Wormhole device from the movie “Contact”
As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like topaz, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not change direction as the creatures went. Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around. When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked something like a vault, sparkling like crystal, and awesome. Under the vault their wings were stretched out one toward the other, and each had two wings covering its body. When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings. Then there came a voice from above the vault over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord . When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking. – Ezekiel 1:15-28
I have trans-located across the country over the last several days so I have had several days to pray and chew on this passage. I am not sure I understand it any better now than the first time I read it. This passage continues the description of Ezekiel’s first vision. This part of the description makes it clear that the four-faced creatures are not the presence of God, but merely accompany God’s presence.
The descriptions here are as perplexing as the beginning of the vision I reflected on July 22nd. The addition here is what sounds like something mechanical or at least very non-animal like — the rotating wheels that accompany the four-faced creatures. As I have read and reread this passage I find myself reading it from two very different perspectives: 1) as a scientist trying to put these creatures and objects into a logical context; and 2) as a follower of Christ trying to understand the spiritual symbolism that Ezekiel is describing that defies, and perhaps transcends, natural physical laws. Unifying these two very different perspectives was part of the motivation for starting this blog. Perhaps by reflecting on these two very different perspectives and postures separately it will become more clear to what extent they are compatible or complimentary.
First the scientific point of view. The four-faced creatures are something outside my experience and outside the realm of most observable science. The closest thing I can think of would be a genetic mutation or perhaps a robotic device designed to look like a four-faced humanoid creature. It is interesting that the author seems to go to some effort to make it clear that the descriptions here are the way things appeared. This implies that the author may intend them to be understood metaphorically or perhaps metaphysically. More on this to follow.
Each cr
eature was accompanied by a “wheel”. Each wheel was identical and sparkled like topaz. Topaz is a silicate mineral with aluminium and fluorine (Al2SiO4(F,OH)2). It is typically honey- or amber-colored, but it can be almost any color. To be honest the description of the wheels sparkling like t
opaz sounds like the lights on many of the Hollywood depictions of spacecraft. The form of the wheels was a “wheel intersecting a wheel”. Two objects immediately came to my mind when I read this: 1) the worm-hole device in the movie “Contact”; and 2) a gyroscope.
The wheels seem to move with the creatures in one of four directions, perhaps the four directions of the compass or the axes on a gyroscope? The wheels did not change direction as the creatures moved. This sounds very much like the way a gyroscope behaves and functions as I understand them. The rims of the wheels were full of “eyes” perhaps another allusion to lights scattered around the rim? The description then gets more confusing. The “spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels”. I have no idea what this means. It sounds almost as if the wheels were in some sense projecting a virtual presence like an avatar, or a robotic device operated remotely by some sort of virtual pilot. I will not pretend to understand this reference from a physical perspective.
Above the creatures and the wheels was a “vault”. The vault was also “sparkling like crystal” which implies to me lighting of some sort emanating from something larger than the creatures and the wheels. The creatures had wings that were moving. T
he wings made a sound “like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army”. This sounds to me very much like the loud sound a propulsion device for a space vessel might make, at least the way Hollywood has depicted them. In the vault is a what looks like a throne the color of lapis Lazuli. This is an interesting detail from a geologist’s perspective. Lapis Lazuli looks to me like a night sky full of stars or perhaps a stormy sky mixed with clouds and sun. It definitely has an other-worldly appearance.
Above the throne was something that had a figure that looked like a man. This “man” from his waist up “looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him”. The light around this “man” was like a rainbow, emanating from no one location and filling the space around him. Then Ezekiel reveals that this “man” is “the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord”. So it is a manifestation of God on earth, or at least in the vision of Ezekiel. Ezekiel responds as I think most would — he “fell facedown” and listened. So that is my take on this vision from a scientific and purely logical perspective. Now lets me come at it from a metaphorical and spiritual perspective.
So the creatures with four faces would seem to suggest spiritual beings with different natures. This is consistent with my understanding of God’s complex “nature” that allows Him to be both the Lion and the Lamb at the same time. The meaning of the intersecting wheels from a spiritual perspective is less clear. Perhaps these could symbolize planets and the their orbits around the sun? I do not know. If one were to go with that idea then the creatures would be a bit like the planetary guardians described by C. S. Lewis in his science fiction story “Out of a Silent Planet”. In this book the main character, Ransom, is taken to Mars and discovers that a spiritual being called “Oyarsa” is the guardian spirit of Malacandra (the planet Mars). These guardians would be similar to what many think of as angels. This is the closest thing I can think of to what is being described here with the creatures and the wheels.
Clearly the creatures and the wheels are subject to something “above” them which is different. This “Man” resides in a vault and is “the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord”. I take this to mean the God that rules all angels and humans. This awe-inspiring view of God makes Him seem huge and unapproachable. I am thankful that God chose to extend His arm so that we could know Him in a different way — a more personal way. What is amazing to think about is that the same unquenchable fire that Ezekiel sees here became flesh and dwelt among us. No wonder so many people were drawn to Him and some feared Him.
Phew that was hard — class IV rapids for sure. I am sure as I continue my float through Ezekiel I will encounter other rapids that will be equally challenging, but all this whitewater helps me to learn about the River.
Prayer: God this vision is both confusing and amazing. Help us to approach You with the same wonder and awe that Ezekiel experienced.
Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord . Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven, and say: “We have sinned and rebelled and you have not forgiven. “You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us; you have slain without pity. You have covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can get through. You have made us scum and refuse among the nations. “All our enemies have opened their mouths wide against us. We have suffered terror and pitfalls, ruin and destruction.” Streams of tears flow from my eyes because my people are destroyed. My eyes will flow unceasingly, without relief, until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees. What I see brings grief to my soul because of all the women of my city. – Lamentations 3:40-51
The Lord has done what he planned; he has fulfilled his word, which he decreed long ago. He has overthrown you without pity, he has let the enemy gloat over you, he has exalted the horn of your foes. The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord. You walls of Daughter Zion, let your tears flow like a river day and night; give yourself no relief, your eyes no rest. Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint from hunger at every street corner. “Look, Lord , and consider: Whom have you ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the children they have cared for? Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord? – Lamentations 2:17-20
and only Him. Our very souls should be 
How deserted lies the city, once so full of people! How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations! She who was queen among the provinces has now become a slave. Bitterly she weeps at night, tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies. After affliction and harsh labor, Judah has gone into exile. She dwells among the nations; she finds no resting place. All who pursue her have overtaken her in the midst of her distress. The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to her appointed festivals. All her gateways are desolate, her priests groan, her young women grieve, and she is in bitter anguish. Her foes have become her masters; her enemies are at ease. The Lord has brought her grief because of her many sins. Her children have gone into exile, captive before the foe. All the splendor has departed from Daughter Zion. Her princes are like deer that find no pasture; in weakness they have fled before the pursuer. In the days of her affliction and wandering Jerusalem remembers all the treasures that were hers in days of old. When her people fell into enemy hands, there was no one to help her. Her enemies looked at her and laughed at her destruction. Jerusalem has sinned greatly and so has become unclean. All who honored her despise her, for they have all seen her naked; she herself groans and turns away. Her filthiness clung to her skirts; she did not consider her future. Her fall was astounding; there was none to comfort her. “Look, Lord , on my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed.” – Lamentations 1:1-9
On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He set fire to the temple of the Lord , the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the rest of the craftsmen and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon. But Nebuzaradan left behind the rest of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields. The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the movable stands and the bronze Sea that were at the temple of the Lord and they carried all the bronze to Babylon. They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service. The commander of the imperial guard took away the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, dishes and bowls used for drink offerings—all that were made of pure gold or silver. The bronze from the two pillars, the Sea and the twelve bronze bulls under it, and the movable stands, which King Solomon had made for the temple of the Lord , was more than could be weighed. Each pillar was eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference ; each was four fingers thick, and hollow. The bronze capital on top of one pillar was five cubits high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar. There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; the total number of pomegranates above the surrounding network was a hundred. – Jeremiah 52:12-23
Walking on Water 
