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Ezekiel 1:10 "As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man in front; the four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle at the back."

 

These are the faces of the "four living creatures" Ezekiel sees at the beginning of his visions (Ezekiel 1:5). He goes on to describe them as having wings, two raised, and two covering their bodies; and says that "each went straight forward; wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went." (Ezekiel 1:11-12).

 

These are angels, commonly thought to be cherubim, but they certainly don't look like angels as we typically think of them! Since angels are spiritual beings, they can present to us however they are meant to, and here God wanted to impress this rather strange vision upon Ezekiel.*

 

There is, of course, a lot of discussion about these creatures, and some degree of consensus that the faces symbolize various Divine qualities, or aspects of God, but it strikes me that it is the man's face in the front, and that the angels always move forward. So man in God's image is the front facing aspect in Ezekiel's vision of angels. Because God is unchanging, His angels move straight forward, without turning. The man's face is leading the way, while God continues, through the other faces, to see all without turning from man.

 

As strange as this description is, it is also comforting. God's relationship with man is front and center. He prioritizes us among His Divine qualities. He is moving humanity forward, led by the Spirit, and has no need to turn or change course. His beloved humanity's course is already plotted, and He is moving us along, certain of the ultimate outcome, so we really have nothing to fear!

 

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*One year in PREP one of my students was super-interested in angels, and he came to class one day describing these creatures, having done his own research (which is awesome!). We spent some class time reading this description and talking about how very different the spiritual world can be from what we perceive.