Ezekiel – The Key

[00:00:00] The tenth chapter of Ezekiel. [00:00:09] And behold, in the firmament that was over the head of the cherubim, there appeared above them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. [00:00:24] And he spake unto the man clothed in linen, and said, go in between the whirling wheels, even under the cherub, and fill both thy hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. [00:00:41] And he went in my sight. [00:00:44] Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house when the man went in, and the cloud filled the inner court, and the glory of the Lord mounted up from from the cherub and stood over the threshold of the house. [00:01:00] And the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord's glory. [00:01:09] And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of God Almighty when he speaketh. And it came to pass when he commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, take fire from between the whirling wheels from between the cherubim, that he went in and stood beside a wheel. And the cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim unto the fire that was between the cherubim, and took thereon and put it into the hands of him that was clothed in linen, who took it and went out. [00:01:43] And there appeared in the cherubim the form of a man's hand under their wings. [00:01:50] And I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim. One wheel beside one cherub, and another wheel beside another cherub. And the appearance of the wheels was like unto a beryl stone. And as for their appearance, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been within a wheel. When they went, they went in their four directions. They turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked, they followed it. [00:02:17] They turned not as they went. And their whole body and their backs and their hands and their wings. And the wheels were full of eyes round about even the wheels that they forehead. [00:02:30] As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing, the whirling wheels. [00:02:35] And every one had four faces. The first face was the face of the cherub. The face. The second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. And the cherubim mounted up. [00:02:49] This is the living creature that I saw by the river Keba. [00:02:53] And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them. But when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth. The wheels also turned not from beside them. When they stood, these stood. And when they mounted up, these mounted up with them, for the spirit of the living creature was in them. And the glory of the Lord went forth from over the threshold of the house and stood over the cherubim, and the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight when they went forth, and the wheels beside, and they stood at the door of the east gate of the Lord's house, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. [00:03:38] This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Kebah. And I knew that they were cherubim. [00:03:47] Every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. And the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. And as for the likeness of their faces, and they were the faces which I saw by the river Kheba, their appearances and themselves, they went, everyone straight forward over what we have already studied. [00:04:18] I believe it's all recorded safely. [00:04:21] And so we shall have to leave it like that, because otherwise we will never get through what we have this evening. Although we are not going to pass on tonight to the actual outline of the Book of Ezekiel, we are going to stay this evening with the key the whole time, because I just feel that it's impossible to put into just a few words what the key to Ezekiel is in a way that that will leave us with a real understanding of what is there now. We have already pointed out that Ezekiel is the second phase of God's movement towards recovery in the Old Testament. [00:05:13] He occupies a very, very important place, the economy of God under the old covenant. [00:05:25] You will remember that, as I have said again and again, and I trust now that you are getting to know it, there are three great preparatory ministries in the Old Testament, the end of the Old Testament age. [00:05:41] And those three great preparatory ministries are Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. Daniel, then, is the second of those preparatory ministries. [00:05:53] And in Ezekiel, it is the message and not the man. [00:06:00] So much which the Holy Spirit is seeking to underline. With Jeremiah, it was not the message, it was the man. [00:06:12] With Ezekiel, it is the message and not the man. [00:06:16] Of course, there's a tremendous amount that we can learn from Ezekiel's character, from his life, from his devotion to the Lord, from his steadfastness in the face of what we would have considered to be overwhelming odds. [00:06:33] But nevertheless, the primary and fundamental lesson that the Holy Spirit wants to leave us through this portion of God's word. The book of Ezekiel is the message that was given to Ezekiel and not so much the man. And you will remember that in the last week we have pointed out how many things point to the fact that that here, in this part of God's Word, it is the message which is so important, the way it's laid out, the orderly, systematic way in which Ezekiel has set it all down for us. [00:07:21] And then we also have got to remember that Ezekiel, it being his message which is so important, it is an essential part of any movement of God towards recovery, that there should be a ministry. [00:07:49] And with Ezekiel, I believe that this has come out already. I'm not going to harp on it, but naturally we shall have to continually go back to that particular point. [00:08:07] Thus we discover that we have in Ezekiel a ministry of definition. [00:08:16] We have a ministry of definition. [00:08:19] It is not character as far as the man is actually concerned, as in Jeremiah. There we saw the essential character of this movement of God towards recovery, a character so one with the Lord and yet so one with the people, that all the time it was torn, it was in travail. [00:08:42] Here we have a very different atmosphere altogether. We do not see Ezekiel's emotions hardly at all. [00:08:50] A veil is drawn over them. [00:08:53] We see very little of Ezekiel as a man, the personal details of his life, but we are drawn continually to the message that was his, or more important, what he saw. [00:09:12] Now, that's one of the most interesting differences between Jeremiah and Ezekiel. You see, when you read through the Book of Jeremiah, you will not be drawn to what you saw, you will only see what he saw. By almost by implication and inference, you will be more impressed with Jeremiah the man. [00:09:31] But with Ezekiel, you cannot get away from the fact all the time it's what he saw. He saw this, he saw that the Spirit lifted him up and he saw a vision of this. Or he saw this vision in relation to that situation. In relation to that situation. [00:09:48] He saw it in relation to a sinning people of God, a wayward, rebellious people of God. He saw it in relation to nations that were being used of God to purge and purify the people of God. Then he saw that vision coming into its own in the future. And finally he saw the great eternal object of God toward which God was moving. He'd always been moving. He was then moving, and he was going to move. [00:10:21] Now it is all the time what Ezekiel saw. It is a ministry of definition. [00:10:27] The essential objective of God is here clearly defined in principle. [00:10:37] Now, this is a very important aspect of these preparatory ministries, or I'm never quite sure whether to call them preparatory ministries or preparatory ministry. [00:10:53] They are so part of each other and so grow out of each other. [00:10:58] Here you have got the second most important aspect of preparatory ministry. Not only inward character of the instrument itself, but now a ministry of definition. [00:11:16] Now, there's no doubt about it that what the book of Proverbs says so pithily, that where there is no vision, the people perish or the people go to pieces. [00:11:31] And it is absolutely true that wherever you have had an open vision through a prophet or through some instrument that was held before the people of God, you find an integration, a unity, a cohesion, a being brought together and held together always. [00:11:51] And when that vision ended, or there was unfaithfulness in the instrument, then you begin to find lack of cohesion, lack of unity, disintegration, and so on. Always it is the same. And this is the importance of a ministry of definition. [00:12:13] What is the point of this ministry? There are many ministries, we could say much of ministry as definition, but this is unique and singular in one aspect. [00:12:24] It is a ministry of definition which. Which is defining the essential objective of God, if he's going to recover. You see, many people get hold of details and things and they get all bound up with the actual practical difficulties. And I am afraid, and I've noticed it again and again here, that people are apt to despise any, as we call it, mere ministry of definition. [00:12:59] As if only when we're right down to the solid practice of things is there any real value in it. But you see, that's just where we go wrong. [00:13:13] And the Holy Spirit all the way through His Word has given us to understand that a ministry of definition has its place. [00:13:25] Things have got to be clearly defined. [00:13:28] Principle has got to be drawn out of the wealth and mass and abundance of material and detail. The principles have got to be drawn out and thrown into sharp relief so that when the time comes, there are those who, in the actual recovery, when dealing with the actual practice, the outworking, the details, the experience, can keep before them those fundamental principles. You all know that when it comes down to actually doing things, you tend to lose the principles. I don't know whether you've all found that. Surely you have. Any of you girls who made dresses or anything else, made up curtains or anything else. You know what I'm talking about. Any of you who've done any gardening will know what I'm talking about. It's easy to get so bogged down in details and everything else that you suddenly begin to forget and contradict and contravene the fundamental principles. [00:14:33] And then suddenly, when it comes to the last moment, you find it just isn't right, doesn't hang properly or the garden doesn't grow properly, something goes wrong or other and you can't quite understand why. [00:14:47] The point is that we've got to be clear as to one or two basic principles, so that when we get down to the details of experience and practice, we've all the time got in the back of our mind certain essential fundamental principles which are absolutely vital. [00:15:09] And that's so often why many of us go to sea or get at sea or however you like. We're all at sea when it comes to many of our things. We think, oh dear, what's wrong? So we go off to someone who's got knowledge of principle and we say, now, what's gone wrong with this? Look, I tried to do this or tried to do it that way, and they say, oh, you've run. Very simple thing, you, the lampshade, you haven't cut it on the cross. And that's just why it's all gone wrong. Now, if you can always remember, you must cut it on the cross. [00:15:49] It doesn't matter how many lampshades you make, how small they are, how big they are, all will be well with you. However, there you are. There's one or two things here. We've got a ministry of definition. Ezekiel's great objective here, the great point, the great function of Ezekiel, is to put into the hands of that remnant that they're going to return those essential principles which when they get down to the details, the practice, the outworking, the experience of the actual recovery, they will be in danger of forgetting and either go swinging to excess one way or the other. [00:16:26] His great function then is to define quite clearly the objective of God so that when the people go back, they won't get lost in a morass of detail. [00:16:47] The all important thing then, as we can see in Ezekiel, is this ministry. It's a ministry to God's people in compromised, defeated and exiled conditions. [00:17:01] And it is a tracing the causes of those conditions. [00:17:09] Zika wasn't. He was respected, he wasn't quite so utterly rejected and manhandled as Jeremiah. But nevertheless, Zeke had a very difficult task when he was in exile, pointing out what was going to happen to Jerusalem and tracing back all that was going to happen to the causes. All the time he was tracing things back to the causes. [00:17:40] Now that is an essential part of a ministry of definition, tracing things back to the cause. Some of us don't like that. Well, none of us really like it when we know that we're heading in the wrong direction. We don't like often things the Holy Spirit putting his finger upon a very sore spot and saying that is the cause of the trouble. [00:18:09] And part of this ministry of definition is, as it were, the finger of God coming right down on all the trouble and the unhappy conditions of the people and saying, now this is not just judgment. There is a reason for all this, and this is the reason, and this is what happened, and this is the result. [00:18:36] But it is not only tracing the causes of the condition of the people, the defeated and compromised condition. It is a defining of God's mind and of God's purpose, not just simply leaving people with an awful idea that, well, they've gone wrong and now they're being judged and chastened and all this terrible situation as a result of it. But it is a ministry which puts before the people the mind of God. This is not the mind of God. Something altogether different to what we are experiencing is the mind of God. This is the mind of God, and this is the purpose of God concerning his mind. [00:19:28] He has a mind and he has a purpose. He has a mind and he has a will. [00:19:33] His mind is this. His will is to realize or get into practice his mind. [00:19:46] This is the these are the features of this ministry of definition. [00:19:50] Now we must note, although it is implied in all that I've said, we must note that it is a ministry of definition and not one of actual building. [00:20:04] Ezekiel never laid a brick on a brick. [00:20:09] He never did a single stroke towards actually rebuilding or restoring anything. [00:20:17] His whole ministry was in the realm of ministry. [00:20:26] His function was one of definition before the people in exile, off the right ground of God, far away from where God would have them. [00:20:38] And in actual fact, he never partook in any way, shape or form in the rebuilding and restoration of the temple and of the city and of the land. [00:20:54] Now, if you'd like to look at two scriptures just to show you this, it's something that if you are reading through Ezekiel, you will, I think, note Ezekiel 43:10, 11. [00:21:13] This was one of the great commissions of Ezekiel. [00:21:18] Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities, and let them measure the pattern. And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, make known unto them the form of the house. [00:21:36] Ezekiel 43:10 and 11. Now this word, show how it comes again and again in Ezekiel. Show this is A ministry definition. He is to show the people something. Now you turn over to chapter 40 and to verse 44. [00:21:55] And the man said unto me, son of man, behold with thine eyes and hear with thine eyes and set thy heart upon all that I shall shew thee. For to the intent that I may shew them. Unto thee art thou brought hither. Declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel. [00:22:20] In this book of Ezekiel, we do not descend to the practical questions of the actual recovery, the actual rebuilding, and so on. [00:22:30] It is amazing how detailed and exhaustive Ezekiel is when it comes to definition. He will tell us all about, as I've said last week, the boiling houses and the hooks and the pans and many other things. He will tell us right down to the detail of the pictures that ought to be on the panels of the lever and so on. But he never descends to the actual practical difficulties of the return. [00:23:01] Now, you know when they got that they had a lot of practical difficulties, they found that the walls were all tumbled down. And if any of you have ever seen, some of you a little while ago did see it in the garden, what a demolished wall looks like. You can just imagine some of the practical difficulties that hit the people when they had to get somehow those huge stones moved out in order to rebuild the wall and the foundation had to be cleared and the house had to be rebuilt. And there were a thousand and one practical difficulties, people like Tobiah and Gashmu and others, as Eco just mentioned, those kind of difficulties, they are the practical difficulties that the men who went back met. But Ezekiel must not think that Ezekiel doesn't touch those things in principle. He touches them all. [00:23:52] And that is the great point with Ezekiel. His ministry is one of the definition of principle. And in actual fact you will find that when you come to the, to the recovery, Ezekiel said everything that could be said, but he said it all in principle form, in the form of just what the principle is. [00:24:11] And he leaves it to the Holy Spirit to interpret and translate what his ministry. When it comes to the actual return, we must note that Ezekiel keeps in the realm of defining principles. His whole ministry is in that realm. [00:24:32] Now, having said that, we find certain things, certain clear emphases with this kind of ministry. It's very interesting. [00:24:42] For instance, one of the great emphases of a ministry of definition, as we find in Ezekiel, is always on the Spirit and on spirituality. [00:24:55] Now, you look through this, this prophecy. I'm only going to give you four or five scriptures very briefly, if you'll Begin with chapter one, Ezekiel 1, verse 12. [00:25:17] They went, Every one straight forward. Whither the Spirit was to go, they went. [00:25:23] Now, Ezekiel has been called the prophet of the Spirit. [00:25:28] I'm not just saying this or reading it into it. He's been called again and again by scholars the Prophet of the Spirit all the time. He relates everything to the Spirit. One of the most interesting things is how he, more than any other prophet, speaks of being caught up by the Spirit, the hand of the Spirit as it were, being upon him, being the Spirit coming into him. For instance. There's an instance of that. I've chosen chapter two, verse two. [00:25:55] No prophet has spoken like this. And the Spirit entered into me when he spake unto me and set me upon my feet. [00:26:05] Then chapter 11, verse 19. [00:26:16] And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and will give them a heart of flesh. Now that is what I call an emphasis on the Spirit and on spirituality. Everything being inward, everything being inward. What we call spiritual. What does it mean to be spiritual? It means that you are holy under the government of the Spirit of God and that everything inside is true to what is outside. [00:26:47] That's what it means to be spiritual. Now this is the great emphasis of this kind of ministry. Look at chapter 36 as another example. [00:26:56] Chapter 36, verse 26. [00:27:02] A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart out flesh, and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes. [00:27:17] Now there again you have this emphasis. And lastly, chapter 39, chapter 39, verse 29. [00:27:29] Neither will I hide my face anymore from them, for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God. [00:27:40] There is one of the emphases of a ministry of definition. [00:27:44] It is always on the inward, it is always on the spiritual. [00:27:50] This is very true of Ezekiel. All the time seeking to tie everything down to the Spirit of God. [00:27:58] His own ministry was the product he claimed again and again at time same the Spirit of God. He saw the third Person of the Trinity more clearly probably than many other prophets. [00:28:11] And then another emphasis of this kind of ministry is the glory of the Lord. Oh, the prophet Ezekiel, of course, really almost. The key to Ezekiel is the glory of the Lord. We couldn't possibly look through all the references to the glory of the Lord, but there are just one or two that I want you to look at, because I want you to see how they bound his ministry back to chapter one, verse 28. [00:28:42] How does he sum up the vision that he saw? [00:28:44] This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. [00:28:51] The glory of the Lord. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. That's how he sums up that amazing, complex vision that he saw. Then he goes on. Chapter 3, verse 12. [00:29:06] Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great rushing saying, blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place. [00:29:18] From his place evident, the glory of the Lord has appeared. Place. [00:29:24] Then, if you look at verse 23, same chapter. Then I arose and went forth into the plain, and behold, the glory of the Lord stood there as the glory which I saw by the river Kibar. [00:29:37] Now, in those three chapters, Ezekiel had an amazing revelation of the glory of the Lord. From that point forward, the glory of the Lord was the. The theme of Ezekiel's ministry. Now, what we mean by the glory of the Lord and what Ezekiel means by the glory of the Lord is probably two quite different things. [00:29:58] I have an idea that most of us have a Victorian idea of glory, a sort of great shining cloud up there where the saints go to live. [00:30:18] That's what we call glory. [00:30:20] But Ezekiel's idea of the glory of the Lord, as we shall see, I trust, is something very different and is in actual fact associated with humanity and God. And as far as he's concerned, is never seen apart from humanity and God. [00:30:39] Then you will look at chapter 10 and verse 4. We read this together, verse 4 and verse 18, verse 4. And the glory of the Lord mounted up from the cherub and stood over the threshold of the house. Now, mark this, because it's very important in the whole progress of Ezekiel's ministry. The glory of the Lord was in the temple. Now it left where it was, which was evidently the holy of holies, the holiest place of all, and went up to the threshold. [00:31:12] It was on the way out, as we would say then, verse 18. And the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the house and stood over the cherubim, and the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the. From the earth in Mazad, when they went forth and the wheels beside them, and they stood at the door of the east gate of the Lord's house. Now they'd moved on the threshold of the. Of the actual temple. Now they've gone over to the east gate of the Lord's house. [00:31:45] Now if you will look at chapter 11 and verse 23. [00:31:49] The glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city. Now, the words, it left not only the house, it left the city. [00:32:00] Now that's the great step forward in Ezekiel's ministry. First you see, the Lord unveiled to him what the glory of the Lord was. [00:32:11] Then he showed him the glory of the Lord had departed from his people. [00:32:18] And Ezekiel saw the stages by which the glory of the Lord just moved out. [00:32:24] Now if you will look at chapter 39, verse 21. [00:32:35] The Lord, I will set my glory among the nations. Now this is a new thought. [00:32:42] My glory among the nations, not just for the people of God, but among the nations. And now the most wonderful thing of all, chapter 43, verse 4 and 5. Now listen to this, because it will make sense. Sense to you if you can get hold of this. If you don't remember anything else, reading Ezekiel will make sense to you. [00:33:03] And the glory of the Lord came into the house by way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. It came back the way it went. [00:33:15] And the Spirit took me up and brought me into the inner court. And behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house. [00:33:24] So it came in from the east gate, went to the threshold, and went back to where it originally was. Now that is the whole of Ezekiel's ministry from beginning to end. First what he saw, the glory of the Lord in exile and how it was portrayed to him, how he understood it. Then the departing of the glory of the Lord. Then the great promise of the Lord that he would placed his glory among the nations worldwide. [00:33:52] And then finally how he saw the glory of the Lord coming back. [00:33:57] Now that's one of the great emphasis on the ministry of definition. It's always bound up with the glory of the Lord. And the glory of the Lord is one of the phrases that's almost happened in such a ministry. And then another great emphasis in this kind of ministry is one that many of you perhaps would not notice so much. Here it is individual responsibility. [00:34:25] And Ezekiel has been called the prophet of individual responsibility. No other prophet quite saw the actual personal responsibility of every person before God. [00:34:42] Many scholars believe that Ezekiel laid down the doctrine of personal responsibility that was to be taken up so much later by others. Now we shall find that I'm afraid we can't read it all, but I will give you the chapters because it is whole. Chapters. [00:35:02] Ezekiel 18, you just like to look at the chapter. [00:35:09] You will See that? That is the great chapter that we so often hear quoted. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. [00:35:19] In other words, Ezekiel says that no man will die who has not sinned. [00:35:26] Sin leads to death, and it must be personal for there to be a personal retribution. [00:35:33] Righteousness must be personal for there to be a personal reward. It is this doctrine of individual responsibility and then something that other most of us are a little more afraid of, I'm afraid. Chapter 33, and also linked with it, chapter 3, from verse 16 to 21. I will look at that because it's smaller. [00:35:59] And it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the Lord came unto me saying, son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel. Therefore hear the word at my mouth and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, thou shalt surely die. And thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way. To save his life, the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thy hand. [00:36:27] Yet if thou warn the wicked and he turn not from his wickedness nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity. But thou hast delivered thy soul. This is the doctrine of personal responsibility. In other words, there's no good trying to say that everyone must just follow their own course. If the Lord has given you something and the Lord has given you a vision, you have a personal responsibility to discharge that. And if you don't discharge it, then those other people destiny will be charged to you. A most unbelievably severe doctrine, and one that I think is very often bypassed and overlooked by God's people. [00:37:14] It is just simply a thing that many of us perhaps ought to take a little more. [00:37:18] Now, that's one of the great emphases in this ministry of definition, that God does not allow us to hide our mess. [00:37:29] He doesn't allow us to hide in the West. [00:37:34] We all love to think that, and especially now mark this, when the very nature of what's going to happen is going to be collective and corporate. [00:37:45] You see what I mean when I'm talking about principle? Ezekiel is defining principle. He's saying, you must not go to the extreme in this thing and think that because everything is corporate and collective, you can hide in the responsibility of one or two brothers and sisters who are carrying the whole weight. [00:38:04] The Lord says, I will require it of you when you stand before me as to how you discharge your responsibility in the light of what you saw and what I entrusted to that company. Now, this is the theme that the Holy Spirit takes up with the seven churches. [00:38:24] None of them are allowed to hide under their leaders or under one or two. [00:38:29] The Lord says to him that overcometh not just to them, but to him. [00:38:36] It doesn't matter if they're unknowns, it doesn't matter if they're hidden. [00:38:40] Each one is responsible before God. And the way they react in that church, there, in that locality, is something taken note of by the Holy Spirit. [00:38:53] This is this tremendous principle of personal responsibility. [00:39:00] Members of one body dependent on each other and yet personally responsible to the head. [00:39:10] That simply means that if the Lord shows us something as a company, no one can leave it to me, or to one or two others, or even to a group. What is shown to the company is entrusted in God's sight to every single member of that part of his family. [00:39:27] And they must answer one day as to how they responded and reacted to what was entrusted to them. [00:39:38] Because you see, anything entrusted to one is entrusted to all. [00:39:42] And that is the whole point of the corporate. That is the point of the corporate that you see there are many different functions, but one body and all those different functions can contribute something to the rest. [00:39:58] And nothing that is entrusted to one is personal property. [00:40:05] Now, it's quite clear that to come to a real understanding of Ezekiel's ministry, we've got to understand his vision of the glory of God, which recurs again and again and again in this book. [00:40:21] He saw something in the first chapter, as we call it, and from that point onwards what he saw comes back again and again. He elaborates on it, he develops on it, he relates things to it, but it becomes, as it were, the thread through. Now we've got to understand it, and that is the great difficulty and problem. [00:40:45] The sea, because you know what it means. It means that we've got to understand what the cherubim are. [00:40:57] I can't think of any more complex problem in Scripture than what we call the cherubim. And I feel sorry for anyone who feels tired because I'm sure now that this really will finish you off. [00:41:17] It is complex in the extreme because we have got to somehow trace back and forward before we can come to any understanding of what Ezekiel really saw. [00:41:35] I was tempted to draw things on the board, but then I thought that it would probably make matters a good deal worse if I did. Although I might just draw one or two diagrams to try and explain things a little to you. [00:41:53] I can't possibly draw anything that would give any Real understanding to you. But I think you will understand what Ezekiel saw. He saw. He saw, looking down from above, he saw four creatures. [00:42:10] I put those squares there as the four cherubim or cherubim. [00:42:17] Now the amazing thing about these cherubim is that their wings touch. [00:42:27] They have two wings that are extended and touch each other. [00:42:31] And everywhere through scripture, even in the tabernacle, in the temple, you find that the wings of the cherubim touch. [00:42:37] And it seems to be a point that the Holy Spirit is trying to make, that the cherubim, though four, are in actual fact one. In some we only have two of them, in other cases we have four of them. But they are always looked upon as one. And indeed Ezekiel calls them the living creature. When speaking of the four. [00:42:58] He speaks of four living creatures, and yet he refers to all four as the living creature, which again is interesting because it bears out what we are saying. Now, each of these creatures, these four living creatures has four faces. [00:43:16] The face of a man was outside, as it were, or however you like to put it on it in each case. [00:43:25] And then you have the face of a lion, the face of an eagle looking inwards. Now this is interesting. The face of the eagle looks inwards in each case. [00:43:39] Face of the man looking outwards, face of the eagle looking inwards, the face of a lion and the face of an ox in each case, four faces. [00:43:53] Then you will remember that above them, looking at it from a side, you would see them like this. There's the creature, there's his wings. And he has two wings that cover his body. [00:44:16] His head is a four faced, four fold head. Can you see at all? I don't think you really can. [00:44:28] He has a four fold face. [00:44:32] Now underneath him he has wheels, a wheel within a wheel. Now, I'm not a good drawer of this, but it simply means that there is one wheel and the other wheel, somehow I can't quite explain it, but inside, which means that wherever they rolled, they could roll. Do you see? They could go that way, they could go that way, they could go that way, or they could go that way. Do you understand? [00:44:59] That was the idea behind it. A wheel within a wheel. If you looked at them from above like this, it would be like that. [00:45:07] The two wheels with it clear, that may make that very complex little bit rather clearer. So we say there's the wheel and there's the wheel underneath. [00:45:23] Now above them was a firmament, you know what that is? A space. [00:45:30] And above that was a throne, the likeness of a throne. [00:45:39] And on the throne was the likeness of a man. [00:45:42] Now, if we looked at it from above, the throne would be there in the center, right in the center, coming to those four. So that the eagle looked in to the throne, you understand? [00:46:01] And the face of the man looked out to creation. [00:46:06] Understand? [00:46:08] I hope you understand a little of that. It's no easy matter. You'll have to come up and ask me questions, the things you don't understand about this. [00:46:17] Now, these four creatures, you see, there would be the four. There'd be the firmament in which there was just a growing fire. And out of it, according to this, there were flashes of lightning all the time. All you could see were the flashes of lightning all the time coming out. The glory was around it. This throne was surrounded by a rainbow. [00:46:44] Now, I don't know whether that makes a little more sense to you of what, Ezekiel? [00:46:52] A strange, humanly speaking, a strange, weird picture vision of something. [00:47:05] Of course, there's a lot more that when we come to the outline, we may be able to look at in detail. We can't look at it all now. Now, I have got one or two things that I'm going to say about all this. This question of the cherubim. I can leave the wheels talking about the question of the cherubim. [00:47:23] There seems to be a tremendous amount of confusion over this matter. And innumerable suggestions have been made from antiquity right down to the most recent days. Still, people are putting forward suggestions as to what and as to who the cherubim are. [00:47:43] We are told that they are spirits, just spirit beings. That is one very common thought about them. We are told that they are baby angels. Quite a large section of antiquity tells us that they are baby angels. And this has given rise to the very beautiful little childlike, pudgy little children that you see with wings in paintings from the Middle Ages. [00:48:11] Then another suggestion which has warranted more serious interest from scholars anyway, is that it is the attributes of God. [00:48:25] This is not anything real. [00:48:28] Scholars, you see, are divided as to whether it is literal and this is a literal creature that we are dealing with some creation of God in the unseen, one of those principalities and powers that are spoken of, or whether it is a symbol. [00:48:42] And you see, it is no easy matter. At first. Many of you will undoubtedly say it was a symbol, but when you start to look right through Scripture, you will begin to wonder whether it can be a symbol. You see, that's the point. [00:48:55] Well, those who say that it's a symbol say it is a symbol of the attributes of God, what he is like then there are others who say that it is a symbol of creation. [00:49:09] Man, the head of creation, the eagle, head of the birds, the lion, head of wild beasts, the ox, head of tame creatures. They say this is a wonderful symbol of the natural creation. [00:49:24] God above it, above it all, Lord of it all. [00:49:31] And we could go on with many other suggestions that have been made about the cherubim. [00:49:40] Anciently, the four winds were symbolized by the four creatures that we find in the cherubim. [00:49:52] The man, the ox, the lion, the eagle. These symbolized the four winds. Again, in the ancient east, the four chief constellations were depicted under these four figures. [00:50:11] Then we come to some very much more interesting things. [00:50:16] For instance, we find that according to Jewish tradition, and there may well be a lot in this, when the camp of Israel encamped around the tabernacle, you will remember that in Numbers, chapter two, you are clearly told how all the tribes were grouped under the main ensign of one tribe. [00:50:41] I put it down. On the east, Judah. [00:50:46] On the north, Dan. [00:50:48] On the west, Ephraim. On the south, Reuben. Now, the ensign of Judah was a lion. The ensign of Dan was an eagle. The ensign of Ephraim was an ox, and the ensign of Reuben was a man, which meant that the tabernacle was in the midst and the four ensigns were again round about it. [00:51:13] And then, far more noteworthy than even that is the fact that we have Christ represented in a fourfold way in the Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In Matthew, he's represented as the king, in Mark, he's represented as the servant. [00:51:34] In Luke he's represented as the man. [00:51:37] And in John he's represented as God. [00:51:41] Now, from almost from antiquity, obviously from the time the Gospels were written, these four creatures have been associated with the four Gospels. [00:51:52] Matthew has been represented by the lion as the king, Mark by the ox as the servant, Luke by the man, and John by the eagle, the symbol of deity or divinity. [00:52:10] Now that I say just a little bit, a little excursion into a lot that lies around this matter. [00:52:21] Now, let's just see if we can trace in Scripture what relates to the cherubim. [00:52:31] We'll have to move through quite quickly because it's no good trying to understand Ezekiel's vision without going right back to the beginning. [00:52:39] Genesis, chapter 3, verse 24 is the first time that the cherubim are mentioned at all. [00:52:51] So he drove out the man, he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden, the cherubim and the flame of a sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree. Of life. [00:53:03] The next time that we find the cherubim mentioned is in Exodus 25, Verse 18. [00:53:14] I won't read it. You will know there is the description of the mercy seat and of the two cherubim of one piece, same gold beaten out of the same piece as the mercy seat. [00:53:29] Then in chapter 26 and verse 1, we discover that the curtains of the tabernacle had cherubim worked on them. In verse 36, we find that the veil of the temple had cherubim worked upon them. Then in 1 Kings 6, 1 Kings 6 and 23 to 35, if you want to read it, you will find there the description of the giant cherubim in the temple, vast images that spanned the small arc, and the smaller cherubim with wings that span the whole temple from side to side, again in gold over olive wood. [00:54:25] And then in chapter seven of that chapter, verse 29 and 36, you find it mentioned cherubim again on the molten sea or the laver. [00:54:35] Now I put a second series here, because that seems me to show you something of the basic nature where they were found. [00:54:48] Now, in the second series, going back to Numbers seven, you will discover something of this, of this spiritual idea behind them. Chapter 7, verse 89. When Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with him, then he heard the voice speaking unto him from above the mercy seat that was upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim. Now this is most important. [00:55:14] Above the mercy seat, between you will find that why this whole question of cherubim is so difficult is in actual fact the prepositions that are used. You get aboves and upons and betweens and ins, and really evidently great difficulty in quite translating the idea behind it. [00:55:33] Now would you turn to Psalm 18, verse 10. And now we come to a reference which you find once or twice in Scripture. He rode upon a cherub. Now this is the first time that you get the idea of a cherub as a chariot, see, as bringing the wheels here he rode upon the cherub. [00:55:59] Now that, of course, you find twice, at least in Scripture, if not more, then 1 Chronicles 13, 1 Chronicles chapter 13, verse 6. [00:56:15] Hezekiah praying, oh, no, sorry. David went up to bring up from thence the ark of the God the Lord that sitteth above the cherubim, that is called, called by thy name. Now this word sitteth above, we shall find it two or three times. And it is a word that is very hard, evidently, to completely translate. [00:56:39] I read today that sitteth above is really more of an interpretation than a translation. A translation should be inhabitous. [00:56:52] Inhabit us, the Lord that inhabiteth the cherubim. And if you look in your margin, you will find correctly, and I think much more forcefully, art enthroned upon or in art enthroned in. Now, this is the most common reference to the cherubim. [00:57:15] We have this reference or something like 10 or more times in the Old Testament. The Lord that sitteth above the cherubim, or that is enthroned in the cherubim, or inhabiteth the cherubim, you will find it again and again. [00:57:34] I put down all the references so that you can look through them, or not all of them, but a few that will give you at least some evidence so that it's not just based on a few. One here and there. [00:57:47] And then I would like you also to look at Psalm 22 and verse 3, because here there is a key to who the cherubim might be. Scholars believe that this is a reference to cherubim. Thou art holy, O thou that inhabiteth the praises of Israel. [00:58:14] The praises of Israel, the same word. It's only used there in the whole of Scripture. Everywhere else, this strange word inhabiteth, art enthroned in Sitteth above is used at the cherubim. [00:58:29] Now then, the third series, the one that we've read the last two weeks, Ezekiel 1 and Ezekiel 10. And the last series is in Revelation 4, which you might just look at. You would need to read the whole two chapters, Revelation 4 and 5. But this is the great consummation of this question concerning the cherubim. You find the four living beasts, as it puts in the Authorized Version, but it's the same word. Living creatures around the throne, and the 24 elders around the four living ones, and then beyond them, innumerable company of angels. [00:59:15] Those are all the references to the cherubim. The last reference in Scripture is very interesting. It's in chapter 19, Revelation, verse 4, when the end has come and there's a great hallelujah chorus, and you find the four living ones. Lead that chorus, that hallelujah chorus. There's one difficulty here I'd like to underline. People always ask about this. Ezekiel 28, 14, 16. They say it refers to Satan. [00:59:46] I'm not going to say much more about it, except if anyone wants to ask about it, they can come and ask me and I will explain. [00:59:53] Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth. Look at it in the American Revised Standard Version and in Moffat, you will find a very, very interesting Translation. [01:00:07] Now then, what can we understand? We ought to note the process of revelation that we have here. In the beginning, we get cherubim. We're not told what they're like, anything about them, except that there are two of them, and they guard the way to the Tree of Life, and they have a flame of a sword in their hand. That's all we know. They're there to divide us from the Tree of Life. They're there to guard the Tree of Life. That's the first time we see. The next time, we find we're told nothing about what they look like except that there are two of them. They've got wings they must touch. They're of the same substance as the mercy seat, and they spread their wings above it. [01:00:41] When we come to Kings, we find a new change has taken place. Now, their great giant one. Their wings span the whole of the temple. And instead of looking down into the Mercy seat as they did in the tabernacle, they look out to the house. [01:01:00] Still, we're not told much about them. They evidently had a human form. That's as far as we can make out that they had something that was akin to a human form. [01:01:11] When we come to Psalms, we discover a most interesting thing. We are then told in Numbers and in Psalms that God actually dwelt above the mercy seat between the cherubim. When he spoke with the people, when he communed with Moses, it was always there. And this gave rise to this great, great thing that we call the Shekinah glory. The rabbis call it the Shekinah Glory. They said it dwelt above the mercy seat between the cherubim. [01:01:46] That was the presence of the Lord. [01:01:50] When we come to Ezekiel, we have the fullest detailed picture of cherubim given to us in the world. [01:01:59] Everything about them, quite explicitly, Ezekiel puts down. When we come to Revelation, we come to the end. Now, there are some differences. [01:02:09] Interestingly enough, they've got six wings in Revelation instead of the four in Ezekiel. [01:02:16] That is the greatest difference between them. [01:02:19] But there's still the four. The other great difference is instead of each having four heads, each one has one of the four. [01:02:27] Do you understand? One has the head of a lion, one the head of a man, one the head of a calf, one the head of an eagle. [01:02:36] These interesting differences. Now, what does all this mean? [01:02:41] I think it is quite clear, whatever some might think, that the cherubim cannot be spirit beings, or they must change their forms, concept continually. That's all, because Scripture seems to have given us different forms for these creatures. Which are quite, in some ways quite radically changed. [01:03:09] So I think we've got to reconcile ourselves to the fact that they are not a literal beings. I know Cristina Rossetti was about cherubim and seraphim and many other hymns mention these as a form of angel, but I don't think really that we can actually agree to that. [01:03:32] It would seem, summing it all up, that we have a composite living creature whose basic characteristics are human. [01:03:46] That's important. [01:03:48] A composite living creature whose basic characteristics are human. [01:03:56] Generally speaking, in Scripture we find that they are human. And Ezekiel says that they were straight legged. And no one has yet been able to discover exactly what he meant. Did he mean they were stiff jointed and couldn't actually bend any. He's like we can. Or did he mean that they were upright of posture, which I think he probably meant, which means they had a human form, you see, although they had calves or ox's feet, hooves and so on. [01:04:27] Now then, you see, what can we say about this? [01:04:31] Now let us mark one or two things. [01:04:33] The cherubim are always directly associated with God. [01:04:39] They are always associated with his presence. [01:04:44] Always, intimately and directly. His purpose, his habitation, his throne and his glory. [01:04:52] Now mark it. You will never find the cherubim apart from that. Even with the Tree of Life, it is connected with the presence of God. The Tree of Life is the presence of God always. From the beginning of Scripture to the end of Scripture. The cherubim are directly associated with the presence of God always. [01:05:12] And that is one of the most important things that we could say, his throne. [01:05:17] We are told by the rabbis that they believe the cherubim were the bearers of the throne of God. But I believe it's more than that. [01:05:23] You see, it says that he inhabits the cherubim. He inhabits them. They are his throne. The likeness of the throne is in them. Do you see what I mean? You look into the firmament in the midst of them and there was an altar there from which they took coals of fire off which we read this evening in Ezekiel 10. And there in the midst of it was the throne, as it were. [01:05:47] The legs of the throne were the cherubim. [01:05:54] It was one whole. Because you see, it says that whenever it went up, God was went up and the cherubim mountain up the glory of the Lord went, and the cherubim. And the wheels went always together, never apart. God rides upon them. God speaks to his people from between in them, everywhere they are. And when we get the last vision of eternity, we find the Lamb in the midst of a throne in which we find the four living ones. Because it says a very interesting thing. It is in the midst of the throne and round about the throne, four living ones. [01:06:36] So we have to note then that they are associated in that way. And again, the cherubim set forth the place where God dwelleth or inhabit us. [01:06:48] I have mentioned that, I think. But it's very interesting that if it is true that the ensigns of those four were those, then you find the Lord dwelling in the midst of this fourfold symbol. Again, even with the tabernacle in the midst, everywhere you find the Lord is dwelling in the midst of this fourfold symbolism. [01:07:09] Now, when you come to Christ, God is in Christ, and Christ is represented in this fourfold symbolic way. [01:07:20] Now, what does on earth, does it all really mean? [01:07:26] It is obvious that these cherubim are most intimately involved with the presence of God, with the habitation of God, because it tells us that he dwells in them. He sits in them, you understand? He rests in them. He. He is enthroned upon them. [01:07:47] Well, there is only one other thing that we must note from all those scriptures, and it is this. [01:07:53] The cherubim always divide God from man and man from God until the Book of Revelation. [01:08:06] Every single instance in Scripture you will find, find that they are dividing. [01:08:12] There's only one instance we might say that they are not, and that would be in the mercy seat because of the blood they are looking upon, the shed blood, and in that one instance they are allowed to receive. [01:08:24] But even so, they are there on the veil that parted them from God through which no one was allowed to go. [01:08:32] Everywhere from beginning to end is their garden of tree of life, God in the holiest place of all. Everywhere they're dividing men from God until the Book of Revelation. And then the most remarkable thing happens. You suddenly discover these four living creatures have changed their function altogether and are ushering in an innumerable host into the presence of God and leading them in a new song, which is that he has purchased us out of every nation, out of every tribe, out of every people and tongue to be kingdom and priests unto our God. Now there's a tremendous change taking place. Why is there the great change in Revelation 4 and 5? Why suddenly, after the whole of Scripture, we find them guarding the way against man coming to God, to the presence of God, to the habitation of God, to the throne of God, the glory of God, God guarding. Then suddenly they fling open their arms and encourage humanity in. [01:09:36] Now, why you look at Revelation 5 and verse 6. [01:09:41] And you will see that John broke down and wept, because there was a cry, who shall break the seals of the little book in the hand? [01:09:54] God, Remember? And John said, I wept. And then an elder came to. Don't weep. [01:10:00] Look, the lion of the tribe of Judah has overcome. And he said, I saw a lamb in the midst of the throne. And then as soon as he saw that lamb, you suddenly discover that the 4 and 20 elders fell down their faces, you know, of the great song. They cried. The four living ones fell down and worshipped. You know, this isn't that interesting. Now, what then can we say of the cherubim? And if we can find out what the cherubim are, we've got to the heart of Ezekiel's ministry. [01:10:36] I think that we can reasonably say, at least I can say for myself that the cherubim are not angels. [01:10:45] And I don't think that they're symbols merely of the attributes of God, although there's truth in it. Nor of creation, though there's truth in that. [01:10:54] I believe that the cherubim are a composite symbol of humanity as God intended it originally to be. [01:11:10] And he intended it to have this fourfold character represented by the lion, the ox, the eagle, and the man. [01:11:23] The lion, kingliness, government, authority, the ox, service, sacrifice, plodding on labor, the ego, a spiritual capacity for union with God, fusion with God, the man, humanity, that's all. [01:11:53] Humanness, affection, sympathy, warmth, responsiveness. [01:12:04] And why do the cherubim always guard the way to the tree of life and to the presence of God, to the habitation of God? Because God said, my presence, my habitation, my throne, my glory will never be given to the kind of man that humanity has become. [01:12:23] And my presence, my throne, my glory, my habitation, my dwelling place must be guarded from that kind of humanity. [01:12:33] So they divide until the right kind of man comes forward, represented to us in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the fulfillment of the cherubim, Christ. [01:12:48] And when Christ comes forward, heaven just opens itself to a redeemed humanity, redeemed by him, purchased by him, changed by him, begotten of him. Then you suddenly find these symbolic creatures. They usher in this kind of humanity into the presence of God, into the throne of God, into the glory of God, into the dwelling place of God. [01:13:19] It's a very interesting. You don't find the four living ones mentioned after the 19th chapter, 20th chapter of Revelation, they've gone. [01:13:31] Their place is taken by the city. [01:13:37] That's all. [01:13:40] Now, that's interesting. [01:13:43] The third chapter of Genesis ends with cherubim the 19th chapter of Revelation ends with cherubim. [01:13:56] And when you close that book, you could bring the first two chapters of Genesis with the last two of Revelation and you wouldn't know there'd be no fall. [01:14:08] You would just find a road that leads on from what God wanted right through to what God has got. [01:14:19] Well, that's what I believe to be the symbolism of the cherubim. [01:14:28] They are the kind of humanity God intended us to be, the dwelling place of God and the throne of God. Mark. Oh, don't make a mistake. God hasn't got a throne of gold. [01:14:43] God's throne is human. [01:14:46] We are God's throne. [01:14:49] That's it. We've got an idea, naturally from our earthly life that thrones are things. God's throne is people. [01:14:57] God's throne is a people. [01:14:59] God is enthroned in us. [01:15:01] We are his throne. But. But he's got to have a certain kind of person. God is enthroned in Christ as the Son of man and we as his body. [01:15:12] He's enthroned in us. [01:15:15] Now you can see the cherubim not only as a symbol of humanity, but as a symbol of a redeemed creation. And I do love the way that Mark puts a difference into the last words. The Lord Jesus, he says, go ye therefore and preach the gospel to the whole creation. [01:15:35] Not to every human being, but to the whole creation. [01:15:41] And in Romans 8, Paul touches on it again. He says, the whole creation groaneth and travelleth in pain together until now. What is it waiting for? It's waiting for the day when it will be released from its bondage to corruption and death into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. [01:16:00] Glory again. [01:16:02] Glory is connected with a certain kind of people, and certain kind of people are connected with Christ. [01:16:10] And it's all summed up in Ezekiel's ministry, the glory of God in the cherubim. [01:16:17] The cherubim and the glory of God are linked together in Ezekiel's ministry. [01:16:24] So it is true, and I do not believe that one day some do, that we're all somehow going to go up into the skies and we're not ever going to have anything more to do with on earth. [01:16:36] I have a very strong suspicion and feeling within me that we, as a redeemed creation are going to have an awful lot to do. Widow and I believe the cherubim revealed that there is a link that we have. We don't know, because it's been broken by sin between man and the natural creation, that when it will be restored, will be one of the most marvelous and most wonderful things that we have ever seen. [01:17:05] God's creation, do not forget, does not end with humanity. [01:17:12] He has a vast creation beyond that of which humanity is the heart and the hub. [01:17:18] Put man right, and the whole of natural creation will be put right. [01:17:24] And so you've got something more in the symbolism of the cherubim? [01:17:31] Well, I leave it there. [01:17:34] In Ezekiel's mind, the glory of the Lord is all bound up with a certain kind of people, and his whole ministry is taken up with the glory of the Lord. And he sees the glory of the Lord. He sees it as having a dwelling place, as being in the temple. But you must not think that Ezekiel's taken up with all localities and places, places and things. No, he's after the essential, eternal, spiritual things. And all the time he's tying us down to it. He's saying it's no good to you people going back to the land and thinking that in that way you're just fulfilling the purpose of God. God wants something far more than that. He wants a certain kind of people. [01:18:21] You can go back and build a temple, but that won't be it. [01:18:24] God wants a certain kind of people that are able, capable of holding the glory of God, of expressing the glory of God, of being the glory of God. [01:18:38] In the end, when you see the city, it says it has the glory of God. And as I've often said to you, when at last you look at that city, what do you see? Do you see the people? No, you see God, but you see glory. Glory. God and the people are one. [01:18:58] So I might say that Ezekiel has an understanding of glory that many of us, as Christians, haven't got. He sees that glory is a combination of God and humanity. [01:19:13] When you get those two together, you've got glory. [01:19:19] When you've got the city and God together, you've got glory. [01:19:25] Ezekiel sees that, and so his whole ministry is taken up with what God requires to be able to commit himself, that is, glory, Commit his presence to a people. [01:19:40] We could say an awful lot more about Ezekiel, but I trust when we come to the outline, we shall be able to look. Look a little more at Ezekiel's ministry and see what he has to say. But you see, we've gone on a large field this evening. We've traversed the whole of Scripture, and I know there might be some. [01:19:58] Why should we do that? We're supposed to be starting Ezekiel. But the whole point is this. When we come later on to the Book of Revelation, we don't want to have to go right the way back again, all over it all. We want to have a foundational. [01:20:12] And you'll never understand any of the later prophetical books until you understand this Ezekiel. With Ezekiel, we come to a great high water mark as far as the cherubim are concerned. We've got to understand that when we understand it, we'll understand Ezekiel. When we understand Ezekiel, we understand something more of God's purpose, and we shall understand a good deal more of God's word. [01:20:42] But this is all very involved, Thou knowest, and perhaps for many of us it's a little bit confusing. [01:20:50] But we do cry to Thee, dear Lord, that by Thy spirit thou give us an understanding. If it's only Lord, a desire to ask questions, and somehow, Lord, get to the root of this matter. But our prayer is, Lord Jesus, do reveal to us what the cherubim mean. Reveal it to us, Lord, in a practical way, so that when we come to read Thy word, Lord, we've got an understanding that will, Lord, stand us in good stead. [01:21:19] Now we commit it to Thee and pray that, Lord, we might be changed into that glory, into the same image, into Thy image, Lord, from glory to glory By Thy spirit, Lord Jesus, wilt Thou make us, we pray Thee, the kind of people who are like Christ, who can contain and express Thy glory and be Thy throne and dwelling place forever. [01:21:50] We ask it in the name of our Lord Jesus. [01:21:53] Amen.