. He will work with them if they will put away iniquity, and become pure in heart and life.
The heavenly messengers seen by Ezekiel, like a bright light going among the living creatures with the swiftness of lightning, represent the speed with which this work will finally go forward to completion. He who slumbers not, who is continually at work for the accomplishment of His designs, can carry forward His great work harmoniously.
That which appears to finite minds entangled and complicated, the Lord’s hand can keep in perfect order. He can devise ways and means to thwart the purposes of wicked counselors, and those who plot out mischief.
Those who are called to responsible positions in the work of God often feel that they are carrying heavy burdens, when they may have the satisfaction of knowing that Jesus carries them all. We permit ourselves to feel altogether too much care, trouble, and perplexity in the Lord’s work. We need to trust Him, believe in Him, and go forward.
The tireless vigilance of the heavenly messengers, their unceasing employment in their ministry in connection with the beings of earth, show us how God’s hand is guiding the wheel within a wheel. The divine Instructor is saying to every actor in His work, as He said to Cyrus of old, “I girded thee, though thou hast not known me” (The Review and Herald, January 11, 1887).
15-28. Individual Freedom, Yet Complete Harmony—God is acquainted with every man. Could our eyes be opened we would see that eternal justice is at work in our world. A powerful influence, not under man’s control, is working.
Man may fancy that he is directing matters, but there are higher than human influences at work. The servants of God know that He is working to counteract Satan’s plans. Those who know not God cannot comprehend His movements. There is at work a wheel within a wheel. Apparently the complication of machinery is so intricate that man can see only a complete entanglement. But the divine hand, as seen by the prophet Ezekiel, is placed upon the wheels, and every part moves in complete harmony, each doing its specified work, yet with individual freedom of action (Manuscript 13, 1898).