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Rev 4:6-7 – The Spiritual Meaning of the Four Things Mentioned Only In Ezekiel Chapter Ten

The Four Beasts – Part 3

Updated February 9, 2024

Introduction

We are studying the revelation of Jesus Christ, and we have started this study with the instruction that we are to “keep the things written therein” (Rev 1:3). We have found thus far that “the things written therein… to the seven churches of Asia” are overall not very complimentary. Only two of the seven churches of Asia are not accused of extremely offensive behavior, but whether those two churches, who are apparently above reproach, or the other five who are urged to repent or face having their candlestick removed, we are seven times told:

Rev 2:29  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

So the spirit is addressing the messages of all seven churches to “he that hath an ear.” Since this entire book is addressed to “the seven churches of Asia” (Rev 1:4), and since “he that has and ear” is to “keep the things written therein, for the time is at hand” (Rev 1:3), it becomes obvious that even this “open door in heaven” (Rev 4:1) is also part of “the things written therein” which “those with ears to hear must all keep” and do (Luk 6:46).

The verse that gives us a grasp of what and where this “door opened in heaven” is all about is in Hebrews 9, where we are told:

Heb 9:23  [It was] therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

“The heavenly things themselves” are those for whom Christ died, and these four beasts, which are the subject of our studies here in Revelation 4 and in Ezekiel 1 and 10, are the patterns of the “firtfruits” for whom Christ died as these four beasts and the four and twenty elders tell us:

Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders  fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Rev 5:9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

So what we are really studying, as we look at what the scriptures have to say about these heavenly beasts, is the patterns of the things in the heavens which concern the christ of Christ. We are learning more and more about our own calling and our own reward and our own place and function in “the heavenly things themselves.”

We are now in the book of Ezekiel, where the heavens are opened to Ezekiel, just as it was to John here in Revelation 4:

Eze 1:1  Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth [month], in the fifth [day] of the month, as I [was] among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

Rev 4:1  After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

The book of Ezekiel is an opening up to “the things of the heavens themselves” just as the book of Revelation does. Without Ezekiel we would not understand Revelation:

Eph 2:18  For through him [Christ, the Word] we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Eph 2:19  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
Eph 2:20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
Eph 2:21  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
Eph 2:22  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

This is Ephesians, and Paul is telling us that we are God’s habitation in the heavens. Here it is in this same chapter:

Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus:

We are what is signified by these four beasts in the middle of and round about the throne of God, “seated with Christ in the heavens.” It is in Ezekiel 1, 3 and 10, where we read of these same four beasts which we encounter again in Revelation 4 and 5 and then several more times intermittently throughout the book of Revelation. As we have demonstrated, each book and chapter of scripture adds to the previous books and chapters of scripture. What that means is that Ezekiel and the information given before Ezekiel, are absolutely essential to understanding what the scriptures reveal about these four beasts we are now studying as the “patterns of the things of the heavens themselves.” According to Hebrews 9, these are the patterns of us as “the heavenly things themselves.” It was for these four beasts and “the things of the heavens themselves.” These four beasts and “the things of the heavens themselves” are the “firstfruits unto God and the Lamb”, that Christ came to this earth, died daily to His flesh, and then died on the cross to be resurrected “the third day”:

Rev 14:4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

It was into “the heavenly things themselves” that Christ ascended when “a cloud received Him out of their sight.”

Act 1:9  And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

This ‘cloud’ signifies the “cloud of witnesses” of:

Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

If these things really are the patterns of the things of the heavens themselves, then that is just as true here in Ezekiel as it is in Revelation. Ezekiel is a type of the true “Son of Man”, and all of these things of the heavens are within him in type. Ezekiel was simply not given to understand that these four living creatures are who they tell us they are. Ezekiel did not know that he was actually a type of you and me, the recipients of the understanding of his visions.

Heb 11:39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
Heb 11:40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

“They without us should not be made perfect” but we without them will be made perfect in the first resurrection. “The first resurrection” is “the resurrection of life” of all who have ‘died in Christ’. No one before Christ died in Christ, as Peter makes so clear:

1Pe 1:9  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1Pe 1:10  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pe 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

Last week we saw that there were five things mentioned in chapter 1 of Ezekiel which are not mentioned at all in chapter 10. This week we will look at the spiritual significance of the things mentioned in chapter 10 which are not mentioned in chapter 1.

Four Things Mentioned Only in Chapter 10

What do we learn in chapter 10 that was not revealed in chapter 1? There are a few things here in chapter 10 that have not heretofore been revealed about the pattern of the things in the heavens:

First:

The first thing we see in chapter 10, which is not mentioned in chapter one is “a man clothed with linen.”

Eze 10:2  And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims, and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight.

To whom does “the man clothed with linen” refer? He is referenced in the previous chapter:

Eze 9:1  He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
Eze 9:2  And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar [Inkhorn – made up of two words, one meaning ‘cup’ or ‘bowl’ and the other H7185 qâshâh – to be hard, be severe, be fierce, be harsh].
Eze 9:3  And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side;
Eze 9:4  And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
Eze 9:5  And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:
Eze 9:6  Slay utterly old [and] young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom [is] the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.
Eze 9:7  And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.
Eze 9:8  And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?
Eze 9:9  Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah [is] exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.
Eze 9:10  And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.
Eze 9:11  And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.

Who is this “man clothed with linen” who goes between the wheels and under the cherubims, and fills his hand with coals of fire? Is this someone else besides the four beasts? What helps us to understand who this man clothed with linen is, is the fact that “the man clothed with linen” is “one man among them”. Therefore, just like the seven churches, the four beasts and the four and the four and twenty elders, these “six men” are all one and the same. They are one and all the Lord’s “slaughter weapon”, also known as His “battleaxe.”

Jer 51:20 Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
Jer 51:21 And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;
Jer 51:22 With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;
Jer 51:23 I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.

These men are ‘six’ because they signify the Lord’s work of destroying our old man, and destroying the fruit of our old man which is death. Our “slaughter weapon, our battle axe and weapons of war” are not carnal but are spiritual to the tearing down of strong holds”. Our weapon of war is the fiery word of God in our mouths. It is with this slaughter weapon and battle axe that every thought is brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ:

2Co 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
2Co 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds)
2Co 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2Co 10:6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

Paul repeats this message in:

Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places [G2032: ‘epouranios’ the heavens. The word ‘places’ is added by the translators].
Eph 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Eph 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Eph 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

The four and twenty elders about the throne are there simply to tell us that we are not just “in the middle of and round about the throne,” but we are also in the area of the heavens around the throne. This “man clothed in linen” tells us even more of our various functions, as “the things of the heavens themselves” are also called that blessed and holy man who “has part in that blessed and holy first resurrection.” What this “man clothed in linen” tells us, by first judging the Lord’s people “beginning at the court of the Lord’s house” in  chapter 9 and then getting “fire from between the wheels and the cherubims” and scattering it over the city in chapter 10, is that we are first judged in just that manner. We are first judged while we are still in the flesh, and then we are used of the Lord to “judge angels in the lake of fire. So then we become judges of both this present evil physical world and then we will judge all who are cast into “the lake of fire which is the second death. To be given this honor we must be the first to be judged as Peter indeed informs us is taking place at this very moment:

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

1Co 6:2  Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3  Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

What is the difference between the ‘slain of the city’ by “six men from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north” of chapter 9, and the ‘coals from the altar in heaven, being scattered over the city’ in chapter 10?

The answer is that the judgment of chapter 9 involves on these six men, and it “begins at [the] sanctuary” of the Lord’s house. Those who sigh and cry for all the abominations that are done in Jerusalem are spared only because they have already been judged. This judgment in chapter 9 signifies the judgment which “begins at the house of God” mentioned by Peter:

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

The judgment of chapter 10 is facilitated by the same “man clothed with linen”, only now, in chapter 10 the cherubims are also involved in this fiery judgment. The judgment of chapter 10 does not “begin at the sanctuary”. This judgment is just “over the city”:

Eze 10:2 And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims, and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight.

This judgment of chapter 10 answers Peter’s rhetorical question, “What shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God… where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?”

Those spared in chapter 9 are those who have already been judged when this judgment takes place. The judgment of chapter 10 is the judging of angels and the purging of false doctrines and false spirits from those who are cast into the lake of fire. Remember chapter 1 tells us that this vision of an “open heaven,” just like the vision of these “six men” of chapter 9 both come “out of the north:”

Eze 1:4  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 colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

Eze 9:2 And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.

One thing is certain, both have to do with judgment from the north. The difference is obviously the earlier judgment is the judgment of the elect first, and the later judgment is of those who “obey not the gospel of God [in] this present time, and who will “appear” at the great white throne judgment/lake of fire/second death (Rev 20:11-15)

Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

We must fight the giants in the land, or in our earth. We must overcome the works of the flesh, and be the first to have our heavens “purified” (Heb 9:23), before we judge angels and false doctrines of Babylon in the lake of fire. In other words, the temple of the Lord’s house must be judged and purified before the court can be judged “when the thousand years are expired”:

Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

We are “the heaven” out of which the fiery words of God will come which will “devour them”:

Jer 5:14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Heb 12:25  See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more [shall not] we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
Heb 12:26  Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
Heb 12:27  And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Heb 12:28  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire.

Our battles begins in the flesh, but then they go beyond that. We will not be entrusted with “fire from between the cherubims and entrusted to carry on a heavenly battle until we have first judged the weaknesses of our flesh.

1Co 6:2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels [in the lake of fire]? how much more things that pertain to this life?

1Co 11:31 For if we would judge ourselves [in this present time (Rom 8:18)], we should not be judged [later in the lake of fire/second death].
1Co 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world [in the lake of fire].

Gal 5:19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Gal 5:20  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Gal 5:21  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told [you] in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

It should go without saying that the battles of this world overlap with the battles in the heavens, so that physical adultery and fornication cannot be separated from spiritual adultery and spiritual fornication: even though the latter is the “greater sin”:

1Co 5:5  To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
1Co 5:6  Your glorying [is] not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
1Co 5:7  Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

This is each of us, and it carries over into the things of the heavens themselves.

Eze 10:7  And one cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubims unto the fire that was between the cherubims, and took thereof, and put it into the hands of him that was clothed with linen: who took it, and went out.

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies. (EMTV)

What does “between the cherubims” mean? It is from “between the cherubims” that the fiery word of God proceeds.

Exo 25:22  And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

God’s words are given to us from His “two witnesses.” They are later revealed to be “four living creatures” (Eze 1 and 10 and Rev 4 and 5). It is the words of their mouths which are the fire from between the cherubims of Ezekiel 10. The fire that proceeds out of their mouth is “the [same] fire that was between the cherubims.” It is “of all things which I will give you in commandment unto the children of Israel.”

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

“My words in your mouth fire” is the fire that proceeds out of the mouth of God’s two olive trees… two witnesses. They are, obviously, all those who are faithful witnesses to those fiery words which come “from between the two cherubims.”

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

“My words in your mouth fire” is the fire that proceeds out of the mouth of God’s two olive trees… His “two witnesses”. They are, obviously, all those who are faithful witnesses to those fiery words which come “from between the two cherubims.”

Rev 11:3  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
Rev 11:4  These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
Rev 11:5  And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

Are these “two witnesses… two olive trees” really typical of the fiery words of God spoken to His people “from between the two cherubims?” What do the scriptures say?

Zec 4:1  And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep,
Zec 4:2  And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which [are] upon the top thereof:
Zec 4:3  And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side] of the bowl, and the other upon the left side] thereof.
Zec 4:4  So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?
Zec 4:5  Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
Zec 4:6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

What is “My spirit?” We keep coming back to the same fiery words of God, given us by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Second:

We learn in chapter 10 what is meant by “the sound of the wings of the cherubims” and what is meant by “lifting up their wings.”  What we learn is that this is the very same thing as the fire from between the cherubims.

Eze 10:5  And the sound of the cherubims’ wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh.

“The voice of the Almighty God when He speaks” is the words and doctrines of the Almighty God when He speaks. His words include His judgments which Jeremiah tells us are as fire in our mouths (Jer 5:14). It was not given to Jeremiah to know that “this people wood” must first be seen within each of us, before “God will [through us] judge those things that are without.”

1Co 5:12  For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
1Co 5:13  But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

Third:

We learn only that the wheels are said to be full of eyes in chapter 1, while chapter 10 tells us that both the wheels, and the cherubims themselves, are “full of eyes” before and behind and all over.

Eze 1:18  As for their rings [of the four wheels], they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four.

Eze 10:12  And their whole body [the four cherubims], and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had.

Eyes see and understand. God’s elect are given eye to see that “all things are yours”.

1Co 3:21  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
1Co 3:23  And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.

God’s elect are given to see that “all things… before, present, and things to come are ours.”

Mat 23:34  Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and [some] of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
Mat 23:35  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
Mat 23:36  Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

“All things are ours.”

Fourth:

The word ‘cherubims’ does not appear either in chapter 1 or 3 where “the living creatures are also mentioned. We could not associate these living creatures with the cherubims if this were not revealed to us in chapter 10, where these “four living creatures” are first called cherubims.

Who are these four living creatures, who are also called cherubims? What is their function? What is their relationship to their Lord and Creator? Chapter 3 of Ezekiel helps very much to answer these questions and let us know who and what these “four living creatures… these cherubims” are.

Eze 3:10  Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears.
Eze 3:11  And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.
Eze 3:12  Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, [saying], Blessed [be] the glory of the LORD from his place.
Eze 3:13  I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing.
Eze 3:14  So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.

This whole scene of the lifting up of the cherubims and the moving of the spirit and the speaking of Ezekiel is repeated in chapter 11:

Eze 11:22  Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.
Eze 11:23  And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.
Eze 11:24  Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me.
Eze 11:25  Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that the LORD had shewed me.

Eze 10:20  This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims.

Ezekiel, as a type of God’s elect, like Christ himself, was ‘lifted up and taken away’ by the spirit that is these four living creatures. It is all speaking of the spirit of Christ within us, which spirit is His words.

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

God’s throne is in His elect, and that is how and through whom He does His work.

1Ch 28:18  And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD.

2Sa 22:7  In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears.
2Sa 22:8  Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth.
2Sa 22:9  There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.
2Sa 22:10  He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness [was] under his feet.
2Sa 22:11  And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and he was seen upon the wings of the wind.

Summary

We have covered the four characteristics of the patterns of the things of the heavens which are mentioned only in chapter ten.

First, was the man clothed in linen, and we saw that he, like the cherubims which keep the way of the tree of life, the two cherubims of Exodus, the four wheels of Ezekiel 1 and 10, the four living creatures of Ezekiel 1 and 3, the four cherubims of Ezekiel 10, the four beasts of Revelation 4 and 5, and the four and twenty elders of Revelation 4 and 5; this man clothed in linen and all of these various patterns of the things of the heavens are one and all but different and various stages of the different and various functions of God’s elect, who are “the things of the heavens themselves.”

Second, we saw the wings of the cherubims and the sound of the wings of the cherubims, “is as the voice of the Almighty God when He speaketh.” We saw that all these symbols bring us back to the fiery words of God, which are also symbolized by coals of fire from between the cherubims.

Third, we learned in chapter 10 that the eyes are not only in the wheels, but they are also before and behind and all over the cherubims themselves. We saw that these eyes are “eyes to see” and to understand the things of the spirit, and we saw that the spirit teaches that all things, past, present and future are ours.

Fourth, and finally, we saw in chapter 10 that the four living creatures are the cherubims. It is here that all doubt is removed about who these four living creatures are. They are the cherubims that shadow the throne of God.

Eze 10:20  This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims.

They, too, are patterns of the things of the heavens themselves. They are God’s house, His chariot, His wings, His voice, and it is through them that He does all that He does because they are the christ of His Christ, sitting with Him in His throne.

Rev 3:21  To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

These four beasts in the middle of and round about the throne of God are those for whom Christ died to become “a kind of firstfruits” and as such are given the greatest honor which can be bestowed upon mankind.

Jas 1:18  Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Next week, Lord willing we will find out what is the spiritual significance of the fourteen characteristics of the patterns of the things of the heavens themselves which Ezekiel chapters one and ten have in common.