1:2, 3. In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity, 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.—Men do not raise themselves up to become great and honored agents in God's outworking of the Divine Plan of the Ages (Luke 18:14; Eph. 3:11); but now and then throughout the centuries Jehovah Himself (1 Cor. 12:18) has raised up Christian men to carry forward one step or another of His purposes. God made special use of St Paul, St John, Arius, Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, Martin Luther and Charles T. Russell. The significance of the word Ezekiel is “God is [pg 368] strong,” and epitomizes the faith and the message of Pastor Russell. He shows the power of Jehovah to save His people now (Acts 15:14), and later to save all the willing and obedient of mankind. (Acts 15:17.) As Ezekiel was the son of Buzi, “Contemned of God,” Pastor Russell was born the child of a nominal religious system which is unfaithful to Jehovah. Pastor Russell, by the faithful carrying out of his vow of consecration to Divine service, was accepted as a true priest of the Almighty. He sacrificed himself and all that he had until, in October, 1916, he died penniless, but rich in the things of God. Chosen expressly by God to declare the message of Present Truth to the last, or Laodicean age, of the Church, the hand, power, of Jehovah was upon him.
1:4. 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; and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.—As a young man Charles T. Russell was looking intently to see what might be discerned in the Word of God. “Watch,” said the Master. Pastor Russell took for his motto, “I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me.” (Hab. 2:1) He called his semi-monthly publication, “The Watch Tower”; and, firm in the belief that the Second Advent took place in 1874, he included as a sub-title, “And Herald of Christ's Presence.” The north symbolizes the spiritual phase of the Kingdom of God. (Isa. 14:13; D. 653.) Pastor Russell beheld coming, permitted by God, a great Time of Trouble, a whirlwind of warfare, revolution and anarchy. (Jer. 25:32; Psa. 58:9, 10; D. 528.) It was the cloud accompanying the approach to human affairs of Him for whose Kingdom many have so long prayed. “Clouds and darkness are round about Him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His Throne, a fire goeth before Him and burneth up His enemies round about.” (Psa. 97:2) A conflagration, beginning with world war, is upon the earth, developing into revolution and anarchy. Fire symbolises the last of these misfortunes. (Dan. 7:11) The situation is complicated, infolding, perplexing. None of the national leaders understand the situation. To the poor world, in gross darkness, and lying “in the wicked one,” the cloud is full of darkness (Isa. 60:2), of gloominess (Joel 2:2; Zeph. 1:15); but to those who are taken out of the world and into Christ, it is full of brightness and hope—a white cloud, with a silver lining. In the bright light of the dawning Day of Christ the faces of the Lord's people light up with joy as they see these things coming to pass; for [pg 369] their “deliverance draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28)—the deliverance, too, of the whole world from the kingdom of Satan, the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4), into the glorious Kingdom of God, the other side of the trouble. With the understanding of God, His work, plan and purpose, there shone forth the amber, golden glow of the Divine presence, and of the true character, nature and glory of the Almighty God of Love. The Father Himself is supervising the troublous commotion, bruising to heal (Hos. 6:1), and “shortening the days.”—Matt. 24:22.
One Of The Living Creatures
1:5. 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.—Out of the contemplation of the cloud of trouble, the worldwide commotion, the destructive anarchy, and of the golden amber glow of God's presence, came a wonderful understanding of something long misunderstood and misrepresented—the character of God. As the vision showed “four living creatures,” so the Divine character was seen by the Laodicean steward to consist of four active principles (Rev. 3:14); Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom. The four have the likeness of a perfect man.
1:6. And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.—Each of the four attributes has four characteristics or attributes; and each has the Word of God (wings—Rev. 12:14), in the Old and New Testament, in two different ways of operation (two pairs).
1:7. And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass.—The feet members of Christ, embodying the Divine attributes on earth, are righteous (straight) in Christ's righteousness, pure, unblemished in God's sight, holy, acceptable, living sacrifices (the calf is a type of unblemished sacrifice); and they shine with the imputed perfection of the Man Christ Jesus.
1:8. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides: and they four had their faces and their wings.—The hand is symbolic of power and of execution of purpose. Overshadowed by the Word of God is the Divine power (hand) to execute the thing purposed, operating through human channels, through the power of men. He shows the qualities of the Divine mind through man. Shielded, protected, sustained by the Word (wings)—(Psa. 61:4), the work of the Almighty goes on through “the foolishness of preaching.” (1 Cor. 1:21.) Men and women are “coworkers with God.” (2 Cor. 6:1.) The hands (powers) of man are instruments for the operation of infinite Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.
1:9. Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went everyone straight forward.—The wings (Psa. 91:4; Rev. 12:14) are perfectly joined together in unity of purpose and action. Straight on to the end ordained of God goes His Word, upholding and strengthening.—Isa. 46:10, 11.
1:10. As for the likeness 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.—The character of Jehovah possesses four fundamental attributes, each composed of all the others. The four faces or features of the living creatures represent the four attributes of God, each inseparable from the others, and in each operate each and all of the four. Divine Justice operates in the fulness of Power, Love and Wisdom. In the fall of man into sin, unbending Justice enforced death for disobedience. Love delayed the execution of the sentence upon Adam 930 years (Gen. 5:5), that Wisdom might impress upon the erring human son an indelible lesson of the exceeding sinfulness of sin (Rom. 7:13) and the extent of the penalty, death, that man, by said experience, might “know evil.” (Gen. 3:5.) Divine power will raise man from the dead, that he may learn to “know good” and experience the fulness of the Father's Love and Wisdom. All who are willing and obedient, who consecrate fully to God's will, shall enjoy “pleasures forevermore” (Psa. 16:11) in the sunshine of Divine favor. The unwilling and disobedient shall suffer the full penalty of Justice in the Second Death (Rev. 21:8), “utter destruction” (2 Thes. 1:9), final and eternal obliteration. (Psa. 37:10.) The face of a man symbolizes the quality of Love, in the character image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:27), the God of love. (1 John 4:8.) The ox represents Power (Rev. 4:7); for no animal is stronger, or more patient in the exercise of strength. The majestic lion is God's Justice, roaring its message of death, and executing all that oppose its voice. (Psa. 89:14.) No other creature is so far-sighted, or soars so high as the eagle. The eagle symbolizes Wisdom, far-seeing, ordering all the affairs of the Almighty along the lines of Justice, Power and Love.