Bible Study Guides – The Vision of the Wheels

June 28, 2009 – July 4, 2009

Key Text

“The appearance of the wheels and their work [was] like unto the color of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work [was] as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.” Ezekiel 1:16.

Study Help: Education, 173–184; Testimonies, vol. 5, 750–754.

Introduction

“Those who have many talents and those who have few are to work unitedly, as a wheel within a wheel. And if all feel their responsibility and accountability to God, they will do His will, acting their part according to His appointment.” Medical Ministry, 201.

1 Under what mournful circumstances was the prophet Ezekiel given his first vision? Ezekiel 1:1–3.

Note: “This vision [of the wheels within the wheels] was given to Ezekiel at a time when his mind was filled with gloomy forebodings. He saw the land of his fathers lying desolate. The city that was once full of people was no longer inhabited. The voice of mirth and the song of praise were no more heard within her walls. The prophet himself was a stranger in a strange land, where boundless ambition and savage cruelty reigned supreme. That which he saw and heard of human tyranny and wrong distressed his soul, and he mourned bitterly day and night.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 752.

2 Describe what Ezekiel saw. Ezekiel 1:4–7. What factor in Ezekiel’s vision had special significance in the days of the prophet, and what does it mean in our day? Ezekiel 1:8.

Note: “While nations have rejected God’s principles, and in this rejection have wrought their own ruin, yet a divine, overruling purpose has manifestly been at work throughout the ages. It was this that the prophet Ezekiel saw in the wonderful representation given him during his exile in the land of the Chaldeans, when before his astonished gaze were portrayed the symbols that revealed an overruling Power that has to do with the affairs of earthly rulers.” Prophets and Kings, 535.

“The wheellike complications that appeared to the prophet to be involved in such confusion were under the guidance of an infinite hand. The Spirit of God, revealed to him as moving and directing these wheels, brought harmony out of confusion; so the whole world was under His control. Myriads of glorified beings were ready at His word to overrule the power and policy of evil men, and bring good to His faithful ones.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 752.

“In Ezekiel’s vision God had His hand beneath the wings of the cherubim. This is to teach His servants that it is divine power that gives them success. He will work with them if they will put away iniquity and become pure in heart and life.” Ibid., 754.

3 What realization of the psalmist parallels Ezekiel’s vision and why should it echo in our hearts? Psalm 121:1–4.

Note: “He who slumbers not, who is continually at work for the accomplishment of His designs, can carry forward His great work harmoniously. That which appears to finite minds entangled and complicated, the Lord’s hand can keep in perfect order. He can devise ways and means to thwart the purposes of wicked men, and He will bring to confusion the counsels of them that plot mischief against His people.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 754.

4 What assurance does God extend to us in seeking to promote His cause on the earth? Matthew 28:20; Romans 8:31.

Note: “We permit ourselves to feel altogether too much care, trouble, and perplexity in the Lord’s work. We need to trust Him, believe in Him, and go forward. The tireless vigilance of the heavenly messengers, their unceasing employment in their ministry in connection with the beings of earth, show us how God’s hand is guiding the wheel within a wheel. The divine Instructor is saying to every actor in His work, as He said to Cyrus of old, ‘I girded thee, though thou hast not known me.’ [Isaiah 45:5.]” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 4, 1161.

5 Of what should the hand beneath the wheels in Ezekiel’s vision remind us? Jeremiah 32:27.

Note: “God is acquainted with every man. Could our eyes be opened we would see that eternal justice is at work in our world. A powerful influence, not under man’s control, is working. Man may fancy that he is directing matters, but there are higher than human influences at work. The servants of God know that He is working to counteract Satan’s plans. Those who know not God cannot comprehend His movements. There is at work a wheel within a wheel. Apparently the complication of machinery is so intricate that man can see only a complete entanglement. But the divine hand, as seen by the prophet Ezekiel, is placed upon the wheels, and every part moves in complete harmony, each doing its specified work, yet with individual freedom of action.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 4, 1161.

6 Describe the creatures which Ezekiel saw, and explain the significance of their appearance as a flash of lightning. Ezekiel 1:9–14; Hebrews 1:7.

Note: “The bright light going among the living creatures with the swiftness of lightning represents the speed with which this work will finally go forward to completion.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 754.

7 How is efficiency depicted in Ezekiel’s vision? Ezekiel 1:15–21.

Note: “The striking feature of divine operations is the accomplishment of the greatest work that can be done in our world by very simple means. It is God’s plan that every part of His government shall depend on every other part, the whole as a wheel within a wheel, working with entire harmony. He moves upon human forces, causing His Spirit to touch invisible chords, and the vibration rings to the extremity of the universe.” Evangelism, 93.

8 How else is this principle described? Zechariah 4:10.

Note: “God often uses the simplest means to accomplish the greatest results. It is His plan that every part of His work shall depend on every other part, as a wheel within a wheel, all acting in harmony. The humblest worker, moved by the Holy Spirit, will touch invisible chords, whose vibrations will ring to the ends of the earth, and make melody through eternal ages.” The Desire of Ages, 822, 823.

9 What else did Ezekiel see and hear in this vision? Ezekiel 1:22–25. Describe the most glorious aspect of the scene, and explain how it can encourage us today. Ezekiel 1:26, 27.

Note: “We are standing on the threshold of great and solemn events. Prophecy is fast fulfilling. … Those who are making an effort to change the Constitution and secure a law enforcing Sunday observance little realize what will be the result. A crisis is just upon us.

“But God’s servants are not to trust to themselves in this great emergency. In the visions given to Isaiah, to Ezekiel, and to John we see how closely heaven is connected with the events taking place upon the earth and how great is the care of God for those who are loyal to Him. The world is not without a ruler. The program of coming events is in the hands of the Lord. The Majesty of heaven has the destiny of nations, as well as the concerns of His church, in His own charge.

“We permit ourselves to feel altogether too much care, trouble, and perplexity in the Lord’s work. Finite men are not left to carry the burden of responsibility. We need to trust in God, believe in Him, and go forward.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 753, 754.

10 What scene did Ezekiel finally behold, and how did he respond? Ezekiel 1:28.

Note: “There were wheels within wheels in an arrangement so complicated that at first sight they appeared to Ezekiel to be all in confusion. But when they moved, it was with beautiful exactness and in perfect harmony. Heavenly beings were impelling these wheels, and, above all, upon the glorious sapphire throne, was the Eternal One; while round about the throne was the encircling rainbow, emblem of grace and love. Overpowered by the terrible glory of the scene, Ezekiel fell upon his face, when a voice bade him arise and hear the word of the Lord. Then there was given him a message of warning for Israel.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 751.

“A rainbow is represented in Heaven round about the throne, also above the head of Christ, as a symbol of God’s mercy encompassing the earth. When man, by his great wickedness provokes the wrath of God, Christ, man’s intercessor, pleads for him, and points to the rainbow in the cloud, as evidence of God’s great mercy and compassion for erring man; also the rainbow above the throne and upon His head, emblematical of the glory and mercy from God resting there for the benefit of repentant man.” The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 1, 78.

Additional Reading

“These lessons are for our benefit. We need to stay our faith upon God, for there is just before us a time that will try men’s souls. Christ, upon the Mount of Olives, rehearsed the fearful judgments that were to precede His second coming: ‘Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars.’ ‘Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.’ [Mark 13:7, 8.] While these prophecies received a partial fulfillment at the destruction of Jerusalem, they have a more direct application to the last days.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 753.

“Every nation that has come upon the stage of action has been permitted to occupy its place on the earth, that the fact might be determined whether it would fulfill the purposes of the Watcher and the Holy One. Prophecy has traced the rise and progress of the world’s great empires—Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. With each of these, as with the nations of less power, history has repeated itself. Each has had its period of test; each has failed, its glory faded, its power departed.” Prophets and Kings, 535.

“All that prophecy has foretold as coming to pass, until the present time, has been traced on the pages of history, and we may be assured that all which is yet to come will be fulfilled in its order.” Prophets and Kings, 536.

“The day of doom for the kingdom of Judah was fast approaching. No longer could the Lord set before them the hope of averting the severest of His judgments. ‘Should ye be utterly unpunished?’ He inquired. ‘Ye shall not be unpunished.’ Jeremiah 25:29.

“Even these words were received with mocking derision. ‘The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth,’ [Ezekiel 12:22] declared the impenitent. But through Ezekiel this denial of the sure word of prophecy was sternly rebuked. ‘Tell them,’ the Lord declared, ‘I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision. For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel. For I am the Lord: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord God.’ [Ezekiel 12:23–25.]

“ ‘Again,’ testifies Ezekiel, ‘the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off. Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; There shall none of My words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God.’ Ezekiel 12:22–28.” Prophets and Kings, 450.

©2005 Reformation Herald Publishing Association, Roanoke, Virginia. Reprinted by permission.