LIFE-STUDY OF EZEKIEL
Read and pray: “When they went, these went; and when they stood still, these stood still; and when they were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up together with them; for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.” (Ez 1:21)
We will now continue to consider a series of details concerning the tall and awesome wheels.
The wheels were beside the faces of the living beings (Ez 1:15). This indicates that if we want to have the Lord’s move, we must first live Him and express Him. If we live the expression of Christ, we will have the wheel of the Lord’s move.
The Wheels Were on the Earth
In verse 15 we are told that the wheels were on the earth. Do not expect the Lord’s move to be in the heavens. God has angels to carry out His move in the heavens. What He needs is a move on the earth. God needs a move in the United States and in many other countries.
The Wheels Have the Appearance of Beryl
Verse 16a says, “The appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like the gleam of beryl.” According to Daniel 10:6, beryl was the appearance of the Lord when He was moving. This indicates that within the move of the wheels is the appearance of the Lord.
Wherever it goes, it carries the appearance of the Lord. If the wheel moves to a certain place, it will carry the appearance of the Lord to that place. If a wheel is with you at school or at work, it will carry the appearance of the Lord there. People will be able to see the beryl, the appearance of the Lord.
The Wheels Have the Same Appearance
Verse 16b says, “The four had the same appearance.” Here we are told that all four wheels have the same appearance, the same likeness. This indicates that the Lord’s move has the same likeness and appearance in every church.
Every move has the same appearance of the Lord. Therefore, the likeness of all the wheels is the same. If the church in one locality has a likeness, an appearance, that is different from the likeness of the church in another locality, something is wrong.
The saints in a certain church may think that they need to build up their own local identity, that they need to build something typical and exclusively local. This is contrary to Ezekiel 1, where we are told that all four wheels have the same appearance.
We should not think that the wheel of the move in the United States should have one appearance and that the wheel moving in other countries should have a different appearance. In every place and in every country, the wheel should have the same appearance.
This does not mean that all the churches should follow one particular church. Rather, all the local churches should be mutual followers of one another (1 Thes 2:14).
The Wheels Go in Four Directions
“When they went, they could go in four directions; they did not turn as they went” (Ez 1:17). The wheels went toward the four sides—in four directions—and did not turn as they went. This indicates a move in coordination, without any turning.
The Wheels Were Awesomely Tall
Ezekiel 1:18a says, “Their rims were high and awesome.” Here I would like to point out that we should never try to make ourselves great; instead, we should be small. However, the wheel beside us should be as tall as it is awesome.
In our locality we should not have a small wheel of only a few inches in diameter. On the contrary, in our city there should be a tall wheel, a wheel that is awesomely tall and that surprises people. The wheel in each church should be as tall as it is awesome.
The Wheels Are Full of Eyes
Verse 18b continues, “And their rims were full of eyes all around.” Here we see that the tall and awesome wheels were full of eyes.
If we apply this to our spiritual experience, we will realize that it is absolutely correct to say that the wheels are full of eyes. If a church has no move and no wheel beside it, that church is blind.
If you have no move yet claim that you do, you are certainly blind. You have no eyes. If your church has a great and awesome wheel, a high and awesome move, within that move there will be many eyes. As a result, you will have understanding, discernment, and other kinds of sight.
If you are a Christian who has no wheel and who only knows how to behave properly, you are blind. If you say that you care for the Lord concerning His move on the earth today, you will be full of eyes and thus have discernment and understanding.
Because Paul was a person full of eyes, he had much clarity. He had clarity concerning the present, the future, the world situation, the Word, the church, physical things, and spiritual things. As a person full of eyes, he had clarity about everything.
Some Christians, on the contrary, have no eyes at all. Likewise, some local churches have no eyes. The reason these Christians and churches are blind is that with them there is no wheel, no move of the Lord.
However, the more we have the Lord’s move, the more we will be enlightened. The more we move, the more we will be able to see. Do not be like a frog in a well—limited by its environment and able to see only what is directly above it in a very narrow way.
You need to jump out of your “well” and participate in the Lord’s move. The more you are in the Lord’s move, the more eyes you will have and the more clearly you will see. The more move you have, the more you will be able to see.
I can testify of this from my own experience in the Lord’s move. During the past years I have made many trips. I have traveled throughout China, America, and Europe. The more I travel, the more eyes I receive. In 1958 I traveled through thirty different countries. By traveling I received many eyes and saw many things.
We need to be impressed with the fact that the wheels are full of eyes. When the wheel moves, it sees. The more it runs, the more it sees. If the wheel stops moving, it will stop seeing.
This is how the church should be today. We see when we go forward. The more we go forward, the more we see. It may be that today we can see only to a certain point, but tomorrow we will go on and see more. If we stop moving, we will stop seeing. We Christians must be a moving people. The church must move in order to see.
A Wheel within a Wheel
Verse 16c says, “Their appearance and their workmanship were as if a wheel were within a wheel.” It is very significant that the wheels appeared as a wheel within another wheel.
When we speak of a wheel, we say that the circumference is the rim, the center is the hub, and in between are the spokes. Thus, we have the three main parts of a wheel: the rim, the hub, and the spokes. But in Ezekiel 1 there is no hub and there are no spokes. Instead, there is a wheel within a wheel.
James 5:17 can help us understand this. That verse tells us that Elijah prayed earnestly. Literally, the Greek words translated “prayed earnestly” mean “prayed in prayer.”
This indicates that a prayer of the Lord was given to Elijah, in which he prayed. He did not pray according to his feeling, thought, intention, mood, or any kind of motivation arising from circumstances or situations to fulfill his own purpose.
Rather, he prayed in the prayer given by the Lord for the fulfillment of His will. For Elijah to pray in prayer means that there was a prayer within his prayer. This is the wheel within a wheel.
We may apply this matter of a wheel within a wheel to the church life. If the church is proper and is in the move, then within the church’s move there will be the Lord’s move. This means that in our move there is the Lord’s move. While we are moving, the Lord is moving in our move.
The inner wheel is the source of energy for the move. This means that the inner wheel is the “motor” that causes the wheel to move. If our move is genuine, surely within our move there will be the Lord’s move.
Every wheel has a hub that turns the wheel. If the hub stops, the wheel stops. We may say that the hub is the small wheel within the rim of the large wheel. The large wheel turns because the small wheel is being transformed.
In the church life, the Lord Jesus is the hub—the wheel within the wheel—and we are the rim. If the churches do not move with the Lord, they have no way to go on because there is no wheel within the wheel.
But when the churches move with the Lord Jesus, He becomes the wheel within the wheel. Nothing can frustrate or stop this kind of move. Recently, countless saints in the churches migrated to other cities for the propagation of the church life.
When some heard about this migration, they despised it and asked whether it would accomplish anything. I can testify that this migration is the Lord’s move, the move of the wheel, and that within this wheel there is another wheel. In this migration there has been a wheel within a wheel.
The Wheel Follows the Living Beings
Ezekiel 1:19 says, “When the living beings went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living beings were lifted up, the wheels were lifted up.”
This verse tells us that it was not the living beings who followed the wheels, but that the wheels followed the living beings.
When the living beings move, the wheels move. When the living beings stop, the wheels stop. When the living beings are lifted up, the wheels are lifted up.
This is contrary to the concept held by many believers that we must wait until the Lord moves before we can go forward. I have received the burden from the Lord to tell His children that there is no need for them to wait for Him to move. The Lord has been waiting for nearly two thousand years. If we go forward, the Lord will follow us. If we do not practice the move, there will be no wheel; but if we move, the wheels will follow us.
The move of God’s work, the move of the gospel, and the move of the church depend on our move. We need to have confidence, assurance, and faith to go forward boldly. If we go forward boldly, the wheels will follow us. Let us act boldly and move to gain this country and the earth.
The Spirit Is in the Wheels
Verse 20 continues, “Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, because the spirit impelled them; and the wheels were lifted up together with them, for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.”
The wheels followed the living beings, and the living beings followed the Spirit, but the Spirit is in the wheels. It is difficult to say who follows whom. We are one with Him. One day, when we meet the Lord, we may say, “Lord, we followed You,” but the Lord may say, “No, I followed you.”
If we have the wheel with the coordination, it is difficult to determine who follows whom. We are one with the Lord, and the Lord is one with us. The Lord follows us, we follow the Spirit, and the Spirit is in the wheels. This is the Lord’s move on the earth today, and this is the Lord’s recovery.
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