Scripture
Genesis 1:1
[1] In the beginning God created heavens and the earth
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
This is 16th Lecture on Genesis.
In the last lecture, I explained the general characteristics of cherubim, and introduced some of them.
They mainly do the job of escorting and guarding, and they are bound by very strict rules and system of organization.
The dragon and the 4 living creatures were the leaders, and they were always located near the throne of God.
However, the dragons stood against God along with Lucifer, and they became evil spirits.
Therefore, the 4 living creatures are the highest among the cherubim.
In this lecture, I will explain their appearance and their duties.
Since the Creation, there have been only a very few people who have clearly seen the appearance of the 4 living creatures.
Among the forefathers of faith, only Ezekiel the Prophet saw them and Apostle John saw them clearly, they both made a record of what they had seen.
The 4 living creatures being is so special.
Not all of those who have spiritual eyes can see the 4 living creatures.
Only when God allows, can they see the 4 living creatures.
Moreover, those who are short of spiritual discernment cannot realize what they are even when they see the 4 living creatures.
Unlike general angels or heavenly host, the appearance of the 4 living creatures is very unique and you may feel fear seeing them.
Their general color is not bright, either; they have relatively dark and deep colors.
They also never laugh; they always have serious expressions so that those who look at them also feel nervousness.
That’s why some of those who see the 4 living creatures for the first time misunderstand that the four might be evil spirits.
Since it is not easy at all to see the 4 living creatures, it’s also hard to find those who can clearly explain what the 4 living creature are.
Even though Ezekiel the Prophet saw them and made a record about it, he didn’t know the spiritual reason why they look like they did.
However, from the fact that Ezekiel the Prophet left a detailed account about the 4 living creatures, we can see how proper he was before God.
He was humble before God, and he had such a truthful heart.
God showed Ezekiel the Prophet not only the 4 living creatures but also many other spiritual secrets.
God also revealed to him what would take place in the future.
Those who are recognized to have such a heart of goodness will be able to have very clear spiritual eyes.
They can see the spiritual realm; they can also receive the revelation about the future things.
However, it is rare to find such qualified people.
Therefore, God wants to reveal even more things about the spiritual realm to those who are properly qualified.
Thankfully though, we have many people in this church who can see the spiritual realm with their spiritual eyes.
They confirm how perfectly I explain about the spiritual realm.
So now, let’s delve into the appearance of the four living creatures.
The detailed records about the 4 living creatures can be found in Ezekiel Chapters 1 and 10, and in Revelation Chapter 4.
I’ll explain their appearance based on Ezekiel Chapter 1, and then supplement it with the account in Revelation.
Ezekiel 1:4 says, “As I looked, behold, a storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually and a bright light around it, and in its midst something like glowing metal in the midst of the fire.”
Ezekiel saw the 4 living creatures from a distance and made this record.
As the 4 living creatures drew closer to him, they looked like a storm and a great cloud that was coming.
It was because he felt the great power and authority of the approaching 4 living creatures.
In fact, the four living creatures do have great authority.
I will explain in the next lecture, the authority of formation or dissipation of a storm belongs to the 4 living creatures.
Now, Ezekiel says that “something like glowing metal” was seen among them.
“Glowing metal” is the metal that is heated up in fire.
The fact that the 4 living creatures look like “glowing metal” explains the role of the 4 living creatures is like a weapon.
The general impression of the 4 living creatures is like that of a very strong and hard sword and shield.
Now, Ezekiel 1:5 says. “Within it there were figures resembling four living beings and this was their appearance: they had human form.”
It says, “They had human form,” and it means the general structure of the 4 living creatures is similar to a man that has a head, a trunk, and legs.
However, only the basic structure is similar, but their actual appearance is very different.
Just as Ezekiel 1:6 says, “Each of them had four faces and four wings,” each of 4 has four faces and four wings.
Ezekiel 1:7 says, “Their legs were straight and their feet were like a calf’s hoof, and they gleamed like burnished bronze.”
And, just as Ezekiel 1:8 says, “Under their wings on their four sides were human hands,” they have human hands, but the hands are directly attached to the trunk.
Man has arms attached to the trunk, and hands are at the end of the arms. But, the four living creatures don’t have arms, but they have hands directly attached to the trunk right under the wings.
Now, Ezekiel 1:9 says, “their wings touched one another; their faces did not turn when they moved, each went straight forward.”
It describes the unique movement of the 4 living creatures.
All four of them join as one and they only move in a straight forward direction to accomplish their duties then they disperse.
And when they come back, they don’t turn around.
Just as an elastic band goes back to original place when you pull it and release it, the four living creatures come back precisely to original place where they get together.
It is possible because all four of them have four faces each.
They have a face that faces in each of the four directions.
Since a man has a face in front, to step back, he has to look around and right and left.
However, each of the four living creatures has four faces with one facing in each direction, so to walk ‘facing’ the rear is the same as to walk ‘facing’ the front.
Ezekiel 1:10 finally describes their facial appearances.
It says, “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.”
Each of the 4 has four faces, and each face has a different appearance.
Going counter-clock wise from the face of a man, they have the face of a lion on the right, the next is the face of an eagle, and the last is the face of a bull.
The orders of the faces are identical for all the four living creatures.
There are 4 creatures that have 4 faces like this, together they are called “the four living creatures.”
Now, how many faces do the 4 living creatures have?
Since each one of them has 4 faces, the total number is 16.
There are faces, but not four heads.
Each creature has one head, and in the 4 directions going around the head are the four faces.
However, among the four faces, there is one main face that is representative of each one of the individual creatures.
Since the four living creatures each have their own unique duty, they from time to time move apart from one another. But they are usually united as one.
It is like four men, all standing back to back with their arms folded, and with each one facing in one of the 4 directions.
Then, there must be an empty space where their backs come together.
Now, since the four living creatures are united as one, the face that is toward the outside is the face that represents that individual creature.
For all four of them, this main face is relatively larger than the other 3 faces.
Say, you see the four living creatures that are united as one, and the face that you see is the face of a lion, that is you are seeing the main face of the lion-like creature.
This lion-like creature has three more faces in addition to the face of the lion, with the spiritual eyes, you can see only the face of a lion.
Since the four living creatures do not turn their heads or look back, you can see only the face in front.
Now, Ezekiel 1:11 says, “Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each had two touching another being, and two covering their bodies.”
I told you already that the four living creatures have four wings.
As they are united as one, the two wings are spread touching the wings of the adjacent creatures, and with the remaining two wings they are covering their bodies.
By the way, Revelation 4:8 says, “And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings.”
However, it is never the fact that what Apostle John saw concerning the 4 living creatures was wrong nor could he have made a mistake in the record.
Apostle John saw the 4 living creatures that were united as one, and so it looked like they had 6 wings.
On the other hand, the Prophet Ezekiel saw them separated from each other as well as united.
And thus, he could clearly count the number of each of the four wings.
Therefore, the four living creatures have 4 wings each, and as they are united, it may look like they have 6 wings.
As you see the four living creatures united, the number of the wings may be more than the actual number.
In addition, each of them can spread and fold their wings.
When their wings are overlapping, the number may seem to become less. If not overlapping their number may seem to be more.
Thanks to the different record of Revelation, we can understand the appearance of the 4 living creatures in a three-dimensional way.
Therefore, as you find some verses are different from each other, you don’t need to think it strange.
Moreover, you should not say, “Something is wrong with the Bible because the records about the same incident are different from each other.”
The Bible is absolutely true, and there is surely a reason why the records are different.
There is an example in the Four Gospels.
According to the writer, the account about the robbers who were crucified with Jesus is a little bit different.
Both Matthew 27:44 and Mark 15:32 says the robbers who were crucified with Jesus were casting the same insult at Jesus.
On the other hand, Luke Chapter 23 tells us that one of them was hurling abuse at Jesus, but the other rebuked him for it.
It also tells us that this robber who didn’t cast insults at Jesus repented, accepted Jesus as the Savior, and was saved.
It is not that the recorders of the Bible recorded it wrong; it was permitted in the providence of God.
Since there were no cameras in the days of Jesus, all records were made in writings.
With these different records about the same incident in the Bible, we can infer the actual situation all the more clearly.
Since there were countless people surrounding the cross, the Roman soldiers barricaded the cross with spears and shields.
Therefore, we can imagine people surround the cross in the form of a semicircle, a little distanced from the cross.
Near the cross were high priests, scribes, and many of the crowd, and they hurled harsh words at Jesus.
In this noisy place, one robber cast insults at Jesus.
Now, from which side of the crowd of people could a person hear what this robber said more clearly?
It would be the one who stood nearest the robber.
Now, they could also see the other robber on the other side was also saying something in the direction of Jesus.
With his facial expression it might seem that he cast insults at Jesus.
However, this robber was actually rebuking the robber on the other side who was hurling insults at Jesus.
But to the eyes of the people who were on the side of the robber who was casting insult at Jesus, the second robber seemed to be hurling abuse at Jesus, who was in the center.
For this reason, Matthew and Mark recorded that both the robbers were casting insults at Jesus.
However, Luke was in a place where he could see clearly what was happening.
And thus, he was able to write that the robber was not casting insults at Jesus, but rebuking the other robber who was casting insults at Jesus, and that he had repented and was saved.
Like this, thanks to the recorders who were in different places, we can understand the situation all the more clearly and vividly.
Almighty God who knows everything allowed this difference in records so that the people of later days can clearly understand the situation.
The Bible is the word of God. Though the two accounts of this incident are different, it is not because God is fallible. God is precisely correct without ever making even the slightest error.
The reason for the different records concerning the 4 living creatures is the same.
The records can be different from each other depending on which predominating appearance of the 4 living creatures is seen and the angle and the direction from which the recorder is viewing.
Dear brothers and sisters.
Let’s continue to look into Ezekiel’s record about the 4 living creatures.
Ezekiel 1:13-14 says, “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.”
There is a little bit of empty space in the midst of the 4 living creatures when joined together.
In the midst of the space, a fire that looks like bolts of lightning is darting back and forth.
These four living creatures move very fast- as fast as lightning.
They are fast as a flash.
“Lightning fast” metaphorically means as fast as the flash of bolts of lightning or like sparks flashing from flint and steel-‘done in a flash’.
When the 4 living creatures move, in the space between them there is something with the appearance of torches of fire moving like these flashes, and there is an immensely huge roaring sound like fire and deep resonant sounds of iron.
A long time ago some of you may have played with a bundled straw torch, you may have heard a burning sound as you waved and whipped it around and around in the air.
Of course, as the four living creatures move, the sound is big enough to shake everything around.
When those who have spiritual eyes to see and spiritual ears to hear, first hear this sound, they are very surprised as if they had heard very loud thunder.
From Ezekiel 1:15-21, you can see that the wheels around the 4 living creatures move together as they move.
“Now as I looked at 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. Whenever they moved, they moved in any of their four directions without turning as they moved. As for their rims they were lofty and awesome, and the rims of all four of them were full of eyes round about. Whenever the living beings moved, the wheels moved with them and whenever the living beings rose from the earth, the wheels rose also. Wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction. And the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels. Whenever those went, these went; and whenever those stood still, these stood still. And whenever those rose from the earth, the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.”
He says that a wheel is on each side of the 4 Living Creature, on one side of the four of them, and that the spirit of the living creatures is in the wheels.
As the spirit goes on, the living creatures and their wheels also go on. As the spirit stops, the creatures and their wheels also stop.
Indeed, it is the spirit that moves the 4 living creatures and their wheels.
“The spirit” here refers to God the Trinity.
The supervisor of the 4 living creatures is God the Trinity, and something like a seal that reveals this fact is affixed in the wheels.
Long time ago, when the seal of a king was affixed to a document, people knew it was the will of the king.
Now, the management of the 4 living creatures is through God the Trinity, and it is the Holy Spirit who mainly operates them.
When the Holy Spirit sounds the Original Voice, the 4 living creatures move according to the will of God.
They obey only the Original Voice of God the Trinity who is the owner of the seal.
No voice other than this Original Voice can make them move.
No matter how highly an archangel is ranked, the four living creatures will not budge at its command.
Even if God the Father gives an order to the Archangel Michael to command the 4 living creatures, they will not obey the Archangel Michael.
They obey only the Original Voice of God the Trinity.
Therefore, they never make a mistake.
They accomplish their mission precisely according to the will of God.
The wheels act like ears of the four living creatures to hear the Original Voice.
In addition, within these wheels is a visualization of the space where the Spirit is located.
The four living creatures only hear the Original Voice and then move, but they don’t see the Original Voice it can only be heard.
Therefore, God showed the Prophet Ezekiel the wheels within wheels to visualize the space where the Original Voice sounds.
In this way, God showed Ezekiel who manages the 4 living creatures, and who the 4 living creatures obey.
When you drive a car, since you control the steering wheel you are the one who manages the car’s movement.
As you control the movement of the steering wheel, the four wheels of the car also move according to your movement of the wheel.
At this time, all four wheels don’t move separately, but they move together.
It is the same with the 4 living creatures.
According to the sound from within the wheels, the four living creatures move together.
That’s why the Prophet Ezekiel says, “The appearance of the wheels and their workmanship had the same form.”
When God gives an order with the Original Voice, the four living creatures obey immediately, work as one, and execute the order.
One of the distinctive characteristics of the 4 living creatures is that their body is full of eyes.
Ezekiel 10:12 says, “Their whole body, their backs, their hands, their wings and the wheels were full of eyes all around, the wheels belonging to all four of them.”
There are eyes all over their bodies. They are on their backs, their hands, their wings and the wheels.
Revelation 4:6 and Revelation 4:8 also record that the 4 living creatures are full of eyes in front and behind, and around and within their wings.
The reason why the 4 living creatures have so many eyes has something to do with their duties.
And we will come to this in the next lecture.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
The 4 living creatures were surely recorded in the Bible, but nobody has been able to explain them clearly.
However, God the Father has now allowed this church to explain them clearly.
The reason is that the role of this church, which will manage the world ministry in the end times, is closely related to the activities of the 4 living creatures.
The closer this world is to the end time, the more frequently natural disasters will occur.
And this is closely related with the activities of the 4 living creatures.
Therefore, if we can move the 4 living creatures to work through prayers to God the Father, then natural disasters can be avoided.
I urge you to become more thankful to God the Father for revealing the deep secrets of the spiritual realm, and to march into the spirit all the more.
In Daniel 12:10, God mentions about the flow of the spirit at the end days.
He says, “Many will be purged, purified and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand.”
Just as white contrasts with black, as the end time draws nearer the spirit is becoming more and more distant from the flesh. Now, where is it that you stand?
You should never continue to do evil or stay in the flesh especially after seeing the amazing works of God’s power and hearing the secrets of the spiritual realm.
You should diligently sanctify your body and heart to come into the spirit and the whole spirit all the more quickly.
By moving toward sanctification may you return the grace and love of God the Father, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!
[Amen]
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