In my last article, I looked at the decision-making analogy of the four-faced creatures of Ezekiel’s chariot. I mentioned that when I started looking for science in the Bible, I was drawn to the wheels of Ezekiel’s chariot vision.
I wondered why wheels, which are a human invention made of solid material, were attached beneath Ezekiel’s vision of angel-like figures and surmounted by a figure surrounded by flames. The text stresses that when the chariot descended, the wheels touched the ground and it moved. A wheel running on the ground brought to mind a trundle wheel, often used to measure distances. As a wheel turns, it covers a finite distance on the ground. So, as the chariot moved on the ground, it was measuring out a distance. But measurement is a hallmark of science. In the 19th century, Lord Kelvin said that without measurement there can be no science. Measurement turns unknown lengths into standard units that can be examined, compared and interrogated. Was the chariot trying to tell us something about science?
