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History and Prophecy
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cruelty reigned supreme. As on every hand he beheld tyranny and
wrong, his soul was distressed, and he mourned day and night. But
the symbols presented to him revealed a power above that of earthly
rulers.
Ezekiel and the Whirlwind
On the banks of the river Chebar, Ezekiel saw a whirlwind seem-
ing to come from 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.” A number of wheels, intersecting one an-
other, were moved by four living beings. High above all these “was
something like a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated
above the likeness of the throne was something that seemed like a
human form.” “The cherubim appeared to have the form of a human
hand under their wings.”
Ezekiel 1:4, 26
;
10:8
, NRSV. The wheels
were so complicated in arrangement that at first sight they appeared
to be in confusion, but they moved in perfect harmony. Heavenly
beings, sustained and guided by the hand beneath the wings of the
cherubim, were impelling these wheels. Above them, on the sap-
phire throne, was the Eternal One, and round about the throne a
rainbow, the emblem of divine mercy.
As the wheel-like complications were under the guidance of the
hand beneath the wings of the cherubim, so the complicated play of
human events is under divine control. Amidst the strife and tumult
of nations, He that sits above the cherubim still guides the affairs of
earth.
The history of nations that one after another have occupied their
allotted time and place, speaks to us. To every nation and to every
person God has assigned a place in His great plan. Today individuals
and nations are being measured by Him who makes no mistake. All
are by their own choice deciding their destiny, and God is overruling
all for the accomplishment of His purposes.
The history that the great I AM has marked out in His Word,
uniting link after link in the prophetic chain, from eternity in the past
to eternity in the future, tells us where we are today in the procession
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of the ages, and what may be expected in the time to come. All that
prophecy has foretold as coming to pass, until the present time, has