With the
first chapter of Ezekiel's prophecies open before us, let
us note how much it contains that is instructive and
helpful in connection with the movements and ways of God
in relation to the glory. As we pointed out in our last
meditation, the key phrase, inclusive not only of the
chapter but of the whole book, is found in the second
half of verse 28:
"This
was the appearance of the likeness of
the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon
my face..."
That
refers, as I have said, to all that is in that chapter,
but it relates especially to the vision of the Throne in
Heaven, and to the 'likeness as of a Man upon it above'.
It is the glory of the Throne of the Exalted God-Man. And
from that, everything else proceeds. All that is here,
and all that comes later, right to the end of this very
full book, is the expression of that Throne, of that
government, of the meaning of that Man being there, where
He is.
In
summarizing the visions which came to Ezekiel, when he
said: 'I saw visions of God', we said that under the
Throne there was a two-fold symbolic medium of its
expression; and that two-fold medium is the four living
ones, or cherubim, and the wheels. To both of these quite
a considerable section is given. You notice that they are
not just mentioned and passed over, but they are very
fully and minutely described. You have got to stop with
this; you have got to take time and give attention. The
prophet is giving us every detail. It is very difficult
to understand; I certainly do not claim to understand it,
but I think I see some things that are almost on the face
of it. Nevertheless, since these things are brought in
here in very clear definition, and in very full
presentation, right at the beginning of all these
prophecies and movements and visions, they must evidently
be taken account of. They must have a place, and a very
serious place.
The Cherubim: Symbols Of Holiness And
Life
Firstly,
then, the Cherubim. We need not describe them; their
description is here. We need say very little about the
detailed features of their make-up: all that will be
familiar. We want to come quite simply and directly to
the real function of these living ones. Of course it must
be underlined that this is oriental symbolism. It is a
symbolic representation of something spiritual. People in
the East reading these things would have a more ready
apprehension of this way of presenting truth than perhaps
we have. But God has chosen to convey His great truths in
this symbolic and illustrative way; and we have to get
through the symbolism and the illustration - if need be
forget the forms, forget the characteristics described -
and get straight to the heart of the matter: what is
their message? What is it that they are intended to
convey?
From a
reflection upon the many appearances of the Cherubim in
the Bible, it can be seen that invariably, on every
occasion, they stand related to one thing; their function
is ever and always to proclaim that the Throne of God is
a HOLY Throne; that His government is a government
of HOLINESS. It will at once be seen how vital and
appropriate this is, standing right at the beginning of
the history of judgment contained in these prophecies.
For everything that follows, including the large section
of judgments, both of Israel and in the nations, under
this supreme Throne, is in relation to an unholy state,
and a demand that that shall be judged and put away. The
glory waits for that, and waits upon that. The glory ever
and always waits upon holiness, because it is a Throne of
Glory which is the glory of Holiness. The government of
that holiness is represented here in this Throne, and in
the Man on it.
But that
is not all. These cherubim are called 'LIVING
ones'. The idea of LIFE, of LIVING-ness,
is always associated with them. They come up again and
again in that connection. At the moment it is this, that HOLINESS
and LIFE are combined in them: the life waits
on the holiness; the holiness gives rise to the life. You
cannot separate these two things. You cannot have the
life without the holiness; you cannot have the holiness
without it leading to life. It is always working like
that, to and fro. More holiness, more life; more life,
more holiness. These 'living ones' are, in
representation, the custodians of the Divine holiness for
the sake of the Divine life. For the things that are in
the balances all the way through this book are life and
death; that is where the battle is being fought out. It
is a question of life and death for Israel, for the
nations; but the deciding thing is this matter of HOLINESS.
The Cherubim In The Garden, In The Tabernacle
And In The Temple
Now, if
you will briefly pass your mind's eye over some of the
instances where the Cherubim are in view, you will see
that that is the connection each time. When things went
wrong in the Garden; when sin entered; when disobedience,
through pride, came in and operated; when man was
expelled from the place of life, where the 'tree of life'
was: at the gate, to guard it, were placed the Cherubim
with flaming swords. Their presence there said, That is a
holy life, and that which is corrupt, polluted, tainted,
unholy, cannot have it, cannot touch it, cannot come near
it, is expelled from it. The Cherubim would say, We are
the custodians, not only of that life, but of the
essential holiness that it demands.
Then,
figures of the Cherubim were interwoven on the screen,
the veil between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place,
and man would pass that veil in peril of his life - it
would be death. They were inscribed again there in
testimony of the fact that they were the guardians of
what is holy, and as such, anything unholy would perish
if it passed their way. They, on the veil, declared that
things were wrong with man; they were a testimony against
the wrong state of man, because of which he cannot come
into the presence of the Glory, and the presence of the
Life.
The Cherubim In Prophetic Visions
But then
we remember Isaiah: the features are impressive in this
connection. Isaiah 'saw the Lord, seated upon a Throne,
high and lifted up', and the Seraphim (only another name
for these, I think) were heard crying: 'Holy, Holy, Holy
is the Lord of hosts!' Why was this? King Uzziah had
forced his way into the temple, to serve unlawfully at
the altar, and took the censer in his hand. Man had
pressed in to the presence of the Holy God, and had
touched holy things. The priests besought him, pleaded
with him: 'Go out! It pertaineth not unto thee, King
Uzziah!' But Uzziah asserted himself there, and he was
smitten with leprosy, and remained a leper to the day of
his death. He died a tainted, corrupted man. And "in
the year that king Uzziah DIED I saw the
Lord", and heard the Seraphim crying: Holy, Holy,
Holy. The Throne is the throne of holiness and of life;
but where there is not the holiness it means death. Life
is on the ground of holiness.
Jerusalem
has become grievously and terribly defiled - read
Jeremiah. It is a terrible book, a terrible revelation of
spiritual condition. In the resultant judgment the people
are carried away into captivity. And we find Ezekiel
there, with the captives of the southern kingdom of
Judah, by the River Chebar. This is a scene of
desolation, a scene of death; this is a scene of
judgment; they stand in the place of Uzziah, defiled.
Judgment has come upon them, and death. If you have any
question about that, or if you want that particularly
emphasized, just turn to the great chapter in these
prophecies about the 'valley of dry bones' (Eze. 37).
That is God's conception of this people at that time. A
valley of dry bones; very many, and scattered - that was
Israel's condition as in Babylon, as in captivity. Are
these people going to be saved from death, from judgment?
How will it be? The Lord will say that He will have to
take away their unclean, polluted, stony hearts; 'a new
heart will I give you'. In other words, they will have to
be cleansed from their iniquity, washed from their sin,
made again God's HOLY people, and they will LIVE.
The Cherubim are very active in relation to that
matter. See them 'on the wing'! They are characterized by
a deep concern that this people should be saved from
death by being delivered from the bondage of corruption.
The Cherubim In The Revelation
We come
over to the Book of the Revelation - the marvellous
fourth and fifth chapters. Here the Heavens are open
again (4:1). What did John see? Here are the twenty-four
elders, and the four 'living ones', and myriads of
angels, before the throne of God and of the Lamb; here
they are round the Throne, singing their song of
redemption. But the four 'living ones' are there, not now
feverishly, fretfully, hurrying hither and thither,
concerned with this matter of getting a people saved and
right - their wings are let down, and they are joining in
the worship. The work is done! Their work is finished,
and now they can worship and join in praise with all the
redeemed. That is how it ends: it is the picture of GLORY
AND LIFE THROUGH HOLINESS.
That is
a message not for the days of Ezekiel only. It is an
abiding message; the truth and the principle which runs
from the beginning to the end of time. That Throne, if we
want it on our side, demands that something be done to
cleanse us from our sin, to deliver us from our way of
wickedness, to bring us into the 'white raiment' of His
Divine righteousness, sanctified. It is for those who are
thus walking with Him in fellowship, and who, as far as
they know, are eschewing every evil way, are repudiating
all iniquity; are having no truck with iniquity, are not
compromising, are not in any way condoning or dabbling in
what is evil, what is wrong.
I know
that the whole matter of holiness can become very
oppressive; it can become very legal and bring us into
bondage. But the fact remains that the Lord's Throne is a
throne of holiness; His government is a government of
holiness; and His life is HOLY life. We know quite
well, in practical experience, that if we do, voluntarily
or even involuntarily, touch something that is evil or
corrupt, touch this world in spirit, the glory fades! We
know within ourselves that, if we even say something that
is wrong, the glory fades. We know it by the fading glory
in our hearts; a shadow, a cloud, comes over our spirit;
and it stays there until we have gone and got that
cleaned up in the presence of the Lord.
The Wheels
We pass
now to the other side of this symbolic medium of the
Throne: to the 'wheels'. You notice that these are quite
definitely in union with the 'living ones', with the
Cherubim - they move together. They are really only two
aspects of one thing, but the wheels contain their own
particular emphasis and message. What do they signify?
What is the impression that is left with you after
reading verses 15-21? If you just sit back after reading,
how do you feel? Sometimes it is a good thing to put
yourself into the Word, and take its temper - take its
atmosphere. I venture to suggest that if you read these
verses in that way, and sit back, you will heave a sigh:
My word, they are moving! There is something doing here!
At least you will not be left with a quiet or passive
feeling. We have the impression of tremendous energy; of
motion with purpose; that is the atmosphere of the
'wheels'.
Wheels
symbolize movement, motion, going; and here the 'spirit
of the living ones' is in the 'wheels'. The energy of the
Spirit is here; it is ENERGY and MOVEMENT WITH
PURPOSE, is it not, of which they speak? They
say to us clearly and simply that this Throne is a very
energetic and active Throne in relation to the end which
God is seeking. All the energies and activities contained
in these prophecies are the expression of that Throne,
and are, as it were, the carrying out of the meaning of
the wheels. The Throne is on the move; the Throne is not
passive; the Throne is governed by a tremendous energy:
God is deeply and greatly concerned about this great end
of His, to have everything glorious, filled with His
glory, for His glory.
Suffering With The Glory Of God In View
It is no
light or easy-going thing with the Lord, to have that
end. If we did but know it, if we could only see it and
understand it, we should be able to recognize that so
many things in our lives which the Lord permits to come
in, and which the Lord sometimes even sends into our
lives, are the workings of His energy to make a way for
His glory. John, the apostle, tells us that the whole of
his Gospel which he wrote was written with one object,
and that object was THE GLORY OF THE LORD JESUS; that
governed all. All the way through, from beginning to end,
it is that.
Take one
fragment only - Lazarus. "This sickness is not unto
death, but FOR THE GLORY OF GOD" (John
11:4). Strange event of providence; strange ways of God,
causing deep sorrow, distress, perplexity. It is a
distressing thing for those concerned, but quite
deliberate on the part of the Lord Jesus. His attitude
and His handling, His tarrying when He received the news
(verse 6), were quite deliberate. He has it all in hand,
and He says: 'It is for the glory of God, that the Son of
God should be glorified thereby'. The end of this strange
thing, this painful thing in human life, is the glory of
God! Would that you and I could always look at our
sufferings and our sorrows like that! Every time when
some perplexing, bewildering, heart-breaking thing comes
into our lives, if only we could say and believe and
stand to it - 'God is going to get some glory out of
this! There is some glory somewhere bound up with this!'
He is working to His end in all things. Paul says: 'God
works in all things good to them that love Him and are
the called according to His purpose' (Rom. 8:28) - and by
that word 'good' he means glory - glory to God.
We see,
then, that there is an energy of God, of the Throne,
toward glory, and to glory through holiness.
Perfect Intelligence Of The Throne
Another
feature of the wheels was that they were "full of
eyes round about" (1:18; 10:12). Surely this means
that the Throne is operating with perfect intelligence,
with complete knowledge of everything; an utter
apprehension and grasp of all the elements, of all the
features, of everything that has to be dealt with.
Perfect vision; perfect knowledge: that is how the Throne
of Holiness works.
That is
a solemn message, as well as perhaps an encouraging one.
The fact is that that One on the Throne, whose 'eyes are
as a flame of fire' (Rev. 1:14), sees right through,
knows all the hidden motives, and acts accordingly. It is
not what we see, and not what we are willing to see, but
what He sees. The eyes of His glory look us right
through; they know all our self-deceptions; and all our
deceivings of one another. They know us perfectly, and
the Lord is acting with us according to that knowledge,
and we are not going to get away with it. If the Lord
takes in hand to deal with us in a form of judgment; if
He really does take action in regard to us, it is because
He has seen or is seeing something; something that is
injurious to us; something that is limiting or hindering
the glory in us, personally or individually, or in our
companies. He has seen something that is against the
glory, and so with energy He takes in hand, and He will
judge it. He will go to great lengths in order to get
that eliminated and put right, in order that the glory
may come in, and make way for new life, and that we may
go on anew in a fresh phase in His purpose.
We
perhaps would not have it otherwise; we do not want to be
deceived; we do not want to lose something by some
unrecognized wrong; we want to have everything open. The
end of the Bible sees a City which is absolutely
transparent: God is really seeking transparency in His
people - no duplicity, no deception, no questionableness.
How we need to judge our motives! How we need to keep in
the presence of the Everlasting Burning (Isaiah 33:14b)!
How necessary it is to abide in the light of His
countenance, so that nothing is allowed to go on with us,
perhaps unconsciously, that is limiting His glory in our
life. This is a message of very great concern.
Let us
by all means pray for a 'new thing'; pray for revival;
pray for God to move in some great way of power: but
remember, all His movements are based upon this - a
holiness that corresponds to His Throne; and He just
cannot do anything until that holiness has been
vindicated in His people. Does this not explain much
unanswered prayer? "If I regard iniquity in my
heart, the Lord will not hear" (Psalm 66:18). It is
a very big principle, covering so much. May the Lord give
us understanding, in the presence of what could be a very
solemn word; and yet it has GLORY in view. The
Lord give us understanding that the energies of His
Throne are holy energies. His goings, His continuous
goings, are in this very connection, that what is
consistent with the Man in the glory shall be found in
us, and amongst all the Lord's people.
The Throne Intimately Concerned With
This World
Lastly,
notice that these wheels occupy a place between Heaven
and earth. They are not wholly of the earth - they do not
remain earth-bound, held by an 'earth touch'; there is a
kind of suspendedness; they touch the earth, but they are
not of it. They bound along in their energy in relation
to Heaven, but also in relation to earth, as the
embodiment of the Divine energies. What that says,
amongst other things, is this: that God's interests and
activities, and God's Throne, are not remote from things
here on this earth. He is not just reigning on His Throne
in remote isolation, somewhere away there in the
undefined heavens. His energies relate to things here:
His mighty interests are near, are imminent: they are
concerned with this world, with this earth, and with what
is on it. He wants this earth, and all that is here, to
be holy. In Isaiah's vision there is that phrase:
"the whole earth is full of His glory" (Isaiah
6:3). That is the conception; that is what the Lord
desires. He is working to that. And we know, from the
description of the end, that that is how it will be when
'knowledge of the glory of God fills the earth as the
waters cover the sea' (Hab. 2:14). Holiness everywhere!
The fact
is, God is intimately, closely, and intelligently
associated with the state of things here, both in the
Church, and in the churches. He is cognizant of
everything that we do not see or do not realize. His eyes
see it, and He is active concerning this state, to have
it holy, and to be able to bring back THE GLORY.
The
Throne is not far away after all - it is here, in
representation. If the first section (chapters 1-3) of
the Book of the Revelation means anything at all, it
means that this very God-Man, this Man of the glory, is
here; He is imminent, moving amongst the churches, the
lampstands. The Throne is fully cognizant of everything;
it is not blind; it is never deceived by anything at all.
The Throne is active and its activity may be found in
many, if not all, of the experiences into which we come.
The Throne is determined to have one end, everywhere, in
all things, and that is GLORY.
This
wonderful symbolism of the 'living ones' and 'wheels' is
but a declaration of this activity of the Throne. That
Throne has not given things up because they are so bad;
it is still pursuing its goal, to have a state that can
be filled with GLORY. May the Lord interpret this to
us, and write it deeply in our hearts, and keep it every
day in our consciousness. This message is intended to
be "not unto death, but for the glory of God".