A Corporate Four-Faced Man The heavens were opened to Ezekiel as he sat with the captives by the river of Chebar, and this is what he saw: And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it... also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings (Ezek. 1:4-6). John on Patmos saw the same creatures, which he described in almost identical language: 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 [living ones] full of eyes before and behind, And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle (Rev. 4:5-7). These creatures were not animals as we know them. But with our feeble understanding God has seen fit to relate heavenly realities to us in language we can understand so we might know the significance of what He is saying. The sons of Israel are spoken of as having certain animal characteristics: one tribe has the symbol of the lion, another of the adder, or a strong ass, a serpent, a hind let loose, or a wolf. John speaks of Jesus as the Iamb of God. And Jesus likens His own to sheep, the hypocrisy of the Pharisees to serpents or vipers, the craftiness of Herod to a fox. Knowing the nature of these animals we understand why these illustrations were used. [As the Lamb comes forward to take the book that is sealed with seven seals, the twenty four elders and the living creatures fall down and worship Him, And they sing a new song, saying: Worthy art Thou to take the booklet, and to open the seals thereof; because Thou wast slain, and didst purchase to God with Thy blood men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and madest them a kingdom and priests to our God; and they reign upon the earth (Rev. 5:9, 10). I believe the living creatures belong to the heavenly hosts of the Lord; but they are very much identified with the earthly redeemed people of God -- and together they sing this song of Redemption.] And so here in Ezekiel, and in the book of Revelation, the prophets saw the likeness of a man. Remember this. They saw these four faces of certain animals, but Ezekiel said the cherubim had the likeness of a man (1:5). And in their four faces we are reminded of the character of Christ Himself: The Face of a MAN. For He was Man in every sense of the word: acquainted with human suffering and aware of human need; tempted, tried, and approved in the crucible of human life; and conquering as Man. The Face of a LION. Fearless, powerful, strong, the king of beasts; relentless in pursuit of his prey; sudden and devastating in his attack on the enemy; one who rules and reigns in power and authority. The Face of an OX. Faithful, laborious, unassuming, unseeking, submissive, teachable; content with a handful of corn as he treads out the grain on the threshing floor; and finally giving up his life when his days of usefulness are over. The Face of an EAGLE. Watchful; detached from earthly pursuits and activities; oriented to heavenly places; disdainful of the cares and pursuits of mankind; having a free and soaring spirit. Now God has found such a Man in His only begotten Son; but He will have others like Him. And the Cherubim are there in the heavens as our spiritual counterpart, and commissioned to minister on behalf of those whom He has chosen for this high calling, just as they were once commissioned to keep the way of the tree of life and to bar sinful man from the presence of God. Jesus the perfect Son of Man is beautifully portrayed with these four faces, in the four Gospels: MATTHEW. Here we see Him as the LION. He is King, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. And as we would expect for a King, His genealogy is carefully traced right back to David, whose kingdom was to be eternal; and to Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel. MARK. Here we have the OX. Christ is portrayed here as a servant, the obedient One. The keyword in Mark is straightway. He is ever about His Fathers business. He is just a servant. Mark recounts no genealogy. Who cares about the genealogy of a servant? LUKE. Here we see the MAN, the ideal Man. His genealogy is traced right back to the first man, because the Second Man must come forth from the First Man in order to bring about our redemption. But the Second Man came to begin a new race of beings like Himself. This is therefore the last genealogy in the Bible; for in Christ all genealogy has come to a complete and final end. He is the Last Adam... the last of that old race. How then could there be another genealogy? You do injustice to the One Who fulfilled all genealogy if you go about trying to establish another one, or to perpetuate the genealogy that came to an end when Christ died on the cross. And so the apostle tells us to ignore endless genealogies. They serve no purpose. They only minister questions, disputes that lead to strife, rather than godly edifying. (Paul classifies genealogies along with fables. See 1 Tim. 1:4.) We must find our genealogy in union with the Second Man, the Lord from heaven, or we remain under the curse of the first man. JOHN. Here we see the EAGLE. Once again there is no genealogy; for Johns Gospel is about the Logos, the Word that was with God and was God. His was a timeless beginning. He is the Divine One. And so it is John who speaks about the Word of Life, the Light of Life, the Water of Life, the Bread of Life, the Resurrection and the Life. His is a free and soaring spirit. He lives in the heavenlies. Even on earth He was the Son of man which is in heaven as He walked in union with the Father. Now Jesus came from heaven to earth that as Man He might walk in the pathway of sonship and be made perfect through sufferings (Heb. 2:10); and some Christians think because we are men we must go to heaven to enter into that kind of perfect obedience. It is here on earth that the Lord would teach us His way, and cause us to walk in the pathway that has for its intention the reproduction of the Christ-life within us. Therefore we are exhorted to - Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men (Phil. 2:5-7). This is the pathway to the throne. It is far, far from the way of Lucifer, who said: I will ascend... I will be like the Most High. Rather, the Son of God said, I will go down... I will become a man... I will become a servant... I will become a slave... Notice these four faces of the Cherubim in the passage we have quoted: He was in the form of God... the EAGLE. He emptied Himself and became... the MAN. He humbled Himself, as a slave... the OX. Wherefore God hath exalted Him... the LION. We must always recognize that we see through a glass darkly and that we only know in part. But it is evident from the scriptures that these living creatures in the heavens have been commissioned of the Lord to minister to His people in the earth. Notice that these characteristics are opposites, and only in union with Christ do we know this blending of meekness with strength: of the lowliness of true manhood with the nature and character of God. And so we find these four faces in pairs: the Eagle opposite the Man, and the Lion opposite the Ox. Without this difficult yet glorious combination, we could become very much one-faced and one-sided, making for an improper balance: strong as a lion, bold, powerful, unrelenting... but so unlike Christ without the humility and meekness of the ox. Or we might be humble, hard-working, unassuming, submissive... all of which are very commendable. But there are times when along with this character we need to stand unfalteringly in the face of the foe when an assault is made against Gods people. With the Lion-face we might say, I certainly will not stand for that, and take matters into our own hands. But with the Ox-face we might say, Just pray about it... God will work it out, when there is need for bold action. It is just not natural for the Lion and the Ox to work together, to live together, to be together... to agree. But God must have these two faces in one. Then there is the Eagle and Man combination. We have those in the Church who are very human, very down to earth in their approach to life and ministry. They are concerned about human need: do what they can to alleviate human suffering, become involved in works of charity to help the poor and needy. And of course this is part of following Christ. But very often we do not find these people in the least concerned about making God their supreme quest in life, or walking in intimate fellowship with Him, or in fact even desiring to know anything more about the deeper life--the life that is hid with Christ in God. They are just too busy working for God. And they make sly jokes about the man who is so heavenly minded that he is no earthly good--a slogan that has been quoted so much, some almost think it is a scripture. But of course we can go to the other extreme: completely withdraw from human associations in order to draw near to God... become involved with deeper truths... always seeking to fellowship with God on a higher plane, and to press on toward the mark for the prize of the high calling, and in pursuing all this there may be no concern for human need... no real sense of responsibility... and no thought of getting involved with mankind and their problems. It is a simple case of the Man and the Eagle refusing to associate. It is just not natural to do so. Man loves the city life, while the eagle disdains it; he wants the loneliness of the mountain tops, and the freedom of the heavens. But God in His plan for His people would work in us the nature of Christ, so as to have at one and the same time, the face of the Man and the face of the Eagle together with the face of the Ox and the face of the Lion. Not a two-faced man but a four-faced man--each face walking straight forward! They turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward (Ezek. 1:9). Now this is just impossible! Faces on four sides, and each face going straight forward! Whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went (vs. 12). Impossible! But this is what Ezekiel saw. And this is what God has designed... for His Son, and for those who come into union with Him. George Warnock, From Tent to Temple
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 04:19:57 +0000
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