Jonathan Edwards' view of the first chapter of the book of Ezekiel is, in my view, one of the most fascinating sections written by the New England divine. Independently of the worth and accuracy of Edwards' unusual exegesis (which is still greatly more plausible than the ones of those who torture the text to insert aliens into it!), his interpretation of this chapter reveals an intriguing side of Edwards' comprehensively cosmic view of all things as being from God, through God, and to God. The following are some extracts from Jonathan Edwards, Notes on Scripture (WJE Online Vol. 15), pages 373-379, entry 389.
Divine providence is most aptly represented by the revolution or course of these wheels. Things in their series and course in providence, they do as it were go round like a wheel in its motion on the earth. That which goes round like a wheel goes from a certain point or direction, till it gradually returns to it again. So is the course of things in providence.
Edwards applies this omni-comprehensive metaphysical principle to the natural world.
God's providence over the world consists partly in his governing the natural world according to the course and laws of nature. This consists wholly as it were in the revolution of wheels. So the annual changes that appear in the natural world are as it were by the revolution of a wheel, or the course of the sun through that great circle, the ecliption,I.e. the ecliptic. or the ring of that great wheel, the zodiac. And so the monthly changes are by the revolution of another lesser wheel within that greater annual wheel, which, being a lesser wheel, must go round oftener to make the same progress. Ezekiel's vision was of wheels within wheels, of lesser wheels within greater, which all went round as though running upon several parallel planes, each touching the circumference of its respective wheel, and all making the same progress, keeping pace one with another; and therefore the lesser wheels must go round so much oftener, according as their circumference was less. So again, the diurnal changes in the natural world are by the revolution of a wheel still within the monthly wheel, and going round about thirty times in one revolution of the other.
So 'tis with the motion of the air in the winds; it goes and returns according to its circuits. And so it is with the motion of the water in the tides, and in their course out of the sea, and into the clouds, springs and rivers, and into the sea again. So it is with the circulation of the blood in a man's body, and the bodies of other animals. So it is with the life of man; it is like the revolution of a wheel. He is from the earth, and gradually rises, and then gradually falls, and returns to the earth again. Dust we are, and unto dust we return [Genesis 3:19]. We come naked out of our mother's womb, and naked must we go and return as we came, as it were into our mother's womb. The dust returns to earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. So 'tis with the world of mankind; it is, the whole of it, like a wheel. It as it were sinks, and goes down to the earth in one generation, and rises in another, as 'tis with a wheel; at the same time that one side is falling to the earth, another part of the wheel is rising from the earth.
The same is true, of course, for the rational and moral elements of God's creation, that is, men and angels.
So it is in the course of things in God's providence over the intelligent and moral world; all is the motion of wheels. They go round and come to the same again; and the whole series of divine providence, from the beginning to the end, is nothing else but the revolution of certain wheels, greater and lesser, the lesser being contained within the greater. What comes to pass in the natural world is, in this respect, typical of what comes to pass in the moral and intelligent world, and seems to be so spoken of by the wise man in that forementioned place in Ecclesiastes. The words that follow next, after those that were mentioned respecting the natural world, do respect the intelligent world. Ecclesiastes 1:9–10, "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done, is that which shall be done. And there is no new thing under the sun," etc.
Things in their series and course in providence do as it were return to the same point or place whence they began, as in the turning of a wheel; but yet not so, but that a further end is obtained than was at first, or the same end is obtained in a much further degree. So that in the general there is a progress towards a certain final issue of things, and every revolution brings nearer to that issue, as 'tis in the motion of a wheel upon the earth, as in the motion of the wheels of a chariot, and not like the motion of a wheel by its axis, for if so, its motion would be in vain.
The ultimate end of all these cosmic revolutions is the unfolding of God's redemptive plan to the manifestation of his glory.
The entire series of events in the course of things through the age of the visible universe may fitly be represented by one great wheel, exceeding high and terrible, performing one great revolution. In the beginning of this revolution, all things come from God, and are formed out of a chaos; and in the end, all things shall return into a chaos again, and shall return to God, so that he that is the Alpha will be the Omega. This great wheel contains a lesser wheel, that performs two revolutions while that performs one. The first begins at the beginning of the world, and ends at the coming of Christ, and at the ending of the Old Testament dispensation, which is often represented as the end of the world in Scripture. The first revolution began with the creation of the world; so the second revolution began with the creation of new heavens and a new earth.
Over against this background, Edwards expounds at length what, according to him, the wheels of Ezekiel 1 represent. I will quote here only a section of his explanation.
The whole series of things through the age of the world may be represented as a wheel of various rings, one within another and less than another, each one going round but once, the lesser ones finishing their revolution soonest, and each beginning at the creation of the old heavens and earth, which in some respects had different beginnings, one when Adam was created, another in Noah's time, the settling of the world after the building of Babel, and another at the establishment of the Jewish state. And the revolution of each wheel ends in an end of the world, and a day of judgment, and a creation of new heavens and a new earth. The least wheel finishes its revolution at the coming of Christ, and the destruction of Jerusalem, and overthrow of the heathen empire that followed, when the world in a sense came to an end and there was a day of judgment, which began at the creation of the Jewish state in the time of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses, and Joshua, and the total apostasy of the Gentile world to heathenism. The next wheel, which is larger, began its revolution at Noah's coming out of the ark, and the building of Babel, and dispersing of nations, and settling the world from thence, which is as it were another beginning of the world, and ends at the destruction of Antichrist, or the spiritual Babylon, and Satan's visible kingdom on earth, which began in the building of Babel, and the commencing of the glorious times of the church. This is another end of the world, and day of judgment, and building of the new heavens and new earth. The third and greatest wheel begins its revolution at the creation, and finishes at Christ's second coming to judge the world and destroy heaven and earth, in a literal sense.
Every wheel in every revolution begins and proceeds from God, and returns to God; as in Ezekiel's vision, God is represented as appearing above the wheels, so that to him they continually returned. God remarkably appears both in the beginning and ending of each of these wheels that have been mentioned, especially in those that respect the state of the church of God. As to human [things], such as human kingdoms and empires, they rise from the earth, and return to the ground again; but spiritual things begin their revolution from God on high, and thither they return again.
The changes that are in the world with respect to the profession of the truth, and rise and fall of heresies, is very much like the motion of wheels; they rise and fall, and rise and fall again.
Those wheels in this vision are represented as God's chariot wheels. The world is the chariot of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in which he makes his progress to that glory, that glorious marriage with his spouse, that eternal feast, that everlasting kingdom of rest, and love, and joy, which the Father hath designed him.
This chariot is drawn on those wheels by the four animals, which denote God's power, wisdom, justice, and mercy; and all proceed on calves' feet, because the great work of providence, that is as it were the sum of all providences, is that work of mercy, the work of redemption.
Edwards explains further (this time from entry 391, in Edwards, Notes on Scripture, 384-386).
What Ezekiel here saw was designed to represent God's chariot, in which God rode, and those wheels are the wheels of his chariot. And God, who sat in his throne above the firmament, over those wheels and cherubim, is represented as in the seat in which he rides, and makes progress with the wheels and cherubim. God came to Ezekiel to speak to him, and give him his mission on this chariot, and is so represented in the first chapter.
Then in the same entry, Edwards offers the following intriguing corollary.
Corol. Hence I would argue, that the affairs of heaven have doubtless great respect to the affairs of this lower world and God's providence here, and that the church in heaven, in the progress it makes in its state of glory and blessedness, keeps pace with the church on earth, that the glory of both is advanced together. Those great dispensations of providence, by which glorious things are brought to pass for the church on earth, are accompanied with like advances made at the same time in the church in heaven; and also that the affairs of the church in heaven have some way or other a dependence on God's providence towards his church on earth, and that their progress is dependent on the progress of things in God's providence towards his church here. For heaven and earth are both framed together. 'Tis the same chariot; one part has relation to another, and is connected with another, and is all moved together. The motion of one part depends on the motion of the other, The upper part moves on the wheels of the lower part, for heaven is the room and seat of the chariot that is above the firmament, that moves on the wheels that are under the firmament, and that go upon the earth. When those wheels are moved by the cherubim, then the upper part moves; when they stop, that stops; and wherever the wheels go, that goes. 'Tis on these wheels that Christ, the King of heaven, in his throne in heaven, makes progress to the final issue of all things. 'Tis on the wheels of his providence that move on earth that he, on his throne in heaven, makes progress towards the ultimate end of the creation of both heaven and earth, and the ultimate end of all the affairs of both. For this is the end of the journey of the whole chariot, both wheels and throne, for both are moving towards the same journey's end; and the motion of all is by the wheels on earth. And if so, doubtless 'tis on those wheels that all the inhabitants of heaven, both saints and angels, are carried towards their ultimate end, for all are Christ's family; they are either his servants and attendants in the affair of redemption, which is the grand movement of the wheels, and are the ministers that draw the wheels, or are his members: "member." and parts of his body.
This therefore confirms that the saints and angels in heaven do make progress in knowledge and happiness, by what they see of God's works on earth. We know that all the happiness of the saints in heaven is entirely dependent on those great things that Christ did on earth in the work of redemption, as it was purchased by it. And there is reason to think that their knowledge and glory is, in other respects, by what they see of those great works of providence which God carries on [in] the world, in the prosecution of the grand design of redemption.
The triune God is, of course, at the center of all this as the one moving the wheels of history for the unfolding of his redemptive plan and the ad extra manifestation of his glory (from entry 393, in Edwards, Notes on Scripture, 287-288).
Ezekiel 1:4. "And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, and a great cloud, and a fire enfolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire." This that was here seen by Ezekiel was the Shekinah, or the symbol and representation of the deity. Here is a cloud and fire, as God appeared in the wilderness in a pillar of cloud and fire. Psalms 18:11, "His pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies." And Psalms 97:2, "Clouds and darkness are round about him." And there was a whirlwind, which was an usual symbol of the divine presence, as Job 38:1. "Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind." So again Job 40:6. And Nahum 1:3, "The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind."
The fire that appeared, which did in a special manner represent the divine essence, is said to be "a fire enfolding itself," or "catching itself," as it is in the margin [i.e. margin of the KJV] or receiving or taking itself into its own bosom, which represents the action of the deity towards itself, in the action of the persons of the TRINITY towards each other. The Godhead is perceived only by perceiving the Son and the Spirit, for "no man hath seen God at any time" [John 1:18]. He is seen by his image, the Son, and is felt by the Holy Spirit, as fire is perceived only by its light and heat, seen by one and felt by the other. Fire, by its light, represents the Son of God, and by its heat, the Holy Spirit. God is light, and he is love. This light, in the manner of the subsisting of the Father and the Son, shines on itself; it receives its own brightness into its own bosom. The deity, in the generation of the Son, shines forth with infinite brightness towards itself; and in the manner of the proceeding of the Holy Ghost, it receives all its own heat into its own bosom, and burns with infinite heat towards itself. The flames of divine love are received and enfolded into the bosom of the deity.
'Tis the nature of all other fire to go out of itself, as it were to fly from itself, and hastily to dissipate; the flames are continually going forth from the midst of the towards the exterior air. But this fire received itself into its own bosom.
Ezekiel saw this cloud of glory and fire enfolding, or taking in, itself, before he saw the chariot of God, the cherubims, and wheels, and firmament, and throne, and the appearance of a man above upon it which came out of that cloud and fire. And therefore this "fire enfolding itself" does especially represent the deity before the creation of the world, or before the beginning of theJE deleted "course of the wheel." being of this chariot with its wheels, when all God's acts were only towards himself, for then there was no other being but he.
This appeared coming "out of the north," from whence usually came whirlwinds in that country, and possibly because in the north is the empty place. The chariot of the world comes forth out of nothing.
I conclude with a related and helpful summary of Edwards' view of Ezekiel 1 which explains further the trinitarian nature of Edwards' view of all things that Edwards sees in that Biblical passage.
The second notable piece of Edwards's project, expounding upon the 'God-saturated' aspect of redemption history, is his use of Ezekiel's wheels." Edwards pictured the whole of created reality like a huge clock, and just as the sun, stars and planets rotate in their orbits, so ages of history, and even individual lives, are part of a cyclical movement careening toward God's end the 'striking of the hammer at the appointed time', as Edwards would prophetically utter. Like a symphony, each wheel moves according to its role within the largest wheel—a cacophony of glorifying revolutions—accomplishing one ultimate turn of time and inaugurating God's eternal consummation. In his 'Notes on Scripture', Edwards explains: 'Things in their series and course in providence, they do as it were go round like a wheel in its motion on earth. That which goes round like a wheel goes from a certain point or direction, till it gradually returned to it again. So is the course of things in providence. He uses the zodiac, the changes in season and the yearly calendar to note the cyclical nature of time, never neglecting to highlight its fundamental teleology. Most importantly, all these 'wheels' are interconnected...
Edwards sees this movement in everything from the calendar to the circulation of blood in human bodies. As one epoch falls toward the earth, so another begins to rise, just as a wheel simultaneously hits the ground and rises from it. Likewise, all of the lesser wheels are gears within one giant wheel representing all of time. This wheel makes only one great revolution, from God and back to God ... The organization and driving force behind every other wheel is this one; everything coming from God, and everything ultimately going back to him in judgement. Notably, Edwards maps the structure of History of Redemption onto his development of Ezekiel's wheels. Each section of the redemption sermon series is represented by a wheel within the great wheel: 'The course of things from the beginning of the world to the flood may be looked upon as the revolution of a wheel ... The course of things from the flood to Abraham was as it were the revolution of another wheel, or another revolution of the same wheel.' This epochal motion in creation, ushering created reality toward eternity, narrates the broad movement of Edwards's theological vision. The eternal motion of the divine processions in the Godhead is the engine for his development, driving the economic activity of the Son and the Spirit, out of which flows the scheme of redemption. In other words, these wheels of time diligently perform their specific part according to the conductor's movement, the movement of the inner-triune life of God, who wills his economic existence for the redemption of his creation. As such, this organizing framework for Edwards's theology revolves around redemption and ultimately Christ, its centrepiece. Just as each demarcation of History of Redemption corresponds to a wheel (or revolution of that wheel), so this image would serve the theocentricity of Edwards's systematic portrayal of doctrine. His project would be 'thrown into the form of an history', but as a systematic theology, it was held together through a careful and expansive notion of the immanent and economic life of God (Kyle C. Strobel, Jonathan Edwards's Theology: A Reinterpretation, 7-9).
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