The works of the Reverend and learned John Lightfoot D. D., late Master of Katherine Hall in Cambridge such as were, and such as never before were printed : in two volumes : with the authors life and large and useful tables to each volume : also three maps : one of the temple drawn by the author himself, the others of Jervsalem and the Holy Land drawn according to the author's chorography, with a description collected out of his writings.

CHAP. XXXVIII. The Emblem of the Divine Glory at the Temple. Ezek. I. Esay VI. Rev. IV. &c. Explained. (Book 38)

THE Prophet Ezekiel saw the visionary Glory that he hath described, Chap. I. and Chap. X. four times over. 1. At the River Chebar among the Captives of his own Captivity, Chap. I. 1▪ that is, that Captivity which was carried away with Jechoniah, for then was he himself Captived. 2. In a plain among the Captives of the other Captivity, that is, Jehoiakims, Dan. I. who dwelt indeed upon the Coasts of the same River, but at some distance from the other, Chap. III. 15, 20, 23. 3. In the Tem∣ple, Chap. VIII. 4. And 4. at the renewed Temple again, Chap, XLIII. 2, 3.

The vision and Glory that he saw, was thus;

Ezek. I. vers. 4. Behold a whirle-wind out of the North, &c.) Out of the North ap∣peared a stormy cloud, with fire wrapped in it, which flamed into a brightness all about, and in the middle of all was as a glowing fire. For out of the North, namely, from Babel, was a storm to rise and fire to come, that was to destroy both City and Temple, and that should cause the Glory of the Lord which dwelt there, to come out thence as out of burning, as this Glory that he saw which represented that, came out of this fire.

Vers. 9. Four living creatures, and this was their appearance, they had the likeness of a Man.) That is, in stature and proportion of Body, Thighs, and Legs, they had the likeness and erect shape of a Man; only their Head and Feet and some particulars else were different, of which he giveth account in the following verses.

Vers. 6. But every one had four Faces, &c.) I render the conjunction •• But; because (the Particle bearing it) it being so translated, giveth the clearer and the readier sense. They had the likeness of a Man, But every one had four Faces.

And in vers. 7. The same particle 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 in 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 being Translated exegetically, For, doth also clear the sense, Their Feet were straight Feet, for the sole of their Feet was as the sole of a Calfs Feet.

And they sparkled, &c.) that is, their Feet sparkled like burnished Brass; for the bright∣ness of their Bodies is described at vers. 13.

Vers. 8. And the hands of a Man were under their Wings on their four sides; so had they four their Faces and their Wings.) That is, they had their Faces and their Wings on their four sides: namely, a Wing on their Breast and a Face that way, a Wing on the Back and a Face that way, and a Wing on either Shoulder and Faces likewise, and under their Wings every way was a Mans Hand and Arm.

Vers. 9. Their Wings were joining one to another.) This is explained at vers. 11.

They turned not about when they went, they went every one straight before his Face.) Which way soever they were to go, they needed not to turn their Bodies, to set their Face that way as Men and other Creatures do; who when they are to go this way or that way, they turn their Bodies till their Faces stand the way they are to go: but these did not, nor needed they to do so; for go which way they would, they had a Face that led them that way.

Vers. 10. As for the likeness of their Faces, &c.) Every one had the Face of a Man be∣fore, and the Face of an Eagle behind, the Face of a Lion towards the right Hand, and the Face of a Bullock towards the left.

It is not much important to dispute, whether they had four Heads as well as Faces, or only one Head faced on every side; I should rather hold for the former, and could give some reasons that sway me to that opinion, but I shall not insist upon them here.

Some there have been that have conceived that the quarters of their Faces are named in reference to their standing towards Ezekiel, as that the Face towards Ezekiel was a Mans, the Face which was upon Ezekiels right Hand (which was the left Hand of the Cherub) was a Lions; the Face on Ezekiels left Hand (which was the Cherubs right) the Face of a Bullock; and the Face of an Eagle behind: but they that have been of that opinion have not observed, that the four living Creatures stood not in a straight line all facing Ezekiel, but in a square posture, as shall be shewed by and by.

These living Creatures are called Cherubins by this Prophet very often, Chap. 10. and by that name, laid to this description, he teacheth us how to conceive of the form of the Cherubins that we read of so oft in Scripture, as the Cherubins upon the Mercy seat, and

the Cherubins that overshadowed the Ark in Solomons Temple, and the Cherubins wrought in the Tabernacle Curtains, and carved upon the Temple-walls, &c. name∣ly, of this four-fold feature or having so many Faces; saving that in the Imbroidery of the Curtains and Sculpture upon the Walls, only two of the four Faces could be made to appear. And so it is evident, in Ezek. XLI. 19. where he saith, there were Cherubins and Palm-trees carved upon the Walls, so that a Palm-tree was between a Cherub and a Cherub, and every Cherub had two Faces: so that the Face of a Man was to∣wards the Palm-tree on the one side, and the Face of a young Lion was towards the Palm-tree on the other side. Their other two Faces were to be conceived obscured in the Wall, as if they were looking into it. But it may not pass unobserved that these two Faces of a Man and a Lion, were not the Cherubs opposite Faces, that is, that before and that be∣hind, but they were his Face before and his Face on the right side: and hence I have one reason to conjecture that they had four Heads as well as four Faces, because it will other∣wise be very harsh to imagine how his Fore-face and right Side-face should be set to look before and behind. Now these two Faces of a Man and a Lion were the Faces that the Cherub that stood upon the right Hand of the Ark as it stood facing the People, looked upon the Ark and the People withal, his humane Face toward the Ark, his Lions towards the People: And we shall observe afterward how those whom the Cherubins represented, had in Office to look mutually towards God and his People, and were Mediators be∣tween them.

The Prophet, in Chap. X. vers. 14. reckoning the four Faces of these Cherubins again, begins with the Face of a Bullock first, which was a left Hand Face, and instead of the Face of a Bullock, he calls it the Face of a Cherub: was not the Face of a Lion or Eagle the Face of a Cherub, as well as the Face of a Bullock? It seemeth strange therefore that he should call the Bullocks Face, the Face of a Cherub rather than any other: But the reason seemeth to be taken from this consideration: The High Priest when he went into the most Holy place up to the Ark, the Cherub that stood by the Ark upon his right Hand, whither he was more ready to look than on his left, stood facing him with the Face of a Bullock. Now the Prophet in this place is speaking of Gods Glory flitting from the Temple, where it dwelt especially on the Ark between the Cherubins, and as if he looked at that right Hand Cherub, which was now flitting from his station and removing, so he nameth that Face that looked upon him: and he calleth the Face of a Bullock, the Face of a Cherub, because that was the Face of the Cherub that was most looked on and obser∣ved by him that went into the most Holy place.

Vers. 11. Thus were their Faces: and their Wings were parted upward,) Though their Wings joyned one to another at the setting on, yet they opened and parted upward, as also do the Wings of other flying Fowls: who though they grow near together at the roots, yet they spread and part wider and wider towards the points: And the like in some parity may be conceived concerning the parting of their Faces, that they grew up∣on one root as it were, but parted upward, into so many Heads: and so the construction of the verse seemeth to carry it 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 where the Particle 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 in the beginning of the verse is not ordinary, and requireth observation: It may very well be rendred, Both their Faces and their Wings were parted upward.

Two Wings of every one were joyned one to another, and two covered their Bodies, &c.) The description of the living Creatures, in Esay VI. and the parallel to them, and these in Rev. IV. must help us to Interpret this eleventh verse, about their Wings. The Apo∣calyptick calls them living Creatures, and numbreth them four, and nameth their four Faces punctually as this Prophet doth, but reckoneth their Wings to be six a piece, Rev. IV. 8. Esay nameth indeed the living Creatures that he saw by another name, than either John or Ezekiel do, yet he meaneth the very same, both for number and form, for he saw the very same Glory of God that these describe, that is, Gods Glory at the Temple, as the very first verse of that Chapter doth explain it: And in this sense is the word His Glory to be understood, John XII. 41. He saw four living Creatures, with four Faces, and in all things like to these described here, as to their form and proportion, and he saith, every one of them had six Wings, Esay VI. 2.

The Prophet Ezekiel saith no less as to that matter, although he speak it not so very plainly out: for laying vers. 11. and vers. 23. together, we shall find the account of their Wings to be to this purpose, and the same number. They had Wings that were par∣ted above: these were the two wherewithal they flew: And they had other two which joined one to another, over their Heads, these are parallel to those wherewithal Esay saith they covered their faces: and they had two wherewithal they covered their Bodies: those are they, that he saith, covered their Feet: Thus is the eleventh verse to be under∣stood: which the twenty fourth speaketh parallel to, and something explaineth. It is said there, that under the Firmament (which was over their Heads) their Wings were straight one towards another: and they had two Wings which covered on this side, and two

Wings which covered on that side: and the meaning thereof is this, that they always carried two of their Wings straight upright, joining together over their Heads, and when they stood still they covered their Bodies with four Wings, two on Back and Belly, and two on either side: Whereas it is said in vers. 24. that when they stood they let down their Wings, it is to be understood only of those two Wings wherewithal they flew, for they had every one of them two Wings that they never let down, and they were those wherewithal they covered their Faces; and they had two other which they never lift up, and they were those wherewithal they covered their Back and Belly, or secret parts before and behind. For that expression of Esay, They covered their Feet, meaneth, they covered their secret parts: for in that sense is Feet sometime taken in Scripture, as The hair of the Feet, Esay VII. 20. &c.

And thus are we to reconcile those two verses in this first Chapter of Ezekiel, which seem to be dissonant, the one whereof, namely, vers. 11. saith, That with two of their Wings they covered their Bodies; and the other, which is vers. 23. speaks of four that covered their Bodies; which mean distinctly thus, that two of their Wings continually covered their secret parts before and behind, and they never lifted them up; and when they stood still, they let down their Wings wherewith they flew, and with them cove∣red their sides. And so it appeareth that their two Wings grew out at their Shoulders, and the Wings wherewith they covered their Faces, grew out at their Breast and Back, and those grew out below them that covered their secret parts.

Vers. 12. And they went every one before his Face whither soever their mind was to go, &c.) Went they backward, forward, side-way, any way, they had every one a face to go that way, and needed no turning about to set their Faces that way they would go.

Vers. 13. Their appearance was like burning coals of fire, &c.) Hence Esay calleth them Se∣raphim, or burning ones; and that the rather, because fire is there threatned to the Temple.

It went between the living Creatures, &c.) It, that is, fire: Every one of the living Creatures was of a glowing and flaming brightness, glowing like coals of burning fire, and flaming like Lamps; and yet besides this fieriness that they carried every one with them, there was fire also in the midst of them, of a great brightness and flashing as light∣ning: So in Rev. IV. 5. Out of the Throne went lightnings, and thunders, and voices.

Thus was the appearance of these Cherubins, one thing more being added out of Ezek. X. 12. That their whole Body, and their Backs, and their Hands, and their Wings were full of Eyes: The like is said, Rev. IV. 6. Now their posture or manner of standing was such, that standing still or moving, they were in a square form, as if four men should stand so, as to make a square space or a Quadrangle in the midst between them: Their quadrangular standing, was (as I may so express it) Lozenge-wise, or after the Diamond square; one looking toward the South with his humane Face, and another with his humane Face towards the North, a third with the same Face toward the East, and the fourth with the same towards the West. Thus they stood when they stood, and in this quadrature they moved when they moved: and to this sense is that passage to be understood in Chap. X. 6, 7. where it is said that fire was between the Cherubins, and one of them raught fire from between them, that is, out of the square space that was in the midst of them as they stood. And so is Ezek. I. 15. which is the next verse that comes to be explained, to be understood.

Vers. 15. And behold a Wheel on the Earth by the living Creatures 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 on his four Faces,) That is, on the four sides or Faces of the square Body as it stood; namely, a Wheel before every one of the living Creatures on the out-side of the square: A Wheel before him that stood with his humane Face looking East, and a Wheel be∣fore him that stood with his humane Face looking West, and so before them that stood looking North and South. Or if you will apprehend this whole Body as it stood in its square, in the form of any of the living Creatures as he was single, do but conceive that one stood looking East with his Face of a Man, and another West with his Face of an Eagle, another looking South with his Face of a Lion, and the fourth look∣ing North with his Face of a Bullock; and so you have the four several Faces on the out∣side of the square, and the four several Faces on the inside of it, and the four Wheels standing before the out-side staves.

Vers. 16. As it were a Wheel within a Wheel,) The fashion of every Wheel was so, as it were one Wheel put cross within another, so that they could run upon either of these crossing Rings as there was occasion: were they to go Eastward, they ran upon the one Ring, but were they suddainly to turn South, then they ran upon the cross Ring: And so as the living Creatures had Faces to lead them any way, so had these Wheels Rings or Rims to go on any way: And this is meant in vers. 17. when it said, they went upon their four sides, and turned not when they went: Not but that they turned about as Wheels do when they go, but when they were to change their way, as to go from East to South or North, or from West to either of these quarters, they needed not to fetch a compass and

wind about to set themselves to go that way, but they readily turned upon the crossing Ring and needed no more ado.

And thus did the living Creatures stand in one square, and the Wheels in another square about them: And let us take a pattern of their motion, supposing the living Crea∣tures to stand with their humane Faces looking severally to the four quarters of Heaven. Were they to move East, he that stood East his humane Face led him, and his Wheel ran before him; He that stood West, his Eagles Face led him, and his Wheel followed him; He that stood South, his Face of a Bullock led him; and he that stood North, his Lions Face led him, and their Wheels ran beside them: Were they to turn suddainly South; He that stood South, his humane Face led him, he that stood North, his Eagles, he on the East his Lions, and he on the North his Bullocks, and now the Wheels ran up∣on the other Ring.

Verse 18. Thus were their Rings,) That is, one cross within another: And they were high, and they were reverent,) 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 It were an easie sense, if the clause were Translated, And they were dreadful, that is, Wheels had their dreadfulness as well as the living Creatures: But since the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 doth most properly and most generally sig∣nifie, the inward affection of fear or reverence, it seemeth in this place to mean the reve∣rential and attendent posture in which the Wheels stood, ready to move or stand accor∣ding to the motion or standing of the living Creatures, and both they and the living Creatures observant of that Presence and Glory, upon which they waited: Had it been 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 it might very well have carried it into that construction, but being 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 it may the better countenance this that is produced, and R. Solomon speaketh of some that did so interpret it.

Such was the fashion of this divine Chariot, of living Creatures and Wheels, the Crea∣tures drawing as it were and acting the Wheels, whithersoever they moved, and the Wheels moving or standing together with them in all voluntariness and compliance: Now the Lords riding upon this glorious Carriage, is described in the verses following; An Azure Sky just over their Heads, born up as it were with the points of their Wings which they held upright over their Heads, covering their Faces with them: Above that Sky a Throne, on which sat the resemblance of a Man all fiery; from his Loins upward like fire glowing, and from his Loins downward like fire flaming: and a brightness in the form of a Rain-bow round about him. Compare Rev. IV. 2, 3.

And now to take up the moral or signification of this Emblem, we will first begin with the consideration of the general Intention of it, and then descend to the Application of particulars.

That it intends in general to signifie and character out unto us, the Lords Glory and Presence dwelling at his Temple, and among his People, these Observations will make it past doubting or peradventure.

1. The Temple is very commonly in Scripture stiled by the Name of Gods Throne, as Jer. XVII. 12. A glorious high Throne from the beginning is the place of our Sanctuary, Ezek. XLIII. 7. The place of my Throne, and the place of the soles of my Feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the Children of Israel, &c. Which the Lord proclaimeth when his Glory was returned to the renewed Temple, as is apparent in the verses immediately pre∣ceding. And so the Prophet Esay saith, I saw the Lord sitting upon a Throne high, and lift∣ed up, and his Train filled the Temple, &c. And the House was filled with smoak, &c. Esay VI. 1, 4. Where he charactereth the Lords sitting parallel to his dwelling in the Cloud of Glory upon the Ark, and from thence filling the whole House with the train of his Glory. And so in the Book of the Revelation, where the Lord is inthroned, with such living Creatures attending him as are described here, there are so plain intimations, that it mean∣eth his Glory at his Temple, that nothing can be plainer: for when there is mention of a Sea of Glass before the Throne, and of seven Lamps, Rev. IV. vers. 5, 6. and of a gol∣den Altar of Incense, Chap. VIII. 3. and of a voice from that Altar, Chap. IX. 13. &c. the allusion is so clear to the Molten Sea, seven Lamps of the golden Candlestick, the Altar of Incense, and the Oracle given from beyond it, which all were before the Ark where the Lords Glory dwelt in the Cloud, that the matter needeth no more proof than only to observe this: And that the Throne and Glory of God throughout all that de∣scription meaneth in this sense, there is evidence enough in that one clause in Chap. XVI. vers. 17. a voice came out of the Temple of Heaven from the Throne.

2. Ezekiel himself sheweth that this glory referred to the Temple, because he hath shewed it pitched there, flitting thence and returning thither again. 1. He saith, That the Glory of the God of Israel was at the Temple, namely, that that he had se••n and described in the first Chapter, Chap. VIII. 4. though he be there in numbring up the abominations that were committed in the Temple, which were great and many, yet doth he relate that this Glory was there still, because the Lord had not yet withdrawn his Presence thence. But, 2. At the last the provocations in that place do cause it to depart;

and that departure he describeth in Chap. X. and there he setteth forth the very same Glory, and almost in the very same terms that he doth in Chap. I. He telleth that this Glory of the Lord departed from off the Cherub, that is, from off the Mercy seat, where it had always dwelt between the Cherubins, and went out, first to the threshold, vers. 4. then to the East-gate, vers. 19. then to the City and to the Mount Olivet, and so departs, Chap. IX. 23. But, 3. When he speaketh of and describeth a new Temple, then he sheweth his Glory returned thither again, Chap. XLIII. 2, 3, 4. And upon these three particulars of its pitching at the Temple, flitting thence and returning thither again, we may take up these observations for the further clearing of this signification.

1. That the Prophet maketh some distinction betwixt the Glory of the Lord dwelling upon the Cherub, that is, on the Mercy Seat, over the Ark, and the Glory of the Lord upon these Cherubins: for he saith, The Glory of the Lord went up from the Cherub, and stood over the threshold of the House, these Cherubins then standing on the right side of the House, Chap. X. 3, 4. and then that the Glory of the Lord departed from off the threshold of the House, and stood over the Cherubins, vers. 18. The Glory of the Lord in the representation that the Prophet describeth in the first Chapter was upon the Cherubins already, for he saith, The Glory of the God of Israel was there according to the vision that I saw in the plain, Chap. VIII. 4. and yet he mentioneth another Glory now added to it: namely, the Cloud of Glory that dwelt upon the Mercy seat, for he saith, that upon the flitting of that Glory from off the Cherub to the threshold, the House was filled with the Cloud; the meaning of this we shall look at afterward.

2. As to the flitting of this Glory from the Temple, the Prophet saith, He saw it when he came to destroy the City, Chap. XLIII. 3. that is, when he came to foretel that the City should be destroyed. And he dated the time of his first seeing of this Glory, in the fifth year of the Captivity of Jehoiakim, Chap. I. 2. which was the fifth year of the reign of Zedekiah, 2 Kings XXIV. 8, 17, 18. in which very year Zedekiah did rebel against the King of Babel, which action was the very beginning of Jerusalems ruine.

3. As to the returning of this flitted Glory again to the new built Temple, Chap. XLIII. it is observable that the Cloud of Glory which had descended and filled the Tabernacle, and had done the like at Solomons Temple, did never so at the second Temple, or that built after the Captivity, as the Jews themselves confess, and that not without good rea∣son: Yet doth the Prophet as clearly bring that Glory into his new Temple, as ever it had come into them: but only that this was in a vision, and so it shewed visionarily, the Lords dwelling in his Ordinances and presence among his People under the second Temple, unto which the People returned out of Babel, and in the Spiritual Temple or Church under the Gospel (for Ezekiels new Temple promised a bodily Temple to the returned, and promised and typified a Spiritual Temple under the Gospel) even as he had done visibly in his Cloud of Glory, in the Tabernacle and first Temple. And secondly he addeth further, that when that Glory was entred, the East-gate at which it came in, was shut and never opened after, Chap. XLIV: 2. to denote the Everlasting dwelling of the Lord in the Church of the Gospel among his People, and never departing as he had done from Hierusalem Temple.

This then being the signification of this appearance and Glory, in general, we are next to look upon the particulars of it, which will more fully also confirm and clear this mat∣ter, and first we will begin with the living Creatures, or Cherubins.

For the better discovery of them what they were, and what they meant, these things do deservedly challenge special considering and observation.

1. That they are plainly distinguished from Angels: For in Rev. V. 11. there is men∣tion of many Angels round about the Throne, and about the living Creatures, and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands: And in Rev. VII. 11. All the Angels stood round about the Throne, and about the Elders, and the four living Creatures: So that here is apparent difference between Angels and living Creatures both in their names and in their placing: For the living Creatures were about the Throne, the twenty four Elders about the living Creatures, and the innumerable multitude of Angels about all.

2. That they were such as Christ redeemed from the Earth; For observe in Rev. V. 8, 9. The four living Creatures as well as the four and twenty Elders fall down before the Lamb, &c. saying, Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every Kindred and Tongue, and People and Nation, and hast made us unto our God Kings and Priests, &c. So that the living Creatures were redeemed, and were of People and Nations, and were made Kings and Priests as well as the twenty four Elders, which cannot be applied to Angels.

3. That these living Creatures or Cherubins are never mentioned but in vision or Hiero∣glyphick; In vision, as in these places that have been cited of Esay, Ezekiel, and the

Revelation, and in Hieroglyphick, as the Cherubins covering the Ark, and wrought in the Tabernacle Curtains, and on the Temple Walls. It is true indeed that it is said, in Gen. III. God placed Cherubins at the Gate of Eden, which is only for the fuller and more feel∣ing apprehension of the thing, the Cherubins being such forms as with which the People were best acquainted seeing them in the Tabernacle Curtains.

4. They therefore being thus constantly held out in a Doctrinal and significative tenor, as Visions and Hieroglyphicks are, they are to be expounded to such a Doctrinal and Figu∣rative sense, and so is the whole body of Glory, as I may so call it, the whole visionary Theatre or spectacle that is before us, to be taken.

And first to begin with the quadrature or four-square posture of the whole appearance, which was touched before, and now a little more to be considered on. There is intima∣tion enough in Ezekiel, that the four living Creatures stood square, with a fire in the midst of them, and the Wheels in a square on the outside of the square of the living Creatures: but in the Revelation it is yet more plain, for there it is said, the four living Creatures stood round about the Throne, which could not be but in a quadrature, one before, another behind, and one of either side; for how else could four stand round about it? The Throne then meaning the Temple, as was shewed before, this double qua∣drature about it, doth call us to remember the double Camp that pitched about the Ta∣bernacle upon the four sides of it, East, West, North, and South: When the Lord did first platform and order the incamping of Israel in the Wilderness.

• 1. He pitched his own Tabernacle in the middle, as that being the very Center, Heart, and Life of the Congregation, and they being all to attend upon it, and God thereby declaring himself to be in the midst of them, Lev. XXVI. 11, 12.
• 2. He pitched the Tribe of Levi in four Squadrons on the four sides of the Taber∣nacle next unto it: for they being the Ministers that attended upon the Publick Service, and that drew near unto the Lord, and were Mediators 'twixt God and his People, the Lord caused them to Incamp next unto his Sanctuary, and betwixt the Camp of the People and Himself.
• 3. The outmost of all, in four main Bodies on the four sides of the Tabernacle, and of the Levites. Camp, did the whole Congregation pitch, and so there were two quadra∣tures, the Levites about the Sanctuary, and the Congregation about the Levites. See Numb. II.

Answerable is the platform here, and the quadrangular posture is in reference and allu∣sion to that, and from thence must we explain it. In the midst was a Quadrangle of fire: and upon every side of that Quadrangle a Cherub, and on the outside of the Cherubins even before every one of them was a Wheel. And in the Revelation, A Throne in the middle, four living Creatures next about it, and the twenty four Elders about them.

So that by this parallel to Israels Camp from whence the platform both in the Prophet and the Apocalyptick is taken, the four living Creatures did signifie the Priests and Mi∣nisters of the Lord, and the Wheels in the one, and the twenty four Elders in the other did represent the People or the Congregation: And this will arise clearer and clearer still to our observation, as we go along to consider their Place, Actions and De∣scriptions.

1. I know it is conceived by some that the twenty four Elders in the Revelation were nearer the Throne than the Cherubins (and that Opinion must needs conclude the like in Ezekiel) but the contrary is apparent by these Observations.

First, That (besides what hath been said upon vers. 15.) in Ezek. X. 6. a man clothed in linnen, being bidden to take fire from between the Wheels, from between the Cheru∣bins, he first goeth in within the compass of the Wheels, and then a Cherub taketh fire from the midst of the Cherubins and reacheth it to him.

Secondly, It is said there again at vers. 9. that the four Wheels were by the Cherubins, whereas if the Wheels had been inmost, it had been proper to have said, the Cherubins were by the Wheels.

Thirdly, And at vers. 18. It is said the Glory of the Lord stood over the Cherubins, and Chap. I. 22, 26. &c. it is said the Throne of God was just over their Heads, and there is no mention of being over the Wheels, which shews it very unlikely that the Wheels were in the middle of the Cherubins.

Fourthly, In Rev. V. 6. the platform is named thus, In the midst of the Throne, and of the four living Creatures, and in the midst of the Elders; the Throne in the midst, the living Creatures next, and the Elders outmost: and so again in vers. 11. &c.

Fifthly, In Chap. IV. 4. It is said, that about the Throne were four and twenty seats, and on them four and twenty Elders sitting; and at vers. 6. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉▪ which is a hard piece of Greek to construe, because there is an Ellipsis of a particle, which not observed, hath produced but harsh Interpretations of the place. The Syriack hath rendred it, In the midst of the Throne, and about it, and

before it; the most Translations, In the midst of the Throne, and about the Throne, which how to make a smooth Exposition of, is hard to find. The particle 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 seemeth to be un∣derstood, which expressed, the sentence would run thus, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that is, between the Throne and the incompassing that was about it (of twenty four seats and Elders on them) there were four living Creatures.

Thus then was the place of the living Creatures, next the Throne; and that being the place of the Levites next the Sanctuary, it sheweth that these Cherubins or Creatures, did represent the Ministers and the Wheels, and twenty four Elders did represent the Congregation.

And this will yet appear the clearer by observing that the living Creatures were the first agents and movers continually in any expedition or imploiment, as the Ministers were in the Publick Service. In Ezek. I. and X. the Wheels moved or stood, according as the living Creatures did first. And in the Apocalypse the living Creatures first praise and worship, and then the Elders, Chap. V. 14. The four living Creatures said Amen, and the twenty four Elders fell down and worshipped, &c. Chap. IV. 9, 10. When the living Crea∣tures give Glory and Honour, &c. the twenty four Elders fell down, &c.

2. And now to come to the consideration of their figure and resemblance, and first to begin with their four Faces; the Jews acknowledge that these four Faces were severally pictured in the four Standards of the squadrons of Israels Camp, as they pitched in the quadrangular form that hath already been spoken of. There were figures (saith * 1.1 Aben Ezra) in every Standard and Standard: And our Ancients do say that in the Standard of Reuben, there was the picture of a Man, and in the Standard of Judah the picture of a Lion, in the Standard of Ephraim the picture of a Bullock, and in the Standard of Dan the picture of an Eagle, so that they were like the Cherubins which Ezekiel saw: With which assertion Ramban also agreeth, and Targum Jonathan doth not much dissent, and this opinion was entertained as an ancient Tradition of the Nation: upon what ground, and upon what references of these Pictures to the Tribe and Standard to which they belonged, it is not much material to insist upon, to debate here.

Upon the observation that these representations were severally in the Standards of Is∣raels Camp, some have concluded, that therefore the four living Creatures which bare these representations did signifie the Congregation or People, and not the Levites or Ministers: which is unproper to conceive, because such a construction allotteth all the four figures to every Standard, whereas all the four Standards did but make up and carry these four figures amongst them all. But it is not improper to allot all these four figures to every one of the squadrons of the Levites, for every one of them, nay every particu∣lar one of the Priests and Levites had interest in and relation to the whole Congregation, as being Ministers in their behalf: And as Aaron carried all the Tribes upon his Shoulders and Breast, so are the Ministers in these Emblems of the living Creatures, decyphered as carrying the Faces of all the Standards of the whole Congregation: because of their reference to the whole Congregation, they serving at the Temple for it. What allegorical Interpretations are made of these four Faces, I shall not trouble the Reader to produce, every one may find one such application of them or other as his conception upon them shall lead him to it.

As for the rest of the Proportion of these living Creatures, they are especially remark∣able for their Wings and Feet, for the rest of their Bodies was like the Body of a Man: Two of their Wings were always erect over their Heads covering their Faces, from un∣der which they spied, as it were, at their way they were to go, and at the Glory they at∣tended on: which pertinently denoteth the reverential respect that the Ministers of the Lord have to his Glory and to the Mysteries of his Counsel; compare 1 Pet. I. 12. With two other Wings they covered their secrets, in sign of humble sensibleness of their own deformity; and with two they flew, in signification of ready activity and attendance for and upon the Lords Service; their Feet were in fashion like to the Feet of a Bullock, and in colour like to burnished Brass: according to which later character the Feet of our Saviour are described, Rev. I. 15. His Feet like unto fine Brass as if they burned in a furnace. Every one will be ready to frame an allegorical application of these circumstances, accor∣ding to his own conception: It may be some (if they take those living Creatures to re∣present the Ministers, as I suppose they do) will when they read of their Feet like to the Feet of Bullocks, apprehend that it is, because they trod out the Corn of the Word for the People; and as that was also done with a Wheel, so there are Wheels here in the like manner: It may be they will think they are described thus footed for the fitter setting them forth as the drawers of this Divine Charret: It may be they will suppose the beau∣ty and shining brightness of their Feet, may signifie the holiness of their ways, shining in sanctity and burning in zeal: It may be they may think of the Priests Feet red for cold as they stood upon the bare Stones in their Service, and they seeming unsensible of it, as are the Feet of Bullocks, and such variety of apprehensions will be ready to be taken up

upon these things, that a Man may speak his own thoughts and opinion in this matter, but not readily bring another to be of his mind.

The likeness of these living Creatures all over their Bodies, was as burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of Lamps, Ezek. I. vers. 13. for the faithful Ministers of the Lord are as a flame of fire, as Psal. CIV. 4. shining in Life and Doctrine like Lamps and Lights, John V. 35. Matth. V. 14, 15, 16. and by the Word of the Lord even devouring the disobedient, as Jer. V. 14. I will make my words in thy Mouth fire, and this People wood, and it shall devour them.

The fire that was in the midst of these Creatures, which went up and down among them, and out of which proceeded Thundrings and Lightnings, Ezek. I. 14. Rev. IV. 5. may draw our thoughts to the Altar and fire there, and to observe the Priests standing on the four sides of it in their attendance on it (and so Esay saith, one of the Seraphins took a fiery coal from the Altar and touched his Lips with it, Esa. VI. 6, 7.) as these living Creatures stood on the four sides of a Quadrangle of fire which was in the midst of them, or rather it so plainly denoteth the Word of God among his Ministers, and the Thundrings and Lightnings and Voices do so clearly relate to the giving of the Word at Sinai, that so to Allegorize it, is without any straining at all, especially considering how commonly the Word of God is compared to fire in the Scripture, as Deut. XXXIII. 2. Jer. V. 14. & XXIII. 29. & XX. 9. 1 Co••. III. 13.

Thus were these living Creatures which did resemble and emblem the Lords Ministers: the emblem of the People or the Congregation was two-fold; in Ezekiel, Wheels; in the Revelation, four and twenty Elders; and these later help to understand the meaning of the former. As the Ark and Cherubins upon it, and by it, are called the Charet of the Che∣rubins, 1 Chron. XXVIII. 18. the Lord there riding as it were in his Glory and Presence, in the Cloud that dwelt upon it, even such another composture doth Ezekiel describe here, the Divine Charet of the Lord, of his Glorious and Triumphant riding and sitting among his People in his Word and Ordinances, and his Presence in them: And it is re∣markable what is spoken by Ezekiel, in Chap. X. 4, 18. of which mention was made be∣fore, when he saith, That the Glory of the Lord went up from the Cherub and stood over the Cherubins: which meaneth but this, that that Glory which had dwelt upon the Ark in the most Holy place, did now depart and came to dwell upon this other Charet which he had described, of living Creatures and Wheels denoting this, that though the visible Presence of the Lord which had appeared in the Cloud of Glory upon the Ark were now departed, yet was his Presence still among his People, in that manner which he em∣blemed in that Scheme, namely his Ministers and People attending him in his Word and Ordinances, and acting and moving according thereunto. And in the description of this Divine Charet, you may observe, that the living Creatures or Ministers, are charactered out, as both the Body of the Charet and they also that acted the Wheels: for the Lord rideth upon their Ministry (as it were) and his Name is thereby carried where he plea∣seth: and they are those whom he useth by that Ministry to draw and move the People to Obedience, and Conforming to his Word: and there the Lord doth ride triumphantly among a People, as Psal. XLV. 4. where Ministers and People in joint and sweet harmony and consent, do agree and concur to carry up the Word, Name, and Glory of the Lord, and both do act in the Power of the Word and Ordinances: the Ministers ministring, and the People moving or standing according to the direction and influence of that Word.

What the Apocalyptick meaneth by the four and twenty Elders, he himself giveth some explanation of, in Chap. XXI. 12, 14. where he speaketh of the Gates and Foundations of the New Jerusalem, parallel to the Twelve Tribes of Israel, and the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb. And as these Twelve and Twelve, were the beginnings as we may call them, the one number of the Church under the Law, and the other number of the Church un∣der the Gospel; so under the sum and number of both these united together, or under the notion of these four and twenty Elders he intendeth the whole Church or Congre∣gation both of Jews and Gentiles. Both Wheels and living Creatures are described full of Eyes, in Ezek. I. 18. Rev. IV. 8. because of the great measure of Knowledge the Lord vouchsafed to his People, and to denote the heedfulness of the Saints in their walk∣ing before him. The Lord himself is described dwelling upon them and among them, in Bright, Glorious, and Majestick representations, but withal, incircled with the likeness of the Bow that is in the Cloud in the day of Rain, Ezek. I. 28. Rev. IV. 3. which was the Emblem of the Lords Covenant with his People, as Gen. IX. 13, 14, 15.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Aben Ezra in Numb. XXII.