The Previous Section: In Scripture, Our World is Defined as Ultimately Unknowable
The earth’s foundation was stretched out with a line, not wound up and wrapped like a ball.
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?”
Job 38:4-5 ESV
“When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth,”
Proverbs 8:27-29 ESV
“Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;”
Isaiah 40:21-22 ESV
Isaiah 40:22 says He sits ABOVE the CIRCLE of earth. This word circle is NOT sphere, which is found elsewhere in scripture to describe a ball or a clump/heap. The word circle is the PLANE of a circle, as though etched, compassed, or drawn on a flat piece of paper. Job 26:10 says he inscribed a circle on FACE or surface of the waters.
“He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness.”
Job 26:10 ESV
This word used to describe the plane of a circle is Strongs H2329 – Khoog. It is found in Job 22:14 to describe a circle or circuit of heaven, and Proverbs 8:27 and Isaiah 40:22 to describe the circle of earth. Again, this usage is opposed to the description of a clump or ball from Strongs H1754 – Dure, which found in Isaiah 22:18.
“and whirl you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There you shall die, and there shall be your glorious chariots, you shame of your master’s house.”
Isaiah 22:18 ESV
Furthermore, Isaiah 40:22 says that He sits above the circle of earth and looks below to us as grasshoppers, and spreads out the heavens above us like a tent. While one could go through mental gymnastics explaining this verse as though it were a sphere with an atmosphere, a better description is simply what it says. God sits above the circle of earth, looking down, and spread the heavens above us like a tent that sits on the circle of earth.
In Isaiah 41:9, we see the circle of earth has ends or limits to its outer reaches, and that corners or directions can be assigned.
“you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”;”
Isaiah 41:9 ESV
And again, in Job 37:
“Under the whole heaven he lets it go, and his lightning to the corners of the earth.”
Job 37:3 ESV
And again, after the millennial reign and Gog and Magog assemble after being deceived by Satan who was released for a short time, these rebellious nations do so over the broad plain of the earth from the four corners:
“And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them,”
Revelation 20:7-9 ESV
If struggling to understand how one gives corners to a circle, the illustration of a pendentive in Ezekiel chapter 1 demonstrates the idea.
Keep this illustration in mind while reading Ezekiel 1. The 4 pendentives represent the 4 cherubim with outstretched wings holding up the circle of earth, with the wheels between them, one wheel for each cherubim. The vaulted dome upon which God sits, which is His footstool, rests upon the outstretched wings of the cherubim. These cherubim are symbolic of the 4 foundations of earth, and the 4 corners of the circle as one looks down The scripture states that as they move, they move in and out, straight forward toward the center where the spirit resides and back again. They do so without turning, as though compressing and expanding, like a breath creating waves of energy. Keep in mind, this is symbolic of the earth’s creation, not literal, for they rise from the earth in Ezekiel’s vision. Yet the commonalities with the whole of scripture in regards to the earth’s various descriptions is undeniable. Such a mechanism may indeed be how God creates the waves of energy that permeate the earth toward the center, and rising and falling.
“And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. their wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went. Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies. Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them. And their rims were tall and awesome, and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring crystal, spread out above their heads. And under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another. And each creature had two wings covering its body. And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance.”
Ezekiel 1:5-6, 9, 11, 15, 18-20, 22-23, 26 ESV
A similar description is in Revelation 4 and Revelation 7:
“and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind:”
Revelation 4:6 ESV
“After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree.”
Revelation 7:1 ESV
Interestingly, we also see four winds bring to life the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37:
“Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”
Ezekiel 37:9 ESV
We see that man has long understood this vision, but kept it disguised in plane view. Pendentive structures of the world are often found with 4 cherubim at the corners, and the arches or wheels that connect them with eyes all around. Note the figurative eyes on the arches between 4 guardians or pillars, with outstretched wings that hold the vaulted heavens above, with representations of God seen high in the center, as though resting on His footstool in accordance with Psalms 99:5, 132:7, and Isaiah 66:1.
“Exalt the Lord our God; worship at his footstool! Holy is he!”
Psalm 99:5 ESV
““Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool!””
Psalm 132:7 ESV
“Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest?”
Isaiah 66:1 ESV
While beautiful, these pendentive structures found in churches are largely idolatrous abominations to God. They represent decadence and riches, boasting and pride, and they are nothing new, as we read in Ezekiel 16 when admonishing the whore of Babylon, the apostate self indulgent church.
23 “And after all your wickedness (woe, woe to you! declares the Lord God), 24 you built yourself a vaulted chamber and made yourself a lofty place in every square. 25 At the head of every street you built your lofty place and made your beauty an abomination, offering yourself[f] to any passerby and multiplying your whoring.
Ezekiel 16: 23-25 ESV
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