The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was that of a man, but each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had the hands of a man. All four of them had faces and wings, and their wings touched one another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved. "Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a man, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out upward; each had two wings, one touching the wing of another creature on either side, and two wings covering its body." Ezekiel 1:4B-11 NIV It seems similar to me to the prophecies in Daniel-there the beasts were the upcoming kingdoms. I have not studied this book, yet. But considering that a little later there is these verses: "Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking." Ezekiel 1:26-28 NIV On to the second chapter of Ezekiel-Ezekiel is told to go to Israel. I believe (without proper study) that these beasts are also different kingdoms. I can not find anything-I don't use Wikipedia-I go for leget Bible websites for my answers. I'm in not saying that Wikipedia has bad answers or anything-I just personally don't use it. I hope this helps some. I will check with some more expert friends to see what they believe these creatures to be. God Bless, <:))))<><

The tour living creatures were angels and identified as cherubim in Ezekiel 10:1-2(20-21). With love in Christ.

In this vision, Ezekiel saw four angelic creatures who upheld God’s sovereignty. Each had four faces. “As for the likeness of their faces,” writes Ezekiel, “the four of them had a man’s face with a lion’s face to the right, and the four of them had a bull’s face on the left; the four of them also had an eagle’s face.” (Ezekiel 1:10) These four faces represent the four perfectly balanced cardinal qualities, or attributes, of God. These are identified in God’s Word as: love, represented by the man’s face; justice, represented by the lion’s face; and wisdom, represented by the eagle’s face. These three attributes work together with the fourth—power, as shown by the bull’s face.

&quot;The Hebrew word Merkabah (מרכבה "chariot", derived from the consonantal root r-k-b with general meaning "to ride") is used in Ezekiel (1:4-26) to refer to the throne-chariot of God, the four-wheeled vehicle driven by four chayot "living creatures", each of which has four wings and four faces (of a man, lion, ox, and eagle)." "According to the verses in Ezekiel and its attendant commentaries, the analogy of the Merkaba image consists of a chariot made of many angels being driven by the "Likeness of a Man." Four angels form the basic structure of the chariot. These angels are called the "Chayot" חיות (lit. living creatures). The bodies of the "Chayot" are like that of a human being, but each of them has four faces, corresponding to the four directions the chariot can go (north, east south and west). The faces are that of a man, a lion, an ox (later changed to a child or cherub) and an eagle. Since there are four angels and each has four faces, there are a total of 16 faces. Each Chayot angel also has four wings. Two of these wings spread across the length of the chariot and connected with the wings of the angel on the other side. This created a sort of 'box' of wings that formed the perimeter of the chariot. With the remaining two wings, each angel covered its own body. Below, but not attached to the feet of the "Chayot" angels are other angels that are shaped like wheels. These wheel angels, which are described as "a wheel inside of a wheel", are called "Ophannim" אופנים (lit. wheels, cycles or ways). These wheels are not directly under the chariot, but are nearby and along its perimeter much like the wheels of a car. The angel with the face of the man is always on the east side and looks up at the "Likeness of a Man" that drives the chariot. The "Likeness of a Man" sits on a throne made of sapphire." "Hasidic philosophy explains that the Merkaba is a multi-layered analogy that offers insight into the nature of man, the ecosystem, the world, and teaches us how to become better people. The four Chayot angels represent the basic archetypes that God used to create the current nature of the world. Ofannim, which means "ways", are the ways these archetypes combine to create actual entities that exist in the world. For instance, in the basic elements of the world, the lion represents fire, the ox/earth, the eagle/air, and the man/water. However, in practice, everything in the world is some combination of all four, and the particular combination of each element that exist in each thing are its particular Ofannim or ways. In another example, the four Chayot represent spring, summer, winter and fall. These four types of weather are the archetypal forms. The Ofannim would be the combination of weather that exists on a particular day, which may be a winter-like day within the summer or a summer like day within the winter or whatever. The Man on the throne represents God, who is controlling everything that goes on in the world, and how all of the archetypes He set up should interact. The Man on the throne, however, can only drive when the four angels connect their wings. This means that God will not be revealed to us by us looking at all four elements (for instance) as separate and independent entities. However, when one looks at the way that earth, wind, fire and water (for instance) which all oppose each other are able to work together and coexist in complete harmony in the world, this shows that there is really a higher power (God) telling these elements how to act. This very lesson carries over to explain how the four basic groups of animals and the four basic archetypal philosophies and personalities reveal a higher, godly source when one is able to read between the lines and see how these opposing forces can and do interact in harmony. A person should strive to be like a Merkaba, that is to say, he should realize all the different qualities, talents and inclinations he has (his angels). They may seem to contradict, but when one directs his life to a higher goal such as doing God's will (the man on the chair driving the chariot) he will see how they all can work together and even complement each other. Ultimately, we should strive to realize how all of the forces in the world, though they may seem to conflict can unite when one knows how to use them all to fulfill a higher purpose, namely to serve God." "In Christianity, the man, lion, ox, and eagle are used as symbols for the four evangelists (or gospel-writers), and appear frequently in church decorations (and also in the The World Tarot card). These Creatures are called Zoë (or the Tetramorph), and are constantly surrounding the throne of God in Heaven, along with the twenty-four angelic rulers, the Seraphim, the Cherubim, the seven Archangels, the Ophanim, and countless angels, spirits, and saints, singing praises to the Trinity, and begging Christ to have mercy on humankind." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkabah

They say the best speech is a short one: My understanding is that the Four Living Creatures are like Sentries guarding the Crystalline Structure that leads straight up to its top where the throne of The One True God Almighty is who Reigns on High.

I Believe the four faces seen by Ezekiel are faces to describe the 4 different revelations of Christ through the four Gospels. If one look at Jesus baptism through John one will see it says and John Saw the heavens Open above Jesus. The term open Heavens are found only 6 times in the bible and are therefore very unique. Ezekiel saw the Open Heavens and then the revelation of the being with four faces. We must also remember John the Baptism new the Old Testament very good. When He saw the open heavens when he baptized Jesus he surely thought of the revelation of Ezekiel. The Open heavens of Ezekiel are linked to the Open heavens when Jesus was baptized. The open heavens when Jesu was baptized was a profetic sign that Jesus was the one spoken of in Ezekiel, the one that woiuld minister to us in 4 differnet ways, and would be revealed as the Son of God in 4 different ways. Jesus was revealed through the Gospel of MAtthew sa the King of the Jews (Lion of Judah), Mark as the Servant of Man (In MArk you read more about what Jesus did, his miracles ans as in any other gospel. He his thus revealed in Mark as the working OX, In Luke Jesus is revealed as the Perfct man, You Also get the term "Son Of man" over and over in the gospel of Luke. John reveals Jesus as the Son of God. He reveales Jesus as supirior to anythig else that exists, as the eagle that are high above everything else. Greetings Riaan

cherubim. they're angels. they appear again in revelations.