Chariots of Angels
Chariots of angels – is that how God moves His throne around? This study will look at a number of things that seem odd at first including:
- Cherubs that move the throne of God
- Horses as a symbol for people.
- Horses that ride in chariots
- Clouds as symbols for angels
- “Wind” used to calm a storm
- The fiery stream from God’s throne
God’s Authority
What we are actually concerned about is how God exercises His authority. The symbol above will show us something about how He does that. We have already seen that God’s law is not imposed upon us but is designed to bless and protect us. Please review the diagram below and see the study about God’s law at: https://characterofgod.org/law-definition/
This, the nature of God’s law, is a major factor of why people misunderstand God and what He is like and how He exercises His authority. Here are some clues about God’s authority:
“The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.” (John 3:35)
“But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.” (Heb 1:8)
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isa 9:6)
“And [the Father] hath given him [the Son] authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.” (John 5:27)
Of course, how one exercises authority says much about their character. Remember, Jesus said things like “I do always the will of my Father” and “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”
This study is not so much about the character of God as it is about how He operates, how He carries out His actions (in accordance with His character) towards us, and a hint of a way He might use us to teach others about Him.
Let’s investigate the terms listed above to see their connections to God’s authority.
Chariots of Angels
“The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.” (Psa 68:17)
“And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.” (Psa 18:10)
Is riding a cherub like riding a horse? Do angels carry God around?
“Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.” (Ezek 1:20)
“Wheels” suggest movement. The wheels are likened to burning fire:
“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 as burning fire.” (Dan 7:9)
“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.” (Ezek 10:20)
“And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their [the living creatures] heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings. 26 And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.” (Ezek 1:25-26)
The evidence is that angels/cherubs/living creatures function as a chariot to move God or His Spirit around.
“And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” (2 Kings 2:11)
Clouds
“Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:” (Psa 104:3)
“Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.” (Jer 4:13)
“I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” (Isa 14:14)
This is not taking about getting into the upper atmosphere; Satan’s desire was to be above all the angels. Above in position, authority, power …
Compare the next two verses:
“Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.” (Rev 1:7)
“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:” (Matt 25:31)
Jesus comes with clouds of holy angels.
“And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.” (Acts 1:9)
“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.” (Dan 7:13)
Jesus comes with clouds of holy angels. Even the Father is described as being in a cloud:
“And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.” (Mark 9:7)
Wind
“And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” (Rev 7:1-3)
“But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.” (Zech 7:14)
Winds there represent destruction but it is not always destructive. Sometimes it is simply indicating direction or used to include the whole earth:
“And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matt 24:31)
“And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.” (Mark 13:27)
Do they gather from north, south, east and west and skip northeast, northwest etc? Not likely; it is more like a way of indicating the whole earth. “Uttermost” is a way of indicting the furthest extent of the earth.
Wind is also equated with breath:
“Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” (Ezek 37:9)
Each case of “wind/s” and “breath” are all from Hebrew word “ruwach,” H7307).
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Gen 2:7)
What came out of the Creator’s mouth was breath or wind. The word “breath” is:
H5397 נְשָׁמָה nëshamah nesh-aw-maw’
from H05395; n f;
AV-breath 17, blast 3, spirit 2, inspiration 1, souls 1; 24
1) breath, spirit
1a) breath (of God)
1b) breath (of man)
1c) every breathing thing
1d) spirit (of man)
A wind/breath/word can also be calming:
“And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” (Mark 4:39)
In that case, it was the Savior’s breath (or wind) working to calm another wind (the storm).
Receiving the spirit is associated with breath:
“And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:” (John 20:22)
It is also associated with “wind”:
“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1-4)
“Wind”
G4157 πνοή pnoe pno-ay’
from G4154; n f;
AV-wind 1, breath 1; 2
1) breath, breath of life
2) wind
The only other use of G4157 is:
“Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath (G4157), and all things;” (Acts 17:25)
Wind, in this sense, is much more than moving air. It is the spirit, the influence of another which can be positive or negative.
So, in Revelation 7, the four winds that are being held back are destructive forces. In this verse, the fours winds could be something else:
“Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.” (Dan 7:2)
Sea or waters can represent people:
“And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” (Rev 17:15)
The wind or breath or spirit can refer to the influence one has on another:
“And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” (Gen 6:3)
Before the flood, God was striving or pleading with mankind attempting to get them to change their ways.
Spirit
The action of the spirit is likened to wind:
“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)
“But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.” (Luke 9:55)
This page https://characterofgod.org/elijah-captains-50/ gives the background to that verse.
Shared Authority
God does not do everything Himself. He includes His created beings in carrying out His will.
“And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.” (Rev 4:4)
The “throne” (of God) and the “seats” (of the elders) are from the same Greek word. A throne indicates some degree of authority or rule.
“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.” (Job 1:6)
That suggests something like a heavenly council in which elders or sons of God share some authority. This suggests that God does not make all decisions on His own without input.
Scripture also indicates that the saved will have a part in governing:
“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” (Rev 3:21)
Angels also have a role in carrying out God’s authority:
“Are they [angels] not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” (Heb 1:14)
“And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.” (Heb 1:7)
“Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:” (Psa 104:4)
“A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.” (Dan 7:10)
That “fiery stream” represents angels going to and fro from heaven to earth as in:
“And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.” (Gen 28:12)
This verse suggests that it is through angels that God gets the job done:
“Ascribe ye strength unto God: his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds.” (Psa 68:34)
Horses
“That led them [His people in the wilderness] through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble?” (Isa 63:13)
Not saying they are a horse but were led “as an horse.” But look at this:
“I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots (H7393).” (Song 1:9)
It definitely uses horses to symbolize a person. What is odd about the wording is that the horses are said to be in the chariots rather than pulling them.
Zechariah also refers to horses in chariots:
“And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.
In the first chariot were red horses; and
in the second chariot black horses; And
in the third chariot white horses; and
in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses. Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord? And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.” (Zech 6:1-5)
We will see a possibly-important significance to the horses being in the chariots. Here is a normal reference to a chariot:
“And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.” (Gen 46:29)
The word chariot is:
H4818 מֶרְכָּבָה merkabah mer-kaw-baw’
from H4817; n f;
AV-chariot 44; 44
1) chariot
In Zechariah 6:2 “In the first chariot (H4818)” the word “chariot” in the Hebrew is slightly different:
בַּמֶּרְכָּבָ֥ה (bam·mer·kā·ḇāh)
The Hebrew letter “bet” as a prefix to the word for chariot indicates “in.” The same prefix “bet” is there in the case of Song of Solomon 1:9 “… a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots”
So, are we (in addition to elders/sons of God and angels) also involved in this chain of command/shared authority?
“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.” (2 Cor 5:18-19)
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)
The outpouring of the Spirit of God (think Pentecost) is not just meant to fill believers with the Spirit but to equip them to share with others.
“But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.” (Acts 5:19-20)
Beam Me Up
Could horses (God’s people) in chariots (angel conveyances) be a way of speeding the spread of the gospel? Is it going to be difficult to travel in the last days?
We have the interesting example of Philip:
“And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.” (Acts 8:26-28)
“Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. 30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? 31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.” (Acts 8:29-31)
“And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.” (Acts 8:36-40)
When Philip had finished his task, he did not walk away from the chariot or run as he had towards the eunuch but he was “caught away.” Now he is suddenly at Azotus. How did he get there? Perhaps in an angel “chariot.”
Here is Obadiah speaking to Elijah concerned that he will not be able to find him again after reporting his presence to king Ahab:
“And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth.” (1 Kings 18:12)
And Ezekiel seeming to be describing an unusual means of transport:
“Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place. I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing. 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. 15 Then I came to them of the captivity at Telabib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.” (Ezek 3:12-15)
Notice that as the spirit is taking him up, he is hearing the noise of wings.
Also, consider Ezekiel chapter 1:
“And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire. Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.” (Ezek 1:4-6)
What is being consumed or destroyed by that fire?
“And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. (Ezek 1:12-14)
“ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning” could that be the equivalent of the “fiery stream” in Daniel 10?
“Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. 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 creature was in the wheels. (Ezek 1:20-21)
Does it sound like the living creatures accompany the spirit?
“And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings. 26 ¶ And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.” (Ezek 1:25-26)
It sounds like they are moving the throne, carrying the Spirit.
Who or what moved Jesus?
“Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.” (Matt 4:5-6)
“Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.” (Matt 4:8-11)
There are no exceeding high mountains near Jerusalem. How did Jesus get down the mountain and back to Jerusalem?
“And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.” (Luke 4:14)
“Power” in that verse is:
G1411 δύναμις dunamis doo’-nam-is
from G1410; n f;
AV-power 77, mighty work 11, strength 7, miracle 7, might 4, virtue 3, mighty 2, misc 9; 120
1) strength power, ability
1a) inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth
1b) power for performing miracles
1c) moral power and excellence of soul
1d) the power and influence which belong to riches and wealth
1e) power and resources arising from numbers
1f) power consisting in or resting upon armies, forces, hosts
“Dunamis,” like our word “dynamite,” is expressive of physical power. Could that be speaking of the power of the Spirit exercised through angels?
Pentecost
“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.” (Acts 2:1-3)
Considering the “flame of fire” and like expressions to represent angels, could this relate to angels administering the Spirit of God to the believers? This is worthy of more study.
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