From my earliest years as a student of the Bible, I have been fascinated by the four living creatures. I had not the slightest idea what they symbolized, but I enjoyed reading about them and wondering what they could possibly mean. Finally in 1999, the Lord led me to do an in-depth study of them using a good concordance, a Hebrew lexicon, principles of allegory and a lot of prayer. After about a year of study, I set them aside and delved into some other studies, but returned to them three more times. Each time through, their message became clearer until I knew that God had laid out before me a great message for the church of the end times.
Since completing that study, I have done many other studies similar to it in that I have used the same study methods and studied large blocks of scripture…several consecutive chapters at a time, verse by verse…in the same way the four living creatures were studied. To my amazement, I always find the same truths I found in the four living creatures. I can’t get away from this message even if I want to because it is everywhere. I’m beginning to believe the message of the end times and the return of Christ is under the surface in almost every chapter of the Bible!
The Lord indicated it was not yet time for these truths to be revealed, so I placed each study “on the shelf” waiting for the time they could become books. The particulars about the end times needed to be withheld until such a time as they were needed. To know these things before the time could have caused some people to fall into error by trying to enter into something before it was time. Our loving Father knew just how to present these end time truths in such a way that they could only be understood when the time was right. The Holy Spirit had to open these passages and certain tools had to be prepared beforehand in order to facilitate the study.
There has been a lot of conjecture about the events of the end times. Some have claimed to have all the details worked out and some have even predicted the exact time of the Lord’s return. We have anticipated there would be a catching up. Many people have believed our bodies would literally fly off the earth at a certain time leaving vehicles unmanned and unsaved loved ones agonizing over our disappearance. We have argued over whether this catching up (or Rapture as some have called it) would happen before, during or after the Great Tribulation. The four living creatures will show us exactly how we are going to be caught up. I can tell you right now that we will not leave our automobiles and airplanes unmanned, and our loved ones will still be able to find us.
Very soon we are going to see God moving in some of the ways revealed in the four living creatures. How do I know this? There are two reasons. The first is because he told me to get busy and publish this book. I completed the first edition of it in 2002 but God would not permit me to publish it at that time. The fact that he said to publish it now says to me that people will soon be experiencing many of the things revealed in the four living creatures. Because these things have never before been experienced, they won’t understand what is happening to them. When that occurs, the truths revealed here will be waiting to clarify their experience for them. This book will enable them to learn to see this message in the scriptures for themselves. They will understand how to cooperate with God to more quickly enter into the place he has prepared for his true church in the end times. We are indeed blessed to know the Lord Jesus Christ and to have been chosen to live at this time in history!
The second reason I know it is time for this book to go forward is that the events rapidly taking place in our nation and the world indicate that civilization as we know it is about to come to an end. The stage is being set for the takeover of the Antichrist and the New World Order. We are going to desperately need the information laid out in the pages of this book.
In order to enter the place God has prepared for us, we must learn to walk in holiness. Our character must become like the character of Christ. This is a process that will not happen overnight. God has been preparing certain persons to minister to his faithful church in these ends times. These persons will minister with an anointing the likes of which has not been seen since Christ walked on earth 2000 years ago. These ministers will help the church come up to the place of holiness that will enable them to enter into the kingdom of God even as they are here on earth.
Entering fully into the “measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” where Ezekiel's visions eventually lead will require, among other things, a deep study of God’s word. Certain tools had to be prepared to enable us to study in such depth.
There are six tools I have found to be absolutely essential for the depth of study required to remove the seals from these passages. These tools are: (1) The New Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, (2) The Interpreting Dictionary of Scripture Proper Names, (3) Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament, (4) Number in Scripture by E. W. Bullinger, (5) Types in Genesis by Andrew Jukes and (6) a good English language dictionary.
Strong’s concordance will give us the exact meaning of the words in Hebrew. It is important to trace the words back through all their derivatives because much information will be revealed there. When more than one Hebrew word can be translated as one certain English word, we need to research all the words to understand why the Holy Spirit chose this particular word. For example, there are five different Hebrew words that can be translated “visions.” To understand why the particular word, mar’ah, was chosen for this passage, we need to see how it is different from all the other words. Our research reveals that mar’ah is the only Hebrew word for visions that means “a mirror,” “a looking glass.” This is an important understanding for finding the hidden meaning of this passage.
In addition to the concordances, we need Gesenius’ lexicon to give us a deeper and more thorough understanding of the original languages of the Old Testament.
Bullinger’s book on numbers will reveal the spiritual meaning of numbers. In this kind of revelatory study, we are not interested in the number’s numerical value but in the spiritual meaning of the number based on its usage throughout Scripture. Bullinger has researched each number in great detail giving us marvelous insights into their spiritual meaning. The number four is important in this passage and Bullinger’s book contains twelve pages on this number alone. This man’s research is thorough and has been indispensible to me in opening the spiritual meaning of this difficult Ezekiel passage.
Andrew Juke’s book, Types in Genesis, will provide allegorical insights that will unlock hidden meanings. Allegory and parable are both found many places in Scripture. There may be some confusion as to the difference between a parable and an allegory since both employ story and metaphor to convey abstract meaning. Generally speaking a parable is shorter than an allegory and relates only one concept. Allegory, being longer, is used to convey several concepts. Ezekiel 1 is an allegory filled with metaphor that conveys many abstract truths reserved for the church of the end times.
It would be correct to say that a parable is a short form of allegory. Jesus used parables unceasingly when speaking to the multitudes according to Matt. 13:34. “All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them.” He used parables to teach about the kingdom of God. Deep kingdom principles were contained in parables and only those whose hearts were prepared could understand them. As we study the four living creatures, we will find that allegory is an extremely important principle for the church of the end times to understand and use.
The last tool on our list is a good English language dictionary. I use a modern edition as well as the 1828 edition. There are times in my studies when a passage is not opening up for me because I am assuming I know the English definition of the word when in reality I do not. Once I find the exact definition in the dictionary, it is sometimes the key for unlocking the passage.
Now that we understand our study of Ezekiel’s visions will be about the end times, that secrets reserved for these last days are revealed here and we know the tools we will be using, it is time to begin our study. We will see here things never before seen by the church—things prepared before the foundations of the world to bring God’s people through the devastations of biological and chemical warfare and even nuclear attacks while propelling them into the coming age of the kingdom. The truths revealed here are built upon a solid foundation of biblical truth as revealed in the Scriptures and taught by learned teachers down through the ages.