Who Did Ezekiel See?

Shame that in this interpretation, the Man looks more like a grandfather than a son.

The Glory that Ezekiel meets in Ezek.1, is not an impersonal light-bulby type glory, but a personal one who later in Ezek.3:23 stands and talks with him.

In fact, He looks similar to the Man, Daniel sees in Dan.7 and the Man John meets in Rev.1 and given that only God can deal in the impossible - like being eternal - I reckon they are all appearances of the same person. Yet no one has ever seen God (John 1:18)

So no prizes for guessing who I think it is - the eternal second person of the Trinity joyfully and obediently revealing His unseen Father to the world and fulfilling all his Father's purpose (Matt.11:27, Rev.1:17, Heb.1:3).

What Do Matthew, Mark, Luke and John have in Common with an Ox, a Lion, an Eagle and a Man?

If you're familiar with the writings of the early church, you'll know that they associated the gospels of Jesus with four living creatures: an ox, a lion, an eagle and a man. Depending on who you read, you will associate the different animals with different gospels for different reasons, and who knows - perhaps there's meant to be a certain ambiguity to them, it keeps us human control freaks humble and on our toes.

James Jordan (no prizes for guessing that I side with him thus far) sees Matthew with the Ox, Mark with the Lion, Luke with the Eagle and John with the Man. The Ox being symbolic of Priesthood and Sanctuary, the Lion of King and Kingdom, the Eagle of Prophet and World and the Man of Messiah fulfilling the first three restoring us to fellowship with God.

(If you didn't know anything about what I have just written, don't worry, neither did I until about 5hrs ago! But if you're like me then this is interesting stuff.)

These four animals connect back into the Old Testament both to the visions at the beginning of Ezekiel (see also Rev.4:7) and to the layout of the camp of Israel in the Wilderness. Jordan writes:

Behold Your God: Biblical Thinking Forum Handout

Last week, a bunch of us met to think about five ways Jesus fulfills the prophetic Old Testament hope.

For those interested, the handout is available here.  It's for note taking rather than doing the job for me, so only if you know where I am coming from will it really be any use to you. Feel free to use if you would like.

That said in summary:

Theology For All The Senses

James Jordan's teaching has begun to have a significant impact on the way I read the whole Bible. Not that I've stopped thinking for myself, or that I unquestioningly agree with all he says, you understand. Why is that?

R. R. Reno puts it well in his forward to a book celebrating the life ministry of this man still living.

Something Fishy

Have you ever wondered why Christians adopted a fish as their first ever brand logo? Reasons abound on the interweb, and I have no reason to disagree with them, but I wonder if it also goes beyond the pragmatic (avoiding persecution) and the practical (using his disciples' own jobs as a convenient illustration on how to do evangelism) to something that expresses the deep, broad sweep of God's actions in history - his plan of salvation. Let me explain...