Thursday, June 8, 2023

Ezekiel 1:5-12 -- Four faces, do they mean anything?

 Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  John said he was the disciple Jesus loved; not because of arrogance, but because he finally realized that Jesus loves him more than he loves himself.

   This is the same for you---Jesus loves you more than you love yourself.  Go forth with the confidence Jesus thinks you are awesome.  Live strong and bold in Jesus.
  Ezekiel 1 - verse 5 & 6 --and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was human, but each of them had four faces and four wings.
  Experts believe that the 4 faces symbolize God's perfect nature.  Basically they believe they stand for strength, diligent service, intelligence and divinity.  Also, showing 4 faces could relate to 4 different personalities, such as God - 3 in 1. Just theories.
Ezekiel 1: Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings, and the wings of one touched the wings of another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved.
  All of this is difficult to understand.  The feet burnished bronze; wings on 4 sides yet human hands.  All had faces and wings that touched. Burnished bronze emits a radiance that is bright (like God); wings denote angelic beings
  They (possibly Cherubims) were close together, move together, and were not chaotic in nature.  The hands under the wings could relate to man, human.
    Ezekiel 1: 10 Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. 
   This is stated again by John in Revelation 4: The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle.
    To interpret the vision the lion is seen as the Lion of Judah representing STRENGTH, then the ox as DILIGENT SERVICE,  the human as INTELLIGENCE, and the eagle as DIVINITY.   There are some theorists that believe this relates to the 4 gospels: Matthew -=man; Mark -=lion; Luke-=ox; and John -=eagle.  
   The 4 living beings may represent the attributes, qualities and character, of God.
         There are many other beliefs about this as well - some man is dominate over all and the animals - lion, ox, eagle - are dominate over the animals.  One day we may know, OR, we will be so excited singing  praises we don't care.
  Ezekiel 1:  11 Such were their faces. They each had two wings spreading out upward, each wing touching that of the creature on either side; and each had two other wings covering its body. 12 Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went.
  Trying to understand this is mind boggling for me.  However, I do believe I need to be aware of how the Old Testament relates to itself and to the New Testament.  This book is amazing.  More tomorrow. This is interesting to me and I pray also to you. Love you all.
In Christ's Love and Grace
Johnny

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