Of the redeemed it is written, “The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads.” Isa. 35:10. The redeemed are represented as declaring, “Thou 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: and we shall reign on the earth,” Rev. 5:9, 10.
Of these it is stated, “Blessed and holy is he that bath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” Rev. 20:6. And it is prophesied of these, “Ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the ministers of our God.” Isa. 61:6. The question is asked, “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?” I Cor. 6:2. Like Christ, who will sit upon his throne as both king and priest combined, the redeemed, or glorified saints will sit upon thrones as both kings and priests. Zech. 6:13
The Present Work of Angels
While angels of God are at present used by Him as His ministers, agents, or messengers to perform His will and purpose, and to keep circumstances and situations under control; they do not rule the earth as kings in the same sense as the saints will during the millennial period. Their present work is said to be “for those who shall be heirs of salvation.” Psa. 103:20, 21, Heb. 1:14. Angels are not earth born creatures. They cannot therefore exercise the office of priesthood. To be a priest, one must be “taken from among men and ordained for men in things pertaining to God.” Heb. 5:1. The angels of God are beings from another time and place, who probably fully passed the requirements of it, were were on probation; and having success-rewarded with immortality for their obedience.
God has no intention of putting the world to come, or the millennial age into the hands of His angels. Heb. 2:5. This is reserved for earth born redeemed ones. God is now taking out from among the nations a people for His name, to be the future rulers and priests of the earth, with Christ as the Captain or Leader. The angels of heaven are the living vehicles of the Spirit of God. In relation to the earth, the glorified saints will become the living vehicles of God’s Spirit in the world to come.
Ezekiel’s Vision
The book of Ezekiel begins with a vision of the “glory of the Lord.” Ezek. 1:28. It closes with a vision of the temple of the Lord as a house of prayer for all nations. Isa. 56:7. In it is the functioning of a priesthood. The first chapter of Ezekiel is a pictorial representation of the glorified saints as the executors of the judgments of God upon the nations Psa. 149:1-9. It will be their honorable task to subjugate the nations, and convert them to the will and purpose of God. They will take the kingdoms from the people and will transform them into the kingdom of God. Dan. 7:18, 22, 27; Rev. 11:15. This first chapter of Ezekiel gives us a symbol of the redeemed as kings, or conquerors. The last chapters of Ezekiel (40-48) gives us a picture of the redeemed as the sons of Zadok, or priests. There is much in the book between these chapters that must occur, before the prophecy of the saints as kings and priests over the nations can be effected.
What Ezekiel Saw
There is much meaning in the symbolic vision seen by Ezekiel in the first chapter of his book. But before we concern ourselves with the meaning we should form some idea of what he saw. Just what did he see? We may say, generally that Ezekiel saw a vision of the divine glory. It was a pictorial symbol of the throne of God borne by a living chariot of cherubim and wheels. Those who have read the vision of Ezekiel seem to have understood it this way. For instance: in the book of Ecclesiastics (one of the Apocryphal books and supposedly written about 175-200 b.c.) the author refers to Ezekiel with the words, “It was Ezekiel who saw the glorious vision which He showed him upon the chariot borne by the winged creatures.” Eccls. 49:8. One can consult the book “Phanerosis” by Dr. John Thomas and see that he understood it like this. On page 76 he styles God, “The Great Charioteer of the universe. He wheels through the infinitude of space as the appearance of the lightning’s flash.” But now, let’s look at the vision in detail.
Four Living Creatures
In verse four, Ezekiel looks and sees a whirling wind come out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire unfolding itself, or as the margin says, flashing continually. As a general rule, a storm cloud is dark, or black, but this one had a brightness about it. This brightness came from the midst or center of the cloud. The cloud was illuminated by the continual flashes of fire, like lightning. Radiating from the center of the cloud, was a brightness as the color of amber, or a glowing metal like bronze. The brightness originated from the heart of the fire which was in the midst or center of the cloud.
Out of the midst of the fire came the likeness of four living creatures. Ezekiel then attempts to describe the appearance and actions of these four living creatures. Each of the four living creatures were alike in their makeup, and they acted in concert with each other as a single unit. Their general appearance was that of a man. This means that each one would stand erect, and would have the face, shoulders, arms, hands, breast, and thighs of a human form. But there were notable differences about them; they had some animal characteristics in their physical makeup. Each one had four faces and each one had four wings.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One