Scripture Reading: Ezek. 1:22-25
Ezekiel 1:22-25 is very profound and deep. These verses tell us that upon the heads of the four living creatures there is the firmament, or the expanse, which we call the sky. The appearance of the sky is like terrible crystal. It is so clear that it looks terrible. This sky stretches forth over the heads of all the creatures. Under this sky the living creatures stretch their two wings straight. In a previous message we saw that two of the wings of each of the living creatures are stretched forth and joined to the wings of others. The living creatures use their other two wings to cover their body. Whenever they move and whenever they act, a voice, or a sound, comes from their wings. This voice is like the noise of great waters and also like “the voice of the Almighty” (v. 24), that is, the Almighty God. It is also like the voice of tumult, the voice of a host or army. (The word host in verse 24 means “an army.”) Furthermore, when the living creatures stop and stand still, they lower their wings (v. 25). We need to consider the spiritual significance and application of all these matters. If we do not understand this spiritual significance and application, then to us these points may appear either nonsensical or meaningless.
These verses are based on the preceding verses. This means that we first need to experience the blowing wind, which brings in the cloud of the Lord’s presence to overshadow us. As we enjoy the Lord’s presence, the cloud brings in the burning fire, and we experience the burning. Out of the burning fire, we gain the electrum, and then we become living creatures. As living creatures, we move in coordination with others to express Christ. We have four faces to express the all-inclusive Christ in a corporate way. In order to have these four faces, we need to be dealt with by the cross. Following this, we need to experience and enjoy the eagle’s wings; that is, we move by the divine power and strength and by the grace of Christ. We also cover ourselves, hiding ourselves under His overshadowing wings, hiding ourselves under the grace and power of Christ. Furthermore, we need to learn to work as a man by using the man’s hands and also learn to walk on the calf’s straight feet, having a walk that is straight, frank, honest, sincere, and faithful. This will qualify us to be in coordination. Within the coordination we will have the fire up and down, the burning coals, and the enlightening torches. When we reach this point, the holy God as a consuming fire will be among us in a corporate way. Then there will be a high and dreadful wheel beside us, indicating that we have God’s move on earth by us and with us. Within this wheel is a wheel, signifying that within our move is the Lord’s move. He is moving within us. By having such a wheel, such a move, we will be full of eyes and have insight and foresight. Now we need to see that when we have all these matters in our experience, we will have a clear sky and a very particular sound — the sound of great waters, a sound that is the voice of the Almighty.
Ezekiel 1:22 says, “The likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the color of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.” This reveals that after we have experienced all the things in the first twenty-one verses, the sky over our heads will be crystal clear. It will be like a great expanse of crystal. We will have a wide, clear expanse above us. This means that above us is an open, clear heaven.
The sky is not only clear; it is also expanding. It is not just a matter of having a clear sky vertically, from heaven to earth, but also a matter of having a clear sky horizontally. This means that the clear sky is expanding. Our sky, therefore, should be clear and expanding.
Before we were saved, our sky was dark and cloudy, even foggy. It was also narrow, without any expanse. With us there was hardly any heaven, hardly any sky. But one day we repented, confessed our sins, and received the Lord Jesus as our Savior. The more we confessed our sins, the more clear our sky became. After we made a thorough confession, we had the sense, for the first time, that the sky above us was clear. We sensed that the day was dawning, that the clouds were leaving, and that the fog was lifting. When we were saved, we received not only a clear sky but also an expanding sky. We had the sense that our sky was expanding.
Later, however, some problems might have arisen with ourselves personally, with our relatives, with the church, or with some of the brothers and sisters. Immediately our sky became somewhat cloudy again. It was not as cloudy and dark as before we were saved, but still it was no longer clear. Clouds and fog reappeared. We all have had this kind of experience. Eventually, we confessed our failures, condemned such things as our attitudes, motives, intentions, and goals, and received God’s forgiveness and the cleansing of the blood of Jesus (7, 1 John 1:9). The sky above us became clear again, and once again we were under a clear sky. Then the sky began to open and expand above us. In our experience we should always have a clear, open, and expanding heaven.
The kind of sky a Christian has depends upon his conscience. Your conscience is connected to your sky. If there is no blemish on your conscience, your sky will be clear. If your sky is not clear, this means that there is some offense on your conscience. In order to have a clear sky, we need to deal with any offense and condemnation in our conscience. The story of our sky is the story of our conscience.
When we as living creatures reach the point of having a clear, open, and expanding heaven, there will be nothing between us and God and nothing between us and one another. There will be nothing cloudy or foggy covering us or separating us from one another. All the clouds, coverings, separations, and fog will be gone, and we will have a sky that is thoroughly clear and continually expanding. Our expanse will be as clear as crystal. When others look upon our clear sky, they will be astonished. Our sky is terrible because it is crystal clear and expanding.
This clear and expanding sky is also stable. As a rule, the sky above the earth usually has some kind of movement. Either the clouds are moving or the wind is blowing. But the sky above the living creatures is not moving; rather, it is as stable as crystal. There is no change.
We need to consider this in light of our experience. At the time we were saved, we had a clear sky. However, we enjoyed such a sky only for a short time. Like the weather in certain places, our sky fluctuated very much. Sometimes our sky became cloudy, but after we confessed our sins, it became clear again. Later we would have another failure, such as losing our temper, and our sky would become cloudy once again. There were many fluctuations in the sky above our head.
With the living creatures, however, the situation is altogether different. The sky above the heads of the living creatures is perfectly stable, like crystal. There is no fluctuation. The heaven above them is clear, expanding, and stable. They have a thorough fellowship with the Lord vertically and also a clear fellowship among themselves horizontally. They have a wide and stable span of fellowship.
A proper local church should be like this. Unfortunately, however, the sky in some local churches seems to be cloudy and narrow. The sky over that church is very small and narrow. There is no expanse, and the situation is dark and touchy, making it difficult for anyone to say anything. If you say anything in this touchy situation, some of the saints will be offended. No matter what you say, certain ones will be unhappy with you. However, if a local church is proper, the sky over it will be clear and broad. No matter what you say, no one will be offended.
This does not mean that we should try in ourselves to be broad-minded. If we are like a frog in a well, it matters little whether we are broad-minded or narrow-minded. We need to jump out of the well and come under a clear sky where the horizon is broad. Once we are under such a sky, even if we are narrow-minded, we will spontaneously become broad. It is impossible for the living creatures to be narrow-minded, because there is a wide expanse above their heads. The sky above them is clear, expanding, and terrible to behold. Under such a sky we have the proper fellowship with the Lord and with one another.
If we are under a clear and expanding sky, we can have the adequate and proper coordination, a coordination that is altogether straight. In the first chapter of Ezekiel, the word straight is used a few times. In verse 7 it is used for the calf’s hoofs. In verse 23 it is used for the eagle’s wings: “Under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other.” This indicates that in our coordination we must be straight.
Sometimes the coordination in the local churches is not straight but is somewhat crooked. For example, brother A might fellowship a matter with brother B and then ask him not to tell brother C about this matter. But brother B goes to brother C, passes on the information to him, and then asks him not to say anything about this to brother D. This kind of coordination is political. We should never play politics in the church life. If we say something to one brother, we should be able to say it to others as well. This means that our wings must be straight. Our coordination must be frank, sincere, earnest, and straight.
Verse 24a says, “When they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of a host.” Here we are told that as the living creatures moved, Ezekiel heard the voice of their wings. This means that as they moved in a straight coordination, a voice came out. This voice was their testimony. From this we see that the voice of the testimony of any local church must come out of the proper coordination. It should not be the voice of an individual believer; it should be the voice of the coordination. The voice comes out of the wings that have been joined to one another.
Consider the situation with Peter in the New Testament. Before the day of Pentecost, Peter often voiced something by himself, and what he spoke was usually rejected by the Lord Jesus. This was because he voiced it by himself (Matt. 16:22-23; 17:4-5, 24-27). But after the Lord’s ascension, on the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up with the eleven (Acts 2:14). I believe that when the twelve stood there, they were like the four living creatures in Ezekiel 1. The voice which came out on the day of Pentecost was not the voice of an individual Peter but the voice of a corporate body.
On the one hand, the four living creatures stretched two of their wings for coordination, for moving, and for giving the voice. On the other hand, they used the other two wings to cover themselves. This indicates that in the church life, in the coordination, we all need to learn to hide ourselves under the Lord’s grace. Do not display yourself but instead hide yourself. Hide under the eagle’s wings. There should be no manifestation of the self or of any individual. No matter how great our portion may be, we need to hide ourselves under the Lord’s grace. We should never boast in ourselves but always boast in Him.
If our sky is clear, if we have a straight coordination, and if we hide ourselves in the Lord and under His grace, there will be a beautiful situation among us in the church life.
If the situation of a local church is like that of the four living creatures described above, that church will be qualified and adequate to sound out the voice and to give a strong testimony. The voice will not be that of an individual person but will be like the sound of great waters. A particular believer may be spiritual and love the Lord very much, but if he is not coordinated with others, the voice of his testimony will be weak; it will not be like the voice of great waters. We need to look to the Lord that the testimonies of all the local churches would be like the great waters. One individual brother should not always speak something for the local church, but a coordinated body should sound the voice and give the testimony. Others will be astonished at this kind of voice, and they will say that the voice of this local church is like the sound of great waters.
Verse 24 says also that this voice is the voice of the Almighty. It becomes the voice of God Himself. It is the voice of a corporate body, but eventually this voice becomes the voice of God. How marvelous!
The testimony of a local church should be like this. The voice in your local church should be the voice not of any individual but the voice of the Almighty.
Eventually, as verse 24 says, the voice is the voice of a fighting army.
Often the situation in the local churches is not like this, because the church does not have a clear, expanding, and stable heaven. If the brothers and sisters do not have the proper fellowship and coordination, they may try to vindicate themselves and claim to have something. But if they have something real, they do not need to claim anything. If they claim to be rich, this indicates that actually they are poor. A millionaire does not need to claim that he is rich. If our church is like the four living creatures, there is no need for us to claim anything for our church.
Consider again the wonderful situation in Ezekiel 1. Look at the expanse, the move, the coordination, and the fellowship. Here is the voice of great waters, the voice of the Almighty, and the voice of an army.
This cannot be accomplished in us overnight. We must begin with the blowing wind from the north and then pass through all the subsequent experiences in order to have a sky that is crystal clear.
All the local churches need to arrive at this point, following one another until we get there. In the New Jerusalem there is only one street (Rev. 21:21b; 22:1), indicating that there should be only one street in the church life today and that we all need to walk on it. We need to follow one another on this one street until we arrive at the point described in Ezekiel 1:22-25. This means that we need to have a clear sky with a wide expanse which is awesome and terrible in the eyes of others. When we reach this stage, we will have a proper testimony. We will have a voice like the sound of great waters and like that of the Almighty God and of an army fighting the battle for God’s economy.
There is another matter that we need to consider, and this is mentioned in verse 24b: “When they stood, they let down their wings.” Here we see that the living creatures do not move all the time. Sometimes they stop and stand still. When they stand still, they let down their wings, lowering them. When they hear a voice not out of their wings but out of the clear sky above their heads, they stop and let down their wings. This indicates that they know how to listen to God’s voice. They know not only how to speak and sound forth their voice but also how to listen to God’s voice. Whenever they listen to God’s voice, they stop moving, stand still, and lower their wings.
If we have a sky that is crystal clear, expanding, and stable, there will be a twofold result. On the one hand, having a clear sky enables us to speak; on the other hand, it enables us to listen. We speak to others, and we listen to God. This means that we should be a Christian who both speaks for God and listens to God’s speaking. If our condition is like that of the living creatures in Ezekiel 1, our sky will be clear, and then we will be able to speak for God and also to hear God’s speaking. The ability to speak and to hear depends upon having a clear sky.
A clear sky, speaking for the Lord, and listening to the Lord are all matters of fellowship. Genuine fellowship is related to genuine coordination. When we have fellowship with God and with one another, there will be a genuine coordination among us. Then as we move we can speak for God, and when God comes to speak to us, we can listen quietly to His speaking.
This should be the situation in all the local churches. A proper local church knows both how to move and how to stop, how to sound forth its voice and how to listen to God’s voice. Is your local church like this? I am concerned that your church may not know how to stop, lower its wings, and listen to the voice from the sky. I am also concerned that in your local church there may not be the proper coordination. Instead, there may be a one-man show, with one person doing everything and insisting that everything and everyone be under his control. Any local church that is like this will be poor and weak. No matter what such a church may claim to have, there is no voice coming from the wings. The coordination of the four living creatures, on the contrary, is not a one-man show. One person does not decide everything. Their coordination is a coordination of all the living creatures.
Ezekiel 1 presents the clearest picture in the Bible concerning the proper church life, and we all need to see the church life as it is portrayed in this chapter. The coordination shown here is marvelous. All the experiences in a wonderful sequence bring the living creatures to a point where they are under a crystal-clear, expanding, and stable heaven. Therefore, the living creatures have a proper move on earth and give a proper voice and testimony to the whole universe. Here they learn how to stop and listen to God’s voice. They know how to give the voice by moving and know how to listen to God’s voice by stopping.
We all, especially the leading ones in the local churches, need to see this picture and experience what is unveiled in it. May the Lord be merciful to us and cause all the local churches to be brought into the experiences depicted in this chapter.
