Today's Favorite Verse: Ezekiel 1:19-21
"And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.
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."
This is a vision that Ezekiel had with much symbolism. I didn't even really try to picture all that he described. With it being symbolic and having a lack of cultural understanding, I knew it wouldn't have the same meaning to me. I just wanted to see what would stand out to me so I could understand a portion of this. What stood out was the importance of knowing what the wheel represented. This is what I found.
"Because Joseph Smith received from the Lord some keys for interpreting the meaning of the beasts in John’s vision (see D&C 77:2–4), the parallels between John’s vision and Ezekiel’s give some clues to the meaning of the beasts Ezekiel saw. There is, however, no parallel in John’s vision to the wheels seen by Ezekiel.
The Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I make this broad declaration, that whenever God gives a vision of an image, or beast, or figure of any kind, He always holds Himself responsible to give a revelation or interpretation of the meaning thereof, otherwise we are not responsible or accountable for our belief in it. Don’t be afraid of being damned for not knowing the meaning of a vision or figure, if God has not given a revelation or interpretation of the subject.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 291.)
At present the interpretation of Ezekiel’s vision has not been given to the Church, so the Lord does not hold His Saints accountable for understanding what is represented by the wheels."
(Old Testament Student Manual Kings-Malachi, "Ezekiel: Watchman of Israel", (26-10) Ezekiel 1:15-21. What is Represented by the Wheels That Ezekiel Described?" Well that was comforting. I didn't learn what the wheels meant because that interpretation has not been given. I read these verses again to see what else would stand out to me and this time it was in verse 20. "Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; ...."
The impression I got was I may not understand everything, but following the spirit is something I do understand. When it says to go you go. Then I found this in verse 12.
"And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went."
Not only do you follow the spirit and go when you are told to go, you follow that first impression and don't turn from it. Don't talk yourself out of that first impression. It reminded me of a wonderful talk by Elder Rasband.
"We must be confident in our first promptings. Sometimes we rationalize; we wonder if we are feeling a spiritual impression or if it is just our own thoughts. When we begin to second-guess, even third-guess, our feelings—and we all have—we are dismissing the Spirit; we are questioning divine counsel. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that if you will listen to the first promptings, you will get it right nine times out of ten."
I have found that the Holy Spirit is often of very few words. Sometimes spoken as simple as the word "Go". When you listen and obey miracles happen.
