Ezekiel was among the exiles when the heavens opened and he saw visions of God. The word says "There the hand of the LORD was upon him" 1:3. God choose when and where he will use us for his Glory. Ezek was faithful to this call.
The Living Creatures - they didn't come in a soft breeze or a daydream to Ezek, they came with a demonstration of power - a storm; lightning with fire flashing forth; glowing metal. In my own life, I've become accustom the small, quiet demonstrations from God, and have even accepted the idea that a brilliant cloud with lighting isn't meant for little ol me, but only for the really spiritual people like Ezek. After all he was a priest, trained for this kind of stuff, right?
Wrong. He wasn't Jesus, thus he was a sinner by nature, just like me. God chose him for a b-i-g task, a calling and commission. And boy did God deliver.
Honestly, I don't really get the four living creatures. I Googled them. I read 3 different versions of these scriptures. Four faces? Four wings with human hands? Calf's hooves of burnished bronze? The Lord is not speaking to my spirit on any of that (today!!) but He has revealed to me is this:
The Living Creatures - they didn't come in a soft breeze or a daydream to Ezek, they came with a demonstration of power - a storm; lightning with fire flashing forth; glowing metal. In my own life, I've become accustom the small, quiet demonstrations from God, and have even accepted the idea that a brilliant cloud with lighting isn't meant for little ol me, but only for the really spiritual people like Ezek. After all he was a priest, trained for this kind of stuff, right?
Wrong. He wasn't Jesus, thus he was a sinner by nature, just like me. God chose him for a b-i-g task, a calling and commission. And boy did God deliver.
Honestly, I don't really get the four living creatures. I Googled them. I read 3 different versions of these scriptures. Four faces? Four wings with human hands? Calf's hooves of burnished bronze? The Lord is not speaking to my spirit on any of that (today!!) but He has revealed to me is this:
1:12-14 "Each one went straight ahead, without turning as they
went. The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire.
Fire moved back and forth among them...the creatures sped back and forth
like flashes of lightning."
went. The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire.
Fire moved back and forth among them...the creatures sped back and forth
like flashes of lightning."
The Glory of the Lord does not change. ever. The creature has no need to turn his face, or direction, because he is everywhere at every time, with a fuel that never dies. I envision the movement of these four creatures like the speed of light, or faster -- the speed of God which can not be measured. However, he stopped them long enough to give Ezek a snapshot to share with us, with me, 2500 years later.
Each creature had it's own wheel with "rims that were lofty and awesome, full of eyes all around" What really struck me about this, was that the four living creatures were not attached to these wheels. The Word says the creatures' spirit was in the wheels, so every movement the creature made, the wheels were right there with them. The Word says in 1:20 that the Spirit initiated the movement/direction and then creatures would follow. Our spirit NEVER leaves us and if we allow it, it will guide us. When we are moving forward, it moves forward with us. When we stand still, it does too. Wheels are meant to be in motion by their design. These creatures with their wheels that Ezekiel saw were used to bring the Glory of the LORD to him in a vision. They went everywhere and saw everything.
I can't help but think that God desires to use His Church in the very same way. We are spread out in every direction across this Earth, each one of us with the Spirit of God dwelling within us. We have been given spiritual eyes to see and if we desire to obtain it, and seek it out, a fire within our hearts to fuel us in all our days here.
We have just one purpose, as did the four living creatures.
To be used for the Glory of God.
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