Ezekiel 1:15-28
The prophet’s vision unfolded to reveal a terrifying chariot comprising several parts. Its wheels, particularly frightening, went to and fro on the earth in a way which might appear to be arbitrary, but their movement depended upon the creatures, and these went "whithersoever the Spirit was to go" (v. 20).
These wheels are a symbol of God’s government, or of His providence. The happenings in the world are directed by His Spirit – which "bloweth where it listeth" (John 3:8)* – and not by chance as many people claim because they refuse to look up to heaven. They see "the wheels" very clearly, but not the One who controls them. The prophet, himself led by the Spirit, lifts up his eyes and is about to contemplate the most marvellous part of the vision (v. 26 . . .). Above the wheels, the cherubim and the firmament, he discerns the "likeness of a throne", and again "the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it" (v. 26). Thus we learn with the prophet that the world is governed according to the will and the purposes of the risen glorified Christ: Christ Himself, shining in divine splendour. Before this extraordinary vision, Ezekiel at once falls on his face (cf. Revelation 1:12-17).
*Note. In the Greek language of the New Testament, the same word is used for spirit as for wind – in the translation into English, these words appear to be interchangeable.