The Four Visions of God’s Glory (Ezekiel 1:1-3:14)
“Behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar, and Ifell on my face.”(Ezekiel 3.-23)
PROLOGUE
In each of us is a deeply-felt need to relate to God-the ultimate reality -through the same conscious senses that make the rest of our world real. God lives in a completely different dimensionality and “no man hath seen God at any time” (John 1:18). To be granted even a glimpse of God’s glory would cause any of us to worship him by falling on our face as it did for Ezekiel. Ultimately, what seeing God with the physical eye means is quite a different question.’
FIRST VISION-THE WHIRLWIND OF INFOLDING FIRE (EZEKIEL 1:4)
The whirlwind of infolding fire presents our minds with a powerful image of light and spirit that “infolds” on itself. Here is energy, power, self-organization (as opposed to the chaotic nature of natural lightning which appears in awesome fury at random and then disappears to leave darkness). There is no darkness in this image, for “… God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:15). Ezekiel, like Job, was both awestruck and speechless before the immediacy and power of this image. Were we to have this vision of God’s glory only, we would know the following:
God is Light
God is Powerful
God is Purposeful and Organized
The whirlwind of infolding fire is a technically accurate description of the only geometry by which a luminous plasma discharge can maintain stable operation.2 The Lord gives color symbolism in this image as well. The infolding fire is amber colored. This may combine two additional symbols-that of energy, and the color of the priesthood’s anointing oil.3
At the most fundamental level, we stand in silence and appreciate our powerlessness before the force of creation. Here is a God of light that infolds on itself and is ever becoming-that is, it does not flash and then stay lost in the darkness -but ever infolds to return and renew itself. This is “He who becometh”
One thousand years earlier, Moses briefly saw the back parts of God’s glory (Exodus 33:18-22). Ezekiel, like Moses, knew that he had experienced the glory of God, but he would retain little understanding beyond the sense of awe and power and purpose. God knew that the natural reaction of his creatures to this vision would be fear and awe, but that it would leave us little that is accessible to our conscious minds. For this reason, Ezekiel is presented with a second vision.
SECOND VISION – THE FOUR LIVING CREATURES (EZEKIEL 1:5-14)
After experiencing God’s glory in the whirlwind of infolding fire, God graciously opened another vision that refines these images into more accessible -more concrete symbols of the four living creatures. Let us begin by asking: Why four beasts?
Collectively, all mankind relates to four directions though they may differ in their orientation. European and Egyptian civilizations favor north, while the Hebrews oriented themselves towards the east as the prime direction (although the primacy of north in divine things appears frequently, Ezekiel 1:4). What is important is that four is the natural collective orientation for relating to our world. In most populated (i.e., non-equatorial) climatic zones, four is the natural number of seasons in the year. Four is a number that gives us a comfortable sense of wholeness and completeness in both space (compass directions) and time (seasons). Extensive cross-cultural studies by psychologists strongly suggest that the recognition of such a quarter image in the divine is both widespread and highly significant. “Roundness generally symbolizes a natural wholeness, whereas a quadrangular formation represents the realization of this in the consciousness.114 Perhaps it is best to think of this as the distant echo of the image of God that is part of man’s “basic wiring’ “ By this man knows when he has “see” God. When the “books are opened,” this vision will likely prove itself to be one of the most easily understood and appreciated. Throughout this image we find no creatures that are unfamiliar, dark, or expressions of the fantastic. For example, there are no sea creatures (as appeared in the tabernacle, Exodus 25:5), nor any creatures of the night (no “great” owl, Isaiah 34:15), nor any creatures of the imagination (none of the dragons that frequent the book of Revelation, Revelation 20:2).
Many interpretations of the vision in Ezekiel have assigned one of God’s four attributes, love, wisdom, power and justice, to each of the four living creatures. Leaving aside power, which of the remaining three attributes would we say are not part of the balanced character of a perfect man (as pictured by the first of the living creatures)? The clear statement of scripture is that man is created in God’s image -that is, with his attributes of character and for the purpose of dominion (Genesis 1:26). Because the exercise of dominion (i.e. the exercise of stewardship and power) is the God-given purpose of man, can we even be comfortable with dismissing power as one of the divine attributes formed in man? I think not.
I believe that a broader symbolism is present in this vision. Scriptures declares this to be a vision of God’s glory. This is where we must begin and end.
MAN – GOD’S IMAGE
Man is the image of God. His attributes are love, wisdom, justice, and even power, as we see from his God-given charge of having dominion over the earth. When in proper balance, these attributes will nourish the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23, Ephesians 5:9, James 3:17); love in action, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, faith, meekness, temperance, righteousness, truth and mercy. It is by these fruits that we are known as God’s children: “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit’ “ (John 15:8)
Two aspects of the man appear in this vision: (1) his face, or character, and (2) his hands, or acting. On one side is the most powerful carnivore, the lion, while on the other side is the most powerful herbivore, the bullock. In a sense, man who eats both flesh and herbs mediates the world between these two creatures. The face of God as a compassionate and reasoning human father is always turned towards us, for “they turned not when they went.” (Ezekiel 1:17). What a beautiful assurance for God’s people.
LION – GOD’S POWER IN MORAL RULERSHIP
Universally, the kingly power of the lion as “king of beasts” is recognized. Even European countries far removed from the present day natural range of lions have incorporated the lion into the symbolic crests of kingly office. In a very real sense, we are dealing with the divine crest of kingly office in the vision of the four living ones.
Lions are the largest living carnivores. Their claws and teeth have tremendous power, but most fearsome is the paralyzing roar of the lion. Satan, who has usurped the moral kingship of the world, is pictured in this terrorizing mode: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)
The most celebrated trait of the lion is its courage, or boldness. “The righteous are bold as the lion” (Proverbs 28:1). Once a lion decides to engage in fight, we learn that there is no deterring him (Isaiah 31:4), even at the cost of his life (Ecclesiastes 9:4). As we consider the positive aspects of the lion, picturing God’s glory, we note the following:
Fearsome and sudden surprise on enemies (roar)
Fearsome attack on enemies (claws and teeth)
Boldness
Determination
Power of rulership
If confronted with this face of God alone, man would approach their creator with a terror far beyond a reverential and Godly fear. Each of the three beasts in this quartet need the spiritual fruitage of the man’s face to direct and keep them in proper balance.
Before considering the next face, let us ask: What is the natural complement of the lion’s moral rulership? It is physical power. Hence, the direct counterbalance of the lion as the power in the realm of moral rulership is the bullock as the power over the forces of nature.
Notice that this picture differs from Revelation in its intent. In Revelation the focus is on the character of Christ rather than glory. Here we find the lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5) is counterbalanced against the lamb on Mt. Zion (Revelation 14:1).
To add to the complexity, in God’s kingdom we are promised “no lion shall be there” (Isaiah 35:9). This immediately seems to contradict this vision of God’s glory, as well as the Revelation citation about the lion of the tribe of Judah. How do we reconcile this?
Look at the details of Ezekiel’s vision. The wings of the eagle are there, the hands of the man are there, even the feet of the calf (more gentle than the bull’s); the claws of the lion are nowhere to be found. Christ’s kingdom is the time for the patient nurturing of men along the highway of holiness. Once the lion of the tribe of Judah conquers the forces blocking construction on the highway of holiness, he will retract his claws and not appear as a lion to even the wayward travellers. In Ezekiel’s vision the lion nature of God is always available at the right hand of the face of the man. However, since “they turned not when they went,” we would never directly see the lion face on. We would be aware that the face of the lion is part of God’s glory, but we would never directly confront its fearsome power.
BULLOCK – GOD’S POWER IN NATURE
The face of the cherub (Ezekiel 10:14-15), the calf (Revelation 4:7) and the “ox” (Ezekiel 1:10) apparently are identical. “Ox” (Strong’s #7794) is translated from the Hebrew word used for bullocks of sacrifice, bulls and oxen. Hence we may conclude that a young bullock is meant. From an outward perspective, the bullock’s most significant features are the power of its horns and hooves (Psalms 69:30-31), Proverbs 14:4), and horns are a picture of power.
In the tabernacle, horns are the sole animal feature incorporated into the design of both the brazen altar and the incense altar. While they clearly picture power, we notice that in the sacrifices of the law these features are not offered up in sacrifice. The horns and hooves are burned without the camp (Leviticus 8:17 e.g.). It is not the might nor power (horns and hooves) of even a perfect man that the Lord seeks as an offering, but the will, the heart, and the zeal.
Bullocks are both the only beast of the quartet that serves as a domestic creature and the only herbivore. When fully grown, bullocks were kept as the power engines of their day. In some senses their strength was more significant than the meat, wealth, or fertility always associated with them. The bullock is the only of the three non-human beasts that naturally The eagle (S.5404) is the last of the four living creatures bonds with man: “the ox knoweth his owner” (Isaiah 1:3). described. It counterbalances the man, and in this position On the other hand, scripture and experience show that this it provides us with the first hint of its meaning. The eagle animal is not considered wise (Proverbs 7:22).
The bullock is unique among the four living ones for these features:
draft animal kept for its strength
herbivore – clean beast
an acceptable sacrifice
the only animal with horns and hooves
The bullock sacrificed on the Day of Atonement pictures Christ (Tabernacle Shadows, pg. 51 – T51). Here in this most significant type Christ sacrificed his fleshly power and strength as a natural man. He who could calm the seas and walk upon the waters set aside these and other natural strengths that he might become Adam’s ransom.
Taken together, these images suggest power and strength in the natural realm – by extension this includes natural law and physics (the lion which is opposite on the quartet is strength and power in the realm of moral law and ruler-ship). From this perspective, we can see that the strength and power which permitted God to create and control the heavens and the earth, the winds and seas, is an intrinsic attribute of his glory. At the same time, this strength and power is amoral (hence, clean). That is the only aspect of God’s glory that has been frequently turned on man to gore and trample. The forces of nature – like the bullock – operate without understanding. In concert with the other manifestations of glory, they are indeed the power of creation.
The horns on the bullock, and on the altars in the tabernacle, tell us that behind the work of faith during the present age there is real power – the force of nature. There really is a new creation, the dead really will be resurrected, there really will be a restitution of all things. The power of “He who becometh” does not give victory through an escape into the ecstasy of mysticism, nor does victory come through the attainment of the introspective calm of “Nirvana,” nor does victory come through the intellectual satisfaction of weaving a fine and beautiful systematic theology. The victory and the glory of God will only be known to “every eye” when the reality of God’s power – symbolized in the bull – is revealed in the sight of all nations.
EAGLE-GOD’S NURTURING AND PROTECTION
The eagle (Strong’s #5404) is the last of the four living creatures described. It counterbalances the man, and in this position it provides us with the first hint of its meaning. The eagle is unique among the four living creatures for these reasons:
- The eagle is a bird, the only non-mammal of the quartet.
- The eagle is the only living creature with wings and flight (Proverbs 30:19), that is swift (Job 9:26, Habakkuk 1:8), capable of reaching reat heights and distances (“from the ends of the earth as the eagle flieth,” Deuteronomy 28:49).
- The molting and regrowth of plumage lend the appearance of renewal (“…thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s,” Psalm 103:5, Isaiah 40:31).
- It hides and protects its young with its own body, under its wings (Deuteronomy 32:11).
- It occasionally carries its young on its back (Exodus 19:4).
- It uses high nests (Job 39:27, Jeremiah 49:16, Obadiah 4).
Please observe that direct reference to the celebrated eyesight of the eagle is nowhere found in scripture.
Kingdoms have long celebrated the power and swiftness of the eagle’s flight in addition to its great territorial expanse. Hence, from ancient Assyria5 to Rome to the present day United States, the eagle, or its wings, have appeared in the symbols of state. The scriptures make allusions to the powerful kingdom aspect of the eagle (for example Ezekiel 17:3,7, Jeremiah 48:40, Jeremiah 49:22, Hosea 8:1). In considering the image of the four living ones, this is not the most important characteristic, for actually we are seeing images already present in the lion.
The most powerful and repeated reference to the eagle in scripture concerns the eagle’s superlative performance as a nurturing parent. “For the Lord’s portion is his people … As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings; so the Lord alone did lead him …” (Deuteronomy 32:9-12). These protective wings of the Lord frequently appear in Psalms both ancient and modern.6 “Hide me under the shadow of thy wings” (Psalms 17:8). “How excellent is thy lovingkindness, 0 God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings’ “ (Psalms 36:7). “In the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge until these calamities be overpast” (Psalms 57:1). See also Psalms 61:4, 63:7, 91:4. Jesus used this same image as he wept over Jerusalem. “How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (Matthew 23:37). He wisely abstracted the essence of the scriptural image of the protective eagle without eliciting the image of the (Roman) eagle then oppressing the people.
Taken together, what image is suggested by nurturing lovingkindness, earnest watchcare, renewal, deliverance and flight’s freedom of spirit?7 There can be no other answer than these are all consistent images of the feminine in God. It now becomes clear why this image is opposite of the man and complements the masculine.8
THEY TURNED NOT WHEN THEY WENT (EZEKIEL 1:9)
Were God to turn these beast faces to man, he would be frightened. At Sinai, the power of the bull was briefly unveiled and the earth itself trembled, the mount was covered with a thick cloud and darkness interrupted by lightning (Exodus 19:16-19). The bull-like voice of a loud trumpet resounded throughout the valley. The people entreated Moses, “… let not God speak with us lest we die” (Exodus 20:19).
After this, the calf-like feet took over and we see continued demonstration of God’s control of the very elements of creation as God watched over his encampment in the wilderness of Sinai with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. There was daily manna and a stream that followed the camp through the desert.
Again briefly on another occasion God related to man through the face of the lion. Arrogant Pharaoh eventually learned what the Lion-face of the Lord could do to the mightiest kingdom on earth. The Lion exercises his power in the sudden surprise of power. In the ten plagues, God’s miraculous power was highly focused as a lion’s roar, manifest suddenly, and for a moral purpose. This stands in contrast to the bull-like miraculous power exhibition at Sinai, where the power was general and without intent of causing injury.
God does not meet man with the watchful face of the eagle parent. God would, but as we learn from Jesus, man will not (Matthew 23:37). These eagle features have been seen by only those in close relationship with God who are under the special care of the Lord’s wings (Psalm 91:4). After having the experience of these nurturing wings, they can fly (Isaiah 40:31).
God is capable of presenting any of these four faces, and when men in their imaginations ceased to glorify God as God, they changed the symbols of his glorious nature into the first image that impressed them, such as the bull of creation. As men’s understanding further darkened these images became empty signs fashioned into abominable idols.
God rightly should be worshipped because he is a powerful creator and he does possess all these beast characteristics. But what God is most interested in teaching us and being worshipped for is the face of the man. “He that hath seen me hath seen the father” (John 14:9). Through Christ, man has the capacity to strive for and transform into this face.
THE FEET OF A CALF – EZEKIEL 1:7
It is neither the flesh threatening claws of the lion, nor the eagle’s talons, with which God touches the earth. Neither is it with the weakness of man’s feet, which, unless they are on holy ground, must be shod to protect them from the path. Wherever God’s feet touch, the ground is holy, and one of these holy places is the tabernacle. Of the creatures permitted on the holy ground of the tabernacle, only two are present in this vision: the man and the bullock. Man’s feet are too weak to be appropriate in this image, nor does the image employ the full power of the bullock’s hooves, but with the promise of power not exercised in its fullness, that is, with the gentler feet of the calf. We see that there are no other feet that the symbol of calf’s feet in this image could indeed rightly show. What reassurance we have of God’s watchcare even over the details of these visions.
THIRD VISION-WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS (EZEKIEL 1:l5-21)
This vision complements the first vision of the infolding fire and brings us again into the realm of powerful, but nonrational, experience, characteristic of the divine. (Such experiences that have a deeply spiritual effect are called “numinous”) The first and third visions do not satisfy our questioning minds with the wealth of symbolic detail conveyed in both the second vision of the four beasts, and fourth vision of the throne to follow. It is necessary that we “understand” these numinous visions convey messages that are both powerful and balancing to the second and fourth visions.
First, in the matter of how the wheels appear, the scripture reads that they are on their “sides” (ie. like four stacks of dishes, Ezekiel 1:17). This clearly must be the geometry, or it would not be possible for the wheels to be stacked up within the wheels “so high that they were dreadful ‘ “ Here, these wheels suggest the “wholeness” of God’s arrangements in everything between earth and the “dreadful” heights. God plans for a wholeness with his creatures at all levels of being, a wholeness in his character, a wholeness in his covenants. Indeed, we should keep going in our thinking of the “wholeness” of God’s every operation until we understand how dreadfully high this wholeness is.
The text seems to suggest that these wheels resembled the topaz stone, which varies from honey colored to blue and is one of the hardest gems.9 If it is properly identified, the same color would be suggested that is seen in the first vision.
FOURTH VISION-THE THRONE SCENE (EZEKIEL 1:26-2:14)
The throne of “sapphire” with its internal rays certainly suggests the spokes of the wheels just seen. Once again we see the color amber in this image (Ezekiel 1:27) which is so highly developed that there is now a man’s figure of the glory of the Lord (Ezekiel 1:28) speaking and instructing Ezekiel in detail. Additionally, it is significant that Ezekiel eats (Ezekiel 3:1-2). With this sustenance and the completeness of the four visions, Ezekiel is now prepared to do the Lord’s bidding.
VOICES IN THE VISION OF GOD’S GLORY
The whirlwind of infolding fire would fill the ears of Ezekiel with a constant roar that would add to his sense of awe of experiencing the divine, but communicate no speech. In the second vision with the four living creatures Ezekiel hears a voice and recognizes it as a voice (Ezekiel 1:26). But he is unable to understand the voice. In the third vision, of the wheels, we are returned to the realm of the numinous as in the first vision, and no additional voice is heard other than the continuing voice of the second vision. But in the fourth vision, of the throne, we have a voice that speaks distinctly.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS – EZEKIEL THE PROPHET OF PSYCHOLOGICAL BALANCE
Notice the balance in these visions as they have made a deliberate transition from the unconscious awareness of the divine through full consciousness. The awesome whirlwind of infolding fire communicates to our unconscious, not our reason. Next, Ezekiel receives a vision of the four living creatures -a symbolic vision employing the language by which the unconscious communicates images to the conscious. The images move back again to the realms of the unconscious for the numinous vision of the wheels. Finally in the throne scene, a realm of full consciousness is presented in which Ezekiel can hear, read, and even eat.
Ezekiel has not only experienced these four visions, these have been presented without the mediation of angels. It is little wonder that Ezekiel sat “stunned” for seven days after this experience (Ezekiel 3:15). As we realize how unusual this combination of visions is, in the highest sense, Ezekiel is the prophet of psychological balance. This is one of the prime themes of Ezekiel’s prophecy that continues to make his prophecies fascinating, fearful, and awesome to us.
– Richard Doctor
1. To “see” something requires the movement of light through time and space. But God is a being who stands outside our four dimensional frame of time and space. Indeed, both the Bible and modern Physics concur that in the distant past time and space did not exist. Time and space were created and they were created by God who stands outside of their frame of reference. it is unlikely that a God who stands outside of space and time can be “seen’ ‘ Although scripture remains silent on the physics of “seeing” God, they are consistent in asserting that it has never been done.
The present day understanding of the creation of time and space is distinctly different and opposed to the ancient belief that time and space existed as unorganized “chaos” subsequently brought into order by God (or the gods). “ ‘ .. all Nature was all Chaos, the rounded body of all things in one. (Horace Gregory, translator, Ovid-The Metamorphoses, Mentor, NY, 1958, Book 1.)
Because the non-biblical thought of “chaos” rather than creation underlies much of our common thinking about the nature of God and the universe, we should be alert to its implications. Not understanding that space and time are created, rather than organized from chaos, spawns some of the following speculation: (1) the seat of God’s throne is in the Pleaides, (2) forty days is the appropriate round-trip transit time between earth and heaven, and (3) the “size” of God.
2. Before we leave this first and most real vision, an aside to discuss the whirlwind of infolding lightning may be helpful. The form of the lightning appears to be torodial, doughnut shaped. My secular profession involves the research of stable plasmas (lightnings) for chemical reactions. The equations of fluid motion and laboratory experiments confirm that the only plasma geometry that has proven stable is a whirlwind of infolding lightning.
3. The natural color of an air discharge is a mix of pink and blue (Sanborn C. Brown, Introduction to Electrical Discharge in Gases, Wiley, New York, 1966, pg. 214). As the intensity of the discharge grows, these colors get washed out into white. Hence the amber color, or as the Greeks called it “electrum” (see Rotherham translation) conveys deliberate symbolism. Amber was a valued gem-stone throughout the ancient world and was traded over thousands of miles. It was appreciated for its varying shades of yellow, and at the same time it was considered mystical as the source of static “electricity.”
4. Carl G. Jung, editor, Man and his Symbols, Doubleday, New York, 1964, pg. 215.
5. Assyria was passing from domination in Ezekiel’s day, but the symbol of state interestingly employed all the elements that we meet in this vision. The Assyrians depicted their kingdom as the head of a man on the body of a bull with the wings of an eagle and the paws of a lion.
6. Hymns that joy in these wings of the Lord include “Under His Wings I am Safely Abiding.’
7. Men have a consistent tendency to want to codify all behavior with innumerable laws, regulations, etc. It is no accident that the symbol of “Liberty Enlightening the World” in New York harbor is a woman. Liberty and freedom are feminine. Western European languages which retain gender recognize them as such.
8. In this respect even the eagle’s fine eyesight becomes a significant image of the feminine. Experiments with primate babies show that even more than food, they will identify a doll as mother if they have the assurance of a protective body and open eyes. (Harlow, Harry F., “Love in Infant Monkeys:’ reprinted in The Nature and Nurture of Behavior Developmental Psychologv, William T. Greenough, compiler, Freeman, San Francisco, 1972).
9. Perhaps the color is less important than the mineral properties. If the “Tarshish stone” were a sapphire variety, the internal radiance of the gem would focus into a “star.” Indeed, a flat disk of sapphire, or other gems with this property of forming internal starlike internal rays, would most appropriately suggest the spokes of a wheel.