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Ezekiel 1

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1 And it cometh to pass, in the thirtieth year, in the fourth [month], in the fifth of the month, and I [am] in the midst of the Removed by the river Chebar, the heavens have been opened, and I see visions of God.

2 In the fifth of the month -- it is the fifth year of the removal of the king Jehoiachin --

3 hath the word of Jehovah certainly been unto Ezekiel son of Buzi the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chebar, and there is on him there a hand of Jehovah.

4 And I look, and lo, a tempestuous wind is coming from the north, a great cloud, and fire catching itself, and brightness to it round about, and out of its midst as the colour of copper, out of the midst of the fire.

5 And out of its midst [is] a likeness of four living creatures, and this [is] their appearance; a likeness of man [is] to them,

6 and four faces [are] to each, and four wings [are] to each of them,

7 and their feet [are] straight feet, and the sole of their feet [is] as a sole of a calf's foot, and they are sparkling as the colour of bright brass;

8 and hands of man under their wings -- on their four sides, and their faces and their wings -- [are] to them four;

9 joining one unto another [are] their wings, they turn not round in their going, each straight forward they go.

10 As to the likeness of their faces, the face of a man, and the face of a lion, toward the right [are] to them four, and the face of an ox on the left [are] to them four, and the face of an eagle [are] to them four.

11 And their faces and their wings are separate from above, to each [are] two joining together, and two are covering their bodies.

12 And each straight forward they go, whither the spirit is to go, they go, they turn not round in their going.

13 As to the likeness of the living creatures, their appearances [are] as coals of fire -- burning as the appearance of lamps; it is going up and down between the living creatures, and brightness [is] to the fire, and out of the fire is going forth lightning.

14 And the living creatures are running, and turning back, as the appearance of the flash.

15 And I see the living creatures, and lo, one wheel [is] in the earth, near the living creatures, at its four faces.

16 The appearance of the wheels and their works [is] as the colour of beryl, and one likeness [is] to them four, and their appearances and their works [are] as it were the wheel in the midst of the wheel.

17 On their four sides, in their going they go, they turn not round in their going.

18 As to their rings, they are both high and fearful, and their rings [are] full of eyes round about them four.

19 And in the going of the living creatures, the wheels go beside them, and in the living creatures being lifted up from off the earth, lifted up are the wheels.

20 Whither the spirit is to go, they go, thither the spirit [is] to go, and the wheels are lifted up over-against them, for a living spirit [is] in the wheels.

21 In their going, they go; and in their standing, they stand; and in their being lifted up from off the earth, lifted up are the wheels over-against them; for a living spirit [is] in the wheels.

22 And a likeness [is] over the heads of the living creatures of an expanse, as the colour of the fearful ice, stretched out over their heads from above.

23 And under the expanse their wings [are] straight, one toward the other, to each are two covering on this side, and to each are two covering on that side -- their bodies.

24 And I hear the noise of their wings, as the noise of many waters, as the noise of the Mighty One, in their going -- the noise of tumult, as the noise of a camp, in their standing they let fall their wings.

25 And there is a voice from above the expanse, that [is] above their head: in their standing they let fall their wings.

26 And above the expanse that [is] over their head, as an appearance of a sapphire stone, [is] the likeness of a throne, and on the likeness of the throne a likeness, as the appearance of man upon it from above.

27 And I see as the colour of copper, as the appearance of fire within it round about, from the appearance of his loins and upward, and from the appearance of his loins and downward, I have seen as the appearance of fire, and brightness [is] to it round about.

28 As the appearance of the bow that is in a cloud in a day of rain, so [is] the appearance of the brightness round about.

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Apocalypse Revealed #48

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48. And His eyes like a flame of fire. This symbolizes the Divine wisdom accompanying Divine love.

Eyes in the Word mean the intellect, and the sight of the eyes, therefore, intelligence. Consequently, when said in reference to the Lord, they mean Divine wisdom. A flame of fire, moreover, symbolizes spiritual love, which is charity, and consequently, when said in reference to the Lord, it means Divine love. So now, the statement that His eyes were like a flame of fire symbolizes the Divine wisdom accompanying Divine love.

That the eye symbolizes the intellect is because they correspond. For as the eye sees as a result of natural light, so the intellect sees as a result of spiritual light. Consequently seeing is predicated of both.

That the eye in the Word symbolizes the intellect is apparent from the following passages:

Bring out the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears. (Isaiah 43:8)

In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and out of darkness... the eyes of the blind shall see. (Isaiah 29:18)

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf... (Isaiah 35:5)

...I will give You... as a light to the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind... (Isaiah 42:6-7)

The last is said of the Lord, who, when He comes, will open the intellect in people who are ignorant of the truth.

[2] That this is what is meant by opening the eyes is further apparent from the following passages:

Make the heart of this people fat..., and smear over their eyes, lest they see with their eyes... (Isaiah 6:10, John 12:40)

For Jehovah has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes; the prophets and your leaders, the seers, He has covered. (Isaiah 29:10, cf. 30:10)

...who shuts his eyes so as not to see evil. (Isaiah 33:15)

Hear this..., O foolish people..., who have eyes and see not... (Jeremiah 5:21)

(The punishment of) the shepherd, who deserts the flock: a sword shall be... against his right eye..., and his right eye shall be totally darkened. (Zechariah 11:17)

...the plague with which Jehovah will strike all the peoples who fought against Jerusalem: ...their eyes shall waste away in their sockets... (Zechariah 14:12)

...I will strike every horse with stupor, and... every horse of the peoples with blindness. (Zechariah 12:4)

A horse in the spiritual sense is an understanding of the Word (no. 298).

...hear me, Jehovah my God; enlighten my eyes, lest (perchance) I sleep the sleep of death. (Psalms 13:3)

Everyone sees that eyes in these places symbolize the intellect.

[3] It is apparent from this what the Lord meant by the eye in the following places:

The lamp of the body is the eye. If... your eye is whole, your entire body will be full of light. If... your eye is bad, your entire body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! (Matthew 6:22-23, cf. Luke 11:34)

If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is better for you... to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. (Matthew 5:29; 18:9)

The eye in these places does not mean an eye, but an understanding of truth.

Since the eye symbolizes an understanding of truth, it was therefore one of the statutes among the children of Israel that a blind man of the posterity of Aaron or one blurry-eyed not approach to offer a sacrifice, nor enter within the veil (Leviticus 21:18, 20, 23), and that nothing blind be offered as a sacrifice (Leviticus 22:22, Malachi 1:8).

[4] It is apparent from this what an eye means when said in reference to a person. It follows then that when said in reference to the Lord, it means His Divine wisdom, and also His omniscience and providence, as in the following passages:

Open Your eyes, Jehovah, and see. (Isaiah 37:17)

I will set My eye on them for good, and... I will build them... (Jeremiah 24:6)

Behold, the eye of Jehovah is on those who fear Him... (Psalms 33:18)

Jehovah is in His holy temple...; His eyes behold, (and) His eyelids test the children of man. (Psalms 11:4)

Inasmuch as cherubim symbolize the Lord's protection and providence to keep the spiritual meaning of the Word from being harmed, therefore it is said of the four living creatures - which were cherubim - that they were full of eyes in front and in back, and that their wings were likewise full of eyes (Revelation 4:6, 8). And it is also said that the wheels on which the cherubim rode were full of eyes all around (Ezekiel 10:12).

[5] "A flame of fire" means the Lord's Divine love, as will be seen in subsequent expositions where flame and fire are mentioned. And because it is said that His eyes were like a flame of fire, it symbolizes the Divine wisdom accompanying Divine love.

The concept that the Lord has in Him Divine love as a property of Divine wisdom, and Divine wisdom as a property of Divine love, thus a reciprocal union of the two, is an arcanum disclosed in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, nos. 34-39 and elsewhere.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.