Ezekiel 1:1-28

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 exiles by the river Chebar, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity, the word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of Jehovah was there upon him.

And as I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud, with a fire flashing forth continually and a bright light around , and in its midst something like glowing metal, in the midst of the fire.

And within it there were figures resembling four living beings. And this was their appearance: they had human form. Each of them had four faces, and four wings. And their legs were straight and their feet were like a calf's hoof, and they sparkled like burnished brass. Under their wings on their four sides human hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, their wings touched one another; their faces did not turn when they moved; each went straight forward.

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.

Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each had two touching another being, and two covering their bodies.

And each went straight forward: wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go without turning as they went.
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.

And the living beings ran to and fro like bolts of lightning.
Now as I beheld the living beings, behold, there was one wheel on the earth beside the living beings, for each of the four of them.
The appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like sparkling beryl, and all four of them had the same form, their appearance and workmanship being as if one wheel were within another.

When they went, they went in their four directions: they turned not when they went.

As for their rims, they were high and dreadful; and they four had their rims full of eyes round about.

And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.

Wherever the spirit was about to go, they went in that direction. And the wheels were lifted up beside them; for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.

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 beside them: for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.

Now over the heads of the living beings there was something like an expanse, like the awesome gleam of crystal, extended over their heads.

And under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward the other; each one also had two wings covering their bodies on the one side and on the other.
And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of great waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the noise of an army camp: whenever they stood still, they let down their wings.

And there was a voice above the expanse that was over their heads: when they stood still and let down their wings.
Now above the expanse that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne high up was a figure with the appearance of a man.

Matthew 28:17-20

Then I noticed from the appearance of his loins and upward something like glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of his loins and downward I saw something like fire; and there was radiance around Him.

As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a day of rain, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and heard a voice speaking.

The eleven disciples went into Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw Him, they worshipped Him; but some doubted. And Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. 

FROM SWEDENBORG 
True Christian Religion #576

In preceding chapters man's co-operation with the Lord has been frequently discussed; but as the human mind is such as to be incapable of perceiving otherwise than that man effects this by his own power, the subject shall be illustrated again. In all motion, and consequently in all action, there is an active and a passive; that is to say, the active acts, and the passive acts from the active (reacts), so that from both one action arises; comparatively as a mill is moved by its wheel, a carriage by its horse, as motion is from effect, an effect from its cause, a dead force from a living force, and in general, as the instrument is moved by the principal. Everyone knows that these two together produce one action. As to charity and faith, the Lord acts and man acts from the Lord, for the Lord's active is in man's passive; therefore the power to act aright is from the Lord, and the will to act therefrom is as if it were man's, because he has the freedom of choice, whereby he is able to act as one with the Lord and thus conjoin himself with Him, or to act from the power of hell which is an extraneous power, and thus to separate himself from the Lord. It is man's action in harmony with the Lord's action that is here meant by co-operation. 

The Symbolism of Ezekiel's Vision of the Wheel

The Lord said, "And lo I am with you always, even to the end of the world". What a powerful statement this is. Think of it. The Lord being with us at all times, through all situations, even through the most catastrophic problems we can become involved in. Even to the end of the world. We often think of the Lord as being with us only at certain times or in certain situations such as when we are gathered together in church, or when we pray to Him in private. Much of the rest of the time we are not consciously aware of His presence in our life. We seem to think that we can turn Him off at will, but in fact He is always with us. Always! He is constant, the unlimited source of our life.

Several years ago, while at university, I wrote an essay for my Buddhism class and the subject I wrote on was the symbolism of the wheel. I chose this subject because it suggested a very interesting parallel to the story of the wheels in the vision of Ezekiel. I had noticed that the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, lived at about the same time as Ezekiel. In fact historians have Ezekiel's period of ministry set at 593 to 563 BCE and the Buddha being born in 560 BCE. There is a teaching in the writings of our church that indicates that, the Hebrew nation was chosen as a representative nation by the Lord, to be used as the basis of the narrative of the Holy Scriptures. The Jews and their religion therefore were representative of all religion in the world, or of the state of all religion in the world at that time. Religion is to be looked at in the universal sense rather than being dealt with as the exclusive domain of a select group or nation. Therefore I had deduced that the vision of Ezekiel must have some relevance to the Buddha's vision of the Wheel of Samsara, and that it was more than just a coincidence that the symbol of the wheel was so prominent in that era.

Descriptions of the wheel of life also are depicted as being wheels within wheels. In my study of symbolism it looked to me as though symbols are of three distinct types: They can be classified as being natural or earthly, mind associated or psychological, and supernatural or spiritual.

The symbols that are basically natural are concrete things that are used to represent either other material things, or ideas (psychological), or supernatural things. For example a wooden cross can represent a church or a Christian teaching or the Divine Resurrected Christ.

Psychological symbols are thoughts or ideas expressed in words or art forms that represent other ideas or material things or spiritual things. A passionate verse may represent notions of love the writer has concerning the object of his affection. A painting can represent a subject as it is observed or perceived by the artist. Thoughts of the life of the Buddha may represent the ideals of enlightenment or the state of Nirvana (a heavenly spiritual state).

Spiritual symbols are the most difficult to classify because they are commonly thought of as simply being things or ideas that represent spiritual or holy things. Which in our understanding of symbols fits readily into either the natural or the psychological categories. True spiritual symbols are spiritual images and concepts that represent a higher level of spiritual ideas and ultimately the Divine itself. Only people who are aware that they have a spiritual aspect to their nature are able to grasp the concept of the spiritual symbol. Love of the neighbor is a symbol or representation of the love of God, but both loves must be experienced simultaneously and not just thought of or talked about, in order to be at the spiritual level.

The wheel of Samsara, as it is used in the Buddhist tradition, is an example of a symbol that spans all three classifications noted above. The wheel in general is a representation of "the Buddhist creation myth". It portrays earthly life and its design includes three circles one within another. The inner most circle or nave, contains three animals; the dove, the snake and the pig, which are said to be representative of desire, hatred and delusion, which are all psychological aspects of human life. The middle section of the Wheel of Life contains a six-spoked wheel representing the six realms of rebirth or destinies. In this inner wheel there is the animal realm, the human realm, the realm of the hungry ghosts, the realm of hell, the realm of heaven and the realm of the titans (gods). These realms appear to represent the various spiritual states which a person can be present in. The outer circle is made up of the twelve segments that represent the twelve preconditions or actions that lead to an endless cycle of suffering, death and rebirth in the world depicted as various forms of physical human activity including making love, giving birth, socializing, working and traveling. The entire wheel is held, in the grip of a fierce looking figure called Mara, which is a symbol of impermanence or death. It is designed to teach that human life on this plane is only temporary but we can be trapped in a round of rebirths that are all impermanent and involve suffering.

Outside of the sphere of the wheel of Life there is often a figure of the Buddha standing at the upper right hand side. He is pointing across the top to a scroll that represents the way to enlightenment, which is the Eight-fold Noble Path. Escape from the wheel of impermanent existence is not t be found within the wheel itself but depends on one disengaging oneself from dependency on the things of the world.

Usage of "wheel" symbolism in the Hebrew Bible in the book of the Prophet Ezekiel in chapters 1 and 10, I found, has not been interpreted in any in-depth way by either Jewish or Christian scholars. Jewish scholarship is mainly concerned with whether or not the story is accurate and relates to prior scriptures. And Christian Biblical scholarship has not fared much better. It indicates that as the earliest chapters of Ezekiel generally are prophesies of doom, and that the wheels are also symbols of doom. This conclusion has been reached primarily because the early part of Ezekiel, is thought to have been written prior to the exile of the Jews from Judah and Jerusalem, of which group Ezekiel was a member. Noted Biblical Scholar Norman Gottwald writes: "The Book of Ezekiel is difficult and forbidding in large part because it throws us into a maelstrom of deep consternation and radical reorientation which the collapse of Judah forced upon one highly creative person, who, despite his striking individuality, was a faithful barometer of the social world of the Jewish exiles at large."

One source of in-depth interpretation of all symbolism in the Hebrew/Christian Scriptures is the works of Emanuel Swedenborg. Swedenborg states that:

"From the mere letter of the Word of the Old Testament no one would ever discern the fact that this part of the Word contains deep secrets of heaven, and that everything within it both in general and in particular bears reference to the Lord, to His heaven, to the church, to religious belief, and to all things connected therewith; for from the letter or sense of the letter all that anyone can see is that - to speak generally - everything therein has reference merely to external rites and ordinances of the Jewish Church. Yet the truth is that everywhere in that Word there are internal things which never appear at all in the external things except a very few which the Lord revealed and explained to the Apostles; such as that the sacrifices signify the Lord; that the land of Canaan and Jerusalem signify heaven - on which account they are called the Heavenly Canaan and Jerusalem- and that Paradise has a similar signification.

The Christian world however is as yet profoundly unaware of the fact that all things in the Word both in general and in particular, nay, the very smallest particulars down to the most minute iota, signify and enfold within them spiritual and heavenly things, and therefore the Old Testament is but little cared for. Yet that the Word is really of this character might be known from the single consideration that being the Lord's and from the Lord it must of necessity contain within it such things as belong to heaven, to the church, and to religious belief, and that unless it did so it could not be called the Lord's Word, nor could it be said to have any life in it. For whence comes its life except from those things that belong to life, that is to say, except from the fact that everything in it both in general and in particular bears reference to the Lord, who is the very Life itself; so that anything which does not inwardly regard Him is not alive; and it may be truly said that any expression in the Word that does not in its own way bear reference to Him, is not Divine."

In respect to the significance of the wheel Swedenborg states that the power of understanding is meant. "For as a chariot moves and goes forward by means of the wheels, so the truths which are of doctrine move forward by means of the understanding. AC Vol. X, n. 8215 (3). Elsewhere he says that wheels represent the power of advancing. Given this basic understanding of the wheel's significance we can now examine this symbolism within the full context of Ezekiel's vision including the in-folding fire, the living creatures and their wheels.

Using the basic premise that everything in the Word speaks of the Lord or some aspect of Him or His Church we can assume that the general theme is the presence of the Lord because there is a prophesy or revelation or seeing (vision) involved. This presence of the Lord is constant with all people and is always accommodated to each person's needs. The Word is speaking to you - so put your self into the position or situation of Ezekiel's experience.

The underlying image of the wheel implies that the Lord is advancing or moving toward us and into us at all times. In this particular story there is the condition of a storm at the very beginning, which suggests that this is occurring at a time of psychological and/or emotional disturbance. A spiritual storm is a state turmoil in our present spiritual beliefs and concepts, as opposed to a spiritual calm when we feel comfortable and settled in our faith. A spiritual storm may come when the Lord manifests Himself to people who do not love Him, and who live in evil and falsity. To such people He seems to come as a disturbing and destroying power that interferes with their personal freedoms. These are people who tend to blame all contrary and destructive things on God.

With the storm there is a great cloud. The spiritual symbol of the Divine Word or truth is a bright or brilliant light perceived by the spiritual human mind. But to accommodate itself to the human mind it must come in a clouded form, which is in the literal stories, which make obscure the spiritual truths to those who are not prepared to see and accept them.

There are also flashes of fire or brilliant light issuing forth from the cloud. For those who, although are experiencing some spiritual turmoil, are still willing to learn and accept new truths. These truths are symbolized by the flashes of bright light being perceived.

Out of the fire come four living beings with the appearance of human form. Each had four wings and four faces. These particular creatures called cherubim are found in numerous places in the Old Testament starting in the early part of Genesis where they are placed to guard the entrance to the garden of Eden (Genesis 3.24.). They always have the significance of being protectors, as when they appear on the covering of the arc of the covenant as protectors of the laws given to Moses. Here they are protecting the truth that is being advanced to people who are in a state of spiritual disruption so that they will not receive and understand it and then abuse or reject it by falsifying it.

The four faces of the cherubim were those of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle. The face of a man represents the Divine Truth in its interior wisdom, that is as it is perceived by angelic people to whom it gives power to become wise. The lion represents strength, and the creature with the face of a lion represents the strength of the literal word to both reveal and protect the Divine Word. The ox represents natural affection for truth as it is used in the everyday work of living and getting along with others. The eagle, as a bird represents the intellectual side of the human mind. The eagle is a powerful bird and is analogous to the soaring intelligence and the extended lofty thought of the rational mind.

Each creature was accompanied by a set of dual wheels, and the text described as being a wheel within a wheel. Wheels are a means of moving about or progressing. In this context they represent intelligent knowledge of religious truths by which a person's mind can travel to new levels of insight and understanding that can be used for living wisely and well. The wheel within a wheel suggests two forms of intelligence; spiritual and natural. The two are compatible and move in unison and they are the spirit of the creatures or the soul of the Divine Truth.

The Wheels of the Cherubs signify the same kind of things that the arms and the feet of humans represent, namely the power of acting and advancing with regard to things pertaining to religious truth.

The wheels are such an interesting symbol. Today we just can't move without a set of wheels. They are our main means of transportation. They help us to progress through life.

In the development of our minds we need good intelligent ideas if we are to make progress. When the wheels turn in our mind we move forward mentally and intellectually and thus add to the quality of our life. This also has implications for our spiritual growth and life. Our internal life.

These kinds of visions correspond to the many forms in which the Lord reaches humanity. They are not just abstract aberrations or wild dreams without substance. Much of the imagery in them becomes self-evident as to its representation once one puts the vision into its correct context, which is, that it is relating something concerning the Lord and His ongoing relationship to the human race. The Lord's presence is constant and it meets all of our needs and adapts to all of our many conditions in life. It is comforting to know that when we are going through stressful or stormy times that the Lord is right there with us. With His love and wisdom He constantly enfolds us and protects us.

So in closing let us open our hearts and minds to receive Him and let His love and truth flow in to us to comfort us and give us strength. For Lo, He is with us always, even to the end of the world.