Ezekiel's Wheel's
Copyright 1995,2001 by Michael F.
The Old Testament book of Ezekiel begins with a vision that has mystified people for 2,500 years. Some people have speculated that Ezekiel saw a UFO. But truth is stranger than fiction.

Like dreams, visions use symbolism that must be interpreted. The wheels Ezekiel saw that were full of eyes; the four creatures, each with four heads, is exactly what he saw. It was not a frightful attempt to describe a UFO or anything else. To arrive at the meaning, it must be interpreted.

No interpretation of this vision has ever come close to the correct meaning, but this new way of looking at Bible prophecy symbolism will help bring understanding to many previously unintelligible prophecies. Here is the vision; pay special attention to the underlined words:
I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north-- and immense cloud with flashing lighting and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was that of a man, but each of them had four faces and four wings.

Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had the hands of a man. All four of them had faces and wings, and their wings touched one another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved. (1:4-9)

Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a man, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out upward; each had two wings, one touching the wing of another creature on either side, and two wings covering its body. Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went. The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it. The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning. (1:10-14)

As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like chrysolite, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not turn about as the creatures went. their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around. (1:15-18)

When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels... When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army. (1:19-20, 24,) (New International Version)
Notice that the "spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels." In other words, the main purpose or function of the creatures was in the wheels; which exemplifies modern transportation. These creatures symbolically represent every form of modern vehicle. The eagle represents airplanes, the ox represents strong vehicles like trucks and tractors, the lion represents military vehicles, the man represents the people who will operate those vehicles. The great noise they make like an "army," are the internal combustion engines.

WHEELS
I believe the King James gives a more accurate description of the wheels:
...all four had the same likeness. The appearance of their works was, as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel. (KJV)
The New American Standard translation says, "being as if one wheel were within another." This is exactly the way the wheels are on your automobile! The tire is on the outside and the metal rim is on the inside. The eyes on the wheels could represent the fact that automobiles are manufactured by people, and for people. But another possible meaning is the lug-nuts that hold the wheels on, and the many bolts, nuts, and rivets that are used in the making of autos and planes. Notice also that the wheels "sparkeled like chrysolite," which could refer to chrome.

EXPANSE
Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked like an expanse, sparkling like ice, and awesome. (1:22)(NIV)
The King James Version says:
The likeness of the firmament above the heads of the living creatures was like the color of an awesome crystal, stretched out over their heads.
Both autos and airplanes have crystal-like expanse on their upper most areas that cover the people inside-- the windshields!

WINGS
Next notice the wings; "each had two wings, one touching the wing of another creature on either side, and two wings covering its body." Now if they are in a straight line then the two creatures on each end will not have two wings touching, but only one wing each, with one wing sticking out not touching. The only way all four creatures can have two wings touching the wing of another is to be in the form of a square or circle. And with a wheel beside each one, you have the basic configuration for most transportation in the modern world, the four wheeled vehicle.

Each creature has four wings. The two wings that were not spread out were covering the body of the creature. All four wings refer to the thin protective covering that makes up the outer bodies of transport vehicles, both cars and airplanes.

AIRPLANES
Verse 19 says, when the creatures lift from the ground, the wheels also lift from the ground. Then verse 21 says:
When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood: and when those lifted up from the earth, the wheels lifted up over against them:... (KJV)
This is not a repeat statement; verse 21 describes wheels folding up against the wings. When airplanes lift off the ground, the wheels fold up into the wings and bodies. Verse 14 says they "sped back and forth." Other translations say they "ran back and forth." This might refer to the fact that planes travel very fast, and they land and take-off by traveling one way or the other down a runway. It also gives us a very good description of the movement of automobiles in traffic. The prophet Daniel said, "Many will go here and there to increase knowledge" (12:4).

The "glowing metal" represents motors that get red-hot on the inside. The fire moving "back and forth" among them probably refers to fuel that ignites and pushes the pistons up and down. The "lighting" that came out of the fire are the sparks from spark plugs that ignite the fuel.

LEGS
The legs of the creatures looked like calves' legs, but were made of metal. The long, round, pipe-like extensions that connect airplanes to the wheels, look very much like this. It could also refer to car axles.

PURPOSE OF THE VISION
God does not give us prophecies just to be giving us prophecies, there must be a purpose for giving Ezekiel this vision. To begin with, if you listed all the inventions that have greatly effected society at large, the automobile will be in the top two. If you include airplanes, trains, trucks, tractors, tanks, and so forth, nothing in the history of civilization has had a greater impact on the world than modern transportation. It has shaped our world; our very lives depend on it. It therefore stands to reason that God would tell us about these things in advance, but for what purpose?

CONTEXT
To arrive at the purpose of the vision it is important to examine the context of the surrounding verses that may have a connection with the vision. The first three verses of the book of Ezekiel tell us that he saw this vision while he was by the Kebar River in Babylonia.

The Kebar was nothing more than a man-made canal attached to the Euphrates River. The land of Babylon is today Iraq, which is basically in the center of the Middle-East oil region, between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Oil is of course used to make the fuel that powers all the world's transportation. Oil is the life-blood of the industrial world.

In the chapters that follow the vision, God tells Ezekiel to eat a scroll (accept knowledge and information), then go prophesy to all the Israelites; those from the northern nation of Israel and the southern nation of Judah, that God "will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your survivors to the winds" (5:10, NIV).

Ezekiel goes on to describe the sins of Israel and Judah, and to proclaim many prophecies about the Israel, Judah, Egypt, Babylon, and other nations. So what is the significance of a vision about modern transportation right before God says he is going to bring severe judgment upon the 12-tribes of Israel and other nations? The northern tribes were scattered several hundred years before Christ, then the last remaining southern tribes were forced to leave Israel in the last part of the first and second century A.D. Israel was not a nation again until 1948 when the southern tribes established the modern nation of Israel; which would not have happened, but for World War II.

When God pronounces long-range judgments, he usually gives prophecies of reconciliation. God will heal the wounds he inflicted, he will give abundant harvests to those upon whom he brought famine, and so forth. So God might have been saying, that after he scatters the 12-tribes, when the time of modern transportation comes, they will be a nation again.

Another possible meaning is that the descendants of the people he scatters will be those who invent and manufacture automobiles and airplanes. But it may mean that the people who will be using these modern machines will receive a similar judgment to that of the Israelites!

Included in the book of Ezekiel are prophecies about World War III and the time of God's judgment upon the whole world. And according to Revelation 9, World War III will start at the Euphrates River-- Iraq. Could it be about oil? It is something to think about.

This vision also serves the purpose of confirming that only the God of Israel and Judah knows the future, and determines the destinies of nations.

People like you find nonsense on the internet out of the oceans of good information and use that nonsense to support your own nonsense.


Ummmmmm now what's this. You say: To arrive at the meaning, it must be interpreted. Interpreted? Interpreted????? A human being must interpret Biblical prophecy????? Doesn't that go against the whole message of Christian extremists that the Bible must be taken literally, on its face?

Your words also go against the established churches (Anglican, Protestant, Catholic, Lutheran etc etc), that all recognise the Bible cannot be taken literally but offers us important, invaluable lessons on life, examples of how we should carry ourselves in life to meet the Lord's satisfaction.


P.S. You silly boy, wheels were invented long long before the Bible was written.

Believers in biblical prophecy engage in 'exegesis' and 'hermeneutics' of scriptures. We have to use an understandable method of interpretation, one that makes sense historically, linguistically and theologically.

We need to examine the words, the grammar, the paragraph flow, the type of literature we are dealing with, and with the overall message of the Bible. We have to remember that prophecy was not inspired to satisfy our curiosity about the future it has always had a theological purpose. It tells us something about what God is doing with humanity, and it is given to help motivate people to do something in the present.

Exegesis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exegesis)
(from the Greek 'to lead out') is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially a religious text. Traditionally the term was used primarily for exegesis of the Bible; however, in contemporary usage it has broadened to mean a critical explanation of any text, and the term "Biblical exegesis" is used for greater specificity. The goal of Biblical exegesis is to explore the meaning of the text which then leads to discovering its significance or relevance.

Hermeneutics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermeneutics)
Biblical hermeneutics which concerns the study of the interpretation of The Bible. Modern hermeneutics encompasses everything in the interpretative process including verbal and nonverbal forms of communication as well as prior aspects that affect communication, such as presuppositions, preunderstandings, the meaning and philosophy of language, and semiotics.

4. An end-time union of European nations

In Daniel 2 and 7 we see prophecies about four great gentile empires that would arise in the period between the time of Daniel and the coming establishment of the Kingdom of God(Daniel 2:44). Daniel was himself living in the first of these great empires (Daniel 7:4) as a Jewish exile in ancient Babylon.

Following the fall of Babylon in 539 B.C., Persia would become the greatest power, to be followed by Greece (verses 5-6). After Greece came the Roman Empire, "dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong." This empire was to have "ten horns" and would continue in some form until the establishment of God's Kingdom at Christ's return (verses 7-9).

As we saw in the previous section, horns represent leaders or governments. Here these 10 horns symbolize 10 attempts to restore the Roman Empire to the power it had in ancient times. Various attempts at a restoration have taken place since the fall of the Western Roman Empire in A.D. 476. A final attempt is to be made shortly before Christ's return.

We find more details in Revelation 17. Here we read of a final attempt to revive the Roman Empire by "ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast" (verses 12-13).

They will also "make war with the Lamb [Jesus Christ], and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings" (verse 14). Again, it is clear that this prophecy is still future.

Previous attempts to forge a united European empire, from Justinian in the sixth century through Charlemagne, Napoleon, Mussolini and Hitler, all involved force. The final resurrection of the Roman Empire will not be attempted in the same way.

Revelation 17 suggests this will be a voluntary union. When these 10 leaders receive power, they will then give their authority to a single leader. Scripture refers to both this individual and the new superpower he leads as "the beast"acknowledging it as the continuation of the four gentile empires prophesied in Daniel, each one depicted as a beast or wild animal.

Only now is it possible for this to be fulfilled.

In 1957, the Treaty of Rome was signed by six European nations that formed the European Economic Community. Today the EEC has grown into the European Union (EU) with 27 member nations. Out of these will likely come the 10 nations or 10 leaders that form the final resurrection of the Roman Empire. (For more details, read "The Coming European Superpower ")

Some have speculated that the 10 kings referred to in this prophecy will be leaders of 10 regions of the EU that will redraw the boundaries of Europe, ending the present nation-states. The Bible is not clear on exactly which 10 regions or nations will configure the final revival of the militaristic Roman superpoweronly that this new superpower will indeed emerge just before Christ's return.

However, it wasn't until the 10th nation, Greece, was admitted in 1981 that any conceivable fulfillment of this prophecy was even possible.

normal christian try to read and understand before opening your mouth !!!! the prophecy is about the "modern cars" that we have today !!!! not the once where they had horses on them (those didnt have "rims and an outer wheel". The prophecy says "a wheel within a wheel = metal rims(wheel) and rubber outer tyre(outer wheel)=wheel within a wheel !!!!

"the wheels were full of "eyes" = our modern typres have those ! just look at the rims ! they have smaller circles which by this the prophet ezekiel was referring to in his own "primitive way" since he had never before seen anything like it . use your normal brain next time and not your usual one please.

Better look at some wagon wheel pix.

In general they have an OUTER METAL RIM.
And INNER Wooden wheel.
Spokes inside the inner wooden wheel.
A rotating hub (another wheel) going around the axel.

Once again, you twist and manipulate the truth to suit your silly prophecies.

normal christian try to read articles before making silly comments.

"Your words also go against the established churches (Anglican, Protestant, Catholic, Lutheran etc etc), that all recognise the Bible cannot be taken literally but offers us important, invaluable lessons on life, examples of how we should carry ourselves in life to meet the Lord's satisfaction."

Your 'normal' established churches went off the rails, surrendered to the false Darwinian religion and compromised the Bible long ago they cannot even tell right from wrong. They are in such a mess they need redemption themselves from paedophilia, homosexuality, corruption, strife and godlessness.

The falling away started with apostacy from within churches.