Ezekiel 1:1-24
Ezekiel's Vision, The Four Living Creatures (Cherubim):
(vs.4-9) I looked and I saw a windstorm coming out of the North--an immense cloud with flashing lightning (a fire enfolding itself) and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was human, but each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings, and the wings of one touched the wings of another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved.
Here we have their general description. I've been thinking about this, and I will share my impressions with you. You may have different ideas about these things, and I would be pleased to know and consider your views. Ezekiel has witnessed something that he has no words to describe. Today we have technology to make ourselves conveyances, driving and flying machines of many sorts.
These four Cherubim seem to me to be driving some kind of futuristic "machine" that goes even beyond what we today have devised. Let's hear more of what Ezekiel has to say.
(v. 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 (on the back).
I can see this as these creatures wearing helmets that had markings and shapes resembling these animal faces on the sides, with the long face of an eagle to the back. (And who knows what kinds of electronics could be contained in these helmets.)
(vs. 11-14) 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. Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went. In the midst of the living creatures there was what looked like burning coals of fire, like torches moving to and fro among the creatures; it was bright and lightning (sparks?) flashed out of it. The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.
Okay, the wings spreading out upward could possibly be propellers, and the wings covering its body could be their clothing, robe, uniform, armor, whatever. They seem to be forming a square, each creature looking out in each of the four directions, and they all move together, as fast as lightning. In the middle of this square was the furnace, or generator, or motor, or whatever, providing the power (spirit) to the creatures.
(vs. 15-18) As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. 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. 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. Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.
Here we see the individual mechanisms by which these four creatures moved. Each one had his own "wheel within a wheel" that faced in his direction, so they didn't need to turn to change direction, they just powered up whichever "wheel" was facing that way. These "wheels" were impressive, and had "eyes" or lights all around the rim.
(vs. 19-21) When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. 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. 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.
So these cherubim each had his own "wheel" that was powered by the "generator" in the middle of their formation, and they all moved together, darting around in every direction, as fast as lightning.
(vs. 22-24) Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked something like a vault, sparkling like crystal, and awesome. Under the vault their wings were stretched out one toward the other, and each had two wings covering its body. 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.
We'll look at this vault later, we're still discussing the living creatures' means of locomotion. When they raised their wings, or "propellers," the noise of them reminds me of the din of a race track, or a pack of motorcycles roaring down the street. Whatever these conveyances are, they seem to be marvelous things, even still beyond all the advanced technologies we can avail ourselves of today.
Some people think that the "gods" over the Earth are ancient "astronauts" that came here from other planets of other solar systems, and they borrow from Ezekiel to describe them. But Ezekiel saw God's cherubim, who are spiritual beings of the angelic realm, not some advanced human-like civilization. And he also saw the Almighty God above them, Who spoke to him.
We need to realize that God is God, and His creation includes more than our Earth, our Universe; it includes His own Heaven and all the numerous and varied spirit creatures He made to populate it. Just because He has chosen to reveal to us a little of His realm doesn't mean that we know everything now. Far from it. Our Almighty God has no limits, as we have, and what He has done is so far and immense, way beyond anything that we can ever even imagine.
We'll continue to study this fascinating passage another day.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
