(The Wheels of God's Throne )    (  Copyright 2009   G. Thomas Windsor  )  

Part Four   Heavenly Wheels like the Whirlwind


The "Wheels" in the Heavens and Nature's Whirlwinds: Let's examine more connections and look in depth at what the storm winds mean both in the Scripture and also in creation. As we have seen, chariot wheels have a definite metaphoric connection in scripture with whirlwinds (Isa. 66:14; Ezek.10:13; Isa. 5:28; Jer. 4:13; 2 Kg. 2:11; Zech. 6:5). When God speaks in His Word, He often repeats the same message in a variety of ways so that people will have ample opportunity to understand. As noted, the main Hebrew word for Spirit can be translated, "breath, air, wind, breeze, spirit." The Greek word is similar in meaning. There is also a connection of all three words: "cherubim, chariot, wheels" to the winds. This is supported by the various passages examined (Ps. 104:3; Ps.18:10, etc.) Aside from the many direct storm references, there are also indirect verses that speak of a wheel-like movement in the natural heavens.
In Eccles. 1, it states, "the wind .. blows round and round on its circuits...” Ecclesiastes 1:6 (KJV). In another version it reads: "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." In the book of Job the winds are described as his messenger doing God's service (also Ps.148:8) And Job 37:12 reads: "The clouds go round in circles, wheeling about according to his plans, to carry out all that he commands them over the face of the whole inhabited world (v. 13 NET Bible).

God comes in awesome splendor, as in Psalm 77. God delivered his people at the Red Sea, as described in Psalm 19: "The thunder of your chariot wheels resounded; your lightning lit up the world;. In another translation it states, "The voice of thy thunder was in the whirlwind,..." (Ps. 77, ASV). These descriptions imply a supernatural tornado-like phenomena. Here the psalmist uses the Hebrew word for "wheels" (galgal) by use of an analogy and a metaphor in describing the storms in the heavens, again portraying the heavens as in a rolling dynamic.  14-"Your way, O God, is holy; what god is as great as our God? 15 You alone are the God who did wonders; among the peoples you revealed your might 16 With your arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah17- The waters saw you, God; the waters saw you and lashed about, trembled even to their depths.18 The clouds poured down their rains; the thunderheads rumbled; your arrows flashed back and forth.19 The thunder of your chariot wheels resounded; your lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked.20-Through the sea was your path; your way, through the mighty waters, though your footsteps were unseen "(NAB).
Remember "the Lord looked down out of it” (pillar of cloud-whirlwind) and the Lord's "throne-chariot" metaphorically routed Pharaoh’s army and chariot wheels! Ex.14:25: And took off their chariot wheels, that they drove them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, ‘Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians’” (KJV). This is similar to verses found in Habakkuk 3 and Psalm 68. The Lord worked on behalf of his people against those who oppressed them, and as in Daniel, issued judgments in favor of his saints. These are wheels of deliverance similar to Psalm 18. This passage also ascribes praise and worship: "Your way, O God, is holy; what god is as great as our God?” v. 15. God's great acts, his works, show forth his glory.

Note: Whirlwind in Psalm 77:18: "Thy thunder was in the heaven," literally, "in the wheel," i.e. the rotation of the visible heavens phenomenally round the earth, but the Septuagint, the Chaldee, and the Vulgate is rendered: "in a whirl, whirled about.” Ezekiel 10:13 translated "it was cried unto them whirling" and they were called to put themselves into rapid revolution (Fausset's Bible Dictionary).

The Natural Heavens and the Storm: It is important to realize that God uses the natural heavens to teach us of the heavenly spiritual world. This metaphor for the Spirit is used more than any other in the Bible. The whole concept forms a basis of understanding that can be universally understood by humanity throughout the ages. His Word is transcendent. The truth of the natural world acts as another independent witness of creation, the biblical model herein described.
Modern meteorology teaches that air mass movements can contain many circuitous swirling movements. For instance, the earth's windstreams, the largest of which is like meandering rivers of winds that circle the globe. These are commonly known as the jet streams (the circuits) as in Eccles.1:6. Within these "streams" are also areas of clockwise and counterclockwise rotations (storms) on many scales, like swirls and eddies in a flowing river.

Note: ( Jet stream is defined as a narrow band of strong winds in the atmosphere that controls the movement of high and low pressure systems and associated fronts. Jet streams meander from time to time. (N.W.S. Glossary),( also from Storm Prediction Center glossary of terms).

In our time we now see and comprehend much more of what is going on in the atmosphere. We behold features such as massive spiraling hurricanes and rotating tornadic thunderstorms (thanks to weather satellites and Doppler radar.)

Note: Cyclone: An area of low atmospheric pressure that has a closed circulation....rotating counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere... they usually bring about clouds and precipitation. Definition of whirlwind: a small-diameter columnar vortex of rapidly swirling air. A broad spectrum of vortices occurring in the atmosphere, ranging in scale from small eddies that form in the lee of buildings...to tornadoes (Encyclopedia Britannica).

Though factors that shape severe thunderstorms (tornados) are very complex, yet simply put, they are typically a convergence and a clashing of two very different air masses. Along these boundary lines (areas of low pressure) storms develop. Added to this are dynamics of vertical turning or spin (vorticity) in the atmosphere. Wind shear also creates a horizontal rolling effect in the clouds of the thunderstorm. These can spawn tornadoes at the surface. Severe thunderstorms in the natural world, tornadoes are among nature's most violent winds---rotating columns of air lifting up and scattering vast amounts of debris. We also notice this scattering connotation in many related biblical passages.

Note: Directional wind shear is the change in wind direction with height.... Speed shear is the change in wind speed with height.… This tends to create a rolling affect to the atmosphere and is believed to be a key component in the formation of meso-cyclones which can lead to tornadoes (National Weather Service).

Storms, and specifically the coming of a great cloud (as in Ezek. 1) can signal a major shift in the weather. So it is in the spiritual realm---the clash of air masses marks the coming of a storm "front" (so named after warfare terminology).
Spiritual Collisions in the Biblical Realm: The New Testament contains this same analogy. God's Spirit came like "the rush of a mighty wind" (with accompanying fire) on the day of Pentecost and brought forth a new kingdom (Acts 2:2). It was a cataclysmic collision of spiritual kingdoms into the territory of Satan "ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient" (Eph. 2:2). The Scripture also uses this metaphor at other times (John 3:8; Jude 1:12; Eph. 4:14; Mt. 16:2,3; 2 Pet. 2:17).

The Storm of the Lord: What does the whirlwind represent in the spiritual metaphor? Nahum 1:3: "The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. ... 4 He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry... 6 Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide the fierceness of his anger? 7 The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him" (KJV).

God's working is directly portrayed and described by a seismic analogy. None can endure His wrath, yet He spares those who have faith in Him. Proverbs 10:25 says: "the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more..." (KJV). In Jeremiah 23:19, a whirling tempest is portrayed. The anger of God is stirred towards apostate Jerusalem. "See the storm of the Lord will burst out in wrath, a whirlwind swirling down on the head of the wicked.” (See also Zech. 7:13,14: So I scattered them among the nations with a whirlwind.") Isaiah 29 reads, " But the multitude of your foes will be like fine dust, and the multitude of the ruthless ones like chaff that blows away. Yes, it will be in an instant, suddenly. 6 She will be visited by Yahweh of Armies (Lord of Hosts) with thunder, with earthquake, with great noise, with whirlwind and storm, and with the flame of a devouring fire" (WEB). The Lord again is described as routing the enemies with His great firestorm (all the nations) as chaff that is whirled away.

The Vanishing and Rolling of the Sky: If you will read the following series of scripture portions carefully, you will see that they link together the rolling of the heavens like a vast scroll, especially in times of divine judgment. In Isaiah 34, we read: 4 "All of the army of the sky will be dissolved. The sky will be rolled up like a scroll, and all its armies will fade away, as a leaf fades from off a vine or a fig tree.8 For Yahweh has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion." Herein is described the destruction of Satan’s armies (angelic host) "the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12, WEB). In Hebrews 1:6 we read of the heavens perishing and the Son of God rolling them up: v. 12 "And as a mantle shalt thou roll them up. Then God speaks to the Son and says, “Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet” (v. 13). God will crush the enemy under the feet of Christ, and the Son is given the scepter and is the heir of the kingdom (v. 2) similarly as in Daniel 7. In the passage we also read "Who maketh his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire,” this describing God's angelic host. In a similar passage in Revelation, chapter 6, it states: 13 "And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, ...even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15And the kings of the earth, and the great men,... 16And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"

In Revelation, chapters 4 and 5, we read of detailed imagery of God's glorious throne. In the sixth chapter, the Lamb (The Son of man) opens the seals and the cherubim, calling forth a great shaking and a "mighty wind.” Vss. 13,14). There is great turbulence (rolling in the heavens) and a spiritual clash as the Lord upon the throne summons the earth to judgment. The evil of the earth cannot even endure to look at Him or be seen of Him who sits upon the throne.
Summary: The metaphor of the heavens with its clouds, storms, and wind are the primary analogy in Scripture of His Spirit and the related spiritual conflicts. These metaphors lead the reader to an understanding of what might ordinarily not be obvious. In the metaphorical sense, a storm is but a figure of this conflict of two very different kingdoms colliding. The biblical message conveyed is that it signifies swift judgment, and deliverance and rescue of his own from the attacks of enemies. The Lord's "storm-chariot" of the cherubim triumphs over His enemies for His purposes. The spiritual tempest, with its effect upon humanity, is His agent. (This is not to imply that those who suffer from literal storm disasters in our time are necessarily under God's punishment). The tornadic whirlwind, with its thunder and lightning, is associated with the chariot of the Lord and the cherubim and the wheels. This was seen by the prophets as a manifestation of God's glory and presence and the outworking of His plan. There are some final specific aspects of that working that bring together many previous themes already discussed, as we shall see next. Isaiah 17:13 reads, "The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing (galgal/wheel) before the whirlwind" (KJV).
 
The (Winnowing) Work of the Wheels at the Throne: The Lord spoke a repetitive message through His prophets. We have seen that the whirlwind (like the wheel) is used in the Bible as a figure of God's conquest, triumph and judgments. Yet, there is also something unique about the working of this figurative windstorm. The previously examined scriptures indicate that there is a purpose to this wind. We read that the enemies were winnowed and scattered like the chaff, and this comprises another significant point. Let us look in more detail and follow this thread.

What does the separation and the scattering signify? How is the process of winnowing implemented? When grain was harvested in biblical times it was beaten or winnowed with a cart wheel, then threshed out with a winnowing fan (something like a modern pitchfork). It was then thrown into the air and the strong winds would blow away the chaff and stubble. What was left was the wheat or other grain to be gathered into barns. Here are other Scriptures exemplifying this:
Isaiah 40:22-24 The Lord enthroned "brings princes to nothing; who makes the judges of the earth meaningless: They are planted scarcely.... He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble." (WEB). In Hosea 13:3, the Lord speaks of the idolaters among the Israelites and warns they will be "...like chaff swirling from the threshing floor" and the "east wind of the Lord will come...and they shall fall" (v. 15). It is also relevant to note that when God's Temple was built, it was built on a threshing floor (1Chron. 21:14-18). It was as if the very ground itself had to be cleansed before the Lord could occupy it in his holiness.

The "Rolling" of the Chaff: In Isaiah 17:12,13, it states "The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing (galgal) before the whirlwind" (KJV). As we have noted, God deals with the nations (Assyria, Babylonia, and others) and He brings his winnowing fan upon them and they are scattered.

Note: V. 13. “...as the Assyrian army did, until it came to Jerusalem, and there it stopped; ...and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind; chaff upon the floor is easily chased away with the fan, and, much more easily, chaff upon the mountains with the wind; it was usual with the Jews to thresh their corn, and winnow it on hills and mountains.... Kings and great men of the earth are but as dust with God; and the higher they are, or they exalt themselves, the more they are exposed to the power of his wrath, and as easily cast down as the dust is scattered by the wind...and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind; or "like a wheel", as the word is sometimes rendered; (John Gill’s Bible Exposition).

Similarly, Psalm 35:5 states, " Let them (God's enemies) be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the LORD chase them”(KJV). Remember how the angel of the Lord routed the Egyptians at the Red Sea? The psalmist goes on to say: "23 Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment, even unto my cause, my God and my Lord.... This reminds one of Daniel’s prophecy: "Judgment was given in favor of the saints” (Dan. 7:22). The Lord will indeed "give relief to you who are afflicted with us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels (his Chariot/chariots) in flaming fire" (2 Thess.1:7, WEB). Finally, he worships the Lord for his deliverance vss. 10,27..."let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. 28 And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day.”
In Psalm 83.13 we find a similar verse including another usage of the Hebrew word for wheel: "1 Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. 2 For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. 3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones ... 13 O my God, make them like a wheel; (galgal) as the stubble before the wind. 14 As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire; 15 So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm. 16 Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD. 17 Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish: 18 That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth” (KJV).
Again we see many nations rising up against the Lord's people, his saints, his "hidden ones” as in Daniel. Speaking of his enemies, the psalmist states: "O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.” Another version reads: "My God, make them as a rolling thing...(YLT). Like other passages, in verse 13, the Hebrew noun (galgal) refers to a wheel or metaphorically to a whirling wind. So the Lord treats them as chaff swirling before the whirlwind. In the next verse he speaks of the fire and the tempest terrifying God's enemies (v.15, various nations) and desires that the name of the most high God would be exalted. This passage is again entirely consistent with the patterns referenced earlier. This also relates to the concept of the "rolling of the heavens."

Note: Verse 13. “O may God make them like a wheel. This alludes to the manner of threshing corn in the east. A large broad wheel was rolled over the grain on a threshing-floor, which was generally in the open air; and the grain being thrown up by a shovel against the wind. The chaff was thus separated from it, in the place where it was threshed (Clarke’s Commentary).

God threshing the nations with the "wheel": We have seen various references to the Lord bringing His mighty tempests to bear upon the nations as he goes forth in the "chariot" of His throne. We also saw in other passages concerning the earthly chariots moving like a whirlwind. This raises a question. Why are the wheels of the Babylonian chariots, for example, described in a similar way to God's chariot/chariots, that is, like the whirlwind? (See again Isa. 5, Jer. 4). In Daniel we saw how God deals with many nations. As noted in Isaiah 28, the threshing of the grain with the cartwheels was to separate the chaff. This was the work of God's Spirit. The Lord is "working at the wheel" as He fashions His plans concerning the nations (Jer. 18). Following these clues leads to the same message from many and various passages. The answer to the why lies in the truth that the Lord extends His rule from the heavens to the earth. For instance, in the earthly, temporal realm, God used his own people at times as His "threshing instrument" (i.e. the cartwheel). In Isaiah 41, speaking of the nation of Israel (God's servant), verse 15 reads: "Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff 16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel" (KJV).

 This is similar to Micah 4:11-13: “And now many nations have been assembled against you (Zion)... 12 But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD, And they do not understand His purpose; For He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor. 13 Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion,..” God has a plan to work his mysterious purposes as He chastens all the nations, though many do not understand.
God's Mysterious Plan: When Israel and, later, Judah were unfaithful He sends others against them as we saw in Ezekiel 8-11. From His throne He then decrees that strange work, so unusual that he tells Habakkuk, "...for I am working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it is told you. 6 For, behold, I (God) raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the breadth of the earth" (Hab.1:5, WEB).
Thus, when the wheels of Babylon's chariots invaded apostate Jerusalem they were "like a whirlwind” (not coincidentally) for they were sent from the very throne of God! At that time they became His earthly agents, "His servants” (See Jer. 27.6). The Lord viewed upon His throne decrees at times things that can seem disturbing to our natural minds (1Kg. 22:19-24; Isa.6:8-10.) This raises additional questions about God's sovereignty that overarches mankind's will. This is another complex, often mysterious and debated subject. (But that is beyond the scope of this writing). Yet, as a starting point, we have to look at them through the lens of his Word and gain a good understanding of His gracious and just character: "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of thy throne: Lovingkindness and truth go before thy face (Ps. 89:14, ASV; See also Rev.19:3-4).
Note: In the vision of the throne that Micah the prophet saw, there is recorded that God sent an evil agent to execute an evil King Ahab. The King of Israel seated upon his throne in pride, didn't heed the word of the Lord and died later as he was being "wheeled around" in his chariot (1 Kings 22:19-24,31-35).

There may be simultaneous events going on, appearing very different, depending upon whose frame of reference we choose. One point of reference is the earthly; the other, the heavenly or spiritual realm as God looks down. It should be noted that God in His grace spared a remnant of His people as He always has (Ezek. 9:4). They were like the precious wheat even in the midst of this great pruning and everything about them appeared hopeless. The prophet Habakkuk, in trying to grapple with why God was allowing evil, found hope in recounting God's wondrous deeds of old, as we noted in Habakkuk 3. At some point, Babylon received retribution, just like the Assyrians (See Nahum 1-3). For, behold, the Lord would "stir up the Medes and Persians" against them (Isa.13:3). The yoke of Babylon would be broken as Daniel 7 and world history records. Throughout the centuries the Lord has brought the "wheels" in a temporal way upon nations/individuals. God's intention is to winnow and thresh all nations including His own. This brings us to some more direct New Testament references.

God's Winnowing Fan: In a similar way, the Spirit of God cries out to Jerusalem through Jeremiah in an effort to correct them. Jeremiah15 reads: "O Jerusalem...7 And I have winnowed them with a fan in the gates of the land; ... they returned not from their ways (ASV). Isaiah laments: "O my people, crushed on the threshing floor.” This is after they endured the chastening in Babylonian exile (See Isa. 21:10). In Matthew 3:11,12, it states, "…He (the Lord) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire” (His winnowing fan in other translations.) In Matthew 3, John is rebuking God's people and the religious leaders and warning them before the coming wrath. The Prophet pleads (like the many prophets of old) and is calling out to those who will hear and repent. After seeing visions of the Lord and the (the "high and dreadful " wheels of the cherubim) Ezekiel was sent by the Spirit of God to the house of Israel. He was told to speak a warning, whether they listened or refused to listen (Ezek. 2:7). A remnant did listen and was spared and God made a promise to gather them again like wheat (Ezek. 11:17-20). The winnowing fan is the work of His Holy Spirit and it brings a separation, a division (in the right sense). This is in harmony with the figuratively portrayed language used in connection with the wheels in Ezekiel’s vision, "for the Spirit was in them" (v. 21). Throughout scripture there is a consistent theme, that of separation of the righteous and the wicked like the chaff. As was noted earlier in Proverbs 20:8 "When a king sits on his throne to judge, he winnows out all evil with his eyes." This is also similar to Psalm 11:4: “Jehovah’s throne is in heaven; his eyes behold, his eyelids try the children of men.”

Remember, the cherubim and the wheels are full of eyes all around and the wheels of cherubim are at the point of separation (the holy from the unholy). Does this not portray Christ, the King, whose eyes are like flame of fire and whose Spirit like a lamp "searching out the innermost parts of mankind’s being? (Prov. 20:27) The Lord is seated upon his throne, and from where He sits He beholds all men; He beholds the kingdom of darkness and knows those who are His own.
A Final Example of the "Wheels" of God: The book of Proverbs speaks often of "a king sitting on his throne..." In the Proverbs, the Scripture sets forth what could be a summary interpretation text of these themes as revealed in the many metaphors. Solomon, said to be the wisest man who ever lived, was given great wisdom from God to understand the deepest mysteries.
He further wrote in Proverbs: "A wise king winnows out the wicked; he drives the threshing wheel (galgal ) over them" (Proverbs 20:26). This is the defining spiritual dynamic going on and is an important principle in the noted passages from Ezekiel and Daniel as well as in other references cited. God, the wise King, acts from his seat of authority. The Lord "winnows out the wicked and drives the threshing wheel” (his spiritual work) over the nations and His own. This is the Old Testament imagery of the New Testament reality.




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