Wheels, wheels and more wheels

Ekekiel 10: 9-14
I looked, and I saw beside the cherubim four wheels, one beside each of the cherubim; the wheels sparkled like chrysolite. As for their appearance, the four of them looked alike; each was like a wheel intersecting a wheel. As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the cherubim faced; the wheels did not turn about as the cherubim went. The cherubim went in whatever direction the head faced, without turning as they went. Their entire bodies, including their backs, their hands and their wings, were completely full of eyes, as were their four wheels. I heard the wheels being called "the whirling wheels."

The account of Ezekiel’s “whirling wheels” has always fascinated me. It is a poetic, prophetic vision that stirs the imagination. Now I’ll be the first to admit that it also seems fanciful and, if told today, would likely be dismissed by most as the ravings of a lunatic or a drug induced hallucination. It also might be latched onto by by UFO’ enthusiasts as an example of a visit by space ships and extra-terrestrial beings similar to the wild claims made in by Erich von Daniken's 1970’s book "Chariots of the Gods?".

Personally ,as an exercise in fiction, I enjoy reading authors like von Daniken as long as I remember that it is the product of a wild (or mercenary) imagination.

The theory that Ekekiel is reporting an encounter with a spaceship has been a persistent theme especially among those who are convinced that the earth continues to be visited by extra-terrestrials. One of the more recent proponents of this theory has been Josef F. Blumrich in his writings about the “Spaceships of Ekekiel”.

I haven’t researched his analysis in detail but he does appear to be genuinely convinced of this possibility. He uses his background with rocket design (and association with NASA) to show that the Ekekiel’s descriptions are consistent with the space vehicle designs. Now some who believe in the Bible might feel threathened by a “scientific” explanation of these visions that “proves” they were spaceships. But the reality is that this is an unprovable theory and it ultimately requires faith (believing in something as true that can’t be proved to be true) to accept this as the explanation rather than accepting that it was a vision from God.

After all those who promote this spaceship theory, are (tacitly) admitting that the Ezekiel account is accurate. If the record of what he saw is accurate , why should one doubt the record of what he heard – and if he was told it was from God and believed it then that provides support for it being what he claimed it to be.

My point –I choose to believe the Bible is a record of God’s interactions with humans and see no reason to ”explain away” these events.

So what got me thinking about Ekekiel and spaceships? Well it is the theme of “wheels” that has preoccupied my life for the past 2 weeks that lead me to thinking about Ezekiel’s ”whirling wheels” –which when you read the “rest of the story” may give you cause towonder about how weird I really am. :) :)

Wheel story # 1: We have a 1996 Bonneville with almost 250 thousand Kms (150 thousand miles) on the odometer. When we traveled to Chris’ at Christmas time, we drove in rain. We had presents piled in the back seat and when we got there the box holding the presents and theback seat was soaking wet. I hadn’t done anything about this discovery until last week when we were planning to go visit Melissa. I tore out the seat and discovered a fist sized hole in the wheel well that allowed road spray to come in behind the seat. I managed to patch it up and that problem was (at least temporarily) solved.

Wheel story# 2: Same vehicle. After we had returned homeat Christmas the car had developed a rattle when we were driving. While I had the seat out I thought I would try to pinpoint where it was so I had Linda drive while I was bouncing around in the back trying to see where the sound came from. I concluded it was outside under the floor so I crawled under and discovered that the sway bar mount had rusted free from the frame and was clattering away. It is a long story that I won’t bore you with but what I thought would be a simple welding repair job wasn’t and my temporary solution was to use a piece of wood to dampen the rattle.

Wheel story # 3; I also have 2000 F-150 half ton. It has low km and hasn’t been used much since I retired. I had tried to sell it last summer and fall but was unsuccessful (I guess I wanted to get a fair price and people who were interested wanted a bargain). Anyhow, it had developed a “miss” in the engine and I decided I should get it working better since the car was not to suitable for long trips. I was able to get that fixed at the garage but it has still experienced an intermittent “computer problem that hasn’t affected its performance but is annoying. I also have had a longstanding electrical problem that means I don’t have cruise control, driver side airbags or a horn.

Wheel Story # 4: We are planning a trip west in the spring and we need local transportation when we get there. So we have been planning to acquire a new vehicle (and get rid of the other 2) that we could use as a tow vehicle behind our motor home. (dinghy or toad as they are referred to by RV’ers) . This week we embarked on that “fun” process of looking for a suitable vehicle – and trying to sort out what would work and what we could afford.

Wheel Story # 5: Meanwhile we are planning to go to Kingston this weekend and have been trying to decide if we could use the car (with its sway bar problem which I’ve been assured is not a danger to drive) or the truck with its irritating little problems –especially with no cruise.
Monday Melissa called and said IF we werebringing the truck she had a bed to be moved and would wait until we got there. I choose to take that as a sign in favorof the truck and that’s what we are using

Well I need to post and get ready to get on the road. The weather doesn’t look that great so we may not make it as far as we planned today.

Pray for us
God Bless
Charlie

p.s A couple of items from my blog browsing over the past couple of weeks

Bobby Cohoon talks about “Playing our song” and does a quick survey of songs that he likes the best. (see http://littlesorrel.blogspot.com/2007/02/oh-theyre-playing-our-song.html)

Mike Cope cautions young parents that the years fly by – concentrate on your kids while you can. Good advice too often ignored today because we think we can catch up tomorrow – sadly tomorrow never comes. (see http://www.preachermike.com/2007/02/12/the-last-game)