Angelic Conflict part 86: Angelology 102; Basic facts – Exo 25:17-22; 1Ch 3:10-13; Eze 41:18; 28:14-16; Isa 6:1-8.
Title: Angelic Conflict part 86: Angelology 102; Basic facts – Exo 25:17-22; 1Ch 3:10-13; Eze 41:18; 28:14-16; Isa 6:1-8.
God is said to dwell between the golden cherubim on the lid of the Ark of the Covenant.
Isa 37:16
"O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who art enthroned above the cherubim, Thou art the God, Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. Thou hast made heaven and earth.
God wanted to let Israel know that He was with them and so He had a man made throne in the Tabernacle where the Shekinah glory dwelled.
God is said to speak from between the cherubim.
Num 7:89
Now when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with Him, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim, so He spoke to him.
God only speaks to man based on the blood of Christ as represented by the mercy seat. Heb 4:16
Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.
Mercy is equivalent to pity or compassion.
God is said to ride upon the cherubim. It’s not as if He needs to, but they are privileged angels – useful to Him.
2Sa 22:11
"And He rode on a cherub and flew;
And He appeared on the wings of the wind.
Psa 18:10
And He rode upon a cherub and flew;
And He sped upon the wings of the wind.
The images of two golden cherubim were constructed at God’s command and placed at either end on top of the Ark of the Covenant lid both in the Tabernacle of Moses and the Temple of Solomon.
Exo 25:17 And you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide.
Exo 25:18 And you shall make two cherubim of gold, make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat.
Exo 25:19 And make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat at its two ends.
Exo 25:20 And the cherubim shall have their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings and facing one another; the faces of the cherubim are to be turned toward the mercy seat.
So why are the cherubim looking at the mercy seat?
The Cherubim represent the justice and righteousness of God which sees the blood sacrifice that covers the sin and is satisfied.
And when we look at these gold images as representing the cherubim and possibly even all angels we glean an additional interpretation.
Cherubim look to the mercy seat because they long to know what it is to be a recipient of atonement through the blood of Christ, 1Pe 1:12; Eph 3:10.
1Pe 1:12
It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven — things into which angels long to look.
Eph 3:10
in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.
The OT only saw animal blood. It wasn’t until the CA, begun at Pentecost, 50 days after His death that the fullness of times came and the entire revelation concerning the blood of Christ was made manifest, and not only to man, but to the rulers and authorities in the heavenlies, which would definitely include cherubim.
Exo 25:21 And you shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I shall give to you.
Exo 25:22 And there I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel.
God meeting with man can only be based on the mercy made possible by the blood of Christ.
Solomon still possessed the original Ark, but Solomon added to the permanent Temple two very large cherubim at either end of the Holy of Holies.
2Ch 3:10 Then he made two sculptured cherubim in the room of the holy of holies and overlaid them with gold.
2Ch 3:11 And the wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits; the wing of one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub.
2Ch 3:12 And the wing of the other cherub, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house; and its other wing of five cubits, was attached to the wing of the first cherub.
2Ch 3:13 The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits, and they stood on their feet facing the main room.
There is a beauty to this in the heart of Solomon, because we have no record of God commanding him to do this. He constructs the cherubim out of his love for God and the glory of God filled Solomon’s Temple, meaning that God was pleased with Solomon’s decision.
Cherubim were depicted on the veil in the Tabernacle and the Temple.
Exo 26:31
And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman.
They were embroidered on the curtains of the Tabernacle as well.
Cherubim will also be present as carvings decorating the Millennial Temple; however there is no Ark of the Covenant since the resurrected Ark, Jesus Christ, sits on David’s throne.
Eze 41:18 And it was carved with cherubim and palm trees; and a palm tree was between cherub and cherub, and every cherub had two faces,
Eze 41:19 a man's face toward the palm tree on one side, and a young lion's face toward the palm tree on the other side; they were carved on all the house all around.
Eze 41:20 From the ground to above the entrance cherubim and palm trees were carved, as well as on the wall of the nave.
Ezek 41:25 Also there were carved on them, on the doors of the nave, cherubim and palm trees like those carved on the walls; and there was a threshold of wood on the front of the porch outside.
Cherubim only are depicted on the Ark of the Covenant, the veil and the curtains in both the Tabernacle and in Solomon’s and Zerubabel’s Temple as well as in the Millennial Temple. God dwelt among them, God spoke from among them, He travels upon them, and He has them guard His throne and thus His holiness.
Most famous of all the cherubim, Lucifer, who led a rebellion against God and became the devil, was originally created as a cherub.
Eze 28:14 "You were the anointed cherub who covers,
And I placed you there.
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.
Eze 28:15 "You were blameless in your ways
From the day you were created,
Until unrighteousness was found in you.
Eze 28:16 "By the abundance of your trade
You were internally filled with violence,
And you sinned;
Therefore I have cast you as profane
From the mountain of God.
And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the stones of fire.
The activities of the cherubim were to protect the holiness of God and to display the glory of God.
Gen 3:22 Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" —
Gen 3:23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.
Gen 3:24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life.
There is an interesting analogy between the cherubim as guarding the entrance to Paradise and the winged bulls and lions of Babylon and Assyria, colossal figures with human faces standing guard at the entrance of temple and palaces. Inasmuch as both of these nations occupied the very spot where the original Garden of Eden may have been located, it is not unreasonable to suggest that these idols were perverted statue copies of the real cherubim.
Seraphim(pl)seraph(s) are referred to only once in Isa 6.
Seraphim: meaning – “burning ones.” They have six wings, stand above the throne, and they speak in order to give glory to the Lord. Mentioned only once in Isa 6:1-8.
These angelic creatures are mentioned but once in the Bible as found in Isa 6:1-8.
Background:
For young Isaiah, the outlook was bleak. His beloved King had died, his nation was in peril, and he could do very little about it. The outlook may have been bleak, but the uplook was glorious! God was still on the throne and reigning as the Sovereign of the universe! From heaven's point of view, "the whole earth" was "full of His glory"
When your world tumbles in, it is good to look at things from heaven's point of view.
Num 14:21
but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord.
Isa 6:1 In the year of King, Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.
John makes clear that this is the Lord Jesus Christ:
Joh 12:41
These things Isaiah said, because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.
This is a vision of the heavenly temple as opposed to the heavenly chariot throne that Ezekiel saw.
Isa 6:2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
Standing above Him cannot mean superior to Him. They cover their faces in the presence of His awesome glory and they cover their feet in acknowledgment of how low they are in respect to Him.
The covering of the face represents the intensity of His glory and covering the feet represents humility as it depicts respect for divine authority.
They praise the person of God.
Isa 6:3 And one called out to another and said,
"Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts,,
The whole earth is full of His glory."
The repetition of the word “holy” emphasizes the superlative degree of God’s holiness and is likely also a reference to the Trinity.
The whole earth is full of His glory and the believer must train the senses of his soul to see God’s glory in everything through his intake of doctrine.
In accordance with this, the Psalmist, in a most beautiful composition, calls upon all things to praise him. So once again, as it was with the submission of the obeying cherubim, exalted angels, in this case seraphim, reveal what we are called to do in praise of the holiness of God.
Psa 148:1 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights!
Psa 148:2 Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts!
Psa 148:3 Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all stars of light!
Psa 148:4 Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens!
Psa 148:5 Let them praise the name of the Lord, For He commanded and they were created.
Psa 148:6 He has also established them forever and ever; He has made a decree which will not pass away.
Psa 148:7 Praise the Lord from the earth, Sea monsters and all deeps;
Psa 148:8 Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word;
Psa 148:9 Mountains and all hills; Fruit trees and all cedars;
Psa 148:10 Beasts and all cattle; Creeping things and winged fowl;
Psa 148:11 Kings of the earth and all peoples; Princes and all judges of the earth;
Psa 148:12 Both young men and virgins; Old men and children.
Psa 148:13 Let them praise the name of the Lord, For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above earth and heaven.
Psa 148:14 And He has lifted up a horn for His people, Praise for all His godly ones; Even for the sons of Israel, a people near to Him. Praise the Lord!
Isa 6:4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke [most likely the cloud that often represents God’s glory].
For an obvious reason Isaiah doesn’t respond as the seraphim do.
Isa 6:5 Then I said,
"Woe is me, for I am ruined!,
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;,
For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."
The sight of the holy God and the sound of the holy hymn makes Isaiah immediately introspective and he realizes that he is a man of unclean lips as is the nation.