As we dive into chapter one of Ezekiel, and finally get to the action in our Thursday night study, he tells us about a vision that was presented to him, in which he saw a huge heavenly vehicle emerging from a northerly and tempestuous storm. The main body seemed to be a vast expanse that sparkled like awesome ice. Below this were four sets of wheels within wheels, each accompanied by a four-faced living creature, later identified as cherubs. The wheels appeared to glow like chrysolyte and their rims were full of eyes. Above was a sapphire throne with someone sat upon it, resembling a human. The whole spectacle was accompanied by a brilliant light show – the flashing of lightning and fire, the glow of electrum, rainbows and general glory. This vehicle was able to go in any direction the spirit required without turning – never ever needing to parallel park or do three-point turns. It had no obvious form of motive power – it was no doubt powered by the same spirit that directed it. It would appear that none of the constituent parts were actually connected to each other in any visible way. The obvious engineering difficulty is that if you have a wheel within a wheel such that the vehicle can go in any direction, on what plane is the rotation and thus the axle? Can it have axles? What about a drive shaft? If we start to view it in physical terms the problems multiply. So how do we describe this thing? Well, we can't. It truly is like no other. And yet, some half-wit, back in the annals of time, has decided that it is a chariot. Nowhere does Ezekiel liken it to a chariot. That word does not appear. Still, everyone now calls it a chariot, as utterly inadequate as that description may be. Take this wonderfully contradictory and nonsensical passage from a Watchtower of 1991:
IN THESE days of sleek jetliners, world leaders may feel they enjoy the ultimate in travel efficiency. Yet, 2,600 years ago, Jehovah God revealed that he has a superlative mode of transport, the likes of which no engineer has ever seen. It is a vast, awesome chariot! Does it seem strange that the Creator of the universe rides in a chariotlike [sic] vehicle? No, for Jehovah’s celestial vehicle differs greatly from any conceived by men. W15/3/91
I think that we'll all agree with the statement that this is a superlative mode of transport. We no doubt equally agree that no human has ever realised a similar design. This vehicle differs greatly from anything conceived by men. But where does this suggestion that it is a chariot come from? Are we suggesting that Jehovah has the sole copyright on chariot design and engineering? We know what a chariot is – the imagination is not overly taxed. We have to look no further than the history books and museums, or even Charlton Heston dashing around a Roman circus in the guise of Ben Hur. And if we think that it is like a chariot, isn't that rather disrespectful, given that men have been building such vehicles ever since they invented the wheel?
'Ere, I've invented this round thing but I don't know what to do with it.'
'Really? I've invented a chariot but it's stuck on the ground'
'I wonder if...'
Chariots, as we know them, are crude and extremely simple vehicles. They generally consist of two wooden wheels (occasionally four) joined by an axle, mounted upon which is a compartment for the driver (and passenger). To the fore is a system for harnessing a horse, or horses. Without this, or a similar form of external motive power, these vehicles do nothing, they go nowhere. Admittedly, some chariots are very beautiful. Owners who have the desire and means and who think that they are someone, have often gone to great expense to soup-up their chariot: the go-faster stripes, extravagant spoiler and gold bling. But it is still a very basic, non-powered box on two wheels that moves at the speed of, well, horses. Jehovah's vehicle moves at the speed of lightning, approximately 186,000 miles per second.
To what, then, can we liken this vehicle? Obviously the notion that we can liken it to any man-made conveyancer is absurd. It was seen only in a vision and if it did, or does, exist as seen, it existed in the spiritual realm where the rules of physics are irrelevant and do not apply. But for fun let us suppose. My first thought was perhaps a space ship; the kind of thing that whooshes around the galaxy in Star Trek. That though is fictional. Real space ships are blasted into space using vast amounts of rocket fuel, which in turn creates vast amounts of pollution and, upon arriving in orbit, they jettison various bits that add to the junkyard of space. Jehovah doesn't do pollution. What about nuclear power? I thought of nuclear-powered submarines. That's high tech isn't it? It might surprise you but subs are powered by a good old-fashioned steam engine, haling from the 18th century. The nuclear fuel heats water to create steam which is fed into a turbine. Which means, digressing slightly, that we could have steam locomotives back on the railway, producing nothing but water vapour. That would be great. Alas, mankind doesn't know what it is doing with nuclear fuel. It is grievous to human health; they know neither how to handle it safely nor how to dispose of the waste. The thing with Jehovah's vehicle is that none of the parts, as previously noted, are attached to each other. Yet they are all programmed to work in perfect unity and synchronisation. A physical vehicle would need to harness the invisible forces that hold us all together, such as electricity, magnetism and gravity, to achieve a vague similarity. That made me think about magnetic levitation (maglev) railways. The train hovers above a magnetised track using magnets with the same polarity. These repel each other and so create a gap thereby obviating the need for wheels. Forward motion is achieved by laterally located pairs of magnets pushing and pulling the train. There is no friction (other than air resistance) and no moving parts. Nevertheless it takes substantial amounts of electricity (has to be generated) and requires a whole infrastructure on which to run. The train can go no further than the end of the track; problems ensue if it does!
So we stand back in awe of this celestial vehicle. It is like no other. No human engineer has, or is likely to, design and build anything similar. And it is most certainly not a chariot. So in the absence of a specific, analogous type, let's call it a vehicle. That is a suitably generic term and will suffice given that we cannot equate it to anything here on earth.
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