SERMON XIV – William Elbert Munsey
Ezekiel’s vision — (discourse III.).
Unity of God’s Designs in Providence.
“Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them ; and the glory of the God of Israel was over above them. ” — Ezekiel 11:22.
BETWEEN all these symbols, there was perfect concert of action, coincidence and harmony of movement ; “When the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them ; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up ; and when those stood, these stood ; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.” They were moved by the same Spirit in obedience to ” the glory of the God of Israel ” which ” was over them above.” When God spoke, wings were extended, and wheels rolled. When He commanded a pause, wings were let down, wheels ceased, and the whole stood in its immensity and in- describable majesty — the wheels and cherubim below. This teaches us :
First, That God is in all things as their vital, sustaining, active, and intelligent Cause. Upon the recognition of such a truth we can rear an intelligent system, explanatory in it- self of all the phenomena of universal being.
Second, It teaches us the unity of the Divine plans — that God is one, and that He is the Archetype, and the centre — the circle being infinite, a ubiquitous centre.
Third, It teaches us the unity of God’s designs in Providence, and that all things willing or unwilling, active or passive, work with concerted action for the accomplishment of design ; a concert not derivable from the knowledge or will of the workers, but from the sovereignty of His government.
Now, resting upon the heads of the living creatures was a firmament clear as crystal ; upon the firmament a throne of sapphire ; upon the throne the appearance of a man- invested with a rainbow. How magnificently glorious ! A firmament clear as crystal, over whose splendid bright- ness no cloud ever cast a shadow. Clear as crystal, with the unveiled glory of God falling upon it till it probably shone like the sun, and poured a flood of dazzling bright- ness upon the compacted darkness beneath it. The glory of God pouring through the crystal firmament upon the black cloud which enveloped the wheels below, and streaming out till it fringed the clouds’ sable circumference with a band of jewelled light, is probably what the prophet had reference to when he said that the dark cloud which gave birth to his vision, had a “brightness round about.” How well the cloud below symbolizes the obscurity of God’s plans in providence to man’s mind — from the standpoint of humanity. How well the crystal firmament symbolizes the clearness of God’s plans to His mind, and the comparative clearness of God’s plans to the minds of those who by translation or death have gotten above the firmament. How well for us, in matters of Providence to use reason’s eye less, and the eye of faith more.
” Above the firmament . . . was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone.” A sapphire is a precious stone, and consists ” almost entirely of pure crystallized alumina.” It is second in hardness to the diamond, can be electrified by friction, resists the power of acids, and it can impress a ” double refraction on rays of light.” The throne, itself, symbolizes dominion, sovereignty. God is the absolute King over all kings, and nothing can transpire in the universe but it is under the control of God. God’s sovereignty does not make Him accountable for the wickedness of men and demons. Wicked subjects in a government, and criminals in prison, do not show that a government is bad. if God could rule wickedness out of the world and would do it, He would rule all good out of it. Everything is under God’s control. He does not order what men do, but He is King over all. ” The Lord killeth, and maketh alive ; he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich ; he bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory : for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and he hath set the world upon them. He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness : for by strength shall no man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces ; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them : the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth ; and he shall give strength unto his King, and exalt the horn of his anointed” (i Sam. ii. 6-9). ” For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the Judge : he putteth down one, and setteth up another” — (Psalms lxxv. 6, 7).
The throne is symbolized by a precious gem, showing the superior value and worth of spiritual things to earthly things ; the essential valuableness of a governing power in Providence ; the superiority of God’s dominions to all human dominions ; and that the most valuable in all human ends and aims is above the firmament. A throne of a precious gem is in harmony with that idea of unity which is characteristic of God, His plans, His system. We feel that a throne of less value would not be appropriate for God to sit on. The throne is symbolized by a crystallization — a sapphire stone, which resists the power of acids — denoting indestructibility. The throne is symbolized by a sapphire stone — a generic name which includes under it so many gems of wondrous beauty, and such a variety of colors: There is the ” lively and in- tense red ” oriental ruby ; the colorless or gray sapphire ; the deep blue oriental sapphire ; the yellow oriental topaz ; the violet colored oriental amethyst ; the translucent, and blue or red or pearl tinted chatoyant sapphire ; and the bright, beautiful, opalescent, star, or asteriated sapphire. “The same crystal of sapphire sometimes exhibits a union of two or three different colors.” The name of sapphire is usually applied to blue crystals, and a shining deep blue was probably the color of the throne. This is in harmony with the appearance of the sky above, whose apparent circular dome types the finite, but whose reality types the infinite.
” Upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it,” says the prophet. The man was clothed with a garment of splendid fire, which, radiating, invested him with a bright aureola, says the prophet. (Read the first chapter of Ezekiel.) The Bible represents God as a spirit without body or parts. The revelations of Himself are generally in keeping with this idea. But in this vision symbolizing His Providential Government He is seen in the form of a man. The form of a man upon the throne is significant of redemption in its relations to Providence — man the chief object, however, under any hypothesis — for it is the redemption of man. But we have the glory of God in the likeness of a man, symbolizing the God incarnated. But why was God incarnated ? To save sinners. Why is He enthroned upon the chariot of His Providence in the symbol of His incarnation — in the very form necessary to redeem man and only assumed for this purpose ? To save sinners. The salvation of mankind is the grand end of every instrumentality and dispensation of Providence. For this purpose the living creatures fly, the wheels revolve, empires are crushed. The salvation of mankind is the centre around which every instrumentality of Providence performs its circuit ; it is the end of every dispensation of Providence, however wide and inexplicable its movements ; it is the focal altar where all of them converge in glory, and kindle into meaning. ” Lo, all those things worketh God oftentimes with man, to bring back his soul from the pit.” ” Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people.”
This is the reason of many of our personal afflictions : ” But he knoweth the way that I take : when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” ” For thou, O God, hast tried us, as silver is tried. Thou broughtest us into the net : thou laidest afflictions upon our loins. Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads ; we went through fire and through water : but thou broughtest us into a wealthy place.” ” And 1 will bring” my people “through fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried : they shall call on my name, and I will hear them : I will say, It is my people : and they shall say, The Lord is my God.” ” Rejoice, though …. ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations : that the trial of your faith, being more precious than of gold which perisheth, though it is tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” ” Fear none of those things thou shalt suffer : behold, the Devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried …. be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”
The throne and him who sat upon it was invested with a brightness, which had ” the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain.” Its tissues of sunbeams, woven in alternate threads of ruby and orange, aureate and emerald, azure and violet, environed the head of the God- man with its bending beauties.
1. The rainbow types God and the manifestations of God. There are three colors in the rainbow — red, yellow, and blue, typing the three persons in the Godhead. These three colors appear as seven — red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet — typing the sevenfold manifestations of God’s glory. Thus the three persons in the Godhead, and all the manifestations of God, are connected with Providence, and Providence’s relations to the destiny of man.
2. The rainbow is a sign of mercy, the sign of a promise, the sign of a covenant, the sign of a broken tempest, the herald of coming light and coming tranquillity. Said God to Noah : * I will establish my covenant with you ; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood ; this is a token of the covenant I make between me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations. I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of the covenant between me and the earth.” The appointment of such a token of the covenant and sign of the promise made to Noah had its philosophy — cloud broken somewhere, sun shining somewhere. How appropriate then is the connection of a rainbow with the vision symbolizing the Divine government. Though the dark clouds of Providence may sweep over your heads in black and massive wrath, yet, look up ! the sun is shining some- where, the darkness is broken somewhere. The inimitable pencillings of the Divine glory have penetrated the gloom, and left a rainbow glittering upon the wing, and blushing upon the cheek of the tempest. There is the sign of God’s faithfulness to His covenant made with you ; the sign of the immutability of His promises ; the sign of deliverance ; the sign of coming day.
The rainbow environs the form of the man upon the . throne. Let the sun shine upon a shower, and its rays are refracted, reflected, and separated ” into the colors of the prismatic spectrum” by ” the drops of the falling rain,” and we have a rainbow. Go into a dark room, and make a small hole into the wall admitting a beam of ” white or solar light,” and place at the hole a triangular glass prism, and the rays of light composing the beam are separated by refraction into the primary colors, and a spectrum exhibiting the hues of the rainbow is seen on the opposite wall. Now this vision, says Ezekiel, ” was the appearance of the glory of the Lord.” Let the Divine glory, the manifestation of God’s nature, shine upon human destiny through humanity, or shine upon humanity itself through the God-man, and a rainbow, the very symbol of love, is seen in the heavens, and arches the head of the power which governs the race ; and proclaims that God loves man, and governs him for his good. The beams of the Divine glory which would consume us, when shining through Jesus is the beautiful symbol of a promise of protection. And as the prism analyzes the light and reveals its beauties, so, through Jesus and humanity, the Divine glory is exhibited in hues and shades of beauty, undreamed of before by the angels.
Glorious rainbow ! It bent over the weeping prophet in the land of captivity ; it bent over the aged John in the Isle of Patmos ; it bends over your shattered hearthstones and shivered family altars ; it bends over the graves of your hopes, and the tombs of your children ; it spans the valley of affliction, arches the river of death, and its further point rests upon the shores of the Canaan of God. We look too much below. Look up ! and our lives will be brighter then. Grand old vision of Ezekiel, sweep on in symbolic majesty till the end be, and when lifted up into heaven at the end of the days, may we be found standing on its imperishable firmament of dazzling glory, close to the throne of Him who drove its immense machinery over the smouldering ruins of a burning world to so magnificent an achievement as the salvation of man.