"The little one run by faith, oh yeah"
"And the big one run by the grace of God"
As I think about faith and grace and listen to movement in the song and see the image of a wheel within a wheel turning, it describes for me how belief works. A small thought of faith gets the wheel turning, then God's grace keeps the momentum spinning. The cycle continues -At the time, I hadn't remembered the connections of the Book of Ezekiel to the Book of Revelation. Along with the wheel the prophet Ezekiel sees a beast with four heads. Dr. Efird in Revelation for Today tells us that in those days the created order was thought to be in four categories: wild beasts, domesticated animals, human beings and birds. In Revelation there are four beasts, one from each category. Using one head or a creature from each category points to God's majesty and that his "sovereignty is supreme" over the created order.
There are other interesting comparisons including eyes and scrolls. In Ezekiel there are eyes all along the wheel. In Revelation there are eyes in front and in back of the creatures. Eyes symbolize wisdom. Ezekiel is told to "eat" the scroll; symbolically, he can then deliver God's message or words to the people. In Revelation there is a bit of a crisis where no one can be found worthy to open the scroll. Until . . .
"Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth."(Revelation 5:6)
The horns symbolize power, the number seven means complete. The Lamb as if slain is of course, Jesus. In this passage Jesus with complete power has complete wisdom or the complete spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. The passage tells us that God sent out the Holy Spirit into all the earth. Amen
