Who was the “LORD” of the Old Testament?
Part 6
John Plunkett
Last
time in part 5, we started looking at the various mentions of the phrase “angel
of God” in the book of Exodus, in whichapter the English
word “angel” is often shown, in the KJV and NKJV, with
an upper-case-capital “A” – thus implying that the translators believed that
the “angel” mentioned in these verses may have been a member of the God family.
But
we also examined the strong alternate possibility that
this angel might have been a personification of the cloud and fire from which the LORD/YHVH visited and dealt with His people.
We
looked at the first mention of this angel at the time that the LORD spoke to Moses
from inside the burning bush (Exodus 3) and the second mention (Exodus 13 and
14) at the Red Sea, shortly after the LORD led the Israelites out of Egypt when
He went before them within the pillar of cloud and fire.
Angelic leader
Let’s
begin today’s Bible study by moving on to the next “angel verse” – this one in Exodus
23. But before we go to chapter 23, let’s
take a quick look at chapters 19 and 20, just to determine the time-frame of chapter
23 and where Israelites were at that time; and to pick up some other relevant details
about the cloud and fire:
Exodus
19:
1: In the third month, when {after} the
children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came
they into the wilderness of Sinai…
This
was likely the fifteenth day of the third month.
2: For they were departed from Rephidim, and were
come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel
camped before the mount…
Verse
9: And the LORD said unto Moses, “Lo, I come
unto you in a thick cloud {the Hebrew “ab-anan” implies
that the cloud’s purpose was to prevent the Israelites from seeing Him}, that
the people may hear when I speak with you and believe you forever.” And Moses told the words of the people unto
the LORD…
Verse 11: “And be ready against the
third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the
people upon Mount Sinai” …
Verse
16: And it came to pass on the third day
in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud {the Hebrew “kabed-anan” is a
very thick, heavy cloud} upon the mount,
and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in
the camp trembled.
17: And Moses brought forth the people out of the
camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether {lower} part of the mount.
18: And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke {the
Hebrew “ashan” indicates a furious, angry smoke!} because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke
thereof ascended as the smoke of a
furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
In
the first part of the next chapter (20), the LORD gave His Ten Commandments. Then, in verse 18:
Exodus
20:
18: And all the people saw the
thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain
smoking: and when the people saw it,
they removed, and stood afar off…
Verse
21: And the people stood afar off, and Moses
drew near unto the thick darkness {the
Hebrew “araphel” indicates a very thick, gross, dark cloud!} where God was.
Then,
in the rest of chapter 20, and in chapters 21 and 22, and in the beginning of
chapter 23, the LORD begins to give His laws on various subjects – e.g. His altar,
servants, violence, animal control, property, moral principles, ceremonial principles,
justice , Sabbaths and the annual feasts.
Then,
in verse 20 of chapter 23, we find a mention of the LORD promising to send “an Angel”
(elsewhere “my Angel” – please notice the capital-upper-case “A” in all three cases)
– to go before the Israelites – once again
in a leading role:
Exodus
23:
20a: “Behold, I
{the LORD/YHVH is speaking here} send an Angel {the
Hebrew “Malakh” means Messenger, Representative, Ambassador, Agent} before you…
Why?
For what purpose?
20b:
… To keep you in the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.
21: Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke
him not; for he will not {Hebrew
“lo”} pardon your transgressions: for my
name is in him…
I’ve
heard it reasoned that this “Angel” must have been the LORD/YHVH because the
verse kind of reads as though this “Angel” had authority to pardon transgressions.
But
the Hebrew word “lo” – translated here as “will
not” – can also mean “can
not”.
This
specially assigned “Angel” would not
– or perhps, could
not – pardon the Israelites’ transgressions.
What
does this mean?
The
Hebrew word for “name” here is “shem” which can
also mean honour, character and authority.
We
saw last time – in Part 5 – that, at the burning bush, the LORD was in the fire. And at the Red Sea, the LORD was in the fire and
in the cloud.
If
angel really was a personification of the fire and the cloud – and conversely,
if the cloud and the fire really were a physical, visible representation of the
angel of God – then, for His own good reasons, the LORD was in His angel!
Here
in Exodus 23, the LORD/YHVH is referring to this “Angel” as “he”, “him” and
“his.” So obviously, grammatically, the
“Angel” could not be the LORD Himself! Rather, the “Angel” must be another being. Yes,
an angelic being. Once again, a “malakh”
is a messenger, a representative, an ambassador, an agent. And this one was probably a high-ranking one.
What
was the LORD saying here, then? Was He
saying that this special angel did have authority to pardon the Israelites’ transgressions;
but will not? Or that this angel can not pardon their transgressions – even though he carries
the rest of the LORD’s authority within himself?
Again,
the Hebrew “lo” – translated here as “will not” – can also mean “can not.” I’m pretty
sure that the latter of these two options – i.e “can not” – was actually the case. i.e. That the angel did not have the authority to pardon the Israelites’ sins, and that the
LORD withheld that “privilege” from His special angel.
My
believe on this because of a repetition of the Exodus 23 promises in the next “Exodus
angel” verses – in chapters 32 and 33, where we’ll go in a minute – and where
we’ll see that the LORD/YHVH reserves for Himself the authority to forgive – or
not to forgive.
We’ll
go there in a minute; but first, let’s finish off that last “angel” mention in chapter
23.
Throughout
the Israelites’ travels – as far as Mount Nebo, Moses was their human “sub-leader.” But even he was commanded
to follow and obey the LORD’s angelic representative as
his leader – Moses’ leader. Thus, thus special
angel was a kind of “supervisor”; but still under the LORD’s primary leadership,
of course.
All
six “Exodus angel” scriptures imply that one of this
special angel’s main responsibilities was to lead the Israelites
safely to the Promised Land.
Still in chapter 23, repeating verse 20:
Exodus
23:
20a: “Behold, I
{the LORD/YHVH} send an Angel {Malakh:
Messenger, Representative, Ambassador} before you {in
a leadership role}…
Why? For what purpose?
20b: … To keep you in the way, and to bring you
into the place which I have prepared…
Verse 22: But if you shall indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto your
enemies, and an adversary unto your adversaries.
23a: For my Angel {Malakh} shall go before you {in
that same leadership role}…
Again,
why? For what purpose?
23b: … And bring you in unto the Amorites, and the
Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites:
and I {the LORD – not His angel!} will cut them off.
Over
to chapter 32 for the next mention of this “special angel” and where we see that
the LORD Himself retained all authority to forgive sin:
Exodus
32:
33: And the LORD said unto Moses, “Whosoever
has sinned against me, him will I
blot out of my book.
34: Therefore now go, lead the people {as their human leader} unto the place of which I have spoken unto you:
behold, my angel {malakh – the angelic
leader I assign over you} shall go before you {in a leadership role}:
nevertheless, in the day when I
visit, I will visit their sin
upon them.”
Over
to chapter 33:
Exodus
33:
1: And the LORD said unto Moses, “Depart,
and go up hence, you {as human leader}
and the people which you have brought up
out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I swore unto Abraham, to Isaac,
and to Jacob, saying, ‘Unto your seed will I give it’:
2: And I {the LORD!} will send an angel {malakh
– an angelic leader} before you {in a leadership role};
and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite,
the Hivite, and the Jebusite.”
So,
we see once again that the LORD sent His
special angel – strongly grammatically implying that the LORD was not
that special angel!
But
how would that angel “go before” the Israelites?
How
would he go in front of them?
Just
as we saw earlier at the Red Sea. Exactly
the same! In the form of the pillar of cloud
and fire! The very same cloud and fire “of
the LORD” with which the LORD “cloaked” Himself whenever He visited His people. e.g. when He wrote His commandments on the
second pair of stone tablets and returned them to Moses:
Exodus
34:5:
And the LORD descended in the cloud,
and stood with him {Moses} there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.
And
again, when the LORD visited the newly-built tent-tabernacle:
Exodus
40:
34: Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD
filled the tabernacle.
35: And Moses was not able to enter into the tent
of the congregation, because the cloud
abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
36: And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel
went onward in all their journeys:
37: But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that
it was taken up.
38: For the cloud
of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel,
throughout all their journeys.
Many
other scriptures bear this out. In Part
5 we read through some psalms that mention this; but today let’s look at a few mentions
from other books:
Clouds and Fire and Eyes!
In
the book of Revelation, we read of various end-time angels. Here’s a mention of a notable one in chapter 10
– one who seems to be very similar to the one we read about in Exodus. He too came with cloud and fire:
Revelation
10:1:
And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow
was upon his head {N.B.}, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as
pillars of fire:
Next,
quoting Psalm 104.4:
Hebrews
1:7:
And of the angels He said, “Who makes His angels spirits, and His ministers {Greek: “leitourgos”: servants -- including angelic
ones!} a flame of fire”…
Yes. The LORD’s angels are ministers - ministering
both to Jesus and to His spiritual brothers and sisters:
Verse
13: But to which of the angels said He at any time, “Sit on my right hand, until I make
your enemies your footstool”?
14: Are they not all ministering spirits, sent
forth {by the LORD Jesus}
to
minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
(See
also Matthew 4:11 and Mark 1:13, where we read of angels ministering to Jesus
after His temptation by Satan).
We’re
seeing some similar attributes here between the angels and the glorified Jesus:
Revelation 1:
13: And in the midst of the seven
candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the
foot, and girt about the chest with a golden girdle.
14: His head and His hairs were white
like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes
were as a flame of fire;
His
eyes? Yes, His eyes! Let’s investigate these eyes some more.
Does their mention merely mean that the glorified Jesus has a piercing gaze?
No! Much, much more –] as we read in other scriptures
– both in the book of Revelation and elsewhere:
Revelation
2:18:
And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; “These things says the Son
of God, who has His eyes like unto a flame of fire, and His feet are like
fine brass.”
Please keep brass in mind too.
Revelation
19:
11: And I saw heaven opened and, behold,
a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called “Faithful and True” and in
righteousness He does judge and make war.
12a: His eyes were as a flame of fire,
and on His head were many crowns…
Revelation
5:
6a: And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst
of the throne and of the four beasts {Greek “zoon”: angelic living beings}, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it
had been slain {Jesus, obviously} having seven horns and seven eyes …
And
what are these seven eyes?
6b: … seven eyes, which are the seven spirits {Greek
“pneuma”} of God sent forth into all the earth {N.B.}.
This
is similar to the LORD sending His “special angel” in the Exodus scriptures that
we just read. But more specifically here,
it refers back to the book of Zechariah:
Zechariah
3:9a:
“For behold the stone {Hebrew “eben”} that I have laid before Joshua…
Perhaps
symbolic of the LORD/YHVH and Jesus.
(Ref: I Corinthians 10:4: “That Rock was Christ”).
9b: … Upon one stone {eben} shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the
graving thereof,” says the LORD of hosts, “And I will remove the iniquity of
that land in one day.”
These
seven eyes and this “eben-stone” are mentioned again
in chapter 4:
Zechariah
4:10:
For who has despised the day of small things?
For they shall rejoice and shall see the plummet {plumb-bob: Hebrew:
“eben”} in
the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run
to and fro through the whole earth {N.B.}.
And
these verses, in turn, refer back to another scripture – back in:
II Chronicles
16:9a:
For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout
the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart
is perfect toward Him…
What
is all this “running throughout the whole earth” mentioned in the books of Zechariah,
II Chronicles and Revelation? (We’ll see
it again later).
And
what are these multiple “eyes of the LORD”?
Yes,
as John told us, they are seven
spirits. But what does that mean? Are they inanimate, non-personal spirit “essence”?
Perhaps similar to the Holy Spirit or the
“spirit in man” (Job 32:8)? Or are they
spirit beings?
Yes. Quite possibly – even probably – they are spirit beings. Multiple eyes are frequently associated in the scriptures with certain
high-ranking angels.
Jesus
revealed some angelic beings – maybe the same or similar
ones – to the apostle John in:
Revelation
4:
6: And before the throne there was a sea
of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the
throne, were four beasts {angelic living beings} full of eyes before and behind.
7: And the first beast {angelic living
being} was like a lion, and the second beast {angelic
living being} like a calf, and
the third beast {angelic living being} had
a face as a man, and the fourth beast
{angelic living being} was like a flying eagle.
8: And the four beasts {angelic living
beings} had each of them
six wings about him; and they were full
of eyes within: and they rest not day and night {Why? Maybe because
they too are rnning to and fro?}, saying, “Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was,
and is, and is to come.”
9: And when those beasts {angelic living
beings} give glory and
honour and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, who lives for ever and ever…
Let’s
leave John’s vision just for now; and let’s go back to the Old Testament prophet
Ezekiel, who was privileged to have been given even more detailed visions of the
same – or similar – angelic beings:
Ezekiel
1:
1a: 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
captives by the river of Chebar…
The
word “Chebar” or “Kebar” can mean “far off,” “long ago,” “a great while,” or “already” – perhaps indicating the distance from Judah – or perhaps
indicating the fact that God, His visions and prophecies are not at all limited
by time or space.
1b: … that the heavens were opened, and I saw
visions of God…
Verse
3: The word of the LORD came expressly
unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land
of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon
him.
4a: And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind {Hebrew “ruach” which can
also mean spirit, wind and breath} came
out of the north, a great cloud and a
fire…
There’s
that cloud and fire again!
4b:
… a great cloud and a fire infolding {NKJV: engulfing} itself
{perhaps like a burning bush?}, and a brightness was about it {the fire}, and out of the midst thereof {the fire} as
the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.
Is
this amber colour referring to the fire?
Probably, yes; but maybe also to the cloud and the whirlwind too. And also, the way the grammar reads here, maybe
also to the four living creatures/beings that are mentioned in the next verse:
5a: Also, out of the midst thereof {out of the midst of the fire} came the likeness of four living creatures…
Perhaps
the same as – or similar to – the four that we just read about in the book of
Revelation.
5b: … and this was their appearance {N.B.}: they had the likeness
{N.B.} of a
man.
Yes,
they had the general likeness of men;
but …
6: And every one had four faces, and every one
had four wings.
Interesting. The living beings/creatures in the book of
Revelation have six wings – not four. But
let’s not let that detail hold us up.
7: And their feet were straight feet; and the
sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they {Just their feet? Or their whole beings?} sparkled like
the colour of burnished brass.
Please
note that the feet of these four living creatures are
the colour of burnished brass – just like the feet of the Son of God in Revelation
1:15 and 2:18.
8: And they had the hands of a man under their
wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.
9: Their wings were joined one to another; they
turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.
10: As for the likeness {N.B.} of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and
the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on
the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.
Similar
to John’s Revelation vision, except that John’s version reads like each of the
four living creatures has just one of the faces, whereas
here, Ezekiel’s version reads like all four of the living creatures
have all four faces.
11: Thus were their faces: and their wings were
stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two
covered their bodies.
This
is hard for us to visualize; but what keeps coming to my mind when I read this is something like a personification of
huge, spiritual bi-plane!
12: And they went every one straight forward:
where the spirit {ruach} was to go, they went; and they turned not when they
went.
What
spirit? What ruach?
Their own? Or God’s Holy Spirit? Or maybe both?
This
seems to me like – just as the multiple eyes are the eyes of Jesus, maybe these
four living creatures are inextricably “tied into” the
LORD/YHVH – through His Holy Spirit – maybe something
like the remote terminals of a mainframe computer?
13: As for the likeness {N.B.} of the living creatures, their appearance {N.B.} was like
burning coals of fire, and like the appearance {N.B.} of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire
went forth lightning.
14: And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance
{N.B.} of a
flash of lightning.
There’s
that “to-ing and fro-ing” again that we read about in Zechariah and Chronicles.
To
me, this reads like the effect of an electric current – going out from its generating
station, doing some work, then going back to the generating station via its return
path.
Next,
Ezekiel sees yet more amazing spiritual “items”:
15: Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold
one wheel upon the earth by {beside
each of} the living
creatures, with his four faces.
Please
note that these wheels are “upon the earth” and, because the wheels are by/beside
the living creatures, the living creatures must be on
earth too.
This
is somewhat significant because later we read of them
“taking off.”
16a: The appearance
{N.B.} of the
wheels and their work was like unto
the colour of a beryl…
This
is the third time that Ezekiel has mentioned the colour of the things that he
saw in his vision. First, the amber
colour of the fire (and possibly also of the cloud and the whirlwind?). Second, the burnished brass colour of the
feet of the four living creatures (maybe all of them). Now, third, the beryl colour of the wheels.
But
there’s even more to these amazing wheels than meets the eye. As we’ll see!
16b: … and they four had one likeness {N.B.}: and their appearance
{N.B.} and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle
of a wheel.
Wow!
Wheels within wheels! A gyroscope comes
to mind. Or maybe the outer wheels are the rings mentioned in verse 18.
The
Hebrew word for “wheels” is owphan (Strong’s
212) which stems a root verb meaning “to revolve.” As well as these wheels in Ezekiel’s vision, owphan elsewhere refers to chariot
wheels in the books of Exodus and Nahum; also to the circular bases beneath
the lavers in Solomon’s temple.
But,
back to the living creatures’ wheels in Ezekiel’s vision:
17: When they went
{moved},
they went {moved} upon their four
sides: and they turned not when they went
{moved}.
Wheels
don’t turn when they move? How does that
work? I have no idea!
18: As for their rings {Hebrew: gab}, they were so high
that they were dreadful {Hebrew: yirah}; and their rings
were full of eyes round about them four.
Are
the living creatures’ rings the same
as their wheels?
No. The Hebrew word for “wheels” is “owphan”
(Strong’s 212); but the very different Hebrew word for “rings” is “gab” {Strong’s
1354}.
Gab is a curious Hebrew
word which has many, varying, seemingly unrelated meanings. It is translated elsewhere in the KJV as: eminent or higher place, bodies, backs, bosses {embossed knobs}, eyebrows and naves {wheel rims}.
Extended
Hebrew meanings include a convex surface and the convex projection of a soldier’s shield.
Ezekiel
wrote in verse 18 that the mere height of these “rings” caused them to be “dreadful,” which is a particularly strong
adjective in English. And in Hebrew
too. The verb “yirah” (Strong’s 3374) as it
appears elsewhere in the KJV expresses fear
and fearfulness. Its extended Hebrew meanings include terror, an awesome or terrifying thing or object
causing fear, piety, fear, respect, reverence for God.
With
Ezekiel’s reference to the fearsome height of these “rings” and their association
to the wheels of the living creatures
and their possible references to convex surfaces, eyebrows and wheel rims, the
best I can make of them is that they might be a huge
equivalent of the fenders (called “mudguards” or “wings” in the UK) of cars or
bicycles. I searched the internet, looking
at lots of pictures of ancient chariots; but I couldn’t find any with fenders
on them. I did, however, find some with highly
decorated wheel rims!
So
maybe that’s what they were – huge wheel rims – spiritual ones, of course – full
of “practical decorations” – i.e. eyes!
Just maybe they were more like – or at least something like – spiritual video cameras –
that keep track of everything that’s going on – as the
living creatures flash back and forth at lightning speed. Down
to earth – to collect spiritual “photographic data” on all that’s going on. Then flashing back to the LORD’s heavenly throne
– to give their report – all completed in less than a split second!
19: And when the living creatures went {moved}, the wheels went
by {moved beside} them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels
were lifted up.
Imagine
them “taking off”! Like a huge, spiritual
jumbo bi-plane!
20: Wherever the
spirit {ruach} was to go, they
{the wheels} went, there was their spirit {ruach} to go; and the
wheels were lifted up over against
them: for the spirit {ruach} of the living
creature was in the wheels.
21a: When
those went {when the living
creatures moved}, these went {the wheels and rings
moved too}; and when those {the
living creatures} stood {still}, these {the wheels and rings} stood
{still}.
This
sounds a bit like the “stopping and going” of of the pillar
of cloud and fire
that led the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land. Let’s take a quick look at that similarity:
Exodus
40:
36: And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the
children of Israel went onward in all their journeys:
37: But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till
the day that it was taken up.
Back
to Ezekiel 1:
21b:
… and when those {the living creatures} were lifted up
from the earth, the wheels were lifted up
over against them: for the spirit {ruach}
of
the living creature was in the wheels.
Ezekiel
found it necessary to repeat these details; so they must be important in some
way.
22: And the likeness of the firmament {Hebrew “raqiya”} upon {above} the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible {awesome to behold} crystal, stretched forth over their
heads above.
For
the fourth time, we see Ezekiel’s intriguing accent on the colours of things he saw in his vision.
What
was (is?) this particular “firmament”?
Could
it possibly be something like the “sea of glass like unto crystal” – as
mentioned by John in Revelation 4:6?
The
Hebrew raqiya
(Strong’s 7549) basically means expanse
– and it normally refers to the visible arch of the sky – which separates the
earthly dwelling space of we human beings from the various levels of the heavens.
I
get an impression of this brilliant, crystal-coloured
firmament as possibly being a temporary sky – or perhaps
a temporary cloud-cover – which would
fit in with the commonly-mentioned cloud
aspect of the LORD’s visits to earth.
23: And under the firmament were their wings
straight, the one toward the other: every one had
two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that
side, their bodies.
24a: And when they went {moved}, I heard the
noise {Hebrew
“kole”} of their wings,
like the noise {kole} of great waters,
as the voice {kole} of the Almighty {Shadday}…
There’s
another reference to the voice of God – that we studied a couple of weeks ago.
24b: … the voice
{kole} of
speech, as the noise {kole} of an host. When they stood, they let down their wings.
Once
again, the huge noise upon their movement and “take-off” gives the idea of a massive aircraft!
25: And there was a voice {kole} from {above (NKJV)} the
firmament that was over their heads, when they stood {still}, and had let down their wings.
This
reminds me of navy planes with folding wings like the ones that a person might see
on an aircraft carrier.
26: And above the firmament that was over their
heads was the likeness of {N.B.} a throne,
as the appearance of {N.B.} a sapphire stone {cappiyr eben}; and upon the likeness
of {N.B.} the throne
was the likeness {N.B.} as the appearance of {N.B.} a man above upon it.
Somehow,
in order to be able to see – in his vision – the likeness of the throne and the
being who had the likeness of the appearance of a man,
Ezekiel must have been able to see through – or over and above – the firmament.
But
who was this being who had the likeness
of the appearance of a man?
It’s
about time we examined the two interesting words “likeness” and “appearance”
that are repeated so often in Ezekiel’s descriptions of his visions
First,
the word “likeness” is translated
from the Hebrew adverb “dᵉmuwth” (Strong’s 1823) which is elsewhere
translated as similitude, like, manner,
fashion and in the likeness of.
The
second word is “appearance” which is
translated from the Hebrew noun “mareh” (Strong’s 4758) which is elsewhere translated as vision, sight and countenance.
The
throne mentioned here might be a throne
room rather than just the royal seat.
Still,
it has the appearance of a sapphire stone – just as Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and
seventy Israelite elders had seen on Mount Sinai when they “saw the God of Israel.”
Let’s
take a quick look at that account, because their experience reads somewhat similar
to Ezekiel’s vision:
Exodus 24:
9: Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab,
and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:
10: And they saw the God of Israel: and there was
under His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire
{cappiyr} stone, and as it were the body of heaven in its clearness.
This
is what makes me think that the “throne” mentioned
by Ezekiel is a throne room and not just
a royal seat. It seems to have been a kind
of “mobile version” of God’s heavenly throne room.
Back
to Ezekiel 1:
27: And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of {N.B.} fire round about
within it, from the appearance of {N.B.} his loins even
upward, and from the appearance of {N.B.} his loins even downward, I saw as it were the
appearance of {N.B.} fire, and it had brightness round about.
Here
is a being who has the colour of super-bright, amber-coloured
fire – the same as we read back in verse 4 and the “likeness as the appearance
of a man.” But, of course, it is not a mere
man! Still, it may be more like a man than
the four living creatures with their four frightening
faces!
28a:
As the appearance of {N.B.} the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so
was the appearance of {N.B.} the brightness round
about. This was the appearance of {N.B.} the likeness
of {N.B.} the glory {N.B.!} of the LORD.
Likely
the same rainbow as we read about in:
Revelation
1:
1: After this I looked, and, behold, a
door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of
a trumpet talking with me; which said, “Come up hither, and I will show you
things which must be hereafter.”
2: And immediately I was in the spirit: and,
behold, a throne was set in heaven,
and One sat on the throne.
3: And He that sat was to look upon like
a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
This being doesn’t seem to be one of the living creatures or cherubim. This seems to be LORD/YHVH Himself!
JHP/jhp