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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

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.” The verse that gives us a grasp of what and where this “door opened in heaven” is all about is Hebrews nine, 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 Rev 4, and in Ezekiel 1 and 10 are the patterns of those for whom Christ died as these four beasts as well as the four and twenty elders tell us this is the case:

Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and fou r and twenty elders r  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 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 four:

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.

So the book of Ezekiel is an opening up to “the things of the heavens themselves” just as is the book of Revelation. 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 these four beasts in the middle of and round about the throne of God, “seated with Christ in the heavens.” It is in Ezekiel one, three and ten, where we read of these same four beasts which we encounter again in Rev 4 and 5 and then several more times intermittently  throughout the book of Revelation. As we have demonstrated, each book and each 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 nine, these are the patterns of us as “the heavenly things themselves.” It was for these four beasts and “the things of the heavens themselves” that Christ came to this earth, died daily to His flesh, and then died on the cross to be resurrected “the third day.” 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.

So 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. But 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.
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 Ghos t sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

Last week we saw that there were five things mentioned in chapter one of Ezekiel which are not mentioned at all in chapter ten. This week we will look at the spiritual significance of the things mentioned in chapter ten which are not mentioned in chapter one.
Four Things Mentioned Only In Chapter Ten 


What do we learn in chapter 10 that was not revealed in chapter one? 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.
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 the spirit of the four living creatures is in the four wheels, and the fact that the four beasts and the four and twenty elders are one and the same:

Eze 1:19  And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.
Eze 1:20  Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
Eze 1:21  When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
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;

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,” 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 nine and then getting “fire from between the wheels and the cherubims,” and then scattering it over the city in chapter ten, is that we are first judged in just that manner. We are first judged in the flesh, and then we are purged in the heavens. So then we become judges of both this world and of angels. Both of these judgments take place within first:

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 nine, and the ‘coals from the altar in heaven, being scattered over the city,’ in chapter 10? The answer is that chapter nine is simply the judging of the earth within, while chapter ten is the judging of angels and the purging of false doctrines and false spirits from the heavens of our Jerusalem. Remember chapter one tells us that this vision of an “open heaven,” just like the vision of these “six men” of chapter nine, also comes “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.

One thing is certain, both have to do with judgment from the north. The difference is obviously the earlier judgment and purging of the earth and the later purging of the heavens themselves. We must fight the giants in the land, or in our earth; we must overcome the works of the flesh first, before we begin to do battle with the lies and false doctrines of Babylon. In other words the court of the Lord’s house must be purged before the heavens within His house are purged.

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. But 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.

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 with 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:

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 cherubim s, 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.” The two cherubs of Exodus are the same as the two witnesses. Their words 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.
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 of Almighty God when He speaks. This is what we know of those Words:

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.

It was not given to Jeremiah to know that “this people wood” is first seen within, 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 t hem 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 one, while chapter ten tells us that the 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.”

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.

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

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 t he 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 t he 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 the m 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 one and ten, the four living creatures of Ezekiel one and three, the four cherubims of Ezekiel ten, the four beasts of Revelation four and five, and the four and twenty elders of Revelation four and five; 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 ten 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 ten 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.

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.