Ezekiel: His Call and Commission — Stephen Kaung

This is Sunday evening, June 2nd, 1974, in Richmond, Virginia. The ministry is being given through Brother Stephen Kahn. We do thank the Lord that we may be together again. Will you please turn to the book of the Prophet Ezekiel, Chapter 1.

Ezekiel’s Opening Vision and Historical Setting

Ezekiel, the first chapter. I do not know how familiar you are with Ezekiel. For the sake of some who may not be too familiar, we'll read the first chapter. Ezekiel, Chapter 1, Verse 1. Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Cheba, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

On the fifth of the month, it was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity. The word of Jehovah came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldees, by the river Cheba.

And the hand of Jehovah was there upon him. And I looked, and behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire enfolding itself. And the brightness was about it. And out of the midst thereof as the look of a glowing breast, out of the midst of the fire, also out of the midst thereof 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 of them had four wings, and their feet were straight feet. And the sole of their feet was like the sole of a cow's foot, and they sparkled as the look of burnished breast.

And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides. And they four had their faces in their wings. Their wings would join one to another. They turned up when they went. They went, every one straight forward, and the likeness of their faces was the face of a man.

And they four had the face of a lion on the right side, and they four had the face of an ox on the left side. They four had also the face of an eagle. And their faces and their wings were parted above.

Two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies. And they went, every one straight forward, whither the spirit was the go they went. They turned up when they went. And as for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire.

As the appearance of torches, it went up and down among the living creatures. And the fire was bright. And out of the fire went forth lightning. And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.

And I look at the living creatures, and behold, one wheel upon the earth beside the living creatures. The appearance of the wheels and their work was as the work of a crystallite. And they four had one likeness, and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.

When they went, they went upon their four sides. They turned up when they went. As for their rims, they were high and dreadful. And they four had their rims full of eyes round about. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them.

And when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went. Thither will their spirit go, and the wheels were lifted up along with them.

For the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. When those went, they went. And when those stood, they stood. And when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up along with them.

For the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. And there was the likeness of an expanse over the head of the living creature, as the look of the terrible crystal stretched forth over their heads above.

And under the expanse were their wings straight, the one toward the other. Everyone had two which covered on this side, and everyone had two which covered on that side their bodies. And when they went, I heard a noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, a tumultuous noise, as the noise of a host.

When they stood, they let down their wings. And there was a voice from above the expanse that was over their heads. When they stood, they let down their wings. And above the expanse that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone.

And upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the look of glowing breast, as the appearance of fire, withing it round about, from the appearance of his loins and upward, and from the appearance of his loins and downward.

I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about, as the appearance of the bull that is in the cloud in the day of rain. So was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Jehovah.

And when I saw, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of one that spoke. The prophet Ezekiel was one of the so-called four major prophets in the Old Testament. Now of course the term major prophet is very arbitrary.

This division is man-made according to the length of the book of each prophet. But anyway Ezekiel was listed among the three great prophets at the time of the exile of the children of Israel. There was Jeremiah who started to prophesy before Ezekiel.

He prophesied during that period when the nation of Judah was going to enter into captivity. And even after they were taken into captivity, Jeremiah continued his prophesying in the land of Egypt. Jeremiah was prophesying in the land of Judah.

But Ezekiel was raised up by God among the Agars in Babylon to prophesy. And at the same time we find there was Daniel. Daniel was there in the court, and he was one raised up by God as a great prophet.

So during that period, before, at the time, and after the captivity, we find God raised up three great prophets. Most probably they know one another. Why? Probably because even though Ezekiel never mentioned Jeremiah in his book, and yet they were both of the priestly family.

And Jeremiah prophesied in Jerusalem, where Ezekiel probably grew up. When he was young, Jeremiah was already used by God as a great prophet. So most likely Ezekiel must have heard Jeremiah prophesying, and he must be greatly moved, impressed by Jeremiah.

Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Daniel During the Exile

Now of course Ezekiel mentioned Daniel in his book. In chapter 14, in chapter 28, you'll find Ezekiel mentions Daniel. Daniel of course lived in the royal court, because he was of the royal seed, and he was taken to Babylon before Ezekiel.

He was taken to Babylon in the third year of King Jehoiakim. At that time, you remember Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came, and he took some of the sons of the nobles as hostages, and Daniel was among them.

He was trained to stand before the king. So during the period of the exile, of the captivity, Daniel served in the Gentile court, and he served well for God. But Ezekiel, he was taken into captivity during the reign of King Jehoiakim.

It was a few years later, and he lived among the exiles by the river Sheba. So he must have known Daniel, he mentioned him twice. One, he mentioned Daniel as one, a man of great righteousness and of prayer.

Because there he mentioned Daniel, together with Noah and Job. Even if there was Noah and Daniel and Job, they could only save themselves. They could not save other people. And then again, in chapter 28 of Ezekiel, he mentioned Daniel, saying that the prince of Tyre was wiser than Daniel.

In other words, Daniel was a wise man. So these three prophets, they knew one another, and God used them to prophesy approximately at the same time, more or less, at different places, under different circumstances.

And by the witnesses of two and three, everything shall be secured. We do not know too much about the past history of Ezekiel. We only know that his name means the strength of God. That very name is a good testimony, because he lived in a time of great weakness of the people of God.

Even though the people of God were in great weakness, and they manifested great weakness, even so, they were taken into captivity. And yet, the strength of God remained unchanged. His father's name was Buzi.

We do not know much about him. We only know that he was of the priestly family. Now, as you know, if a boy was born to a priestly family, his future was actually decided. He was to be a priest. And because of that, he will be trained from his childhood for that one service, for that one purpose of serving God in the temple as a priest.

So most probably, Ezekiel, when he was young, when he was a boy, he must be trained towards that one aim of his life, and that was to serve in the temple. But he didn't have a chance. If, in the first chapter of Ezekiel, it says, in the fourth, in the, now it came to pass in the thirtieth year.

And this thirtieth year is the same as it was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity. Now, we do not know what that thirtieth year means. We only know that the thirtieth year there is the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity.

In other words, it was the fifth year of Ezekiel's captivity. Some people think probably the thirtieth year, which is not described. Probably it is his age. At the fifth year of his captivity, he came to the age of thirty.

Now if the rule governing the Levites is applicable to the priest, then a priest will be trained from childhood for that one service in the temple. And when he was twenty-five years of age, he would enter into the temple as an apprentice and assistant.

He would assist the priest in the services of the temple. And when he reached the age of thirty, then he would become a full-fledged priest. There he would serve the house with the rest of the priests.

From Priestly Training to Prophetic Calling

Now, brothers and sisters, just think for a moment. This man Ezekiel, he was born in the priestly family. He was trained from his childhood just for one job and nothing else. He knew absolutely nothing but how to serve God in the temple.

And his whole life was trained towards that one aim. But when he was twenty-five, just at the time he could enter into the temple to serve as an apprentice, he was taken into captivity. And when he was thirty years old, instead of serving the temple in Jerusalem, here he was with the exiles by the river.

The River Sheba, most probably, was the grand canal of Babylon. The Babylonian king used slave labor to build a canal. And most likely that's why these captives were there. They were taken to that place to dig the grand canal.

Instead of serving in the house of God in Jerusalem, there you'll find Ezekiel was among the captives, the slave laborers, by the grand canal doing digging. No wonder, when he was at that time, the agony of his heart was beyond description.

Suppose you are trained for one thing through your life. And yet just before you were able to enter into that, you were taken away. And there was no chance, no possibility. As Ezekiel looked back to Jerusalem, how his heart was longed that he might be in Jerusalem serving God in the temple.

Because that was his life. But there was no possibility. He was among the captives by the river. At the death of his disappointment, the glory of the Lord appeared to him. And he was called to be. Brothers and sisters, if you read the book of Ezekiel, you'll find he was a priest in heart.

Though a prophet by calling. He was different from Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a priest prophet. He was a priest. But his main occupation was a prophet. But here you'll find Ezekiel was different. In his heart he was always a priest.

Even after he was called by God to be a prophet, he was still a priest in heart. And yet at the time when he was at his end, as it were, there was absolutely no possibility of his being a priest serving God in the temple.

And as you read his prophecy, you know he prophesied that Jerusalem would be destroyed. The temple would be destroyed. There was absolutely no chance. But God called him to be a prophet. To a higher service.

He was not allowed to serve in the temple in Jerusalem because that temple was to be destroyed. But he was called to serve the people of God in the temple, which is a higher service. To serve the temple or serve the people of God.

That they may be the living temple of God. Took him and translated his ministry from the outward appearance into the inward. From serving in the material temple in Jerusalem to serve the living people of God.

From the temporal to the eternal. From the physical to the spirit. At the extremity, the end of man. God began with a glorious beginning. Now that was Ezekiel. Brothers and sisters, do you know that we too live in a very unusual time?

Serving God in an Unusual Time

If you live in an unusual time, the traditional, the conventional will not operate. If the nation of Judah was in its peaceful days, then surely you'll find Ezekiel could serve God in the traditional way.

He was born in a priestly family, therefore his future was determined. He was trained to be a priest, and after he was trained, he knew all the precepts and all the details, all that he should do in the temple.

Then when he reached that age, automatically, mechanically, technically, he will be in the temple serving God. But he lived in an unusual time. The traditional and the conventional did not work. And not because it did not work, that was the end of his service to God.

As a matter of fact, it was a glorious beginning. Dear brothers and sisters, we are not living in the usual time. We are living in an unusual time. And because our time is unusual, the way to serve God has to be unusual.

The traditional and the conventional will not be able to operate. They'll not be ever lost, because that's what you are trained for. You may think because you are trained in that way, if you cannot operate in that way, then you are finished.

Humanly speaking, that may be true. But dear brothers and sisters, God has something far better. God desires that in an unusual time, that we shall touch the reality, and not just the appearance. A priest may serve in the temple, but you will discover in the book of Ezekiel that the glory of the Lord has left the temple.

It was just an empty house. And if it was an empty house, then the service will be serving an empty house. There was no eternal value in it. It was just maintaining an appearance. There was no reality.

But instead, Ezekiel did not have a temple by the river Jeba. And yet Ezekiel preserved the exiles, the people of God, with a service to the end. Later on we'll mention that. That God did use him. In spite of all the difficulties, almost a hopeless situation, and yet you'll find God did use him in a very unusual way.

Dear brothers and sisters, I believe the Lord is doing the same thing today. Do not be discouraged. Do not think that the door is closed. Do not give up because the conventional and the traditional does not work.

The Lord is calling us into something much higher, much deeper. It is the spiritual, the real, that really matters. In the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity, when Ezekiel was 30 years old, he was by the river Jeba.

The Opened Heavens and the Vision of God

I wonder if he was meditating, thinking. Very often, you know, when a person was meditating, the Lord may appear to him. Just like John, there he was on the Lord's Day, on the island Patmos, and longingly he looked across the sea to the seven churches in Asia, which he served very faithfully before he was exiled, and there you'll find God gave him a vision.

And probably the same thing happened to Ezekiel. Here he was by the river Jeba, and then you'll find he was in the spirit. The heavens were opened, and I saw visions. The earth was closed, but the heavens were opened.

He saw the visions of God, and the word of Jehovah came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, and the hand of Jehovah was there upon him. He saw the visions of God. He heard the voice of the Lord expressly to him, and the hand of the Lord was upon him.

He saw, he heard, and he felt it. His whole being was taken up in the spirit, and there he saw the visions. Now what were the visions? Even though we may not see vision in the same way as Ezekiel saw, and yet in spiritual principle, this is a must to our life.

If we want to live a life pleasing and useful to him, we must, not in the sense that we need to see something, hear something, or feel the touch of something physically like Ezekiel. But even with Ezekiel, you know, it is in the spirit.

But in our spirit, we need to see, we need to hear, and we need to be touched. We need that. That will bring us into usefulness in the hand of the Lord. I looked, and behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud and a fire enfolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the look of glowing brass, out of the midst of the fire.

He looked and he saw a stormy wind came out of the north, a great from the north. Now, why is it it came from the north? You know, Jerusalem was in the east, in the west, of where Ezekiel was. But he saw a cloud coming from the north.

I wonder if this is because God's throne is set in the north. You remember in Isaiah chapter 14, it is said, Upon the mount of assembly, the recesses of the north. In a sense, the north speaks of where God is, where his throne is.

Therefore you find a great cloud coming from the north. It is a cloud, and yet it is a brilliant cloud. It is a cloud, and yet you find it is like fire enfolding there. There is a brightness there. I wonder if this is what we call the Shekinah, glory of the Lord.

This is the cloud that once filled the house built by Solomon. When the glory of the Lord entered into the house built by Solomon, the whole place was filled with smoke, and the priest could not serve there.

The glory of the Lord filled it. I wonder if it is the same cloud that the three disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration entered into. You remember they woke up, and they saw that Moses and Elijah were going to leave, and Peter was putting a word, trying to retain them, and said, Now it is good, Lord, to be here.

Let us make three taverns. One for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah. And immediately you will find a cloud cover there. And in the original, it was not a dark cloud. It was a shining, the glory of the Lord.

The Lord used darkness as his pavilion when he traveled, but inside is full of glory. You can read that in Psalm 18. So here you will find God, the God who is on the throne. He is coming from the north, traveling towards the prophet.

So there he saw a great cloud, a shining, brilliant cloud. Oh, the glory of the Lord. And as he comes closer, he saw, also out of the midst thereof, the likeness of four living creatures. At a distance he only saw a cloud, a brilliant cloud.

But when the cloud came closer to him, he could see that in the midst of the cloud there was the appearance of four living creatures. Now who were they? There you find mentioned four living creatures.

And when you come to chapter 10 of Ezekiel, you find these four living creatures actually were cherubim. Because in chapter 10 it explains it. It is the same vision, and yet you'll find it used the word cherubim instead of living creatures.

You can look up later on. But anyway, you'll find in the midst of the cloud there were four living creatures, and they were cherubim. Cherubim is a mystery to us. The first mentioning of the cherubim were in Genesis chapter 3.

The Cherubim in Genesis, the Tabernacle, and the Temple

You remember after man sinned, they were driven out of the garden of Eden. And there God set cherubim with a flame of flashing sword, guarding the way to the tree of life on the east of the garden. That was the first mentioning of the cherubim.

But there was no description of these cherubim. Then later on you'll find Moses, while he was in the wilderness, God commanded him to build a tabernacle and the different pieces of furniture in the tabernacle.

And you remember God commanded Moses to build an ox. And upon the ox was the lid, which was to be the mercy seat. And on the mercy seat there were to be two cherubim facing each other, looking towards the ox, and with their wings covered.

Not only on the mercy seat you'll find cherubim, but you'll find on the veil that separates the holy place and the holiest of all, that veil was made of blue, purple, gold, and also embroidered with cherubim of artistic.

Not only that, but you'll find the tabernacle, the curtain, were embroidered with cherubim. And yet God did not tell Moses what were the cherubims like. And yet Moses seemed to have no problem. God did not tell him the shape, the form, and so forth, and yet Moses had no problem.

He just built a cherubim over the ox. He just embroidered the cherubim on the veil and the curtain. There was no problem. When Solomon built the temple, you'll find he used olive wood to carve two giant cherubim, ten cubits high, and with their wings of five cubits each, they stretched across the holy place of all, serving as the back of the ox.

So instead of two cherubim on the mercy seat, you'll find two more in the holiest place for living creatures, for cherubim in the holiest. And cherubim was carved on the walls of the house, carved on the door of the house, and even you'll find on the panels of the base of the labyrinth, cherubim everywhere.

No description. David mentioned cherubim in his Psalms. He said God is the God of Israel who sitted between the cherubim. He mentioned cherubim in the book of Psalm 2. Hezekiah, in his prayer, he said, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel who sitted between the cherubim.

The Four Faces and Spirit-Governed Movement

They all mentioned cherubim, but no description. It wasn't until Ezekiel, you'll find the cherubim were described in detail. And there is another place in the Bible where cherubim are described in the book of Revelation.

The four living creatures. Now, dear brothers and sisters, who are these cherubim? Here you're finding Ezekiel. They were living creatures. This was their appearance. They had the likeness of a man. They looked like men.

And yet, you know, when Moses built the tabernacle, it was according to the pattern God gave him on the mount. Everything was patterned after that which is in heaven. And you remember in Ezekiel 28, it said the anointed cherub that covered the throne of God.

Well, these anointed cherub that covered the throne of God in heaven seemed to be angelic beings. And yet here you'll find the appearance of a man. Everyone had four faces. At the front, the face of a man.

On the right side, the face of a lion. On the left side, the face of an ox. At the back, the face of an eagle. They were all kings. Man is the king of the created beings. Lion is the king of the beasts.

Ox is the king of the domesticated animals. And eagle is the king of the birds. All kings in their different realms. Here you'll find each cherub has four faces. But when you come to the book of Revelation, you'll find four living creatures and each with one face.

They changed. They changed. And every one of them has four wings. Only four. Two to stretch out and join together. Serving as the chariot of the throne of God. And two to cover their bodies. Because before God, everything is one.

And yet in Isaiah chapter six, the seraphim have six wings, not four wings. We wonder if the seraphim and the cherubim are the same or different. And their feet were straight feet. They cannot bend. They were straight.

Why? Because they walked straight. They can go to four directions, but they never need to make a right turn or a left turn or a roundabout turn. They just go straight forward, straight backward, straight right and straight left.

And their feet were straight. Never bend. And the soul is like an ox's soul. Why? Cow's soul. It's very steady. Very steady. They won't stumble. When they went, everyone straight forward. Whither the spirit was to go, they went.

They turned up when they went. In other words, their action was controlled completely by the spirit. I believe the spirit here is the spirit of God. These living creatures were under the complete control of the spirit of God.

Whenever the spirit of God goes, they go. And they turned up. The appearance of these living creatures were like the appearance of fire, lightning, full of brightness. And when they traveled, they traveled as the flesh of lightning.

Swift. Very fast. And Ezekiel looked again, and he saw by the side of the living creatures were wheels. Wheels within wheels. And the rim of the wheels were very high and dreadful, full of eyes. When the living creatures went, the wheels went.

Spiritual Principles Represented by the Living Creatures

Because the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. Now, brothers and sisters, these were the descriptions you'll find in the book of Ezekiel of these charities. We do not know who they are. Whether they are angelic beings, or what.

We believe that they are real. They are not just some ideas, abstract ideas. They are real. And yet, it seems that you cannot pin them down to a fixed form. They seem to be so adjustable. They seem to change their form from time to time.

They are not as rigid and fixed. They are more fluid. In other words, that these charities, without defining what they are, or who they are, we believe they are real. And yet, in these charities, probably, God wants us to see certain spiritual principles embodied.

They were creatures. Living creatures. They were four in number. We wonder if they represent God's creation as God designed. In the first world, the highest of God's created beings are the angels. And for that reason, probably, the cherubim were angelic in appearance.

But when God remade this world, in Genesis chapter 1, you'll find the highest of God's created beings was man. And I wonder if because of that, the cherubim took up the form, the appearance, of a man.

Let me put it this way. I'm not trying to define what and who these cherubim are. I don't know. But I think probably from these cherubim we can learn some spiritual principles. No doubt God must have put some spiritual principles in these charities.

They represent something. They represent something. Why is it that after man fell, God set cherubim to guard the way to the tree of life? Can it be that when man fell, God set before man what he had first designed man to be?

In other words, man can fail, but God designed. God will not lower his standard. God's standard is still there. And because God's standard is still there, man has no way to get to the tree of life. There's no way.

In other words, these cherubim that stood guarding the tree of life reminded man what they ought to be and what they were not. That's why you'll find the cherubim appeared for the first time in the book of Genesis.

And again and again you'll find in the temple, in the tabernacle in the temple, you'll find these cherubim. Why? Because the tabernacle and the temple stood for what God desired. He wanted to dwell among man.

But he had to dwell among man in that nothing less than what these cherubim one day when our Lord Jesus was crucified on the cross. When he said, It is finished. Father, I surrender. I give my spirit to you.

When Christ died on the cross outside the gate of Jerusalem, there within Jerusalem, the veil in the temple was rent from top to bottom. And Hebrews said, This veil represents the flesh of our Lord Jesus, the body.

And because he was broken, a new and living way is given to us that we may enter into the holy of holies, the very presence. If the veil represents the flesh of our Lord Jesus, then you know on the veil were embroidered the cherubim all over.

When the veil was rent, the cherubim embroidered on the veil. And brothers and sisters, when the Lord was in the flesh, in one sense, the very presence on earth condemned. He was the only one who could see the Father.

But at the same time, he was the one that should bar everyone from the presence. You remember the Lord in John said, When the Holy Spirit shall come, he shall convict people of sin, of righteousness, of judgment, of righteousness, because I go to the Father.

In other words, he was the only one who was fit to see the Father's face. And that condemned us. We are not fit. Because we are not what we should be, what God designed us to be. We had fallen. But dear brothers and sisters, when Christ died on the cross and he was rent, we were rent in him.

By his death and the new and living way, we now can go to the Father. So if we look at it in this way, we can see that the cherubim at least impressed upon us that they stand for God and for God's purpose is in Christ.

The Church as God’s Living Temple

He created angels, but the angels fell. He created man, but man fell. He called Israel to be his temple, and Israel fell. And brothers and sisters, who are represented by these cherubim today? The church.

The cherubim are the living creatures. They were closest to the throne. They guard the throne. They support the throne. And they carry the throne wherever God wants to go. They were the carriers of the throne.

They are in such oneness with the throne. They are under the throne. They are under the complete control of the Spirit. They are the one Spirit with God. They are full of intelligence, full of eyes. They never turn hither and thither, but they always go straight and sweet and full of fire that is holy.

Brothers and sisters, is that not a description of what the church is in the mind of God today? Who can be closer to the throne today than the church of God? To whom does God commit himself on this earth?

To the church. What is the church? The church is to be under the throne of God. To carry out. The church is to be filled by the Spirit of God and to go straight. The church is to be intelligent enough to know the Lord.

And the church is to lead the universe in worshiping God. Saying, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty. That is what the church is. If Israel fails, God has his charity. When the church fails, God still has his charity.

That's what you'll find in Revelation. He still has his charity. Men may fail, but God cannot. Brothers and sisters, do not stop at the charity. Here you'll find Ezekiel saw a cloud coming. And as the cloud comes, he looked up and he saw in the cloud the four living creatures.

And they spread their wings as the chariot of God. Then he looked further up and he saw the next thing. Clear as crystal. Transparent. And you know John the apostle saw the same thing. A glassy sea under the throne.

Before God everything is transparent. God is light. There is no darkness in there. There is no shadow nor turning. So here you'll find even at the feet of the throne it is all transparent. Everything is transparent.

And there he saw on the expanse the lightness of the throne. Now do not try to imagine a throne in a physical way. That's the problem. When we read the Bible, just this afternoon before I came, somebody asked me this question.

God is sitting at the right hand of the Father. Now we imagine there is a throne there, you know. And God sits in the throne and the Lord sits at his right hand. Just to use these figurative ways to explain to us finite mind.

But do not try to visualize it. To limit it to a material concept, you know. God is trying to show us that he is on the throne. And the throne, the appearance of the throne, and it is full of fire. And one sits upon the throne like the appearance of a man.

And you see the upper part, the lower part, and it's all like fire, holy. In other words, God is on it. And the cherubim are underneath and carry the throne wherever God wanted to go. Brothers and sisters, it is good to catch a vision of what the church is in God's...

We see too much on earth. And sometimes because we see too much, we cannot see what we ought to see. We look downward instead of upward. We look around instead of up. Oh, if only God allows us to see what the church is as he sees it.

They are represented by the cherubim, the living creatures, doing the will of God in perfect harmony. No matter what happened, the throne of God is there. God is in full control. And he is working out.

Brothers and sisters, when Ezekiel saw that vision, you know, what a comfort it must be to Ezekiel. He saw that so far as his life was concerned, he was finished. Finished at 30. So far as the children of Israel concerned, it was finished.

Everything was finished. But God showed him that in spite of what happened on earth, God is still on the throne. He still has his cherubim to carry out, and his will shall be done on earth as it is. Now this is the vision that Ezekiel saw.