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The Old Testament is often hard to understand. One reason for this is that a good portion of the information in the O.T. was UNDERSTOOD only by the Hebrew people. The understanding was passed on from generation to generation through oral instruction. Without the benefit of the original cultural context and oral teachings, we may miss a lot of important information. We’ll study the Bible and some of that oral tradition regarding the 4 faces of the angels in Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 1:4-6 Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire. 5 Also from within it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man. 6 Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings.
Ezekiel 1:10-11 As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four had the face of an eagle. 11 Thus were their faces. Their wings stretched upward; two wings of each one touched one another, and two covered their bodies.
This chapter gives a more detailed description of how these beings appeared in the verses we skipped, but I want to specifically focus on those faces. There’s something important about those 4 faces. You know what would really help, is if there were something in the N.T. that we could reference, because if something like these beings showed up in the N.T. then it would be more important to us N.T. believers, right?...Lucky for us there is something similar in the N.T.
Reading the descriptions of these beings in Rev doesn’t precisely match the description of the beings in Ezekiel, but we’ve learned from our previous studies that often prophetic visions will give the same message, but with different methods. So, while there are differences, we still see the lion, the calf or ox, the man, and the eagle. What could be the importance of how these beings are described in both the Old and New Testaments?
Numbers 2:2 Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father's house: far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch.
A standard is another name for a flag or banner, and an ensign means an emblem or symbol, and it’s where we get the word insignia from.
There were four groups of three tribes each, with the leader tribe guarding the corners of the inner camp. The other tribes had their own banners, but would camp under the flag of the leader tribe
For the sake of time, I didn’t read the verses in between that show where the other tribes were located, but if you want, feel free to check it out. The gist is that there were four groups of three tribes each, with the leader tribe guarding the corners of the inner camp.
The other tribes had their own banners but would camp under the flag of the leader tribe of their particular group, so there were 4 main standards, each with a different emblem. They all camped around the tabernacle to protect it. It looked something like this…
The Bible doesn’t say what shape the different camps formed specifically, but I kinda think this is probably pretty accurate, considering what happens much later in the Bible. Another thing we don’t know from the Bible, is what was on those banners that they camped under. This is where we have to look into the oral teachings that were passed down from generation to generation.
I’ll share what I’ve learned from studying this, but I encourage you to search also for yourselves. Each tribe had their own banners, with the symbol of their ancestors on them. I want to focus on the 4 leader tribes and their banners.
First was Judah. Their symbol was a lion, which can be shown with the Bible
Next is Reuben, who was the first born and head of the family, so the symbol on their banner was that of a man’s head.
Next is Ephraim. Their symbol was an ox or bull, which can also be shown using the Bible. Ephraim was the second born son of Joseph, but He received the firstborn blessing from Jacob. That can be found in Gen 48:17-20. So whatever his father was blessed with, he also received.
Finally, there’s Dan. Their symbol was originally the serpent. We can see this here in Gen. Not a very good symbol for a follower of YHVH.
Jewish oral tradition states that the leader of the Danites, a man named Ahiezer, didn’t like the idea of a serpent banner, so he chose an eagle instead, the slayer of serpents and symbol of judgement.
Interestingly, that verse in Deut, comparing judgment to a swift eagle, is right in the middle of the blessings and curses chapter, and of course it’s part of the curses for disobedience.
A few verses past this one, God tells the Israelites that if they disobeyed Him, their huge walls and great gates would be destroyed by a people from far away. This is while they were still wandering in the desert. They didn’t even have a permanent place to call home, much less a city with walls and gates. But they would, and just as sure as they would eventually have walls and gates, those same walls and gates would be destroyed by a people from far away.
So, we can see, using the Bible and ancient oral teachings, that these were the 4 symbols on the standards of the 4 leader tribes, and that they match the 4 faces of the living beings.
That’s awesome, but I’m not sure why they are connected that way, unless it’s to bring attention to something deeper, in the future, for the sake of those that live after the cross. That seems like something God would do. Let’s take a look.
Each of these symbols represent a different aspect of Christ, (see chart below)
· He is the King of Kings represented by the lion.
· He is the humble servant and sacrifice, represented by the bull.
· He is the Son of Man, represented by the man’s face.
· He is Judge of creation and Lord above all, represented by the eagle.