priests: and we shall reign on the earth." Here we learn that these living creatures and elders adore the Lamb, and are redeemed by his blood, from every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; therefore they either symbolize the whole body of Christ's faithful servants, of every name and nation, or the authorities which instruct and direct that body. They have every one of them golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints; therefore we conclude that they are intercessors for the whole body of Christ's faithful people. They are made kings and priests unto God: but in the fourth chapter and fourth verse, the four-and-twenty elders are sitting on thrones, clothed in white raiment, with crowns of gold on their heads; and their posture and attire seem plainly to indicate that they are kings. Hence it seems to follow, that the four living creatures are priests; and this is confirmed by the 9th verse of the same chapter, where we find that they are leaders of Divine worship: "And when those living creatures give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever; the four-and-twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever:" and this conclusion is further strengthened by the place which they occupy in the vision, for they are nearest the throne. We further learn that they are in a state of bondage and oppression; from which they confidently anticipate not only a triumphant deliverance, but the dominion of the earth. These four living creatures, then, and four-and-twenty elders, seem to be the faithful ministers and rulers of Christ's faithful people; who intercede for the congregations committed to their charge; who are oppressed by worldly authorities and powers; despisers of vital godliness; and who confidently expect to be exalted over their oppressors. This vision, then, of St. John, seems to terminate when that exaltation shall take place: and these four living creatures symbolize the faithful and devoted ministers of Christ till that event shall be accomplished; or, in other words, they symbolize the ministration of the Spirit by truly spiritual pastors, till the saints shall possess the kingdom; which event is foretold Rev. xx. 4; Daniel ii. 44; Daniel vii. 27.

Having arrived at the conclusion that the living creatures in this vision of St. John probably symbolize the ministration of the Spirit under the Christian dispensation, by faithful Christian pastors, to Christ's faithful flock; we are now prepared to conjecture that the four living creatures in Ezekiel's vision may symbolize the ministration of the Spirit under the Mosaic dispensation, by the holy prophets. Let us now turn to the vision of Ezekiel, and endeavour to ascertain, by a careful examination of the leading features of the complex symbol therein presented, whether this conjecture be sustained and rendered probable. In the Scriptures the prophets are represented as if they actually executed the judgments they denounce, and actually bestowed the blessings which they promise. It is said to Jeremiah (i. 10,) "See! I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, and to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant:" and there is a multitude of passages of like import, which it is needless to quote, save one which shews that the prophets uniformly sustain this character: "I have hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth." (Hosea vi. 5.) This character Ezekiel sustained, and he seems to be intimately connected with the vision which he beheld, as appears from the 3rd chapter and 12th verse. "Then the Spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 62.

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saying, Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place. I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing. So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit: but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me." His connexion with and dependance upon the thing symbolized by the vision he describes, is also discoverable in the 8th chapter, 2nd to 4th verse. Now if this vision symbolizes the ministration of the Spirit by the prophets, the prophet's connection with it is evident; and the probability is strengthened that the conjecture is correct: and this mode of interpretation is further strengthened, by the consideration that it establishes a similar connection between St. John and the vision which he saw. It is also further corroborated, by enabling us to account for the different position which the four living creatures occupy in the two visions. In Ezekiel's vision, large wheels are attached to the living creatures, studded with eyes round about; these wheels seem to be indicative of motion, because the ministration by the prophets was a progressive revelation. But in the vision of St. John, the four living creatures are stationary; and the reason seems to be, that they are so because the revelation is complete. The eyes round about the rings are significant of intelligent motion, and the straight-forward movement a steady and undeviating aim at the object to be accomplished; namely, the full development of that revelation which was then in progress. The spirit also of the living creatures was in the wheels; which seems to imply that their intelligence consisted in their onward movement towards the destined goal. But the living creatures in St. John's vision, are full of eyes within; for it was their wisdom steadily and devoutly to contemplate a revelation fulfilled; and it would be folly and presumption in their case, to attempt to go beyond the bounds of that revelation : "When the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up;" which reminds us that the ministration of the prophets was sometimes suspended; being sometimes with the Jewish church, and sometimes withheld: an instance of which occurs in 1 Samuel, iii. 1 : "The word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision ;" and in the long period which occurred between Malachi and the coming of Christ. But God has never left himself without witness under the Christian dispensation; even in the darkest times there have always been some faithful pastors who might justly be called "ministers not of the letter which killeth, but of the Spirit which giveth life."

The vision of Ezekiel is invested with circumstances of awful majesty, which seem to have overwhelmed the spirit of the prophet. "And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creatures, was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above." As the appearance of the "bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face." But the vision of St. John was mild, pacific, and attractive; which he seems to have steadily contemplated without fear. When we reflect that the most prominent feature in the ministration of the Spirit by the prophets, was the repeated denunciation of Divine judgments against his idolatrous people and the surrounding nations; that the ministration of the Spirit by truly Christian pastors consists chiefly in preaching the gospel of peace, and in ear

nestly soliciting perverse sinners, whether Jews or Gentiles, to cast down the weapons of their rebellion, and to be reconciled to God; it seems natural that the minds of the prophet and the apostle should have been very differently affected by visions symbolizing a ministration so awful in the one case and so consoling in the other. "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." This appearance of the living creatures is calculated to inspire terror; and the lightnings which flash from them are, as it were, flashes of Divine judgment, inflicted by them on the objects of his indignation. And this agrees with the character of the prophets, who are represented to be, as we have already seen, the executioners of God's vengeance on the wicked. "As for their rings" (that is, the rings of the wheels) "they were so high that they were dreadful." Now if we be right in supposing that these rings represent the progress of the ministration of the Spirit by the prophets, whether in the way of mercy, or of judgment-as the course of God's providential dispensations was, at that period, of a very awful character, and the time was arrived for the utter destruction of the temple and of the city of Jerusalem-we cannot be surprised that the wheels, which represent the course of such dispensations, so awfully mysterious, should have appeared high and dreadful to the prophet. The lightnings which the prophet beheld, proceeded from the bodies of the living creatures; but St. John tells us, that in the vision which he saw, "out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices." In accordance with these symbols, the Divine judgments in one case are represented as inflicted by the prophets; in the other as proceeding from the throne of God to avenge the neglect or abuse of his blessed Gospel. I have said that a prominent part of the prophet's ministration, was the denunciation of Divine judgments; and that the ministration of mercy is most prominent in the labours of truly Christian pastors, and that this accounts for the difference observable in the living creatures as seen by the prophet and apostle. Nevertheless, the prophets are frequently employed in proclaiming the mercies of God, and in progressively unfolding that revelation of mercy which is finished by the apostles; and the ministers of the Gospel are sometimes constrained and bound to denounce the judgments of God, and apparently to assist in the execution of them. We find in the 15th chapter of Revelations, that "One of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever :" and we find also the prophet Ezekiel, in the midst of judgment, proclaiming mercy to Israel in the 36th and 37th chapters. In a word, the ministration of the prophets is a revelation of mercies and judgments, in which judgment is the most prominent feature; but the ministration of truly Christian pastors is the exposition of a revelation in which mercy rejoices over judgment.

The position also of the living creatures in the visions seen by the prophet and apostle, very significantly expresses an important difference in the character of their ministrations. In Ezekiel's vision, an emblem of the Almighty, encircled with a bow, is enthroned above the heads of the living creatures: which seems to intimate that they are safely directed in the path of truth, by the unerring hand of Omnipotence and Omniscience; but presents no sign of their being well acquainted with the nature of the work in which they are employed; and this exactly agrees with St. Peter, 1st Epistle, 1st chapter, vers. 8-12, who addresses the congregations to

which he writes, in these words: "Ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls:" and then adds, "Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into." But in St. John's vision we are told that "in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes before and behind." This position represents them as living in close communion with God, and agrees with what the apostle says in his first General Epistle, chap. i. verse 3: "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." We cannot be faithful and efficient pastors, unless, to a certain extent at least, we understand and enjoy the blessings of the gospel which we preach: but it is obvious that if Ezekiel's vision symbolize the ministration of the Spirit by the prophets, it symbolizes exclusively that ministration by true prophets; so it as manifestly follows that the four living creatures in St. John's vision symbolize that ministration only by truly spiritual pastors. If we be "ministers of the Spirit of life," we must be partakers of that life; and as our blessed Saviour himself saith, "This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent;" and as we find an additional emblem of the Crucified Reedemer "in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures," these four living creatures evidently enjoyed the supreme felicity of being intimately acquainted with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. Again, in Ezekiel's vision we discover nothing of the temple, or of its furniture; but in St. John's vision, the seven lamps of fire resemble the golden candlestick with its seven branches, and the sea of glass the brazen sea: this difference is peculiarly appropriate and significant, if the hypothesis which we are endeavouring to establish is founded in truth. The ministrations of the temple were not heavenly or spiritual ministrations; they were only "shadows of heavenly things," or of "good things to come." In Galatians iv. 3, they are called "the elements of the world :" in Hebrews ix., where this matter is fully explained, they are called "the patterns of things in the heavens;" and the dispensation of the Gospel of which they were patterns, is denominated "the heavenly things themselves." From these considerations, it necessarily follows that Ezekiel's vision could not possibly be connected with any thing belonging to the temple service, if it were designed only to symbolize the ministration of the Spirit by the prophets. On the other hand, it as manifestly and necessarily follows, that the four living creatures in St. John's vision must be connected, more or less, with the furniture of the temple, if they were intended to symbolize the ministration of the Spirit by the faithful pastors of Christ; for the Christian sanctuary contains the heavenly things of which the Jewish was a shadow, and it is in this sanctuary that Christ's truly spiritual pastors are engaged in carrying on that ministration.

The farther we proceed in, the investigation of these visions, the

greater is the probability that the above is the true interpretation of Ezekiel's vision, and of the four living creatures in St. John's vision; and the evidence which appears to me to establish the truth of this interpretation, continues to accumulate as we become more intimately acquainted with the Apocalyptic symbols. That these four living creatures are not emblems of glorified spirits, is evident, both from the consideration that we have no scriptural authority for assuming that such spirits intercede for us in heaven; as also from the consideration that ministers and elders on earth have scriptural authority for interceding in behalf of their congregations; and in this benevolent work of intercession these living creatures and elders are obviously engaged. They are also in a state of oppression and bondage, anticipating a happy release, which is not the condition of departed spirits; for "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord; even so saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labours." The four faces of these living creatures, seem to be emblems of invincible courage, of patient endurance, of superior intelligence, and of heavenly mindedness; that is, of a mind which soars to heaven, and looks down with contempt or indifference on the world beneath; and those qualities were manifestly necessary to enable the prophets to accomplish the work that was assigned them; (and it is as manifest to those who are acquainted with the history of the Christian Church, that the same qualities have been equally necessary to ensure the faithful ministration of the blessed Gospel of Christ :) but I am not now prepared to assign the reason why each of the living creatures in Ezekiel has these four faces, and why these faces are distributed among the four living creatures in the vision of St. John; since the reasons are to be found in the right interpretation of the 6th chapter of the Apocalypse, and would require another paper. I will, therefore, close this paper with observing, that the vision of Saint John, in the fourth and fifth chapters of the Apocalypse, with the additional circumstance of an immense multitude, clothed with white robes, with palms in their hands, mentioned in the seventh chapter, forcibly reminds us of what is said of the condition and privileges of those who are Christians indeed : "We are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly of the church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel."

CHINESE PROVERBS.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

PROVERBS are the concentrated wisdom of nations; by which assertion I do not mean that all proverbs are wise, for all nations are not so; but they indicate what is the standard of wisdom among those who make and use them; and so far as they are local they characterise the habits of thought and feeling which prevail in that locality. In reading the striking Sechuana aphorisms lately inserted in your pages, in your interesting notices of the "Philological Labours of Missionaries in South Africa," (Appendix for 1842) we become better acquainted with the turn of mind, the pursuits, the moral estimates, the intellectual powers,