4:7. And the first beast.—Justice was the attribute first manifested toward our sinful race. “God has found it necessary to perform the unpleasant duties of discipline; and though all the while His fatherly love was preparing to bless the deceived and fallen ones when the purposes of redemption should restore the repentant to His favor, Love must be veiled while only stern, relentless Justice could be manifested. This has been no happifying duty.”—Z. '95-154.
Was like a lion.—The characteristics of the lion illustrate this attribute: The teeth are of the highest carnivorous type, adapted to seizing and holding firmly. Although occasionally seen abroad during the day, especially in wild and desolate regions, the night (Psa. 30:5) is the period of its greatest activity. The usual pace of a lion is a walk; and, though apparently rather slow, yet he is able to get over a good deal of ground in a short time. As a rule, he kills only when hungry or attacked, and not for the mere pleasure of killing.—Ezek. 1:10; 10:14.
And the second beast.—Power, exhibited in the Flood, was the second of God's attributes manifested to man. “God, the Creator of all things, is also the competent Sustainer of all things. In silent grandeur, from age to age, the whole physical Universe fulfils His will, without a suspicion of disorder or mishap; and the same Power is pledged for its sustenance throughout the eternal future.”—Z. '95-153; Ezek. 1:10.
Like a calf.—With the Hebrews the calf (young ox) was the emblem of Power, the attribute of God with which they were principally acquainted. As an agricultural people, they were brought in frequent contact with it, the strongest of all the domestic animals. They were brought out of Egypt by a “mighty power and a stretched out arm” (Deut. 9:29); and when they sought to make a representation of it, the form selected was a golden calf.—Deut. 9:16-21.
And the third beast.—Love, exhibited in the Father sending His Only-Begotten Son to die that we might live, was the third of God's attributes manifested to man. “Our recovery cost the sacrifice of the dearest treasure of His heart, and the subjection of this Beloved One to the most abject humiliation, ignominy, suffering and death. Ah, did the Father let Him go on that errand of mercy without the slightest sensation of sorrowful emotion? had He no appreciation of the pangs of a father's love when the arrows of death pierced the heart of His beloved Son? When our dear Lord said, ‘My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death,’ and again, ‘Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt,’ did it touch no sympathetic chord in the heart of the Eternal? Yea, verily.”—Z. '95-154.
Had a face [as] LIKE a man.—The embodiment of love. (A. 174.) “Close your eyes for a moment to the scenes of misery and woe, degradation and sorrow that yet prevail on account of sin, and picture before your mental vision the glory of the perfect earth. Not a stain of sin mars the harmony and peace of a perfect society; not a bitter thought, not an unkind look or word; love, welling up from every heart, meets a kindred response in every other heart, and benevolence marks every act. Think of all the pictures of comparative health and beauty of human form and feature that you have ever seen, and know that perfect humanity will be of still surpassing loveliness. The inward purity and mental and moral perfection will stamp and glorify every radiant countenance.”—A. 191; Ezek. 1:5.
And the fourth beast.—Wisdom, as exhibited in the Father's Plan, now unfolded before our delighted gaze, is [pg 080] the fourth, and complete, manifestation of God to man. “He is never confused, bewildered, perplexed, anxious or careworn, or in the least fearful that His plans will miscarry or His purposes fail; because all power and wisdom inhere in Him. The scope of His mighty intellect reaches to the utmost bounds of possibility, comprehends all causes and discerns with precision all effects; consequently He knows the end from the beginning, and that, not only upon philosophical principles, but also by intuition. As the Creator of all things and the Originator of all law, He is thoroughly acquainted with all the intricate subtleties of physical, moral and intellectual law, so that no problem could arise, the results of which are not manifest to His mind. ‘God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.’ (1 John 1:5.)”—Z. '95-153.
Was like a flying eagle.—Of all known birds, the eagle flies the highest and with the greatest rapidity. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isa. 55:9.) The ones attracted to Present Truth are the eagles, the far-sighted ones that “behold the land that is very far off.” (Matt. 24:28; 2 Pet. 1:9; Isa. 33:16, 17; Psa. 103:5.) In the training of its young the eagle manifests wisdom of high order: “ ‘As an eagle stirreth up her nest’ (she mixes the thorny outside with the downy inside, so that the eaglets will leave it and learn to fly), so God, by His testing providences makes the place of rest one of unrest to us, and thus lures us out to trust ourselves to His care and guidance over untried ways.”—Z. '04-116.
4:8. And the four beasts.—Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.
Had each of them six wings about him.—“Above it stood the seraphims (Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom): each one had six wings, and with twain he did fly. And one cried to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.” (Isa. 6:2, 3.) “The vision of Isaiah is a prophecy of the future, when the ‘glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together’ in the establishment of the Kingdom of God during the Millennium. (Isa. 40:5.) Only from this prophetic standpoint would the words of the seraphim be true; for the whole earth has never yet been filled with the Lord's glory; but on the contrary, the earth is full of sin and violence, and every evil work.” (Z. '98-305.) Six is a symbol of imperfection, and in the light of the foregoing seems to refer to the six thousand years of the permission of evil, the theme of the entire Book of Revelation. For the first two thousand years, from the fall to [pg 081] the covenant with Abraham, God's face was almost entirely hidden from man. For the next two thousand years, until the death of Christ, it was not apparent how the place of God's feet, His footstool, should ever be made glorious. (Isa. 60:13; 66:1.) But since then, for two thousand years, God's Love has been manifest to all, and “the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God” (Rom. 8:19), to set up the Kingdom, the Golden Age, for which we all so long have prayed. (Matt. 6:10.) The wings operate in pairs.