Just who are these four creatures with four faces, four wings, wheels within wheels, burning coals of fire and flashes of lightning? God has presented in Ezekiel One a picture of mature Christians in the end times who progress from maturity in Christ to the fullness of Christ…persons who can work the same miracles Jesus did, and who can see him face to face as they live on earth ministering in the midst of chaos and destruction. We can only see Christ as we become like him; therefore, not everyone will see him as the four living creatures do…that is until they themselves come into the same maturity and completion as the four living creatures who have entered in before them. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” 1 John 3: 2 ).
Are there just four of them? No. Every word in this passage of scripture has a spiritual meaning. “Four” means spiritually “man in his relation to the world as created.” There are not just four of these creatures. There are a great number of them…a number only God knows. When these people enter into the fullness of Christ, they will in turn minister to the Body of Christ and help others come into the fullness they have achieved. Chapter One of Ezekiel shows us how they are processed by God (something that requires their active participation). Their ministry is then revealed in chapter 10 of Ezekiel. (Chapter Ten will be another book to come forth at a later date.)
How can Christians have wings? As I stated in the previous chapter, everything about these creatures has a spiritual meaning. The wings are the imagination. In our imagination we can go anywhere and do anything much like a bird can fly high above the earth and go unhindered anywhere it wants. This is a part of our mind that lost its power and vibrancy at the fall of man. The Four Living Creatures will reveal to us how God intends to restore to us this part of our mind. He will only do so as we progress in holiness. Purity of heart is essential for going where God wants to take us.
In the early books of the Old Testament, the imagination is said to be “only evil continually.” However, the imagination is seen as something good later when David prayed at the ceremony where the supplies for the temple Solomon was to build were being dedicated to God. At that time David prayed, “O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee” (1 Chr 29:18 ). Here is a connection between the imagination and preparation of our heart for God. The three kings in the order of their lives, Saul, David and Solomon, have spiritual significance. Saul represents an immature Christian who lives according to his own understanding and for his own purposes. David represents a more mature Christian who loves and seeks God and is engaged in spiritual warfare. Solomon is a type of those who enter into the rest of God…those who are living in the end times who prepare themselves as a temple for God. The splendor of their lives and their great wisdom will astound kings. The use of our imagination will be used by God to prepare our hearts for the fullness of his maturity and presence.
These four living creatures have wheels within wheels. The wheel here is a type of our mind. We see the connection between the wheel and our mind in 1 Tim. 4:15, “Meditate upon these things.” This word “meditate” in Greek is meletao and means “to revolve in the mind,” “imagine,” and “meditate.” The Hebrew word for “wheel,” is \'owphan, meaning “to revolve.” A wheel revolves. We allow something to revolve in our mind when we meditate. Putting these together we come to the conclusion that the wheel of Ezekiel One is the mind. We use our mind to meditate. We allow things to revolve in our mind as we go over and over something in our mind. Round and round we go in the mind as we either fret about some problem or, as in the case of the living creatures, we let our imagination dwell on the things of Christ.
The wheel within a wheel is a picture of the mind of Christ within the mind of a mature Christian. “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16 ). “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:5). There is much to be revealed here in Ezekiel One about what it means to have the mind of Christ and how we will be able to utilize this as we become one with him in character and purpose.
There are many frightening observations and revelations on the Internet and in the news about things that are presently going on in this nation. It is easy for one to become discouraged and fearful. How could we survive nuclear war, biological or chemical warfare? If America falls, what happens to the rest of the world? If we lose our freedom and our prosperous way of life, where can we go to regain them? The answer is nowhere except into the kingdom of God…a place prepared for all Christians of all times but something to be entered into fully while on earth for those who are willing to forsake all for Christ in the end times.