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Eureka

AN EXPOSITION OF THE APOCALYPSE
Sixth Edition, 1915
By Dr. John Thomas (first edition written 1861)

 

 

Chapter 1

Section1 Subsection 5d

The Four Spirits of the Heavens.


 
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Having beheld the Harlot of the Ephah keeping house in the land of Shinar, the prophet again informs us, in chap. 6:1, that he "turned" -- "I turned," says he, "and lifted up mine eyes, and looked." This indicates that his attention was directed to new objects, which he describes in the following words:

"I looked, and behold Four Chariots going forth from between two of the mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass. In the first

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chariot red horses, and in the second chariot black horses; and in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot spotted horses, and fleet. Then I responded and said to the angel speaking with me, What are these, my lord? And the angel replied and said to me, These are the Four Spirits of the Heavens going forth from standing by the Ruler of all the earth. The black horses which are therein are going forth to the land of the north, and the white went forth to follow them; and the spotted went forth to the land of the south. And the fleet ones went forth; and they asked to go for to run to and fro through the earth: and he said, Go, run to and fro through the earth! So they ran to and fro in the earth."

"Then he proclaimed to me, and spake unto me saying, Behold, those going forth to the land of the north have caused my Spirit to rest in the land of the north."

Here is an amplification of the vision of the Two Olive-Branches, or Anointed Ones, that stand by the Ruler of all the earth. The reader will perceive that the Two Branches and the Four Chariots and their Horses, all relate to the same agents, by comparing Zech. 4:14 with ch. 6:5. In these places they are all said to "stand by the Ruler of all the earth." In both these chapters they are represented as symbols of Jehovah's [Yahweh's] Spirit -- "These," the chariots and horses, said the angel, "are the Four Spirits of the Heavens going forth from standing by the Ruler of all the earth." In the first passage they are in the standing position; in the last, they are in motion from thence, on their appointed mission.

These four chariots are the cherubim of glory, which constitute the Chariot of Jehovah [Yahweh]. In speaking of the four-faced figures with wings outstretched over the Mercy Seat of the Ark in the Most Holy Place, David styles them in 1 Chron. 28:18, "the Chariot of the Cherubim." The Spirit of Jehovah [Yahweh] rested in the form of a cloud between and upon their wings, from the dedication of Solomon's temple until the Glory took its departure in the days of Ezekiel, and shortly before its destruction by the Chaldeans. Alluding to this cherubic incumbency of the Spirit, David says in Psa. 80:1, "O Shepherd of Israel inhabiting the Cherubim, shine forth. Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh arouse thy might, and come for salvation to us. O Mighty Ones (Elohim), turn us, and cause to shine thy Faces, and we shall be saved." The Cherubim were the typical throne of Jehovah [Yahweh] in Jerusalem, before which the High Priest presented himself on the occasion of the annual covering of the sins of the nation.

In the first and tenth chapters of his prophecy, Ezekiel shows what they typify or represent. Let the reader peruse these chapters in connection with Apoc. 4 and 5; and he will find that the cherubim are

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representative of the Spirit corporealized and manifested in the Saints, the Elohim of Israel - the One Eternal Spirit in multitudinous manifestation. "Whithersoever the Spirit was to go, they went;" "they ran and returned as a flash of lightning;" "and the noise of their wings like the noise of great waters, as the voice of Mighty Ones in their going, the voice of speech, as the noise of a camp."

Zechariah's Four Chariots are identical with these. They represent the resurrected saints in the execution of the judgment written, Ps. 149. There are "four" of them, because there were four faces to the typical golden cherubim of the Ark of the Covenant in the temple; and "four living creatures" in Ezekiel's vision; and "four living creatures" in the Apocalypse; and the reason why there are four, and not three or five, is because in the military organization of Israel the twelve tribes were set off into four camps; the Camp of Judah, the Camp of Reuben, the Camp of Ephraim, and the Camp of Dan. The standard of Judah's camp, or host, was a Lion; that of Reuben, a Man; that of Ephraim, an Ox; and that of Dan, an Eagle; and the faces of these four were united in the Two Cherubims of the Most Holy Place; and became the Elohim-Faces of the Eternal Spirit, self-named Jehovah [Yahweh], which stood by the Ruler of all the earth, while He dwelt in them anterior to the Babylonian captivity.

Now, as the Saints, without regard to the accident of their fleshly descent, are all Israelites by adoption through Christ, their organization is based on that of the twelve tribes; so that they come thereby to be represented by the standards of Israel's camps. In vision, the four camps of the Saints, constituting, nevertheless, one encampment, occupy the position of the four camps of Israel in the wilderness - Judah on the east side; Reuben on the south; Ephraim on the west; and Dan on the north. For this reason, Zechariah's Four Chariots are termed "the Four Winds," or Spirits, "of the Heavens;" and in their New Jerusalem symbolization, the Saints' city is said to "lie four square."

 

 


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