Exposition of Ezekiel 1-5, Commentary on Ezechiel · Chapter 1 · Verse 18
VER. 18.
As for their Rings they were ſo high, that they were dreadfull, and their Rings were full of eyes, round about them foure.
19. And when the living creatures went, the wheeles went by them; And when the living creatures were lift up from the earth, the wheels were lift up.
20. Whither ſoever the Spirit was to goe they went, thither was their Spirit to goe, and the wheels were lifted up over againſt them: for the Spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
21. When thoſe went, theſe went, and when thoſe ſtood, theſe ſtood: and when thoſe were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over againſt them; for the Spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
IN the 18th verſe, we have the rings of the wheels deſcribed, from their highneſſe, and eyeneſſe. They were ſo high, they cauſed terror, ſo full of eyes, they cauſed wonder: The Hebrew reading is ſomewhat different, it runs thus; And the rings of them, both height to them, and feare to them, or by reaſon of them; that is,Propter cas. the wheels were ſo high, that they bred terror, ſtruck feare into the Prophet. The word Rings in the Hebrew is Backs, their backs were high, dreadfull, that is, their Circumferences or Rings were ſo, of ſuch breadth and altitude, (for there is no difference between thoſe in rings and circles) that they cauſed feare to thoſe looked upon them.
Now what is meant by this height and greatneſſe of the wheels, muſt be opened unto you; and it's this: the motions of ſecond cauſes and changes of things here in this world, are ſo great, ſo incomprehenſible by man, that they produce feares and terrors to the ſons of men; Men are troubled, that they cannot fathome the deeps, and meaſure the heighth and breadth of the wheels: when men ſee times and ſeaſons changed, kingdomes daſhed in pieces, the godly brought into bondage, the wicked advanced, truth perſecuted, errours in credit, juſtice troden down, and all things moving by contrary motions; they ſtand amazed, and not able to reach the cauſes of things, to meaſure the wheels, and ſee into the exact motions of them, they become ſenſible of their own weakneſſe, and ſay, O the heighth of the wheels! O the ſhallowneſſe of our ſpirits!
Obſerv. 1. That the cauſes and motions, and changes in the world, are unknown to the ſons of men; the wheels are too high for them to meaſure; man is ſo beetleliſh and purblind, that the dim ſight of his ſoul pierceth not into the ſecrets and knowledge of cauſes,Eccleſ. 3.11. it only comes at the out-ſide and extremities of things, the ſuperficies of the wheel, but not the heighth and depth of it, not the true nature and cauſes of things; ſo that admiration, opinion, not ſcience is begotten in man; this Agrippa knew, that writ a Book of the vanity of Sciences: and Zanche, that writ a Tractat, Quod nihil ſcitur; and Socrates was judged the learned man, ſo that hee ſaid, This I know, that I know nothing;… Cor. 13.12. and above all theſe, the Apoſtle ſaith, 1 Cor. 8.2. If any man thinke he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as hee ought to know; and elſewhere, Wee ſee through a glaſſe darkely, things are a riddle to us, we know not what to make of them. Look into the world, and what can we make of it? the wheels in every quarter have ſuch a heighth as none can reach; ſecond cauſes move ſo ſuddenly, as none can ſpy them out: Caſt your eye upon Phyſicall wheels, and they are too high for Phyſicians to meaſure: what reaſon can they give of Antipathies; or that ſome trees ſhould have a venomous root on the one ſide, and a remedy on the other? they meet with diſeaſes and difficulties that are Ludibria medicorum, and muſt referre you to occult qualities: Caſt your eye upon Politicall wheels, and there you will finde ſuch heighths and depths, as neither Ahitophel can meaſure, nor Machiavil can ſound: Look at Theologicall wheels and motions,Deorum crimen ſyllatum faelix, Sen. and there be ſuch heighths that none of the Prophets nor Apoſtles have been able to meaſure; I will give you an inſtance in two or three: Jer. 12.1, 2. Righteous art thou, O Lord, yet let me talk with thee of thy judgements: wherefore doth the way of the wicked proſper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very trecherouſly? Jeremiah a great Prophet is puzled at this heighth of the wheel; Thou haſt planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit, thou art neere in their mouth, and far from their reines: Job is at a ſtand in this caſe, Chapt. 12.7. Wherefore do the wicked live, become old; yea, and are mighty in power? God puts Job to it in the 38, 39, 40, 41. Chap. So Aſaph, Pſal. 73. and Hab. 1.3. were troubled at the proſperity of the wicked, and could not take the altitude of the wheels in their dayes; Nature nor Grace could do it. If Solomon knew not the way of an Eagle in the aire, of a Serpent upon the rock, of a ſhip in the midſt of the Sea, of a man with a maid, Prov. 30.19. how ſhall we know the motions of the wheels in the world?
2. That the conſideration of the unſearchableneſſe of Gods wayes, ſhould beget feare and trembling in us; the wheels had a heighth and dreadfulneſſe upon that heighth: When a man comes to the ſea ſhoare, beholds the vaſtneſſe and ſtrange motion of it, and findes hee is puzled, feare creeps upon him from the apprehenſion of the greatneſſe and Majeſty of God, who ſits upon the floods, and commands the deeps: ſo here, when wee thinke of the wheels, how high they are, that wee cannot ſearch out the cauſe of their motions, this way or that way, our ſouls ſhould tremble at the Majeſty of that God which ſets ſuch mighty wheels awork: Pſal. 36.6. Thy judgements are a great deep; mens ſins are a great deep, and Satans wayes are called a depth; but Gods judgements, his wayes in the wheels are the greateſt deep of all, they are unſearchable.
That Chriſtian kingdomes are ſhaken in pieces with wars, when Heathen kingdomes are ſpared; that there is ſuch unequall diſpenſation of the means of grace in the world; that the greateſt part are without the knowledge of God and Chriſt to this day; that many able men are laid by, or caſt into corners, where are but handfuls of people, and great towns where are multitudes, have no Miniſters, or ſuch as preach holineſſe, and the power of godlineſſe out of their pariſhes; that people are moſt hardened under the moſt powerfull means of grace; that there be ſuch unequall diſtributions of riches, talents, of nature and grace; that precious young Miniſters and others are taken away in a time of great need, when others that are vile and baſe are ſpared; that wicked Pirats proſper at Sea, when honeſt men are ſhipwrackt; that thoſe have little or no means thrive, and thoſe have the beſt who are barren: Gods working in ſinfull actions, his fitting veſſels for deſtruction, his leaving his ancient people the Jewes ſixteen hundred yeers under a curſe;Rom. 11.23. O the depth! how unſearchable are his wayes?
The next thing in the Verſe to be touched, is the eyes in theſe rings.
And the rings were full of eyes round about them four, or, on every ſide to them four.
Every wheel had eyes: they were ſtellatae oculis, bedeckt with eyes, as the heaven with ſtars; there were eyes within, and eyes without, and not a few, but many; every ring, every wheel was full of eyes.
By eyes, we are to underſtand the active and infinite providence of God, which runs through all things, 2 Chron. 16.9. The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth; that is, divine providence is active every where.
The Scripture by eyes, referring to God, intends: firſt, his knowledge and notice of things, Prov. 15.3. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evill and the good: ſecondly, his care, Pſal. 34.15. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous; that is, hee careth for them: thirdly, his direction, Pſal. 42.8. I will guide thee with mine eye; and theſe eyes note out Gods inſpection, care and ordering the wheels in all their motions, and that in all quarters. The rings were full of eyes, and whatever the thoughts of men were, they moved according to direction of divine providence.
Obſerv. 1. That how ever the wheels and motions of them be too high for men, and dreadfull unto them, yet they are not ſo to God; hee ſees into all the wheels, they have eyes on every ſide, God knowes them throughly, their eſſences, qualities, operations; we cannot pry into the ſtate of Kingdomes, Councels, Armies, Cities; there be as ſecrets of States,Arcana imperis, & arcana rotarum. ſo ſecrets of wheels in thoſe States, which none know but God, and God knowes them perfectly: let wheels be never ſo great, terrible, move never ſuch ſtrange and croſſe wayes; as Kings, Armies, Parliaments are great wheels, and have unknown motions; yet they are ſubject to the Lords eyes, he ſees into all their ſecrets, and ſees more in their motions then they themſelves.
2. The motions of the wheels are conſiderable and judicious, they are not carryed on blindly; how ever they ſeem to be carried,Non caeco impetu volvuntur rotae. yet they are carryed by reaſon and counſell; there be eyes in the wheels; when men do things raſhly, injudiciouſly, we ſay; Have you no eyes in your head? here be eyes in the rings, and they move not caſually. Thoſe motions in the world, that ſeeme moſt confuſed, are compoſed and ordered motions: Are rich men made poor; honourable men baſe? are conquerers made captives? do ſervants ride, and Princes go on foot? are the wicked oppreſſors in the ſeats of juſtice? are the godly beneath, and the vile above? are the counſels of Jeſuits, forainers, and deſperate malignants entertained, and others rejected? are there civil wars in a Land, great plundering, ſpoyling of Miniſters, Chriſtians, Parliament men themſelves? theſe things are not done without conſiderate and judicious motions of the wheels: Acts 4.27, 28. When Herod, Pilate, Gentiles, Jewes, were gathered together againſt Chriſt, were not the motions then, (though inhumane, bloody, and murtherous) conſiderate, and providentiall motions? The Text ſaith, They did whatſoever the hand and counſell of the Lord determined before to be done; it was no blinde buſineſſe, the wheels of it were full of eyes, and moved by the motions of heaven. Gods owne eye, heart, and head were in it. And now, when the Herods, Pilates, and Malignants of the world do ſtir againſt Chriſt and his members, the wheels move conſiderately.
3. The motions of the rings, wheels, and all ſecond cauſes, are certain, arriving at the end appointed. They are full of eyes, which direct them to their journeyes end, ſo that they miſſe not the marke they aime at. What if many ſecond cauſes be ignorant, blind, know not their own motions; yet if they have guides infallible to lead them, it's ſufficient to conduct them to the intended end. If a ſeeing dog can lead a blind begger from place to place, direct his motion to the deſired end; ſhall not the eye of providence lead any, all ſecond cauſes to their end? Providence is an unerring thing, and diſappoints not God of his expectation. The Pilot carries a great ſhip from harbour to harbour, over the Seas, through the ſtormes, and fulfils the mind of the Maſter; and ſo Providence carries the great wheels up and down, to the very place appointed.
4. The leaſt motions of the wheels are not without providence; ſome think that the great things in kingdomes and the world, are tranſacted by providence, but for they leſſer they paſſe in a caſuall manner, providence reaches them not; but the eyes were every where, the wheels were full of eyes; not a few eyes, here and there one, but in every part, that ſo mans minde might be freed from ſuch ſiniſter thoughts, as that there ſhould be any motion of any wheel without the direction and influence of providence. God hath made the leaſt and greateſt creatures, and hee cauſeth the leaſt and greateſt motions.Providentia ita cura… omnia, ut unum aliquid, ita ſingula, ut ſi illud curaret unicum, Auguſt in Confeſſ: And the Schoolmen ſay, that providence is infinita in omnibus, infinita in ſingulis. Let us pitch our thoughts upon ſome leſſer motion, the diſpenſation of a lot, the fall of a haire from the head, the preparations of the heart, the anſwer of the tongue, theſe are all of the Lord, and directed by providence; the earth loſeth not a pile of graſſe; the trees not a leafe; the water not a fiſh; the aire not a bird, without an ordinance of providence.
5. Providence orders the motion of the rings and wheels in all parts, all the world over; not one, two, or three wheels had eyes, but all foure had eyes round about them: God by his divine providence ordered things as well in Babylon as in Sion; Providence wrought in Aegypt, and in the red Sea. As there are wheels in all parts of the world, in all Kingdomes of the earth; ſo there are eyes in all thoſe wheels.
6. The works of God in diſpoſing and governing ſecond cauſes, are admirable, glorious, and beautifull workes: The wheels were full of eyes, fitly diſpoſed, wiſely carried on, certainly attaining their ends. Could we ſee the eyes in the wheels, we ſhould never fault the workes of God in the world, but ſtand and admire their glory and beauty; when the heavens are vailed with clouds, we have ſowre and diſcontented thoughts of the heavens themſelves, but when the clouds are gone, that we can ſee the Starres, thoſe eyes of heaven, then we admire their beauty and glory; and certainly, it's a moſt glorious ſight to ſee the heavens full of ſtarres in a cleare night; and it's no leſſe glorious to ſee the eyes in the wheels, and the choice acts of providence in all their turnings and windings: Cauſſin ſaith, the world in all its parts is ruled like a paper with muſick lines, and if wee could ſee thoſe lines, they would be as glorious as lines of gold.
7. The motions of the wheels are ſuch as that they hold out a providence to all; there is ſomething in the wheels that none can reach, and ſomething that any may ſee, they are full of eyes, and the weakeſt may ſee one providence or other; if not all the eyes, yet ſome of them; there be myſteries in the wheels to exerciſe the greateſt, and eyes to ſatisfie the weakeſt: As no man but ſees the ſtars in the heaven at one time or other; ſo no man but may ſee the eyes in the wheels. That evill doth not over-run all, and the wicked devour the good, argues a providence. In one of the Conanie Iſlands, Johannes Metellus ſaith, there is a tree which drops water at every leafe, and ſufficeth the Inhabitants and their flocks, being a drie Iſland without water. Mithridates, when in his cradle, had his clothes conſumed with lightning, and his body not toucht: A father and a ſon ſhipwrackt at ſea, the ſon ſail'd to ſhoar upon the back of his dead father. In theſe particulars and ſuch like providence doth eminently appeare.