Apocalypse Revealed #437
437. And the sound of their wings was like the sound of many horse-drawn chariots rushing into battle. This symbolizes their reasonings, as though founded on doctrinal truths from the Word fully understood, which they had to ardently defend.
The sound of wings symbolizes reasonings, because to fly means, symbolically, to perceive and teach (nos. 245, 415). Chariots symbolize doctrinal teachings, as we are about to show. Horses symbolize an understanding of the Word (no. 298), and many horses a full understanding. Plainly to rush into battle symbolizes an ardor to fight.
That a chariot symbolizes doctrine is clear from the following passages:
The chariots of God are twenty thousand, thousands of peaceful ones, the Lord among them... (Psalms 68:17)
(Jehovah) makes the clouds His chariots, He walks on the wings of the wind. (Psalms 104:3)
O Jehovah..., ...You ride on Your horses, Your chariots are salvation. (Habakkuk 3:8)
...behold, Jehovah will come with fire, and like a whirlwind His chariots... (Isaiah 66:15)
You shall be filled at My table with horses and chariots... (Thus) I will set My glory among the nations. (Ezekiel 39:20-21)
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem. (Zechariah 9:10)
I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms... I will overthrow the chariots and those who ride in them. (Haggai 2:22)
...set a watchman, let him declare what he sees. He saw therefore a chariot, a pair of horsemen..., a chariot of camels..., and... the chariot of a man... And he... said, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen!" (Isaiah 21:6-7, 9)
Since Elijah and Elisha represented the Lord in respect to the Word and thus symbolized doctrine drawn from the Word, as did all the prophets (no. 8), therefore they were called "the chariots of Israel and its horsemen;" and for the same reason Elisha saw Elijah taken up into heaven in a chariot of fire, and Elisha's servant saw chariots and horses of fire around Elisha (2 Kings 2:11-12; 6:17; 13:14).
See also elsewhere where chariots are mentioned, as in Isaiah 31:1; 37:24; 66:20; Jeremiah 17:25; 22:4; 46:2-3, 8-9; 50:37-38; 51:20-21.
Psalms 104
1
Bless Yahweh, my soul. Yahweh, my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty.
2
He covers himself with light as with a garment. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain.
3
He lays the beams of his rooms in the waters. He makes the clouds his chariot. He walks on the wings of the wind.
4
He makes his messengers winds; his servants flames of fire.
5
He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever.
6
You covered it with the deep as with a cloak. The waters stood above the mountains.
7
At your rebuke they fled. At the voice of your thunder they hurried away.
8
The mountains rose, the valleys sank down, to the place which you had assigned to them.
9
You have set a boundary that they may not pass over; that they don't turn again to cover the earth.
10
He sends forth springs into the valleys. They run among the mountains.
11
They give drink to every animal of the field. The wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12
The birds of the sky nest by them. They sing among the branches.
13
He waters the mountains from his rooms. The earth is filled with the fruit of your works.
14
He causes the grass to grow for the livestock, and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food out of the earth:
15
wine that makes glad the heart of man, oil to make his face to shine, and bread that strengthens man's heart.
16
Yahweh's trees are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon, which he has planted;
17
where the birds make their nests. The stork makes its home in the fir trees.
18
The high mountains are for the wild goats. The rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.
19
He appointed the moon for seasons. The sun knows when to set.
20
You make darkness, and it is night, in which all the animals of the forest prowl.
21
The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their food from God.
22
The sun rises, and they steal away, and lay down in their dens.
23
Man goes forth to his work, to his labor until the evening.
24
Yahweh, how many are your works! In wisdom have you made them all. The earth is full of your riches.
25
There is the sea, great and wide, in which are innumerable living things, both small and large animals.
26
There the ships go, and leviathan, whom you formed to play there.
27
These all wait for you, that you may give them their food in due season.
28
You give to them; they gather. You open your hand; they are satisfied with good.
29
You hide your face: they are troubled; you take away their breath: they die, and return to the dust.
30
You send forth your Spirit: they are created. You renew the face of the ground.
31
Let the glory of Yahweh endure forever. Let Yahweh rejoice in his works.
32
He looks at the earth, and it trembles. He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33
I will sing to Yahweh as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God while I have any being.
34
Let your meditation be sweet to him. I will rejoice in Yahweh.
35
Let sinners be consumed out of the earth. Let the wicked be no more. Bless Yahweh, my soul. Praise Yah!
