Symbols Around the Throne of God

 

SYMBOLS AROUND THE THONE OF GOD

By Russell Earl Kelly, PHD

Augusts 22, 2022

 

Ezekiel 1:4-10

5 four living creatures had the likeness of a man

6 And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.

7 feet like calves

8 hands of a man under their wings

10 each had four faces

(Ezekiel is on the south side facing north)

SOUTH: a man (nearest Ezekiel facing north)

EAST: a lion on the right side facing east

WEST: An ox on the left side facing west

NORH: an eagle (facing away to the north)

 

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Revelation 4:4-10

4:4  24 elders around the throne (church)

4:6 round about the throne, were four beasts

John is to the East facing West. The Temple opened to the East and worshippers entered facing West. The shewbread was on the North on John’s right side.

7 LION facing East nearest John

CALF facing West farthest away from John

MAN facing South to John’s left

EAGLE facing North to John’s right

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NUMBERS 2 ISRAEL AROUND THE TABERNACLE

Num 2:1-3:5

2 Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father's house

3 JUDAH: EAST, 5 ISSACHAR, 7 ZEBULUN

10 REUBEN: SOUTH; 12 SIMEON; 14 GAD

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17 LEVITES WITH THE TABERNACLE 

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1 EPHRAIM: WEST, 20 MANASSEH, 22 BENJAMIN

25 DAN: NORTH, 27 ASHER, 29 NAPHTALI

In Isaiah 14:13 heaven is described as the “sides of the north” and Psalm 48:2 describes Mount Zion as the “sides of the north.”

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REVELATION 21:12-13

12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.

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The symbolism is hard to ignore. The heavenly New Jerusalem will have 12 gates aligned exactly as the 12 tribes of Israel camped around the Tabernacle in the wilderness in Numbers 2.

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The standards, or flags, did not necessarily match the blessings of Jacob in Genesis 49 nor the blessings of Moses in Deuteronomy 33. Judah’s lion flag was consistent with the blessing. Reuben’s man flag was based on the meaning of his name and not water. Ephraim’s calf flag was not related to the blessing of a fruitful bough described by Jacob. And Dan’s eagle flag differed from Jacob’s reference to a snake and Moses’ reference to a lion’s whelp (Deu 33:22).

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THE THEOLOGICAL SYMBOLISM:

 

LION: EAST: JUDAH: MATTHEW: Jesus is King of Kings

MAN: SOUTH: REUBEN: LUKE: Jesus is the Son of Man

OX: WEST: EPHRAIM: MARK: Jesus is the Servant

EAGLE: NORTH: DAN: JOHN: Jesus is the Son of God

 

A NEW WAY TO STUDY GOD'S WORD

PARTICIPLES:

A BETTER WAY TO STUDY

AND

UNDERSTAND THE NEW TESTAMENT

By: Russell Earl Kelly, PHD

March 17, 2023

Participles. What are they? When do we use them in English? Does God use them in the Greek New Testament? How important are they?

 

Look it up. “Participles” are verb-nouns we use in English to denote continuous non-stop action. We formerly called them “gerunds” many years ago in English class. To my great surprise, God uses them quite often --- much more than we do --- in the Greek New Testament.

 

For example, “believeth” and “believes” are almost always participles which should be translated “believing.” They signify continuous action; they do not signify one-time action and that is very important in God’s Word. God inspired participles of almost every verb in the New Testament. He inspired over 85 participles for “believeth” and “believes” alone. He must be disappointed that English translators only left the “ing” meaning in five (5) of the 85 occurrences.

 

What difference does that make? Much indeed!  For example, instead of “whosoever believeth” in John 3:16, it should read “the (one) continuously believing” in Him should have everlasting life.  This real meaning of participles is found in 45 of the most important “believe” texts in God’s Word.

 

“The (one or ones) continuously believing” in Jesus Christ are “the ones continuously having” (another participle): everlasting life, justification by faith, imputed righteousness, spiritual peace,  sonship with God, righteousness and every other major salvation promise.