The Bible

 

Ezekiel 10

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1 And I looked, and behold, in the expanse 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.

2 And he spoke unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Come in between the wheels, under the cherub, and fill the hollow of thy hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight.

3 And the cherubim stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.

4 And the glory of Jehovah mounted up from the cherub, [and came] over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of Jehovah's glory.

5 And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty ùGod when he speaketh.

6 And it came to pass when he had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubim, then he went in, and stood beside the wheel.

7 And the cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim unto the fire that was between the cherubim, and took and put it into the hands of him [that was] clothed with linen; who took [it], and went out.

8 And there appeared in the cherubim the form of a man's hand under their wings.

9 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 as the look of a chrysolite stone.

10 And as for their appearance, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel were in the midst of a wheel.

11 When they went, they went upon their four sides; they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked they followed it: they turned not as they went.

12 And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes round about, in them four [and] their wheels.

13 As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing, Galgal.

14 And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

15 And the cherubim mounted up. This was the living creature that I saw by the river Chebar.

16 And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also turned not from beside them.

17 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.

18 And the glory of Jehovah departed from over the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim.

19 And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight, when they went out; and the wheels were beside them; and they stood at the door of the east gate of Jehovah's house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

20 This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim.

21 Each one had four faces, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.

22 And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I had seen by the river Chebar -- their appearance and themselves: they went every one straight before them.

   

Commentary

 

Stone

  

Stones in the Bible in general represent truths, or things we know concerning the Lord and what He wants from us and for us in life. This is why the people of Israel built altars of stone, and is also why stoning was a principal form of capital punishment (using truth to destroy falsity, or in the negative sense using falsity to destroy truth). It is also why precious stones are described in such detail on Aaron's breastplate and ephod, and also in the New Jerusalem in Revelation; precious stones represent true ideas directly from the Lord with the various colors showing various forms of love. Stones are not alone in representing truth, of course -- it sometimes seems that almost everything in the Bible represents either true ideas or desires for good. But that makes sense, since our thoughts and our desires together are everything we are in life, and the interplay between them is what life is all about. The many ways they are represented in the Bible reflect the incredible variety in our feelings and thoughts, though we can only distantly understand how those representations work. In the case of stones, in their weight, strength and permanence they tend to represent true ideas that come from a desire for good, the understanding we can have if we are truly good and loving -- and in the highest sense the exalted ideas that come from the Lord's love. Those ideas are ones that are not easily moved or changed, and make wonderful foundations for the things we want to build in our spiritual lives.