Ezekiel 1 - Introduction

Concerning Ezekiel's WHEELS. Divine Providence is most aptly represented by the revolution and course of these wheels: things in their series and course in providence 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, until it gradually returns to it again; so is the course of things in providence.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 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 plains, 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. The system of the universe may exactly answer what is here said of these wheels, and livelily represents God's providence in the government of the moral world. There is as it were a wheel within a wheel; the whole system is nothing else but wheels within wheels, lesser wheels within greater, revolving oftener. There is the sphere of the fixed stars, which is the greatest wheel, includes all the others, and is many thousand years in performing its revolution. This includes the circle of Saturn's course, which is a lesser wheel within the other, finishing its revolution in about thirty years. That includes the circle of Jupiter, a lesser wheel, revolving in about twelve years: that includes the circle of Mars, that the circle of the Earth, that of Venus, that of Mercury, that of the Sun, which revolves about its own axis. And some of the greater wheels include lesser and of various kinds, as the great wheel of Saturn, besides those of the inferior planets, has annexed to it those lesser wheels of his satellites one within another, and then its ring, and then its own body about its axis. So of Jupiter, and so of the earth and moon. So some of the grand revolutions of providence that are but parts of the grand system of providence, have a particular system as it were belonging to themselves, wherein the great revolution includes lesser revolutions that are not parallel with any like them, continued from the beginning to the end of time, but begin their various revolutions with that particular great wheel that they are fixed to, and end with it. So it is with that great wheel, the continuance of the Jewish state; so it is with the state of some particular kingdoms and empires; so it is 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; we came naked out of our mother's womb, and naked must we go and return. The dust returns to earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. So it is 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 it is 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. Solomon takes notice of these things. Ecclesiastes 1:4-8, "One generation passeth away, and another cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to the place where he arose. The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it."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 spoken of by the wise man in that forementioned place in Ecclesiastes, as the words that follow next after those that were mentioned respecting the natural world, do respect the intelligent world. Ecclesiastes 1:9; Ecclesiastes 1:10, "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 and final issue of things, and every revolution brings nearer to that issue, as it is 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 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.The course of things from the beginning of the world to the coming of Christ, may be represented as one great wheel performing one revolution; all things in the beginning of this revolution were from Christ the Creator of man, and the whole motion henceforward until Christ came was to bring things about to Christ again, and so to prepare the way for his coming, and to introduce him as the Redeemer of man. This wheel contains a lesser wheel, that performs two revolutions, while the great one does one; the first revolution ending at the calling of Abraham, at which time God did as it were plant the tree of his church anew, which he had planted at first in his revealing the covenant of grace to Adam; the second ending at the coming of Christ, the promised seed of Abraham and his antitype, in whom all the families of the earth are blessed, and in whom the church was planted anew, and in a far more glorious manner.The course of things from the beginning of the world to the flood may be looked upon as the revolution of a wheel. At the beginning of it, God created the world, and the face of the earth was covered with waters, and the world was all of one man and his posterity. At the end of it, the world was destroyed and reduced to the same state again; the world was covered with waters, and the world of mankind was began anew with one man and his posterity. 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, as at the beginning of it. The world was corrupt, and therefore one man and his family separated to be the father of the church; so it was again at the end of it. The space from Abraham to Moses was as it were another revolution of the same wheel; for, as God established his covenant with Abraham, and then separated his church from the heathen, in calling Abraham out of Chaldea and Syria, so in the end of it he again renewed his covenant, and again separated his church from the heathen world, by bringing them up out of Egypt. From Moses and Joshua, to Samuel, David, and Solomon, was another revolution of the same wheel: as in the beginning of it God gave the spirit of prophecy to Moses; so he renewed it in Samuel: as in the beginning of it God gloriously conquered the enemies of Israel, and settled them in Canaan in peace, by the hand of Moses and Joshua; so in the end of it God gloriously subdued the enemies of Israel, and subdued the remains of the inhabitants of Canaan, and the nations round about, and gave them the full and peaceable possession of the land of promise, in the full extent of it, from the river Euphrates to the river of Egypt. The space from David and Solomon, to the return out of the captivity, is another revolution of the same wheel: in the beginning of it, the temple was built; in the end it was built again, and the temple and worship, and the courses of the priests and Levites, again restored, which David and Solomon had established, and the church-state of the Jews, as it had been settled by David and Solomon, was again renewed. From the return out of the captivity, until Christ came and established the Christian dispensation, is another revolution of the same wheel: at the beginning of it God redeemed the church out of Babylon; at the end of it he redeemed his church from sin and Satan, and accomplished that great redemption, of which the redemption from the Babylonish captivity was a great type.The course of things during the Jewish state was, as it were, the revolution of a great wheel. This course, as it respects the national state of that people, began with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the fathers of that nation. The national state of that people was then in its infancy; the wheel then began to rise from the ground, and it rose to the height in Solomon's time, when the temple was built, and Solomon's kingdom in its greatest prosperity, which was about the middle of the space between the birth and calling of Abraham and Christ, and the destruction of Jerusalem; thenceforward they declined in numbers, and wealth, and strength, until they came to the ground again, when Christ came, and Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans. Their state, with respect to their ecclesiastical constitution, began in Moses, the first prophet, and came to the height in Isaiah's time, the most evangelical prophet, who lived about the middle of the space between Moses and Christ, and came to the ground again in Christ's time. It was with the Jewish state, in this respect, as it is with the life of man, which I before showed was as the revolution of a wheel that began at the ground, and gradually rose to the height, and then gradually came to the ground again. So it is with kingdoms and empires; their state and course are very much like the revolution of a wheel, beginning at the ground, and rising to the height, and coming to the ground again. So it was with the four great monarchies of the world, and so it is with the reign of antichrist, and the continuance of the Mahometan empire, and other states and kingdoms; and when one nation or kingdom comes to the ground, another comes to the greatest height, that before was at the ground, as it is with the different parts of a wheel in motion. The space of time from Christ to the end of the world, is as the revolution of a great wheel. In the beginning of it Christ comes into the world, and the wicked Jews were judged at the destruction of Jerusalem, and after them the wicked heathen world, in Constantine's time, and the old world comes to an end, and the church's glory follows, and then things in the Christian church gradually sink, until they come to the ground in the darkest times of antichrist, and then gradually rise again until Christ comes again and judges the world, and destroys the church's enemies, and destroys the old heavens and earth, and then the church's glory follows.The whole series of things through the age of the world may be represented as a wheel of various rings one within another, and some less than others: 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 last wheel finishes its revolution at the coming of Christ, and the destruction of Jerusalem, and overthrow of the heathen empires that followed, when the world, in a sense, came to an end, and there was a day of judgment. This began at the creation of the Jewish state in the time of Abraham, Isaac, and 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 the dispersing of the nations, and the 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 it at Christ's second coming to judge the world, and destroy heaven and earth, in a literal sense.Every wheel, or 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, however, 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. These 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.What Ezekiel there 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 on his throne above the firmament, over these wheels and cherubim, is represented as on the seat in which he rides, and makes progress with the wheels and cherubim. God came to Ezekiel to speak to him, and gave him his mission on this chariot, and is so represented in his first chapter. In the second and third Chapter s we have an account of what he said to him from this seat. In the 12th and 13th verses of the 3rd chapter (Ezekiel 3:12-13), we have an account of his departure when he had done speaking with him, which was with a great rustling and noise of the wings of the cherubim, and the noise of the wheels. God rode on these cherubim as those that drew his chariot, as it is said, Psalms 18:10, "He rode on a cherub, and did fly." And Psalms 68:17, "The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels." And therefore God, in being in that chariot drawn by these cherubim, is said to be upon the cherub. Ezekiel 9:3, "And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house;" and God appeared about to leave the temple, and his glory departed from off the threshold into this same chariot. Chap. 10:18, with the foregoing verses; and then it is said the cherubim lift up their wings and mounted from the earth in his sight; and the wheels also went beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above; and after this, Ezekiel 11:22; Ezekiel 11:23. God is represented as departing in this manner up out of the midst of the city, ascending up to the top of mount Olivet, being about from thence to ascend into heaven, from whence this same person afterwards ascended after his resurrection. (See Note on that verse.) And when it was represented in vision to Ezekiel how God would afterwards return to the city and temple in those happy days that were to come, he is represented as returning in the same manner, Ezekiel 43:2-4.This chariot represents the world, which is confirmed by this, that one part of it is called the firmament, which was the upper part, but yet the pavement of it, above which was the seat of God, who sat and rode in that chariot, agreeably to Deuteronomy 33:26, "Who rideth upon the heaven in thine help, and in his excellency on the sky;" and to Psalms 68:4, "Extol him that rideth upon the heaven of heavens, which were of old." God appeared here on the same pavement as he appeared to the seventy elders on mount Sinai. (See Notes on Exodus 24:10.) What is signified by the wheels which were under the firmament, but above us upon the earth, is, God's providence in this visible world, especially representing mankind that dwell on the earth.Christ was the person that appeared riding in this chariot, as is confirmed from that, that he appeared in the likeness of a man, Ezekiel 1:26, and also from the description that is given of his appearance. (See Note on Ezekiel 1:27.)This chariot is drawn on those wheels by the four animals, which denote God's power, wisdom, justice, and mercy, and all proceed on feet like a calf's foot, 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.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, as to 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. These 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. It is 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 these wheels are moved by the cherubim, then the upper part moves; when they stop that stops, and wherever the wheels go that goes. It is on these wheels that Christ, the King of heaven, in his throne in heaven, makes progress to the final issue of all things. It is in the wheels of his providence that move on earth, that he in 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 it is on these 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 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 these great works of providence which God carries on in the world in the prosecution of the grand design of redemption.

Ezekiel, chapter 1. Concerning Ezekiel's WHEELS. Divine Providence is most aptly represented by the revolution and course of these wheels: things in their series and course in providence 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, until it gradually returns to it again; so is the course of things in providence.

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 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 plains, 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. The system of the universe may exactly answer what is here said of these wheels, and livelily represents God's providence in the government of the moral world. There is as it were a wheel within a wheel; the whole system is nothing else but wheels within wheels, lesser wheels within greater, revolving oftener. There is the sphere of the fixed stars, which is the greatest wheel, includes all the others, and is many thousand years in performing its revolution. This includes the circle of Saturn's course, which is a lesser wheel within the other, finishing its revolution in about thirty years. That includes the circle of Jupiter, a lesser wheel, revolving in about twelve years: that includes the circle of Mars, that the circle of the Earth, that of Venus, that of Mercury, that of the Sun, which revolves about its own axis. And some of the greater wheels include lesser and of various kinds, as the great wheel of Saturn, besides those of the inferior planets, has annexed to it those lesser wheels of his satellites one within another, and then its ring, and then its own body about its axis. So of Jupiter, and so of the earth and moon. So some of the grand revolutions of providence that are but parts of the grand system of providence, have a particular system as it were belonging to themselves, wherein the great revolution includes lesser revolutions that are not parallel with any like them, continued from the beginning to the end of time, but begin their various revolutions with that particular great wheel that they are fixed to, and end with it. So it is with that great wheel, the continuance of the Jewish state; so it is with the state of some particular kingdoms and empires; so it is 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; we came naked out of our mother's womb, and naked must we go and return. The dust returns to earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. So it is 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 it is 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. Solomon takes notice of these things. Ecclesiastes 1:4-8, "One generation passeth away, and another cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to the place where he arose. The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it."

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 spoken of by the wise man in that forementioned place in Ecclesiastes, as the words that follow next after those that were mentioned respecting the natural world, do respect the intelligent world. Ecclesiastes 1:9; Ecclesiastes 1:10, "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 and final issue of things, and every revolution brings nearer to that issue, as it is 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 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.

The course of things from the beginning of the world to the coming of Christ, may be represented as one great wheel performing one revolution; all things in the beginning of this revolution were from Christ the Creator of man, and the whole motion henceforward until Christ came was to bring things about to Christ again, and so to prepare the way for his coming, and to introduce him as the Redeemer of man. This wheel contains a lesser wheel, that performs two revolutions, while the great one does one; the first revolution ending at the calling of Abraham, at which time God did as it were plant the tree of his church anew, which he had planted at first in his revealing the covenant of grace to Adam; the second ending at the coming of Christ, the promised seed of Abraham and his antitype, in whom all the families of the earth are blessed, and in whom the church was planted anew, and in a far more glorious manner.

The course of things from the beginning of the world to the flood may be looked upon as the revolution of a wheel. At the beginning of it, God created the world, and the face of the earth was covered with waters, and the world was all of one man and his posterity. At the end of it, the world was destroyed and reduced to the same state again; the world was covered with waters, and the world of mankind was began anew with one man and his posterity. 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, as at the beginning of it. The world was corrupt, and therefore one man and his family separated to be the father of the church; so it was again at the end of it. The space from Abraham to Moses was as it were another revolution of the same wheel; for, as God established his covenant with Abraham, and then separated his church from the heathen, in calling Abraham out of Chaldea and Syria, so in the end of it he again renewed his covenant, and again separated his church from the heathen world, by bringing them up out of Egypt. From Moses and Joshua, to Samuel, David, and Solomon, was another revolution of the same wheel: as in the beginning of it God gave the spirit of prophecy to Moses; so he renewed it in Samuel: as in the beginning of it God gloriously conquered the enemies of Israel, and settled them in Canaan in peace, by the hand of Moses and Joshua; so in the end of it God gloriously subdued the enemies of Israel, and subdued the remains of the inhabitants of Canaan, and the nations round about, and gave them the full and peaceable possession of the land of promise, in the full extent of it, from the river Euphrates to the river of Egypt. The space from David and Solomon, to the return out of the captivity, is another revolution of the same wheel: in the beginning of it, the temple was built; in the end it was built again, and the temple and worship, and the courses of the priests and Levites, again restored, which David and Solomon had established, and the church-state of the Jews, as it had been settled by David and Solomon, was again renewed. From the return out of the captivity, until Christ came and established the Christian dispensation, is another revolution of the same wheel: at the beginning of it God redeemed the church out of Babylon; at the end of it he redeemed his church from sin and Satan, and accomplished that great redemption, of which the redemption from the Babylonish captivity was a great type.

The course of things during the Jewish state was, as it were, the revolution of a great wheel. This course, as it respects the national state of that people, began with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the fathers of that nation. The national state of that people was then in its infancy; the wheel then began to rise from the ground, and it rose to the height in Solomon's time, when the temple was built, and Solomon's kingdom in its greatest prosperity, which was about the middle of the space between the birth and calling of Abraham and Christ, and the destruction of Jerusalem; thenceforward they declined in numbers, and wealth, and strength, until they came to the ground again, when Christ came, and Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans. Their state, with respect to their ecclesiastical constitution, began in Moses, the first prophet, and came to the height in Isaiah's time, the most evangelical prophet, who lived about the middle of the space between Moses and Christ, and came to the ground again in Christ's time. It was with the Jewish state, in this respect, as it is with the life of man, which I before showed was as the revolution of a wheel that began at the ground, and gradually rose to the height, and then gradually came to the ground again. So it is with kingdoms and empires; their state and course are very much like the revolution of a wheel, beginning at the ground, and rising to the height, and coming to the ground again. So it was with the four great monarchies of the world, and so it is with the reign of antichrist, and the continuance of the Mahometan empire, and other states and kingdoms; and when one nation or kingdom comes to the ground, another comes to the greatest height, that before was at the ground, as it is with the different parts of a wheel in motion. The space of time from Christ to the end of the world, is as the revolution of a great wheel. In the beginning of it Christ comes into the world, and the wicked Jews were judged at the destruction of Jerusalem, and after them the wicked heathen world, in Constantine's time, and the old world comes to an end, and the church's glory follows, and then things in the Christian church gradually sink, until they come to the ground in the darkest times of antichrist, and then gradually rise again until Christ comes again and judges the world, and destroys the church's enemies, and destroys the old heavens and earth, and then the church's glory follows.

The whole series of things through the age of the world may be represented as a wheel of various rings one within another, and some less than others: 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 last wheel finishes its revolution at the coming of Christ, and the destruction of Jerusalem, and overthrow of the heathen empires that followed, when the world, in a sense, came to an end, and there was a day of judgment. This began at the creation of the Jewish state in the time of Abraham, Isaac, and 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 the dispersing of the nations, and the 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 it at Christ's second coming to judge the world, and destroy heaven and earth, in a literal sense.

Every wheel, or 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, however, 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.

These 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.

What Ezekiel there 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 on his throne above the firmament, over these wheels and cherubim, is represented as on the seat in which he rides, and makes progress with the wheels and cherubim. God came to Ezekiel to speak to him, and gave him his mission on this chariot, and is so represented in his first chapter. In the second and third Chapter s we have an account of what he said to him from this seat. In the 12th and 13th verses of the 3rd chapter (Ezekiel 3:12-13), we have an account of his departure when he had done speaking with him, which was with a great rustling and noise of the wings of the cherubim, and the noise of the wheels. God rode on these cherubim as those that drew his chariot, as it is said, Psalms 18:10, "He rode on a cherub, and did fly." And Psalms 68:17, "The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels." And therefore God, in being in that chariot drawn by these cherubim, is said to be upon the cherub. Ezekiel 9:3, "And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house;" and God appeared about to leave the temple, and his glory departed from off the threshold into this same chariot. Chap. 10:18, with the foregoing verses; and then it is said the cherubim lift up their wings and mounted from the earth in his sight; and the wheels also went beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above; and after this, Ezekiel 11:22; Ezekiel 11:23. God is represented as departing in this manner up out of the midst of the city, ascending up to the top of mount Olivet, being about from thence to ascend into heaven, from whence this same person afterwards ascended after his resurrection. (See Note on that verse.) And when it was represented in vision to Ezekiel how God would afterwards return to the city and temple in those happy days that were to come, he is represented as returning in the same manner, Ezekiel 43:2-4.

This chariot represents the world, which is confirmed by this, that one part of it is called the firmament, which was the upper part, but yet the pavement of it, above which was the seat of God, who sat and rode in that chariot, agreeably to Deuteronomy 33:26, "Who rideth upon the heaven in thine help, and in his excellency on the sky;" and to Psalms 68:4, "Extol him that rideth upon the heaven of heavens, which were of old." God appeared here on the same pavement as he appeared to the seventy elders on mount Sinai. (See Notes on Exodus 24:10.) What is signified by the wheels which were under the firmament, but above us upon the earth, is, God's providence in this visible world, especially representing mankind that dwell on the earth.

Christ was the person that appeared riding in this chariot, as is confirmed from that, that he appeared in the likeness of a man, Ezekiel 1:26, and also from the description that is given of his appearance. (See Note on Ezekiel 1:27.)

This chariot is drawn on those wheels by the four animals, which denote God's power, wisdom, justice, and mercy, and all proceed on feet like a calf's foot, 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.

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, as to 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. These 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. It is 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 these wheels are moved by the cherubim, then the upper part moves; when they stop that stops, and wherever the wheels go that goes. It is on these wheels that Christ, the King of heaven, in his throne in heaven, makes progress to the final issue of all things. It is in the wheels of his providence that move on earth, that he in 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 it is on these 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 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 these great works of providence which God carries on in the world in the prosecution of the grand design of redemption.