Sword & Trowel 2016: Issue 1


of fire, depicting the self-fed, self- controlled power of God who needs no combustible material to fuel the flames that represent his holiness and might. Amber was the emerg- ing prevailing hue – ‘And out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.’ The colour of amber in Ezekiel denotes the divine being, the majesty, holi- ness and the power of God. The prophet’s commission came with an overpowering sense or realisation of the might and authority of God, and that is exactly what we need, and what is missing from the nominal evangelical world of gimmickry and of doctrine without obedience. How much we need to be overwhelmed by that sense of the Lord’s sover- eignty and purity, so that we obey him and his commands and render all to him. Obedience is surely the greatest need of the hour. With this sense of God came a new sense of his justice, as we read in verse 5 – ‘Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures.’ Here are the great cherubim of justice (who appear in Revelation 4-6) that surround the throne of God and apply his justice. ‘Out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.’ We note the words ‘appearance’ and ‘likeness’. The record is at pains to show that the prophet did not actually see God or the cherubim of justice, but a likeness only, and he knew that the vision gave him symbols. He knew that God is invisible and immortal, and the cherubim were representa-


tions of God’s angelic agents of justice. ‘Appearance’ and ‘likeness’ appear as terms repeatedly. But the vision was enough to create in the prophet the most profound awe, with revulsion at lightness before God.


These cherubim are shown as hav- ing ‘the hands of a man’ or labour for God, ‘the face of a man’ or intelligence, ‘the face of a lion’ or in- vincibility surely, ‘the face of an ox’ or strength, and ‘the face of an eagle’ or the ability to see everything, just as an eagle flies high and gets a com- prehensive view of all below.


Serious people


God, who sees all, will be true to his holy nature, and will carry out his perfect judgement. In this vision Ezekiel is made aware that the time of judgement for Judah and Jeru- salem has come, and that it will be invincible and accurate. The prophet needed to see this, and so do we, and it makes us serious people. Among ourselves we may enjoy


many happy activities and conver- sations that cheer our hearts, but when we consider the unsaved world we are serious people because we have not only felt our commis- sion to reach a lost generation, and received a sense of God and his might and majesty, but we have had imparted to us a strong sense of his justice and judgement. We cannot help but lift up our eyes to see crowds, thousands upon thou- sands of people, who are under the judgement of God. Many believers, however, throw that realisation away by watching depraved entertainment


When God Commissions


 page 31


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