Ezekiel’s Vision
Ezekiel 1:5
CLV 5 And out of its midst [is] a likeness of four living creatures, and this [is] their appearance; a likeness of man [is] to them,
CLV 10 As to the likeness of their faces, the face of a man, and the face of a lion, toward the right [are] to them four, and the face of an ox on the left [are] to them four, and the face of an eagle [are] to them four.”
Prophetically embodied in a human form are four all-encompassing faces with some unreal means of locomotion. The four faces are: humanity (the face of Adam), the king of the land (the lion), the servant of the land (the ox) and the king of the air (the eagle), all in one human body. The means of travel are: the legs of a man with feet like an ox, four wheels within each other that go in any direction without turning and the wings that come down to cover the body when it rests.
The wheels had the spirit of this new animal in them. That image likely represents God’s transition creation, which was the betrothed church in typical diaspora. The church in betrothal brought all of God’s creation into one human body. The church was supernaturally enabled by the human who was enthroned in heaven. The 12 tribes after Pentecost could see and enter God’s kingdom. They went in all directions into the world. The four wheels within wheels were high and full of eyes round about.
The Ethiopian eunuch is a compelling transition person who comes to worship in old covenant Jerusalem. He comes to Jerusalem on wheels. Phillip is told by the Holy Spirit to go meet him in his chariot. The eunuch doesn’t understand what he is reading about the injustice of the suffering of the Lamb. Phillip explains it to him and the Eunuch asks why he can’t be baptized. Under law Phillip could have quoted from Deuteronomy 23:1 and told him to stay out. Instead Phillip baptizes him. The Ethiopian most likely knew that law yet he experienced something changing.
Phillip was directed by the Holy Spirit to meet him and was apparently supernaturally whisked away after the baptism. Baptism means you have joined the Holy-Spirit-united congregation, making this episode difficult to categorize. Not only was Cornelius counted as the first Gentile (or at least when the door fully opens to Gentiles), eunuchs were typically not allowed to become part of the congregation of Israel under law. So it is difficult to see the Ethiopian as a Gentile or a proselyte, unless the rules were less strict with the diaspora Jews. This Ethiopian was either a castrated Gentile or a castrated Hebrew in diaspora or a mixture of both like the good Samaritan. We know he was trying to understand Isaiah 53:7-8.
The same Holy Spirit that took Phillip to the eunuch during the first century transition of covenants still allows or causes unqualified people to join the new covenant congregation, no longer in transition. This Ethiopian was trying to understand the unjust suffering of the Lamb. The Holy Spirit informed him through Phillip that Jesus was the qualifier. Phillip evidently went on to explain the resurrection of the suffering Lamb as the firstborn of a new covenant. Into the new covenant the eunuch was welcomed. Phillip didn’t get into an argument with the Holy Spirit? He baptized the eunuch. A person is born again or baptized (death burial and resurrection) into God’s new covenant family by Holy Spirit in-formed rebirth.
Like Ezekiel, Peter also had a vision of types. In Peter’s vision, God instructs Peter to bring four typical animals into his/His human body. Peter himself is already becoming face to face with God through the human interface of the messiah. Jesus is embodied as the singularly enthroned God faced humanity who sends the Holy Spirit to sanctify His chosen people of all languages, to bring them into His multifaceted new human body. After Pentecost, God’s people return home with their multi-faced human bodies. They take their renewed human faces to their all encompassing diaspora nationalities. In fulfillment of Ezekiel’s multifaceted wheeled vision, location on the compass and ethnicity of culture are both overcome by the diaspora Jews who are transitioning into the new covenant. Ezekiels creature is fulfilled by the diaspora Jews in their transition to the new covenant.
Ezekiel has a vision of a four-faced human creation having a wheel within a wheel, so it can go in any direction it faces without turning to the left or to the right. Ezekiel 1:26 also envisions a human in heaven seated on the throne. Ezekiel’s vision symbolically embodies the epitome of God’s intentions for the gospel: a human embodied – human faced creation that can go in any direction and confront every creature it faces. Each of the four two-wheel-drive creatures is bodily like a human with four different faces: a human, a lion, an ox and an eagle. These four human-embodied animal-creations had one human face. They had hands of a creative man, were fearless like a lion (the courage to go), had feet like an ox (servants to carry the load) and wings to fly (in order to quickly reach all the chosen people). Like the four gospels, these multifaceted creatures take the gospel to all of God’s creation, in all four directions. Notice they don’t have the face of a fish or fins to swim. That interface is the first to go into the new covenant body.
Why four? Four original creations, four corners of the earth, four directions and four kingdoms all joined the one human body in the everlasting fifth kingdom of the new creation humanity. Jesus became the firstborn and essential human interface of all creation in the new covenant. Old covenant Adam was formed last (fifth) of all creations and he was formed outside the garden. He came from the land that was already inhabited by four other living souls. Adam was formed out of the dust of the land rather than out of the sea or the air. The sea would disappear and we would be born again to rule in the air.
In the garden of Gethsemane, God influenced Jesus to give up His perfect human life in order to be the firstborn human of all creation in His new covenant. Like Peter’s sheet vision, the sea creatures are not represented in the faces or the bodies of Ezekiel’s vision. The sea separated land from the land while the air was between heaven and earth. In the new creation their is one Pangea-like covenant land. There is no sea of separation in the new creation. Even if you are on a ship in the middle of the ocean today you are not separated from the human body of Christ. The typical sea is irrelevant. The Holy Spirit came down from heaven, not only to join all God’s chosen people into the one body on earth, but to join heaven to earth in the air.
Jesus’ disciples pull up a net full of fish into the boat and onto the land in His new covenant appearance on land. Jesus and His disciples then eat the fish together. After His ascension, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to His disciples and to the gathered Hebrews to bring His people into His Spirit realm body in the air. There is no sea of separation in the new creation where Heaven reaches down to earth through the air.
The four creations contained in Peter’s sheet vision represented the heretofore unclean Gentiles (unclean animals) to a Jew. Gentiles were not allowed to join the Jewish body unless they were typically made clean through proselytism. Jesus fulfilled typical proselytism with Holy Spirit sanctification in the heavenly air. The blood of even clean animals was not allowed to enter the human body because animal souls were all mortal and without the human potential for eternal life. Only the human soul had the potential for immortality in the old creation and that was before the fall. Jesus embodied a pre-fall human soul who didn’t take the fall in disobedience. He reluctantly and obediently took the fall on the tree to rescue His old covenant people.
Before going to the cross as the fulfillment of the Passover Lamb Jesus said to His disciples, “eat My flesh and drink My blood”. Since the lamb wasn’t cooked yet, because it was still passover preparation week and not the passover day, Jesus used bread and wine to symbolize Himself to His disciples. He desired to eat the Passover meal with them rather than fulfill the symbolism (type) of the Passover Lamb. They would eat the Passover Lamb without Him while He was in Hades and His old covenant body was still in the tomb. The Jews didn’t become vampires or cannibals in order to live to the age of 1000 and inherit eternal life. The women went to the tomb to pour ointment on Jesus’ dead body not eat it. If that doesn’t make the truth of Peter’s sheet vision and the Lord’s supper and the Passover meal concretely symbolic I don’t know what will.
Jesus’ ‘passion week’ was a transition of covenants week. He died mid-week as the old covenant husbandman (eschatos Adam) and rose out of the night and into the seventh day as new covenant husband man (second anthropos). His resurrection sabbatism remained to be fully conveyed to His people even after His betrothal sabbatism of Pentecost. The marriage wouldn’t take place until the 40-year regeneration of the nation was fulfilled.
Jesus is never called second Adam. He is called eschatos Adam and second anthropos. He engaged His people in His new creation humanity 50 days after the resurrection (new covenant sabbatism) of Himself. He is the new and complete first-born husbandman of the new humanity. He rose as a new creation in the era of the common Greek language. Hebrew remained a dead language even after the resurrection of humanity. Hebrew wasn’t ‘resurrected’ until the end of the 19th century. The attempted reconstruction of a long dead body of language borrowed much of its vocabulary from the German Jews (Ashkenazi). The Spanish Jew (Shepardic) pronunciations were used to try to reconstruct the Hebrew sounds. I doubt if old covenant Moses could even engage in a modernized Hebrew conversation with all its contemporary words and sounds.
New covenant Jesus is called second anthropos rather than second Adam. He put Adam to death on the old covenant cross after the Hebrew language had already died. He was resurrected as the new covenant man when the international language was Greek. Today the lingua franca is English. Some people think the Messiah will return speaking Hebrew in order to rule the world. If you don’t learn modern Hebrew how will you rule with Him? Jesus was eschatos Adam when He took Adam’s place on the cross. That was a Greek eschaton. Adam was a Hebrew type of the one that was resurrected to become international. I don’t think the ancient Hebrew language will ever be resurrected as the international language of Yahweh. The book of Hebrews was written to the Hebrews in Greek. They were ruling in the cross-cultural age with their messiah.
The new human married His betrothed people to fulfill the sabbatism that remained for the Hebrews to enter, according to Hebrews 4:9, in the same air that He engaged them in. He engaged them in all their new languages. The marriage then fulfilled the millennial Jubilee (the sabbatism that remained), which was the 50-year fulfillment of types at Tabernacles rather than the 50-day fulfillment of types at Pentecost. His engagement sabbatism led them to His marriage sabbatism. The everlasting covenant was fulfilled as the golden anniversary of the old covenant that was re-engaged and made new in all the foreign languages present at Pentecost. It was made new so His multilingual people could live the age with a living firstborn over all creation, rather than in a single dead language in a dead firstborn Adam.
Luke wrote to Greek-faced Theophilus. His name appears in the introduction of both Luke and Acts. Undoubtedly Theophilus was already being influenced by diaspora humans, as was Cornelius. Cornelius was said to be righteous and God fearing and respected by all the Jews even before he was born into their new covenant church. He had a face that was most easily accepted as the first born-again Gentile to enter the Jewish only (human) body. Both Roman faced Cornelius and Greek faced Theophilus were also expecting the Jewish messiah to arrive, if they were at all familiar with the diaspora teachings of the Jews.
Both Luke and Acts were written in a refined Koine Greek in which the name (θεόφιλος) Theophilos means loved by God or loving God. The Greek language (inculcated by Alexander the Great) was God’s new servant or ox to carry the Gospel in the common language of the fourth diaspora kingdom. Dr Luke’s gospel to Theophilus was written in scholarly Greek so Theophilus himself could know for certain that Jesus is the messiah. That is evangelism defined: take the gospel to the face of the one you love. You naturally love and relate to familiar faces. After the Jewish Messiah overcame their old covenant death, He appeared alive again, but only to His chosen people, not to old covenant unbelievers. Belief replaced genetics as the new family identity. Belief in the messiah wasn’t new. Unbelief in the messiah was new. There were no antichrists among the Jews until He actually arrived to divide the sheep from the goats.
Luke brings this transition of covenants to the learned Greek-faced audience, while Matthew quotes more scripture, so as to make the transition from old to new more convincing to the Hebrew minded. In The Gospel of John, the logos became flesh or human faced. Jesus says to the Jews, “You must be born again”. John is the recreation gospel from its first verse. John is sometimes called the spiritual gospel to the church because the logos made flesh was spiritually written on the born again stone hearts (born in the flesh under law) of those gathered for Pentecost, which were the chosen people of God from the old covenant church that needed to be born again to enter the kingdom of God. Covenant rebirth started with the Jews in the land along with the 12 tribes and then it went out to new covenant Gentiles. The chosen people of God were being united by the Holy Spirit.
Matthew relates to the Jews from the lion tribe. Mark appealed more to the imperial or Roman minded. The eagle as the king of birds is still a symbol of the imperial power of the day.
The four four-faced human-embodied creatures in Ezekiel’s vision stood on the land, but when the Spirit lifted them up they followed the Spirit wherever it took them, while the head of this creation was in heaven. Either this human/animal physically stretches from earth to heaven or it is like New covenant Jerusalem that down-steps or stretches from heaven to earth in spiritually rather than physically. New Jerusalem brings heaven and earth together in a new covenant creation. These four-faced creations, as seen by Ezekiel, united all of creation, bodily; both in heaven and on earth.
Luke 2:30-32
CLV 30 For my eyes perceived Thy Salvation, 31 Which Thou dost make ready suiting the face of all the peoples [plural], 32 A Light for the revelation of nations, And the Glory of Thy people [singular] Israel.”
Luke wrote in a literary style common to the Hellenistic authors of his day. His gospel especially concerns God’s promises fulfilled to Israel as the light that emanated to all the nations. Salvation of the Jews becomes the four-faced fulfillment of Ezekiels prophetic vision. Acts is sometimes called Luke volume two. It includes Peter’s four-fold vision of the gospel as a sheet that extends out in four directions to encompass all of creation. Peter is told to bring all of creation into His/his human-faced human body. The new faces of the human creation often become indigenous churches. But someone has to make the gospel familiar. Someone goes face to face with them to get them started. Someone is sent to bring them into the human body of Christ.
Ezekiel contains a description of the restored state of Israel. Literally, the temple comes to be in a place that will make it impossible for people to enter who might contaminate the holy place in which Yahweh dwells. The church body is literally such a place. All who enter are literally sanctified by the Hoy Spirit before entering. The church is God’s most holy place on earth. The church is kept incorruptible in the heavenly realm of creation by the One who sent His Son, Who sent the Holy Spirit, from His human enthronement in heaven.
Yet Ezekiel somehow came to be called the father of Judaism. His typical prescription for surface holiness stands in sharp contrast to Isaiah’s recognition of hopeless filthiness. Holy objects were outwardly profaned whenever anything common or unclean was brought into surface contact with them. A false use of Ezekiel’s typical prescriptions presumptuously strengthened the observance of dietary laws, tithes, and sabbaths, even while they were going away and even after they went away. The judaizers tried to enforce their own self-righteous fulfillment of Ezekiel’s types on Jesus and His new covenant church. Immature believers were among them. The council of Jerusalem rejected that interpretation of self-realized sanctification. Old covenant sanctification was never meant to be eternal. Typical Jerusalem led to the eternal things of heavenly Jerusalem.
In Revelation chapter 4 John describes a throne room scene in Heaven. The transition creatures as seen by Ezekiel are now represented at the throne of heaven among others. The 24 elders are mentioned first and most easily represent the 12 apostles and the 12 tribes while the 7 spirits of God represent the local churches. Then the 4 beasts of Ezekiel are in the scene worshipping. They no longer have the omnidirectional wheels in heaven and they no longer have each other’s backs. They individually face God in worship with one face to each body. They now have panoramic heavenly vision rather than low to high vision. The Holy Spirit gave eternal life to the mortal bodies we first saw on earth. Now they have bodies fitted for heaven.
Revelation 4:6-7
YLT 6 and before the throne is a sea of glass like to crystal, and in the midst of the throne, and round the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes before and behind; 7 and the first living creature is like a lion, and the second living creature is like a calf, and the third living creature hath the face as a man, and the fourth living creature is like an eagle flying.
1 Corinthians 15:15-22
CLV 15 Now we are being found false witnesses also of God, seeing that we testify by God that He rouses Christ, Whom, consequently, He rouses not, if so be that the dead are not being roused.” 16 For, if the dead are not being roused, neither has Christ been roused.” 17 Now, if Christ has not been roused, vain is your faith – you are still in your sins!” 18 Consequently those also, who are put to repose in Christ, perished.” 19 If we are having an expectation in Christ in this life only, more forlorn than all men are we.” 20 (Yet now Christ has been roused from among the dead, the Firstfruit of those who are reposing.” 21 For since, in fact, through a man [human Adam] came death, through a Man [Human Jew Jesus], also, comes the resurrection of the dead.” 22 For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be vivified.”
Salvation is of the tribe of Judah which was represented by the 12 apostles in the transition of covenants also known as the reformation body. Jesus was the first to die and be resurrected into the new covenant body. Salvation came through Him; a Jew. Jesus appeared in His resurrection to other Jews. Salvation is of the Jews. The Holy Spirit new covenant body was made up of the 12 apostles and 12 tribes first. They were among the first fruit to be added to Jesus’ first fruit resurrection. They spoke at Pentecost to further bring in the 12 tribes. That makes these 24 the oldest bodies in the church. They are represented by the 24 elders in heaven.
The first century resurrection was ongoing, as the Spirit gave life to other mortal bodies and added them to the new covenant eternal body. If in this life only we have put our hopes then we are of all people most miserable, because flesh and blood does not inherit eternal life in heaven. Those in the old flesh and blood covenant body had to put on immortality, just as all other flesh and blood mortal bodies that were being added to the church during the transition to the spirit-realm human body in heaven.
1 Corinthians 15:39-58
YLT 39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another of fishes, and another of birds; 40 and there are heavenly bodies, and earthly bodies; but one is the glory of the heavenly, and another that of the earthly; 41 one glory of sun, and another glory of moon, and another glory of stars, for star from star doth differ in glory. 42 So also is the rising again of the dead: it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; 43 it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body; there is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body; 45 so also it hath been written, `The first man Adam became a living creature,’ the last Adam is for a life-giving spirit, 46 but that which is spiritual is not first, but that which was natural, afterwards that which is spiritual. 47 The first man is out of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord out of heaven; 48 as is the earthy, such are also the earthy; and as is the heavenly, such are also the heavenly; 49 and, according as we did bear the image of the earthy, we shall bear also the image of the heavenly. 50 And this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood the reign of God is not able to inherit, nor doth the corruption inherit the incorruption; 51 lo, I tell you a secret; we indeed shall not all sleep, and we all shall be changed; 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, in the last trumpet, for it shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we—we shall be changed: 53 for it behoveth this corruptible to put on incorruption, and this mortal to put on immortality; 54 and when this corruptible may have put on incorruption, and this mortal may have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the word that hath been written, `The Death was swallowed up—to victory; 55 where, O Death, thy sting? where, O Hades, thy victory?’ 56 and the sting of the death is the sin, and the power of the sin the law; 57 and to God—thanks, to Him who is giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ; 58 so that, my brethren beloved, become ye stedfast, unmovable, abounding in the work of the Lord at all times, knowing that your labour is not vain in the Lord.
The eschaton Adam was born “son of man” for the purpose of giving the life-giving Holy Spirit to His people who were all doomed to die in their natural mortal bodies. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, baptized and joined by the Holy Spirit and resurrected into the new covenant body by the Holy Spirit. He sent that Holy Spirit to bring life to the age to other mortal bodies, before the mortal-only millennial end of both Adam and the old covenant ended in the death. Without the resurrection into a new covenant administration, only Jesus’ mortal body would have arrived to the millennium spiritually alive. He put Himself as thee eschaton Adam to death, even though He was the only old covenant Adam who would have arrived alive and ascended to heaven. Post-resurrection and ascension, He is embodied in heaven, enthroned at the right hand of the Father, receiving worship from all of His creation.