50 Minutes Into Ezekiel (Part One)

 

It’s Sabbath here in California, and Nisan 14 in Jerusalem. I should say I “think” it’s Sabbath. With all that Babylonian, Julian, Gregorian monkeying around with God’s calendar, I feel like I don’t even know my own birthday anymore. Just hearing the word calendar makes me want to scream into a pillow.

But enough of that.

Last night, as I was drifting off to sleep, I started to think about what I might study today in God’s word. The idea of Ezekiel laying on his side popped into my mind, as did the book of Lamentations. I don’t think I’ve ever read that particular book. It just sounds sad, and I don’t like feeling sad.

But Ezekiel – now that’s a very complicated study. So this morning, I thought I might make good use of the investigative genius of Chuck Missler. I can’t wait to meet that guy. I cued up a 24-part playlist, determined to get as far as I could today, while sitting in my jammies and hanging out with my dogs. Normally, I prefer to just dig in to the Word and wait for some kind of spiritual nudge from the Holy Spirit. But today felt different. It felt more like a “Just sit quietly and listen” kind of day. More Mary, less Martha. More God, less Julie. Now that is some good Sabbath-ing.

I made it all of 50 minutes.

Technically, even less than that. As the Marvelous Mister Missler was giving the background of Ezekiel’s life and contemporaries, I checked Facebook and noticed that there was a post about a vegetation fire nearby. Then (still listening) I looked out the window, took a photo, added a post with my observation of the fire’s progress for nobody in particular, then sat back down in my comfy chair to really focus. For maybe 30 minutes. Maybe less. I also was chatting with my cousin via Messenger about what I was learning and what she was planning to do today. I’m a hot mess.

Here’s where it gets good, and here’s where God’s word led me to tears – again! Chuck Missler spoke about the Cherubim that are described in Ezekiel 1:4-10 KJV:

4 And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

5 Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.

6 And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.

7 And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot: and they sparkled like the color of burnished brass.

8 And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.

9 Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.

10 As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.


Chuck drew the comparison with the four living creatures seated on the four sides of God’s throne in Revelation 4:6-8 KJV:

6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.

7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

He pointed to a significant difference, which is where I got that “nudge” I was waiting for. The Cherubim in Ezekiel each had four faces. The Cherubim in Revelation each had a single face mentioned, that correlates to the same faces mentioned in Ezekiel. I paused the audio and prayed for insight. The word that came to mind was “Gospels.” I didn’t understand.

But this isn’t the first time I’ve been intrigued by those four faces. In my tiny notes previously written at the bottom of the page in Revelation I had hypothesized that the four faces corresponded to the words of Jesus as recorded in Luke 10:27 KJV:

27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.

I thought about the attributes of the animals each face represented and came up with the following:

Face

Represents

Lion

Heart

Ox

Strength

Man

Mind

Eagle

Soul/Spirit


I admit the Lion and Heart connection was initiated by the Wizard of Oz, which is hardly scriptural. But it was a handy starting point for me and the rest just seemed to fit once that puzzle piece was laid out on paper. Do you see what I saw? The same words are captured in the gospel of Mark 12:30 KJV:

30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

Back to Chuck Missler. I mused over the idea of the gospels being connected to the faces of the creatures. What would cause these Cherubim to have four faces separated into one face per creature? Clearly there was some reason for that division to take place sometime between the OT and the NT. Was it a simplification so that we could understand it better? No, that didn’t seem right. But there was a possibility that dove-tails with what I’ve been seeing in the gospels in the last few weeks. Each gospel seems to contain minute differences that address different groups of people – different harvests, if you will – while also having the same message of redemption, hope, and love for all of us.

Could it be that the attributes of each of the faces of the Cherubim also correspond to one of the gospels? I re-started the audio at this point. Imagine how stunned I was when Mr. Missler drew the same comparison. Now my chart looks like this:

Face

Represents

Gospel

Lion

Heart

Matthew

Ox

Strength/Service

Mark

Man

Mind

Luke

Eagle

Soul/Spirit

John




He then went on to describe the encampments of the tribes of Israel when they were on the march, detailing how three tribes gathered under the standard of the lead tribe, for a total of four standards. A little internet searching also revealed that the Freemasons have adopted the same standards at the highest orders of constitutional Masonry. Hmm. Satan co-opting God’s symbolism? Shocker. Let’s not waste another moment on those guys and update the chart, instead.

Face

Represents

Gospel

Tribe

Direction

Lion

Heart

Matthew

Judah

East

Ox

Strength/Service

Mark

Ephraim

West

Man

Mind

Luke

Reuben

South

Eagle

Soul/Spirit

John

Dan

North

 

 

 

 

 

I admit I started to have a little emotional breakdown here. There are moments when I look at God’s word and feel so overwhelmed at the perfection of its content and symbolism that it rocks me to my core. There’s such richness, beauty, and balance in scripture that I don’t even want to read anything else. After telling God how incredible I think He is, I paused the audio (at 50 minutes into video number 1 out of 24, mind you) and I went back to the scribbled notes on my page. An idea started to take shape.

If Jesus said we are to love God with all of these attributes (heart, strength, mind, soul) then aren’t we offering those parts of us as sacrifices? Isn’t training our minds to delve into God’s word a sacrifice of our thoughts? Isn’t loving God with all our hearts a sacrifice of affection that we might have for other things? Isn’t spreading the good news of the gospel and doing good for others a sacrifice that we offer instead of using that strength for material gain? And how do we sacrifice our souls, if not to worship God completely and fully, asking Jesus to be Lord of our eternal lives?


How might these sacrifices line up with those that are to be offered in the book of Leviticus? There are four categories, generally, excluding flour: lambs, goats, oxen, and turtledoves (or pigeons). Obviously, we need a replacement for the “man” aspect. Since we’re pretty willful, stubborn, and always getting into mischief, I’m going to suggest goat.

It’s time for another chart update.

Face

Represents

Sacrifice

Gospel

Tribe

Direction

Lion

Heart

Lamb

Matthew

Judah

East

Ox

Strength/Service

Oxen

Mark

Ephraim

West

Man

Mind

Goat

Luke

Reuben

South

Eagle

Soul/Spirit

Turtledove

John

Dan

North





I hate to do this to you, reader, but I need to stop here. I’m going to listen further to what else Chuck Missler has to say before I go any further. Besides, it would be hard to write a conclusion to this when I haven’t yet formed a conclusion. Stay tuned for part two.

Eyes up!

 

 

Comments

  1. Amazing!!!! From the first photo of the four faced creature I made the connection to the four gospels! I LOVE THIS JULIE! Can’t wait for your conclusions!!

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  2. I think he goes on the mention how the tribes camped around the tabernacle formed a perfect cross. As the southern most tribe was the most numerous etc.

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  3. Julie, Why don't I ever get any new notifications from your blog?? I only see the ones you post to FiveDoves. GB, J.

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    Replies
    1. Great question. I have no idea how I can have zero followers and 44k hits. The "widget" is supposed to be working, but doesn't. Maybe it's meant to be that way.

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