The Four Gospels and The Order of The Camps in Relation to Ezekiel's Vision

Ezekiel's Vision of Four Cherubim

“And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.

And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.

And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass.

And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.

Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.

As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.

Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.

And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went.

As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.

And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.” - Ezekiel 1:4-13

This particular section in the Book of Ezekiel has to be one of the most mysterious and strange sections in the entire Bible. I have learned recently that these Four Faces of the Cherubim not only represent the Order of the Camps of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, but they also represent The Four Gospels as well. Not to mention, the obvious parallels of Ezekiel's Vision and The Revelation of John tells me both Ezekiel and John were both taken up to the same heavenly throne room to receive their prophecies.

“From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God,

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:

the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight.” - Revelation 4:5-7

First we will establish the Position of The Order of the Camps of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, that HaShem gave to Moses and Aaron in the second chapter of the Book of Numbers in the fourth book of the Bible. In the Hebrew Tanakh, the book of Numbers is called “Bemidbar'' which literally translates to “In the Wilderness” in English, which makes more literal sense as Israel is said to have been wandering through the wilderness for forty years, due to their disobedience and doubt in G*d’s plan to deliver them to the land “flowing with milk and honey”, which had been promised to their forefathers. This doubt ultimately brought the forty year curse upon them so they were not permitted to enter that land until the Promised Land until after that unbelieving generation died off.

“Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you:

your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me,

not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected.

But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness.” - Numbers (Bemidbar) 14:28-32

There’s obviously a huge lesson to be learned there as we should never doubt the Word of G*d and we must always have complete faith that G*d keeps his promises. It’s our own lack of faith and doubt that causes us suffering. We must always put faith above reason and know that the storms in life will pass, as they always do. Every storm that comes our way in life is sent out of love in order to prompt our own spiritual growth. It is ultimately an opportunity to get closer to HaShem. Made after his own image, he has blessed us with free will and if there were no opposition to his purity and holiness, there would be nothing else to choose; thus we would have no freedom of choice. Just as it is written:

"He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies." - Psalm 18:11

Now, onto The Order of the Camps of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, as was given to Moses and Aaron in the second chapter of the Book of Numbers:

EAST SIDE: The Camp of Judah, Issachar and Zebulun

And on the east side toward the rising of the sun shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch throughout their armies: and Nahshon the son of Amminadab shall be captain of the children of Judah. - Numbers 2:3

And those that do pitch next unto him shall be the tribe of Issachar: and Nethaneel the son of Zuar shall be captain of the children of Issachar. - Numbers 2:5

Then the tribe of Zebulun: and Eliab the son of Helon shall be captain of the children of Zebulun. - Numbers 2:7

SOUTH SIDE: The Camp of Reuben, Simeon and Gad

On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben according to their armies: and the captain of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur. - Numbers 2:10

And those which pitch by him shall be the tribe of Simeon: and the captain of the children of Simeon shall be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. - Numbers 2:12

Then the tribe of Gad: and the captain of the sons of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Reuel. - Numbers 2:14

THE CENTER: The Priestly Camp of The Levites

Then the tabernacle of the congregation shall set forward with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camp: as they encamp, so shall they set forward, every man in his place by their standards. - Numbers 2:17

WEST SIDE: The Camp of Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin

On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their armies: and the captain of the sons of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud. - Numbers 2:18

And by him shall be the tribe of Manasseh: and the captain of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. - Numbers 2:20

Then the tribe of Benjamin: and the captain of the sons of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni. - Numbers 2:22

NORTH SIDE: The Camp of Dan, Asher and Naphtali

The standard of the camp of Dan shall be on the north side by their armies: and the captain of the children of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. - Numbers 2:25

And those that encamp by him shall be the tribe of Asher: and the captain of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ocran. - Numbers 2:27

Then the tribe of Naphtali: and the captain of the children of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan. - Numbers 2:29

*I must point out the obvious fact that HaShem specifically laid out this order in the fashion of a cross, as seen from his overhead view. That in itself is very telling, as we all know that the cross is a representation of Yeshua’s ultimate sacrifice for our sins.

In the image below, we see this sacred tribal order laid with the Ten Commandments (that's a whole other deal there...) but you can see from the numbers given, they were divinely laid out as a cross.

Since we now know the locations, let’s now examine which Face each of these Four Groups of Tribes Represent and provide some scripture to back it up:

We know from what Ezekiel tells us in his vision (Verse 1:10) that the Face of the Lion is on The Right Hand Side (which corresponds to the cardinal direction of East) and that the Face of the Ox was on the Left Hand Side (which corresponds to the cardinal direction of West).

EAST SIDE: The Camp of Judah, Issachar and Zebulun - The Face of The LION

"Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?" - Genesis 49:9

"And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” -Revelation 5:5

WEST SIDE: The Camp of Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin - The Face of The OX

"Ephraim was a trained calf that loved to thresh, and I spared her fair neck; but I will put Ephraim to the yoke; Judah must plow; Jacob must harrow for himself." - Hosea 10:11

"I have heard Ephraim grieving, ‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf; bring me back that I may be restored, for you are the LORD my God." - Jeremiah 31:18

"A firstborn bull—he has majesty, and his horns are the horns of a wild ox; with them he shall gore the peoples, all of them, to the ends of the earth; they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.” - Deuteronomy 33:17

NORTH SIDE: The Camp of Dan, Asher and Naphtali - The Face of The EAGLE

The Eagle is used in scripture numerous times to represent the Divine Judgement Nature of HaShem, which makes sense as the Danites were best known as warriors. In Hebrew, the word Dan ( דן ) literally means Judge. The most famous example of this can be seen as the mighty Samson, who was the great warrior from the tribe of Dan.

"Now there was a man from Zorah named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, whose wife was barren and had no children." - Judges 13:2

"So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD blessed him." - Judges 13:24

I had to really dig in deep on this one, because the eagle is considered an "unclean animal" and I could not understand why HaShem would represent his divine nature as an Eagle, but he led me to the following verses to help me understand:

"He found him in a desert land, in a barren, howling wilderness; He surrounded him, He instructed him, He guarded him as the apple of His eye.

Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions,

he LORD alone guided him, no foreign god was with him." - Deuteronomy 32:10-12

"Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;

but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." - Isaiah 40:30-31

"For thus says the LORD: “Behold, one shall fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against Moab;

the cities shall be taken and the strongholds seized. The heart of the warriors of Moab shall be in that day like the heart of a woman in her birth pains;

Moab shall be destroyed and be no longer a people, because he magnified himself against the LORD." - Jeremiah 48:40-42

"Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law." - Hosea 8:1

Of course, The Sefer Zohar also sheds much more light on this mystery as well. The Zohar has so much to say about this, it was quite overwhelming, so I just wanted to include a few interesting quotes.

"Rabbi Yehuda said that "eagles' wings" means Mercy, as it is written in the verse: "As an eagle stirs up her nest" (Devarim 32:11)..."As the eagle watches mercifully over its own young but is cruel toward others, so is the Holy One, blessed be He, merciful towards Yisrael but judges the heathen nations severely." - (Section 16 - Parasha Yitro)

"...the EAGLE combines everything, BOTH MERCY AND JUDGMENT - Mercy to its own young and Judgment to the others. So the Holy One, blessed be He, THE SECRET OF THE CENTRAL COLUMN, led Yisrael with love and dealt sternly with others, as it is written: "And bore you on eagles' wings,"and, "As an eagle stirs up her nest." - Sefer Zohar (Section 16 - Parasha Yitro)

"One whose sign is Eagle, WHICH IS OF THE CENTRAL COLUMN, is neither excessively compassionate nor has an excess of the quality of Judgment, but is rather intermediate in his Good Inclination and in his good traits, and intermediate in his Evil Inclination and in bad traits." - Sefer Zohar (Section 18 - Parasha Bo)

By process of elimination, we can see how the SOUTH SIDE: The Camp of Reuben, Simeon and Gad - The Face of The MAN

THE CENTER: The Priestly Camp of The Levites - Consists of ALL FOUR FACES

Yeshua HaMashiach HaMelech O'lam HaMelechim

( ישוע המשיח המלך עליון המלכים )

(Jesus Christ, The Most High King of Kings)

The center represents the Sephirot of Tiferth (Beauty in Hebrew) is where the Levites were placed. This is the holy place which represents perfection and is a priestly line, which is of course where Yeshua would be. This is the center spot of perfection and this is the spot that we all need to strive to stay in.

The Sefer Zohar expands on this and confirms that this is Yeshua in the following:

“From Hei come south and north and that which is in between, WHICH IS THE CENTRAL COLUMN THAT UNITES THEM, from Yud east, and from Yud-Hei-south and north depend on them - SOUTH FROM YUD, AND NORTH FROM HEI, Vav in the center, WHICH UNITES THEM. And that is a male child, NAMELY, TIFERET THAT IS A SON OF YUD-HEI."

The “SON OF YUD-HEI” mentioned above, literally means the Son Of The LORD.

This is YESHUA!

The Hebrew letters Yod Hei ( יה ) spell Yah, which is another term used in the scriptures that is translated as LORD. As in Hallelujah ( הללויה‎ ) which means “Praise The LORD” and is a combination of the two Hebrew words “Hallel” and “Yah”:

Hallel ( הלל ) which means "Praise" and Yah ( יה ) , is a shortened form of ( יהוֹה ) “LORD”

Since there is no letter that represents “J” in Hebrew, a more accurate way of writing this word in English would be HalleluYah…yet I digress. It’s also interesting to note that The Levites are the only Tribe who are not numbered.

“But the Levites were not listed among the people of Israel, as the LORD commanded Moses.” - Numbers 2:33

Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac (Shlomo Yitzhaki), known as Rashi (based on an acronym of his Hebrew initials), born in France, in 1040. He was one of the most influential Jewish commentators in history. Rashi had this to say about the Levites not being numbered:

“The King's legion deserves to be counted on its own. Another explanation: G‑d foresaw that a decree would be passed in the future against all those counted from twenty years and upward, condemning them to die in the desert. He said, "Let these [Levites] not be included! They are Mine, for they did not err with the [Golden] Calf."

The Gospel of Matthew portrays Yeshua as the Jewish Messiah/King - The Face of The LION

The Gospel of Matthew was specifically written to the Jewish people. It presents Yeshua as the Jewish Messiah and gives his credentials as such, as he quotes the Old Testament far more than any of the other gospels. He spends a great deal of time pointing out references from the Torah present in Jesus’ teachings. The first miracle recorded in Matthew was Yeshua healing a leper (Matthew 8:1-4). Since it is written specifically for Jewish people, it was placed as is the first gospel in the New Testament and Yeshua’s genealogy is traced back to Abraham. The gospel ends with the resurrection. Matthew represents the Face of The Lion which corresponds to the East, which is the right hand side and represents the Spirit form. This is where the Tribes of Judah, Issachar and Zebulon were placed.

The Gospel of Mark portrays Yeshua as the Suffering Servant (Meshiach Ben Yosef) - The Face of The OX

The Gospel of Mark was written to the Romans and presents Yeshua as the suffering servant. It presents both his power and credentials. Mark records Yeshua's first miracle as expelling an evil spirit from a man in Capernaum (Mark 1:21-27) and the Gospel of Mark ends with Ascension. Mark does not record any genealogy for Yeshua, as no genealogy would be kept for a servant or slave. Oxen were commonly offered as sacrificial objects to G*d in ancient times. While the ox typically represents power or strength and the desire form, Yeshua was the opposite as his perfect nature represented selfless servitude. Mark represents the Face of The Ox which corresponds to the West, the left hand side, where the of tribes Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin were placed.

The Gospel of Luke portrays Yeshua as the Son of Man - The Face of The MAN

The gospel of Luke was written to the Greeks and represents Yashua as the Son of Man. Luke portrays Jesus as the savior for both Gentiles and Jewish people alike. Luke presents his earthly, human characteristics and emphasizes his emotions. Like Mark, Luke records Yeshua’s first miracle as expelling an evil spirit from a man in Capernaum (Luke 4:31-36); which we know only dwells on Earth, as the original sin of Adam and Eve introduced death and gave Satan dominion of our physical reality. It traces his genealogy back to Adam and it is written in a narrative style. Luke's gospel corresponds to the Physical Form. Luke represents by the Face of Man which corresponds to the South, where the tribes of Rueben, Simone and Gad were placed.

The Gospel of John portrays Yeshua as Son of God - The Face of The EAGLE

The Gospel of John is written to the church and represents Yeshua as the Son of G*d. The first miracle mentioned in the Book of John was Yeshua turning water into wine (John 4:43-54). There are Seven Miracles mentioned in John, which is G*d's number of physical perfection. The gospel of John ends with the promise of Yashua’s return. John traces Yeshua’s genealogy all the way back to G*d and the book itself is written in a very mystical narrative. John represents the Face of the Eagle which is the North and represents the tribes of Dan, Asher and Naphtali were placed.

The image above portrays these four as the four chambers of The Heart.

It took me several days to research and put all of this together. I started out writing what I thought would be a quick post...but that wasn't the case at all. HaShem has enlightened me to several things that have opened my mind to another level through this study and he done for the purpose to bring me and anyone else who is blessed to read this closer to him. His nature is difficult to interpret through our human eyes, but once we begin to look at it all through heavenly eyes, it all begins to come together beautifully.

Much Love and Blessings!

חסד ושלום עליכם והרבה אהבה וברכות