Jumping
right into Ezekiel, we have a very poor translation of a simple word,
wheel. This word hardly means the round
circular thing we use for transportation, as compared to the Ophanim. The reason the word wheel was used is because
the Ophanim revolve in a circle, they are usually rotating in Ezekiel’s vision,
except for when they are following their leader. Somehow, translators then
tried to make every other word fit a cart wheel, rather than the body of an
angelic being. The very definitions of
these words tell us that we are not speaking of a method of transportation, but
instead spiritual beings. Out of 35 usages of the word, Strong’s #212, three
talk about transportation. The rest give
us a great description of a class of beings that we have not understood.
OT:212
'owphan (o-fawn') or (shortened) 'ophan (o-fawn'); from an unused root meaning
to revolve; a wheel: KJV - wheel.(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers
and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003,
2006 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
Ophan, or Ophanim is the word we are searching
out. We will see Enoch’s naming them
along with the Seraphim and Cherubim later. For time’s sake I have crossed out
the misused words and added the correct word.
If we read these sections like this we gain understanding.
Ezek
1:14-22 And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash
of lightning.15 Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel Ophan
upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces.16 The appearance
of the wheels Ophanim and their work (activity) was like unto the
colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and
their work was as it were an wheel Ophan in the middle of a wheel
Ophan.
There
was an Ophan by the living creatures and the Ophanim looked like beryl; pure
beryl is colorless, but it can have impurities that give it color. Some
speculate their coloring to be like diamonds. The four of them looked the same,
not identical, but similar. Ophan by
definition means revolving. Therefore it
looked like one Ophan revolving around another.
Now whether they spin in a circle like a ballet dancer twirls, or they
spin together in a circle like Ring
Around the Rosie, we don’t know for sure. Whichever way they move,
independently or together, they are in motion.
This is why there is so much confusion about wheels.
17
When they went walk, they went walk upon their four sides: and
they turned revolve not when they went walk.
When
the Ophanim walk they don’t spin, they simply walk in one of four directions.
18
As for their rings backs, they were so high that they were dreadful; and
their rings brows were full of eyes round about circling them
the four.
They
are very tall, scary tall. Because they
are circling it looks like they have lots of eyes. Let’s think about that for a minute. When a ballet dancer twirls fast, to human
eyes, it looks like their eyes are always there. Our eyes and brain cannot process the speed
very well. We know that the ballet
dancer we are looking at does not have eyes in the back of her head (despite
what your mother may have scared you into believing). We simply see the dancers’ eyes as if they
are looking in our direction.
19
And when the living creatures went walk, the wheels Ophanim went
walk by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up advance from
the earth, the wheels Ophanim were lifted up advance.
The
Ophanim go wherever the living creatures go.
When the living creatures go somewhere, the Ophanim go as well.
20
Whithersoever the spirit was to go walks, they went walk, thither
(after the) was their spirit to go walks; and the wheels
Ophanim were lifted up over against them overshadow (by huddling
together): for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels
Ophanim.
Wherever
the spirit goes, the Ophanim go behind the spirit, as opposed to alongside or
in front of the spirit. The Ophanim rise up and overshadow as well. They form a
group and stand together behind and around the spirit. It seems by this
description that they act like body guards.
They are independent of each other but yet provide a covering, by
huddling together. What an incredible
spiritual world we live in where we barely understand a group of beings such as
these.
21
When those went walk, these went walk; and when those stood,
these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels Ophanim
were lifted up over against them overshadowing: for the spirit of the
living creature was in the wheels Ophanim. 22 And the likeness of the
firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the
eyes terrible (feaful) crystal, stretched forth (spread out) over
their heads above.KJV
Again,
the Ophanim move together, revolving, but also following, standing,
overshadowing. The firmament is like the heads of the living creatures, and the
eyes were like crystal, and scary, and they are spread out upon their heads.
Now it is understandable we are talking about spiritual beings, not
transportation. One of the things we must think about is their eyes, they are
always seeing, looking in all directions.
Again,
it seems as they are acting as bodyguards. We therefore have to ask the
question, why is there a need for so much protection? If we remember from previous posts, we are
simply a small part of a larger story of beings that fell, committed treason,
or cohabitated with earthly women. We
are an addition to the story, not the primary story. Therefore, these beings are here to tell
Ezekiel something very important, and in order to do so, they have to enter
enemy territory. Because of God’s
justice, he allows the fallen their place until punishment comes. We already know how that will all turn out,
but to us on earth, it seems like it is taking a very long time for judgment to
come. These beings are like foreign intelligence sources breaking into a closed
country to bring information of future events. The Ophanim are part of the
group that comes on these secret missions.
This is why God’s word says we are not to worship angelic beings; they
are the army, not the leader. They have
a very important role, but are not “the Supreme Being”. This is also why we have demonic hierarchies
in idol worship. There are beings
probably from every class of spirit beings, that have fallen, in one way or
another. They are the ones that people
make into idols to worship. Later Ezekiel sees them again.
Ezek
3:13-14 I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that
touched one another, and the noise of the wheels Ophanim over against
them, and a noise of a great rushing.14 So the spirit lifted me up, and took me
away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the
Lord was strong upon me.KJV
And
Ezekiel sees them one last time when the glory is leaving the temple. Here is where we find another word for wheel
which is a mistranslation. This word
used for wheel (which I have noted) is whirlwind. Again, they used wheel
because of rotation, not because it is literal.
Ezekiel hears them, the noise of a great rushing.
Ezek
10:6-22 And it came to pass, that when he had commanded the man clothed with
linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels whirlwind [1534], from
between the cherubims; then he went in, and stood beside the wheels
Ophanim [212].
It
is interesting to observe that the Ophanim probably create a whirlwind because
of their revolving. But here is an independent set of whirlwinds, two or more
so that one could take something from between.
The whirlwinds are also with or alongside of the Cherubim. But then the one in linen stands next to the
Ophanim. That tells us that the whirlwind and the revolving Ophanim do not
produce a breeze that would blow the man in linen away or put out the flames of
a fire. The Ophanim spin but do not produce windy conditions, yet they sound
like wind.
7
And one cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubims unto the
fire that was between the cherubims, and took thereof, and put it into the
hands of him that was clothed with linen: who took it, and went out.8 And there
appeared in the cherubims the form of a man's hand under their wings.9 And when
I looked, behold the four wheels Ophanim by the cherubims, one wheel
Ophan by one cherub, and another wheel Ophan by another cherub: and the
appearance of the wheels Ophanim was as the colour of a beryl stone.
The
Ophanim are split up, one goes with one Cherub and another goes with another
Cherub. The Ophanim look like a clear stone, which is shiny and reflecting light.
It is startling to Ezekiel as he describes the Ophanim more often than the
Cherubs.
10
And as for their appearances, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel Ophan
had been in the midst of a wheel Ophan.
This
could also read that their appearance resembled an Ophan in the middle or in
the center or among an Ophan. It is as
if they spin around each other. Because
they revolve, they move, or at least it appears to Ezekiel as they are moving,
one making a bigger circle around another making a smaller circle.
11
When they went walk, they went walk upon to their four
sides; they turned revolve not as they went walk, but to the
place whither the head looked they followed walk behind it; they turned
revolve not as they went walk.
The
word went is walk; what this verse is saying is that when they walk in one of
four directions, they do not revolve but walk behind their leader to look where
they walk, just as we saw in chapter 1. This tells us that they do not have to
always spin, they only spin at times, and when they walk they walk without
rotating.
12
And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and
the wheels Ophanim, were full of eyes round about around, even
the wheels Ophanim that they four had.
The
Ophanim have bodies, and backs with wings; they have hands, and they have eyes
around the four Ophanim. Oddly, the translators correctly translated these
words here, backs, hands, etc, but in 1 Kings, as we will see, they
mistranslated these words in an attempt to keep the transportation theme going.
Nonetheless, they have backs as Ezekiel recognized, so they must have similar
structure to something we see on earth with a back. But it would seem their torsos are long. They have hands, and they have wings. The
Cherubim have hands and wings, but their hands are not recognized as are the
Ophanim’s. They also have eyes, maybe
more than two, maybe they actually have eyes in the backs of their heads, or
maybe because of their motion they just seem that way.
13
As for the wheels Ophanim, it was cried unto them in my hearing, O wheel
whirlwind! [1534].14 And every one had
four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was
the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of
an eagle.15 And the cherubims were lifted up. This is the living creature that
I saw by the river of Chebar.16 And when the cherubims went, the wheels Ophanim
went by them: and when the cherubims lifted up their wings to mount up from the
earth, the same wheels Ophanim also turned not from beside them.17 When
they stood, these stood; and when they were lifted up, these lifted up
themselves also: for the spirit of the living creature was in them.18 Then the
glory of the Lord departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over
the cherubims.19 And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from
the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels Ophanim also were
beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the Lord's
house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.20 This is the
living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and
I knew that they were the cherubims.21 Every one had four faces apiece, and
every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their
wings.22 And the likeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw by the
river of Chebar, their appearances and themselves: they went every one straight
forward.KJV
Ezekiel
hears Ophanim being called the whirlwind. In other words, someone was calling
“Hey whirlwinds”, to the Ophanim. This was a very sad time as the glory of the
Lord left the temple. Here we see that
the Cherubim and the Ophanim lifted the glory and left. Ezekiel reiterates.
Ezek
11:22-23 Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels Ophanim
beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.23 And the
glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the
mountain which is on the east side of the city.KJV
It’s
time to get the images of flying wheels with eyes all over them out of our
heads and reimage Ophanim. We might
think this is exclusive to Ezekiel, but Solomon had the artists make images of
the Ophanim for a laver he made for the temple.
While this is an artistic rendering of the Ophanim, it is quite obvious
that people at this time knew what they were and what they looked like long
before Ezekiel’s visions and descriptions. Some translations, like the NKJV,
add carts instead of pedestals, again trying to change our understanding from “beings”
to “transportation”. We have to wonder if the devil has been snickering about
our lack of understanding of the Ophanim.
Clearly, Solomon made pedestals, not carts, for the temple.
1
Kings 7:29-33 And on the borders (pedestal) that were between the ledges
were lions, oxen, and cherubims: and upon the ledges there was a base above:
and beneath the lions and oxen were certain additions made of thin work.30 And
every base (pedestal) had four brasen wheels Ophanim, and
plates of (can also be translated lord, in this case “lords”) brass: and
the four corners thereof had undersetters (shoulders): under the laver
were undersetters (shoulders) molten, at the side of every addition
(wreath or ornament).31 And the mouth (opening) of it within
(house) the chapiter (columns) and above
was a cubit: but the mouth (opening) thereof was round
(revolving, circular) after the work of the base (pedestal), a cubit and
an half: and also upon the mouth (opening) of it were gravings with
their borders (pedestals), foursquare, not round (revolving,
circular).32 And under the borders (pedestals) were four wheels
Ophanim; and the axletrees open hand of the wheels Ophanim were
joined to the base (pedestal): and the height of a wheel Ophanim
was a cubit and a half a cubit.33 And the work (art) of the wheels
Ophanim was like the work of a chariot (seat) wheel Ophanim:
their axletrees open hand, and their naves backs, and their
felloes conjoined, and their spokes bound together, were all molten.KJV
Here
we have a picture of a laver for the temple of Solomon, and it is made to look
like Cherubim and Ophanim. The
translators worked really hard to give everything in this passage the idea of a
cart or wheels, but the literal definitions for the Hebrew words are predominately
about body parts not cart parts. There was a pedestal of four Ophanim lords of
brass and their shoulders were under the bowl with decorations. The opening of the laver was round and it
had engraved columns and the pedestals were square, not round. Under these pedestals there were four Ophanim.
They have their hands open, indicating power, and their hands are joined
together at the pedestal. They were artfully made as a seat with open hands,
denoting power, and their backs are conjoined and bound together, all made of
molten brass.
What
an awesome picture for us of spiritual beings in the temple. It seems we have forgotten about the Ophanim
and who they are. Yet, here before the time of Ezekiel, Solomon was making
images of these beings for the temple.
That tells us they must have an important role in the kingdom of God to
be represented with the lavers, especially because they have open hands. While Solomon had cast their images for the
temple, he also spoke about them in Proverbs.
Prov
20:26 A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth (retreat) the wheel
Ophanim over (upon) them.KJV
Leaving
in the word wheel in this verse, all I can picture is a western comedy of a
wagon wheel chandelier falling on the bad guys with each man in between the
spokes. That is not really what Solomon
was saying. Clearly, he decorated the
temple with Ophanim, he was suggesting scattering the wicked and calling on the
angels to cause the wicked to retreat. That
is what a smart king would do. The other mistranslated word for wheel shows up
in Daniel as well as what we have already looked at in Ezekiel.
Dan
7:9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit,
whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool:
his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels [1535] whirlwind as
burning fire.KJV
This
is the other word for wheel that is mistranslated. This word wheel is a
spinning wind, like a tornado or dust devil.
It is a different Hebrew word from the word Ophan. Really though, God is
not riding around on carts or wheels, he is surrounded by spinning beings. This
is what we see represented in ancient dance, the spinning and twirling is
representative of Ophanim.
OT:1534
galgal (gal-gal'); by reduplication from OT:1556; a wheel; by analogy, a
whirlwind; also dust (as whirled): KJV - heaven, rolling thing, wheel.
OT:1535
galgal (Aramaic) (gal-gal'); corresponding to OT:1534; a wheel: KJV -
wheel.(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with
Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc.
and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
Let’s
look at a couple of examples of this word.
Ps
77:18 The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven whirlwind [1534]: the lightning’s
lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.KJV
Ps
83:13 O my God, make them like a wheel whirlwind; as the stubble before
the wind.KJV
Here is where we get our clues to Ezekiel and the poor translations that lead us to think of cart wheels rather than spiritual beings.
From the book of Enoch
Enoch 61:10. And He will summon all the host of the heavens, and all the holy ones above, and the host of God, the Cherubic, Seraphin and Ophannin, and all the angels of power, and all the angels of principalities, and the Elect One, and the other powers on the earth (and) over the water. 11. On that day shall raise one voice, and bless and glorify and exalt in the spirit of faith, and in the spirit of wisdom, and in the spirit of patience, and in the spirit of mercy, and in the spirit of judgement and of peace, and in the spirit of goodness, and shall all say with one voice: "Blessed is He, and may the name of the Lord of Spirits be blessed for ever and ever."
While I cannot substantiate
Maimonides’ ideas of ten levels of angelic hierarchy, we can see from Enoch,
the host of heavens includes holy ones as well as the host of God which he
names: Cherubim, Seraphim, Ophanim, angels of power, angels of principalities,
the Elect One, and other powers on earth and over the water. This indicates at least seven classes of
spiritual beings. This is speaking, in
context, of the day of Jesus, the Elect One is placed on the throne of
glory. This correlates to Revelation 11
when Jesus is announced as the kingdoms of the world have become His. This section also tells us the seven spirits
of God from Revelation 4:5, faith, wisdom, patience, mercy, judgment, peace,
and goodness. And again in Enoch we have another look at Ophanim.
Enoch 71:7. And round about were Seraphin, Cherubic, and Ophannin: And these are they who
sleep not And guard the throne of His glory.8. And I saw angels who could not
be counted, A thousand thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand, Encircling
that house.
From the Second book of Enoch, or
The Book of the Secrets of Enoch
20:1 AND those two men lifted me
up thence on to the seventh Heaven, and I saw there a very great light, and
fiery troops of great archangels, incorporeal forces, and dominions, orders and
governments, cherubim and seraphim, thrones and many-eyed ones, nine
regiments, the Ioanit stations of light, and I became afraid, and began to
tremble with great terror, and those men took me, and led me after them, and
said to me:…
21:1 AND the cherubim and seraphim standing about the throne, the
six-winged and many-eyed ones do not depart, standing before the Lord's
face doing his will, and cover his whole throne, singing with gentle voice
before the Lord's face: 'Holy, holy, holy, Lord Ruler ofSabaoth, heavens and earth
are full of Thy glory.'
In the Book of Revelation the beasts have many
eyes and they sing the same song as these many eyed ones. Ioanit stations is an interesting mystery. Ioan is the name for John, in the Greek it
means grace, however these seem to be
light as a description. This could be
places, but are probably beings that are stationed in a certain place. There is a devotion called stations of light in the Catholic
religion. These are the places where
Jesus went in his resurrected body up to the day of Pentecost, but this is not
the same, as Enoch includes these Ioanit
stations of light along with nine regiments, and the Cherubim, Seraphim, the
thrones, and many eyed ones. Ioanit stations of light by context is truly another group of spiritual beings.
Rev
4:6-8 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in
the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of
eyes before and behind.7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second
beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth
beast was like a flying eagle.8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings
about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night,
saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to
come.KJV
The
Lamb has seven eyes.
Rev
5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts,
and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven
horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all
the earth.KJV
This
idea about eyes seems to be a common theme. The Essenes’ wrote of the Ophanim,
again someone translated Ophan as wheels rather than revolving ones.
From
cave 4 at Qumram, we have this fragment from the Songs of the Holocaust
4Q405,
20 ii 21-22 [Praise the God of …w]onder,
and exalt him…of glory in the te[nt of the God of] knowledge. The [cheru]bim
prostrate themselves before him and bless. As they rise, a whispered divine
voice [is heard], and there is a roar of praise. When they drop their wings,
there is a [whispere]d divine voice. The
cherubim bless the image of the throne-chariot above the firmament, [and]they
praise [the majes]ty of the luminous firmament beneath his seat of glory. When
the wheels advance, angels of holiness come and go. From between his glorious wheels
there is as it were a fiery vision of most holy spirits. About the, the
appearance of rivulets of fire in the likeness of gleaming brass, and a work of
…radiance in many-coloured glory, marvelous pigments, clearly mingled, The
spirits of the living ‘gods’ move perpetually with the glory of the marvelous
chariot(s). The whispered voice of blessing accompanies the roar of their
advance, and they praise the Holy One on their way of return. When they ascend, they ascend marvelously,
and when they settle, they stand still. The sound of joyful praise is silenced
and there is a whispered blessing of the ‘gods’ in all the camps of God. And
the sound of praise … from among all their divisions… and all their numbered
ones praise, each in his turn.
As
we look backward as to what we studied earlier, we see clearly there just
weren’t adequate words to describe what Ezekiel saw, just as John has a hard
time describing what he sees.
Translators then used the words they thought were being used and tried
to smooth out the translations to say wheels went along with carts. Yet carts are not in the text, pedestals and
seats are. Wheels are not intended to
mean transportation in Ezekiel and 1 Kings, but instead to be a name of a being
that exists in correlation to other beings like the Cherubim. When we look deeper into the original
meanings of things, we can clear up mysteries.
Next, we will see how Enoch spoke of Jesus’ coming.
On
a personal note, I once was part of a group of Americans performing at the Amphitheater
in Ephesus, a mission with attendees from many nations. It was a celebration worship service. A
Korean orchestra performed the “Hallelujah Chorus” to close out the
celebration. At that time, Turkey had
experienced a large earthquake and the Korean people graciously brought a
monetary donation. When the Korean
leader handed the Turkish leader the check, there was a whirlwind, a dust devil
that swirled around and in front of them. It was quite unexpected, and everyone
gasped with surprise. It lasted
unusually long and everyone noticed how appropriate the timing was. If the
whirlwind hadn’t included the dust we would not have been able to see it dance
around the individuals. Were Ophanim celebrating with us?
