Tag: Four faces

405. Angels Explained | Embracing Our Royal Identity in God

Mike Parsons

Angels

Where you get the terminology often comes from how angels are described in Hebrew. They’re usually called angels, or they might be called seraphim or cherubim, but some of the others aren’t named—they’re just described as angels as a general term— but in reality, they are different orders of angels that people don’t commonly connect with. For instance, there are references to ophanim, chayoth, and others.

The Merkabah

There is an external perspective related to the Throne of God and the Merkabah (divine chariot); however, there’s also an internal aspect which operates within us. The Merkabah represents the core of our being and embodies God’s identity within us. It brings about the focus of spirit, soul and body in union with Father, Son, and Spirit at the core of who we are. And actually, it’s probably more important to grasp that than it is to understand the canopy of angels around the throne of God, the four living creatures and all of those fascinating things, mentioned in Revelation and elsewhere. There is a canopy of angels, and they do have functions, rising up from the throne of God all the way to some of the more unusual ones—the chayoth, which are living creatures that aren’t necessarily humanoid but are living nonetheless. It gets pretty weird. And some of it, does it really matter what all that is about?

God will give us insight when we need it, when we encounter it. Do we need to understand it all? When I first started hearing about the canopy of angels, the ten thousand times ten thousand angels, the myriad of angels, I thought, “What are they all about?” It seemed overwhelming—like, whoa, this is a little more than I can take in. And actually, that’s what God is like in his majesty, the throne of God, and all of that—it’s supposed to be awesome. It’s supposed to be somewhat of a mystery. It’s meant to inspire awe at the amazing things around the throne of God. But it’s also meant to help us engage with the angelic realm ourselves, in our own sonship. When I get to the throne of God, I just want to fall on my face. I want to honour him, to be in awe of him, to totally yield and surrender.

Order of Melchizedek

There are so many different levels of revelation towards each one. Take the four living creatures, for example. They’re connected with what Ezekiel describes as a four-headed being with the cherubic nature of man—reflecting the four living creatures, which, in turn, reflect the order of Melchizedek.

Now, do I literally have the head of an ox, an eagle, and a man? No, I don’t. I have the face of a man. But do I have a cherubic nature, which is how God designed us to function in the order of Melchizedek as a priest, king, oracle and legislator? Yes. There are aspects of who I am that are eagle-like, figuratively speaking. I don’t soar around in the sky, but I carry legislative, governmental authority in terms of my identity. I am an oracle, so I have characteristics of the ox, reflected in being a voice of God—speaking his oracles from his heart. There’s the king, the government, and the priest. So, my nature as a royal priest and an oracle and a legislator is connected to the four living creatures, the cherubic nature, and the cherubim themselves, which carry those characteristics.

I don’t totally need to understand all the symbolism, because some of it is quite weird. I embrace it as part of my identity within the order of Melchizedek. I’ve engaged with the four faces of God, stood in each face, and stood within the name of God. That represents my authority and power of attorney—to use my identity as a son to speak his heart, his intentions, and his purposes, creating reality around my life.

I sort of understand how it relates to those aspects. But do we really need to fully understand how it all relates to the throne of God and the glory and majesty of God? No, because that’s supposed to be an awe-inspiring mystery.

In relation to our sonship

What’s important is how we engage with the angelic realm and the canopy of angels in relation to our sonship. I’ve engaged with the different angelic canopies to see if there was something I need to know to help me in my sonship. That’s how I relate to the angelic canopy—not in terms of their function for God, but their function for me.

If I’m seated on a throne, as we all are in heavenly places, then that canopy comes around me when I’m in that position of identity. They’re designed to help me in my sonship identity, in ruling and reigning from that position. So I engaged with the different angelic beings, to see if there was anything I need to know to help me in my sonship. I have also engaged with the court of angels, participating and sharing there. That drew angels to support, encourage and help, because ‘they are ministering spirits for those who are inheritors of salvation’.

Do I understand all the terminology and functions associated with God’s throne and glory? No, but I do have some insight into how they relate to us, our throne, our position of authority, and our identity. Our glory is our identity, and creation itself will one day be liberated into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. This refers to us, living fully in our identity as sons and daughters of God. There are aspects of these heavenly realities that help us grow into that identity.

Names and functions

Do angelic beings have multiple functions and titles? Perhaps. Some people may relate to them in different ways or use varying names depending on their functions. This is likely where some confusion arises. For instance, who are the twelve ambassadors of the ages? What order of angels are they from, or are they from separate orders? Who are the court of judges or the 24 elders? There are so many questions one could ask that it might seem overwhelming, as though a great deal of knowledge is required. However, I don’t believe such knowledge is essential for day-to-day life. There’s certainly more to discover, but people often describe these realities differently based on their own experiences and where they are in their journey. Just because someone describes it differently doesn’t mean their perspective is definitive or universal—it simply reflects their personal engagement.

For example, have I engaged with cherubim? Yes. Seraphim? Yes. Ophanim, Elohim, and Ben Elohim? To some degree, yes. Each of these has different names in different positions, or functions, and their roles vary. Take the twelve chancellors, for instance—some refer to them as high chancellors, as there are many other chancellors, and we can also function as chancellors ourselves. Wisdom once gave me a seal and staff representing a chancellor’s authority, and I’ve engaged the Chancellors’ Court. I’ve functioned at the bench there to facilitate scrolls and mandates being released and accepted, and other heavenly matters. That said, I’m not someone who pays much attention to details, so I couldn’t describe exactly what the others looked like. My focus was more on their functions and what I could learn to do in cooperation with them. For all I know, each chancellor could be from a different order of angels, and my interactions with them might differ in another type of experience.

Not for intellectual curiosity

It’s not set in stone, a fixed or rigid concept—it’s a dynamic, fluid reality in the heavenly realms. Their roles might vary depending on the situation. For example, the angel who sits behind my throne—though I suspect it might be one of the Ben Elohim—I don’t know for certain, and I haven’t been especially curious to find out. The point is not to engage with these realities for intellectual curiosity or the sake of knowledge but to discern how they relate to our journey, so we can cooperate with them as they help us grow into greater maturity. That’s how I approach these things. They’re about my growth and ascension into deeper levels of maturity, not about creating rigid definitions that apply to everyone universally.

My engagement with cherubim or seraphim has been deeply personal. I’ve encountered seraphim when I was on the altar. I’ve also engaged the seven spirits of God. Are they separate beings? From my perspective, they are. They seem entirely distinct from any other heavenly beings I’ve encountered. To me, they are seven created beings that reflect the fullness of God’s Spirit. Some people might argue they are simply aspects of one Spirit, and while they may reflect aspects of the Spirit, when I engaged them, they were individual personalities—beings embodying specific aspects like wisdom, knowledge, understanding… all seven.

The Spirit of the Fear of the Lord, for example, engaged with my scroll and led me to the Judgment Seat. Each spirit revealed an aspect of my growth in sonship, guiding me in my journey. For me, these encounters aren’t about intellectual pursuits or acquiring knowledge but about learning to cooperate with these heavenly beings in my journey toward maturity.

I agree—it can be confusing to try to understand all the different names, titles and roles of these beings, especially if we attempt to fit them into a fixed, rigid framework—I don’t believe they’re meant to be understood in that way.

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367. Encounter the Heavenly Arc of God’s Presence

Mike Parsons

Now, God is eternal. It may seem obvious to say, but it’s important to grasp and understand that we come from that eternal origin. He has always been, He is, and He will always be (Revelation 1:8). He is light (1 John 1:5), He is love (1 John 4:16), He is Spirit (John 4:24), and He is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). If we meditate on these truths and other verses like them, they will open doorways for us to engage with who God is and to begin discovering who we are in that truth.

Meditation is something we need to learn and practice, focusing on these truths to open up revelation as we give ourselves time to rest in them. When we engage Him, we begin to know Him, and through that intimate relationship of beholding Him face to face, we start to understand who we are. Our identity is reflected back to us as we look at Him, revealing that we had our origin in Him.

A living sacrifice

I started by presenting myself as a living sacrifice in the Heavenly Tabernacle. As described in Hebrews, this is not the earthly tabernacle patterned after the heavenly, but the actual heavenly tabernacle designed for us to engage with God’s presence and experience Him. There are figurative elements that show as we progress and mature in our relationship with God, we come into a deeper understanding of Him and His mysteries.

In this process, I was led to engage as a living sacrifice. In other words, I surrendered and presented myself to my High Priest, Jesus, who, after the order of Melchizedek, would prepare me as that living sacrifice. I didn’t have to physically die—I had already died with Him. I had to recognize that my old identity had died, and I now live with Him, as He lives in me.

Mysteries of the Ark

As I entered into deeper intimacy, I also began to engage with the heavenly realms. In the Holy of Holies is the Ark of God’s Presence. Within the mysteries of the Ark, I began to uncover aspects of my identity and destiny. Figuratively, the items within the Ark—the tablets of stone, the manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded—have symbolic meanings. For me, these represented my desire to know my daily mandate, seeking God’s guidance on what was written for me to embrace, how His provision (manna) would help me fulfil it, and the authority (the rod) I had as a son to carry it out.

Every day, I would go to God and ask, “What’s my mandate for today? What do You want me to do?” But this focus on tasks eventually became work-oriented. That’s when God began to draw me back into a place of first love, reminding me that relationship with Him was far more important than doing things for Him. Being with Him became the foundation for everything I would do with Him.

A living connection

My first experience of engaging in the Holy of Holies and the Ark was like the picture of the Ark of the Covenant with the mercy seat and two cherubim covering it. In the Old Testament, God’s presence would appear there once a year when the high priest entered the Holy of Holies to offer atonement for the nation’s sins. When I engaged the Ark, it felt as though one of the cherubim was missing.

Some have hypothesised about this. For me, it signified that the connection was meant for us, as sons, to step in and form that arc with God. In doing so, I became part of a living connection, an arc of energy and life where God’s presence would spark. This is a figurative way of understanding what I perceived.

There are theories that suggest Lucifer was once a covering cherub designed to reflect God’s glory to humanity so we could mature. When he left his place, it left a vacancy for us to step into sonship and make that arc of connection with God. But for me, it was about balancing relationship and responsibility. God reveals His heart, and then He releases His resources to show us our position and authority as sons.

The mysteries of the Dance Floor opened up new experiences for me, leading me deeper into intimacy and, eventually, into my governmental roles within sonship, after the order of Melchizedek. These were not linear experiences but concurrent ones that progressively unveiled truth.

Four faces

After God let me go from the initial embrace of first love, I re-engaged with the Ark, and that’s when I began to see the four faces of God within that connection. These faces were part of the arcing point where I could see into the deeper nature of who God is.

I had never seen the four faces of God before, as I had been focused solely on what was inside the Ark. When this mystery finally unveiled itself, I began to see the revolving faces of the eagle, the lion, the ox and the man. Over a period of about a year, I engaged with each of these faces, starting with the eagle, which seemed to resonate deeply with my identity. Then I moved on to the lion.

As I continued to behold these faces, I saw how they related to my identity, but in hindsight, I realized that I should have begun with the face of the man. This face represented my true identity as a priest in the order of Melchizedek, and had I started there, the process might have unfolded more smoothly. Instead, I initially approached it as a legislator, king, oracle, and then priest. However, the proper order should have been priest, king, oracle, and then legislator. If I had first understood my identity as a royal priest, I would have been able to embrace the fullness of my calling.

Priesthood, our first priority, comes from intimacy with the Father’s heart. It’s from that place of closeness that we outwork the responsibilities of our role. Eventually, once I connected with my priesthood identity, I was able to stand in the name of God—Yod He Vav He—and take up my place among the revolving faces of God. In doing so, I began to carry the power of His name and the frequency of Yod He Vav He, which literally caused me to vibrate with the energy of God’s presence. The name of God activated the “I AM” within me, igniting my role as a priest and helping me see through the eyes of the man.

As a priest, I started to view my life and the world from God’s heart, then transitioned into the lion’s perspective, recognizing my role as a king and understanding my heavenly authority in the royal priesthood. This authority, in turn, prepared me to be an oracle and a legislator on Earth, following the path of the ox and the eagle.

Heavenly perspective

All of this was part of the dance with God that unfolded over time. It took many years for me to reach this point. If, back in 2010, God had told me I was a priest in the order of Melchizedek or an oracle or legislator, I wouldn’t have understood. I would have lacked the heavenly perspective necessary to stand in His name and activate the power of my sonship within that name. But as I engaged with the four faces of God as a priest, I eventually found myself accessing the Eternal Now and discovering my origin there.

Looking back, had I started with priesthood, this process might have unfolded a year earlier. But God allowed me to work it out from where I was. He didn’t force me but led me into deeper illumination and truth. Over time, I found myself within the divine dance of love and intimacy—**perichoresis**—and my identity began to be revealed as my eternal origin within God.

It was only then that I realized I had existed before coming into this world. This was a profound revelation that required significant deconstruction of old mindsets. When I first began to discover first love and my creation within God, I saw the importance of surrendering my soul to the trust of the One who loves us unconditionally.

This process of surrender happens at the level of intimacy we currently have with God, and He doesn’t expect us to go beyond what we are ready for. He meets us where we are but leads us deeper. For me, this culminated in what I call the “dark cloud experience,” which we’ll get to later in this series. Every day, I surrendered as a living sacrifice, asking God to do what He needed to prepare me for who I truly am.

Get out of the boat

In essence, we need to “get out of the boat”—the figurative boat of survival where we are protecting ourselves—and immerse ourselves in the vast ocean of God’s unconditional love. It’s only there, when we are no longer in control, that we can fully experience His love and trust Him completely.

So, get relaxed, get comfortable, and begin to focus on your breathing. Breathe in very, very slowly, hold that breath, and then begin to let that breath out. Breathe in, hold that breath, and breathe out. Breathe in and breathe out. As you’re breathing in, you’re breathing in the unconditional love of the Father. You’re breathing in unconditional love, and that unconditional love is filling you, touching every fibre of your being, flowing through you.

Be still and let God love you in that place. Stay there for a few moments.

You’re in a safe place, cocooned in God’s arms, in God’s love. From that place of safety, you can make the choice to surrender, to whatever level you can, by choosing to get out of the boat. Abandon yourself, surrender to God’s love, and sink into that vast ocean of unconditional love. You can make that choice. Picture yourself in a boat, floating on a vast ocean, and step out of the boat and sink into that love.

As you’re under the water, you can breathe. You’re breathing in love. You’re sinking deeper and deeper into love, experiencing restored First Love, deeper and deeper into love. Choose to let go of anything that comes to your mind—any thoughts, any negative thoughts, any wrong thoughts about yourself, any limitations that may come up, any objections that may come into your mind. Let them go, surrender them, and go deeper and deeper into the trust of God’s protection, God’s blessing, God’s provision around your life. Receive that blessing.

You’re in a safe place of peace and rest. God wants to meet you as Father in that place and unveil something deeper of who you are, of who He is. So, begin to fix your thoughts on seeing the Father face to face. Think about it, set the desire of your heart upon it. Think of the Father embracing you, hugging you. Let those thoughts fill your imagination, to create an image, a doorway. Picture that door in your spirit and choose to open the door. Your choice is an invitation to the Father to come, to hug you, to begin to breathe His breath of life into you, so you can receive the living words of His breath.

Breathe it in. Hear His words: “I love you, I love you, my son, my daughter, I love you.” Be open to hear some of the vast sum of His thoughts. Let them restore you to His original desire for you. Maybe you’ll resonate with them in your spirit—don’t try and figure it out. Be open for an infusion of His thoughts about you, of who you really are.

Now let the Father take you by the hand and lead you. Maybe He’ll lead you to the Garden of Your Heart, maybe He’ll lead you to the dance floor, entwine with you heart to heart, and dance with you into the light and into the Mysteries. As He dances with you, allow your spirit to draw from Him. Let your spirit resonate with that truth. Let the Mysteries be deposited within you—the truth of your identity, the mysteries of your destiny. Go wherever God takes you.

Maybe you can dance with the lover of your soul. Let Him romance you. Let Him sing the song of your life over you. Feel the rhythm, feel the frequency, feel the life as it activates your DNA, as it activates within you.

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