SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/25/2014
8:04 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Beholding the Glory of the Lord PT-2
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Ezekiel
1:5-14
Message of the
verses: “5 Within it there were
figures resembling four living beings. And this was their appearance: they had
human form. 6 Each of them had four faces and four wings. 7 Their legs were
straight and their feet were like
a calf’s hoof, and they gleamed like burnished bronze. 8 Under their wings on their four sides
were human hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, 9 their wings
touched one another; their faces did not turn when they moved, each went
straight forward. 10 As for the form of their faces, each had the face of a
man; all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the
left, and all four had the face of an eagle. 11 Such were their faces. Their
wings were spread out above; each had two touching another being, and two
covering their bodies. 12 And each went straight forward; wherever the spirit
was about to go, they would go, without turning as they went. 13 In the midst
of the living beings there
was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like torches
darting back and forth among the living beings. The fire was bright, and
lightning was flashing from the fire. 14 And the living beings ran to and fro
like bolts of lightning.” This is the
second five sub-points from this main point entitled “Beholding the Glory of
the Lord,” and this subsection is entitled “The Wheels.”
I have mentioned that the vision seen in chapter one is
very difficult to understand and so I will quote first from the John MacArthur
Study Bible on some of these verses and then quote from the commentary from
Warren Wiersbe in order to help us better understand what is seen here.
“1:4-14: The opening vision focuses on angels
surrounding God’s presence.
“1:4 storm wind…fire: Judgment on Judah in a further and totally
devastating phase (beyond 597 BC deportation) is to come out of the N, and did
come from Babylon in 588-586 (as Jer. 39,40).
Its terror is depicted by a fiery ‘storm wind’ emblematic of God’s
judgments and golden brightness signifying dazzling glory.
“1:5 four living beings: Four angels, most likely the cherbs in
10:1-22, appearing in the erect posture and figure of man (note face, legs,
feet, hands in vv. 6-8) emerge to serve God who judges. The number 4 may have respect to the 5
corners of the earth, implying that God’s angels execute His commands
everywhere.
“four wings: Four wings instead of two symbolize speed in
performing God’s will (cf. v. 14).
“1:7 legs: They were not bent like an animal’s, but ‘straight’
like pillars, showing strength. Calf’s
hoof: This points to their stability and
firm stance.
“1:8 human hands: This is a symbol of their skilful service.
“1:9 did not turn: They were able to move in any direction
without needing to turn, giving swift access to do God’s will. Apparently all were in harmony as to the way
they moved (v.12).
“1:10 faces: These symbols identify the angels as
intelligent (‘man’), powerful (‘lion’), servile (‘bull’), and swift (‘eagle’).
“1:12 the spirit: This refers to the divine impulse by which
God moved them to do His will (cf. 1:20).
“1:13 like…fire…torches: Their appearance conveyed God’s glory and
pure, burning justice (cf. Isa. 6) which they assisted in carrying out even on
Israel, who had for so long hardened themselves against His patience.
“1:14: Intense, relentless motion signifies God’s
constant work of judgment.”
Now we will look at some of what Dr. Wiersbe writes on
these verses: “Of special interest are
their four faces: a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle (Ezekiel 1:10). Man is the highest of God’s creatures, being
made in the image of God. The lion is
the greatest of the untamed beasts of the forest, while the ox is the strongest
of the domesticated beasts of the field.
The eagle is the greatest of the birds and is even a picture of God
(Deut. 32:11-12). But there is also a
connection here with the covenant God made with Noah after the Flood (Gen.
9:8-17). God promised not to destroy the
world again with a flood, and He gave this promise to Noah (a man) and his
descendants, the birds (the eagle), the livestock (the ox), and the wild
animals (the lion). The presence of God
is assurance that God remembers His promises and cares for His creatures. But it also reminds us that all of creation
is used by the Lord to bless or to chasten His people. In this vision, they are a part of God’s
judgment on His sinful people.”
Matthew Henry states that this vision that Ezekiel saw
was greater than what any other prophet saw, and perhaps the reason for this
was that God was reassuring the people who were in captivity that He had not
given up on them, but had to judge them and then would bring them back to their
land. Many of the people in exile were
probably wondering if this was the end of them as a nation but God through
Ezekiel and other prophets were showing them that He was not finished with them
yet and the greatest reason of all was the Messiah had to come through them,
through the family of David.
What Ezekiel saw is similar to what John saw in heaven as
he described in the book of Revelations, and what they both saw was the glory
of God.
Spiritual meaning
for my life: What I take away from
this section is the awesomeness of God, and I know that the word awesome is
used a lot in this world, but I only want to use this word when I am thinking
about God and what God does. I once
heard a man who was preaching and in his sermon he commented on what another
man saw when Michael Jordan dunked a basketball, and said that was awesome. The preacher said that God could slam dunk
the earth, and that would be awesome.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Proverbs 3:5-6.
Memory verses for the
week: Colossians 3:8-11.
8 But now you also, put
them all aside: anger, wrath, malice,
slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.
9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its
evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true
knowledge according to the image of the One who created him-11 a renewal in
which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and un
circumcised, barbarian and Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and
in all.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “I have sinned against God and
you and am no longer worthy to be your son (Luke15:21).”
Today’s Bible
question: “Who said ‘Out of the eater
came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness’?”
Answer in our next SD.
10/25/2014 9:02 AM
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