Ezekiel 1:5–8

If any doubt remains in the reader's mind, Ezekiel 10 shows plainly that the living creatures are the cherubim. Here they are not two but four. The two were the figures made out of the ends of the pure beaten gold that formed the mercy-seat, where God sat as on a throne. The four, I take it, relate to the creature. The God of Israel dwelt between the cherubim on the ark. He was in the midst of His people, and people came to Him by blood, according to divine righteousness. The witness of His judicial authority guarded that righteousness. Ezekiel was given to see His judgments in providence from outside. He would judge His guilty people by Babylon as His instrument.

They are, strictly, "living ones." The word "creatures" is not used, though it is certainly implied in the four forms in which they appear: man, lion, ox, and eagle. The human form, however, dominates and gives them their character. Yet each one still has four faces and four wings to match these forms. So it is not a likeness of God that they present — and all likeness of Him is expressly forbidden. They are creatures of His, no more: in His hand, obedient to His will, used for His purposes.

The face of a man would convey supreme intelligence. The face of a lion, supreme power. The face of an ox, supreme endurance. The face of an eagle, supreme movement... Satan and rebellious men have great intelligence, and they use it against God. But here are beings who excel in intelligence. Whatever the power, endurance, or speed with which the enemies move to reach their goals, these living creatures will wear them down. They will out-think, out-last, out-wear and out-distance every opposing power. They will never fail to carry out every detail of the will of God in the universe.

At the time of this vision, Ezekiel was in a very trying position. The people of Israel were in captivity, and it seemed that all hope was gone for these prisoners of war. You could hardly find a more hopeless condition. Yet it was exactly there, in those very circumstances, that God gave him this vision. Need we wonder that his name means "God strengthens"?

The wind may blow as hard as it can. But while those four living creatures are inside that whirlwind, we can be sure that God is in supreme control.

We could not say that these four living creatures were a picture of Christ Himself. The expanse was above them, but the man was above the expanse. The words "they had a human likeness" suggest that they were intelligent beings.

The prophet is shown the four living creatures coming out of the cloud. They picture the powers God uses to carry out His will in heaven and on earth... These powers described by the living creatures are held by the angels, those beings who serve the heirs of salvation. There were four living creatures, and that suggests these powers reach everywhere; not one spot in the whole universe is outside God's control. Their four faces suggest that they understand every movement in the universe. Their four wings speak of activity everywhere, for they reach every point in creation.

The number "four" is used again and again in that chapter because God's government of the earth is the subject.

They looked like a man, though each had four faces and four wings (v. 6)... The hands of a man seem to stand for activity, for skill in doing. The wings stand for swift action from above, never turning aside for a moment from the task in hand; and there are four sides, so the creatures can move in every direction... These make up the symbolic supports of the throne. They are the heads of the creatures kept safe in the ark through the flood. The man stands for intelligence, the lion for strength, the ox for patience or stability, and the eagle for speed of action — the attributes of God, or the qualities of His judgments.

In Ezekiel (chapters 1—10) it is clear that the cherubim are majestic, awe-inspiring pictures of the power of judgment and how it advances. From Isaiah 6 we can see that the seraph pictures the power of mercy and how it advances. The cherub has four wings, the seraph six. So mercy is swifter than judgment.

In the account given by the prophet of the captivity, each of the four living ones had four faces and four wings (Ezek. 1:6). The seer of Revelation shows only the third living creature with a man's face, and each of the four with six wings (Rev. 4:7-8). Ezekiel's creatures had wheels; those in Revelation have none... One thing explains many of these differences: Ezekiel deals in particular with the judgment of Judah and Jerusalem. That judgment was to come from the north (Babylon), so the wheels would run on earth, picturing the course of judgment on earth.

In the vision of Revelation the four forms are separate; here we find them united in each living creature... Of these different forms, the man alone speaks of a moral agent.

The face of a man speaks of supreme intelligence; the face of a lion, supreme power; the face of an ox, supreme endurance; the face of an eagle, supreme movement... Satan and rebellious men have great intelligence, and they use it against God. But here are beings whose intelligence is greater. Whatever power or endurance the enemies have, and however fast they move to reach their goals, these living creatures will wear them down. They will out-think, out-last, out-wear and out-distance every opposing power.

Throughout the Old Testament, wherever the cherubim act, they have to do with the judicial power of God, or they carry out the will of that power. In Revelation they usually have to do with providential judgments, and they belong to the throne.

Their feet are straight and like a calf's. This speaks of the evenness of their course, and of the endurance with which they press on towards their goal. The wings would speak of their activity in heaven, and the feet of their movements on earth.

They have in general the likeness of a man, but their feet are like the feet of an ox, "upright," and not extended, as a man's foot is. They sparkle, giving the look of glowing brass. This reminds us once more of Revelation, but there it is said of Him who appears to John, who is the Lord Himself: "His feet like fine (or glowing) brass, as if they burned in a furnace." The treading down in wrath is plain. The sole of the foot is like that of a young bullock, for patient labour is manifest in the exercise of righteous judgment.

Looking at the details, I think there are two judgments of God here. First, the judgment of God about our responsibility where we are. Then, the judgment of God about what can come near Him where He is, and as He is. Both are His judgments, but the difference is the difference between the brass and the gold. The brazen altar was judgment about the responsibility of man where he was. He had to bring a sin offering, and meet God according to his responsibility and his failure in it. But the cherubim on the mercy-seat were all of gold, and that was approaching God according to what He was in Himself. "His feet like unto fine brass" — that is the firmness of His judgment as regards human responsibility.

Brass typifies God meeting man in his responsibility according to divine righteousness. The brazen altar of the tabernacle shows this. There God met man in his sins, and the offered sacrifice met His claims in righteousness.

Ezekiel 1:7 and Daniel 10:6 say the same thing, though the English versions read differently. But here we have "passed through the fire." I understand this to mean that God applied righteousness in judgment to man according to the full, absolute trial of the fire of God — that is, judgment that allows no evil.

The God of Israel, who lived between the cherubim on the ark, was among His people. People came near to Him by blood, according to divine righteousness, and that righteousness was guarded by the witness of His judicial authority. God let Ezekiel see His judgments in providence from outside. He would judge His guilty people by Babylon as His instrument.

The hands of a man seem to stand for activity, or skill in doing. The wings stand for swift action from above, with never a moment's turning aside from the task in hand. The four sides let them move in every direction.

Their faces were like a man's — intelligence and authority; a lion's — majesty and vengeance; an eagle's — knowing everything and being everywhere; a calf's — patience and stability; and they have hands — the executive faculty.

The wings would speak of their heavenly activity and the feet of their earthly movements. The hands under the wings would assure us that they are capable of serving God both in the heavens and on the earth.

FOUR. Completeness in what is created or ordained by God. Four winds from the four quarters of heaven. Jer. 49:36. Four quarters of the earth. Rev. 20:8. In the arrangement of the camp of Israel there were four standards. Num. 10:14-25. Ezekiel saw four living creatures, each had four faces, four wings, and four hands. Ezek. 1:5-8: compare the four living creatures in Rev. 4:6.

This reminds us of what we have seen before: there was the form of a man's hand under the wings of the cherubim. Human hands, we need not doubt, are to carry out that judgment. Still, that judgment is itself the wrath of God.

So they are also seen with spread wings under the God of Israel (Ezek. 1). The Lord of Israel was about to leave His sanctuary, because His people had turned away from Him and disturbed His rest in Jerusalem. Here they also reach out their hands to take fire and throw it over the city, because the Lord had commanded the judgment of its sins.

They come out of this cloud to assure us of this: many clouds cross our pathway, but God is behind them all. He is using them to perfect His work in each one of us. That cloud had meant bloodshed, fire, captivity; yet the prophet has to learn that God was accomplishing His will by that very disaster. There were four living creatures. That suggests these powers are universal, for there is not a spot in the whole universe beyond the control of God.