Great is the Mystery of Godliness Part 5
Seen by Angels Part 1
I. The Importance of this third element:
A. Notice the Holy Spirit’s placement of this third aspect of Godliness. While we may not think the “angelic vision” is a big deal, it is quite plain that the Holy Spirit does. First was God come in the flesh. Second was His justification/vindication in the Spirit. We get the importance of those two at the head of the list. But Angels? And that before the preaching the Gospel to the nations or even the belief of it in the world? I think our perspective shows our shortsightedness and our being swayed by current “egocentric” gospel. As we explore further, we will see that Godliness is more than just about us!!!
B. Isaiah 37:16 “O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwells between the cherubim, thou art the God, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: You have made heaven and earth.” This alone should cause us to ponder and wonder at this angelic significance. That God should condescend to dwell between the cherubim indicates they play an important part in His revelation of His purposes and His Glory. See also II Sam. 6:2; I Chron. 13:6; Ps 80:1; Isa. 37:16
II. “Cherubim”, the first “angelic being “ mentioned in scripture:
The origin of the word is in doubt, however, there seems to be agreement that the root idea is “one who is near to God, ministers to Him, and one who is admitted into His Presence.”
Genesis 3:24 “So He (Lord God) drove man out the garden; and He placed cherubim (plural) at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.” They were the protectors of God’s “Glory Garden” and the way to the Life of Glory.
Ezekiel 28:11-19 In this mysterious, disputed, confusing passage, we see God’s words transition from the “king of Tyre” to the “anointed cherub that covers” and back again to the “king of Tyre.” The text seems to follow the model of Gen. 3 where Satan appears in the form of a serpent. We know that there was more going on in Genesis than a beautiful snake with a bad idea! We don’t plan to explore this anointed cherub to the “Lucifer” of Isaiah. We only seek information about cherubim in general. Our only interest in this text in this study is first found in vs. 13, “You were in Eden, the garden of God. This text would seem to give us the idea that the cherubim were active in the Garden of Eden before the fall. We shall see, in further passages that they are usually linked with the Creation. Also, in this verse, we see that the anointed cherub was a created being as all angelic beings are.
Exodus: Cherubim, or cherub occur 17 times in Exodus, all mentions are in the construction of the tabernacle, either on the beautifully embroidered curtains of the Most Holy Place, or of the two gold cherubs on the Mercy Seat. This incredible room typifies the Most Holy Presence and apart from the Ark and its contents which signify Creations Redeemer, the dominating presence is that fo the Cherubim!!!
Numbers 7:89 God spoke to Moses in the tabernacle of meeting, “He heard the Voice of One speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the Mercy Seat that was on the Ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubim; thus He spoke to him.”
II Samuel 22:11 In the song of David, David says of God, “He rode upon a cherub, and flew; And He was seen (flew) upon the wings of the wind.”
I Chronicles 28:18 follows up this poetic picture of God & cherubim in the construction of Solomon’s temple. Here is this mysterious phrase, “refined gold....for the construction of the chariot, that is, the gold cherubim that spread their wings and overshadowed the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD.” Those two cherubs are God’s Chariot! In many passages, especially in Ezekiel, the Glory of God appears immediately above the cherubim, as though the cherubim are the Chariot of the Glory of God. (An interesting sidelight is 28:11-14. David gave to Solomon all the plans for the temple which the Holy Spirit had given him, and also all the gold and silver to be used for all the articles in the temple.) An intriguing text to ponder is II Kings 2:11. Elijah was taken up into heaven in what appeared to be a chariot of fire!!!
I Kings 6:12-8:7 In the account of the building of Solomon’s temple, there are 20 occurrences. Remember, this temple is permanent, unlike the “portable” tabernacle in the wilderness.
I Kings 6:23-28 For the “inner sanctuary”, Solomon made two giant angels (15') whose touching wingspan touched each other in the middle of the room, carved from olive wood covered in gold. Vs 29-35 The walls (no longer tapestries or curtains, but carved wood) on both the inner and outer sanctuaries and the doors were “carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, covered with gold. Beloved, this isn’t some novelty. This is the witness of the Holy Spirit for He gave these plans to David! (I Chron. 28:11-12)
III. Cherubim and Creation–Ezekiel: Here’s where it gets really interesting!
Ezekiel 1:1 “I saw visions of God.” And what is recorded next? The four living creatures. They each have four faces, a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle. (Many link these faces with the portrayal of the Redeemer Creator in the four Gospels) They also had four wings with the hands of a man under the wings. Now notice 1:24 “ when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise fo many waters, like the Voice of the Almighty.” Revelation 1:15 Of the Son of Man, “and His Voice as the sound of many waters.”
Ezekiel 1:26-28 Above the heads of the four living creatures appears a throne and on the throne was the likeness of a man. “This was the likeness of the glory of the LORD.” Keep in mind this appearance of the Glory of God is above the cherubim, the chariot of God.
Ezekiel 3:23 God sends Ezekiel into the plain to talk to him and he sees the Glory of the LORD in the same manner as the vision by the river Chebar. The vision is the same as chapter 1, no need to repeat it.
Ezekiel 8 As he is with the elders of Judah, he sees another vision, this time of God provoked to Jealousy by the Idolatry of the people, “and behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision I saw in the plain.” The same fiery vision of the Glory of God above the fiery cherubim. Vs 5-10 could serve as a preface to Paul’s words in Romans 1:18-23. The issue is turning from the Glory of their Creator God to worship images of animals. This animalistic image of jealousy was right at the entdrance to the temple.
Ezekiel 9:3 “Now the Glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple.”
Ezekiel 10: Because of all in chapters 8-9, we have an extensive appearance of the cherubim. This is the removal of the Glory of the LORD and notice the identification of the cherubim with God’s Glory and their active participation in the judgement of the idolaters and the removal of the Glory of God from the temple.
IV. The cherubim and Creation restored:
Ezekiel 40-44: Ezekiels vision of the temple. Perhaps the Old testament rendering of John’s glorious vision of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21. This temple is huge.
Ezekiel 41:1-25 The cherubim have a significant difference. The description of the walls and doors are like Solomon’s temple with one glaring difference! Vs 18-19 “Each cherub had two faces, so that the face of a man was toward a palm tree on one side, and the face of a young lion toward a palm tree on the other side; thus it was made throughout the temple all around.” Only two faces!! That of the Lion of the tribe of Judah is the Son of Man–The Creator is Creations Redeemer and He receives all of Creations Glory!
Ezekiel 43:1-5 Ezekiel sees the Glory of God come from the east to His temple, His dwelling place. Remember the cherubim protecting the eastern gate to Eden? Now access is restored! The vision was the same that Ezekiel saw by the River Chebar. “And the Glory of the LORD came into the temple (lit. house) by way of the gate which faces toward the east.” (See Lev. 16:14)
Revelation 4:1-11 In verse 6 we are reintroduced to the four living creatures, the cherubim, full of eyes in front and back. (“Beheld by angels”). In vs 7, they again are portrayed with the four faces, however, each cherubim appears to have one face. In vs 8, they have six wings and are given to continual praise to the Lord God Almighty. In vs 9-10, notice that they are the leaders of all worship, “Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him Who sits on the throne, Who lives forever and forever, (then) the twenty four elders fall down before Him Who sits on the throne and worship Him.....”
And take special note of verse 11. Why is the Lord worthy to receive glory and honor and power? Because “You created all things and by Your will they exist and were created.”
So it appears that the cherubim, the living creatures, are the protectors of creation. They are the manifestation of the Glory of the Invisible God of Creation. They are busy provoking God’s people to praise and adore the One Who created all things. Give Him Glory–that is the ministry and the message of the Glorious cherubim. We must heed the message of the cherubim. Our God’s plan is to restore all creation to its Glorious purpose–to be the showcase of the Glorious Worship of our God Who is Lord of heaven and earth.
Seen by Angels Part 1
I. The Importance of this third element:
A. Notice the Holy Spirit’s placement of this third aspect of Godliness. While we may not think the “angelic vision” is a big deal, it is quite plain that the Holy Spirit does. First was God come in the flesh. Second was His justification/vindication in the Spirit. We get the importance of those two at the head of the list. But Angels? And that before the preaching the Gospel to the nations or even the belief of it in the world? I think our perspective shows our shortsightedness and our being swayed by current “egocentric” gospel. As we explore further, we will see that Godliness is more than just about us!!!
B. Isaiah 37:16 “O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwells between the cherubim, thou art the God, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: You have made heaven and earth.” This alone should cause us to ponder and wonder at this angelic significance. That God should condescend to dwell between the cherubim indicates they play an important part in His revelation of His purposes and His Glory. See also II Sam. 6:2; I Chron. 13:6; Ps 80:1; Isa. 37:16
II. “Cherubim”, the first “angelic being “ mentioned in scripture:
The origin of the word is in doubt, however, there seems to be agreement that the root idea is “one who is near to God, ministers to Him, and one who is admitted into His Presence.”
Genesis 3:24 “So He (Lord God) drove man out the garden; and He placed cherubim (plural) at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.” They were the protectors of God’s “Glory Garden” and the way to the Life of Glory.
Ezekiel 28:11-19 In this mysterious, disputed, confusing passage, we see God’s words transition from the “king of Tyre” to the “anointed cherub that covers” and back again to the “king of Tyre.” The text seems to follow the model of Gen. 3 where Satan appears in the form of a serpent. We know that there was more going on in Genesis than a beautiful snake with a bad idea! We don’t plan to explore this anointed cherub to the “Lucifer” of Isaiah. We only seek information about cherubim in general. Our only interest in this text in this study is first found in vs. 13, “You were in Eden, the garden of God. This text would seem to give us the idea that the cherubim were active in the Garden of Eden before the fall. We shall see, in further passages that they are usually linked with the Creation. Also, in this verse, we see that the anointed cherub was a created being as all angelic beings are.
Exodus: Cherubim, or cherub occur 17 times in Exodus, all mentions are in the construction of the tabernacle, either on the beautifully embroidered curtains of the Most Holy Place, or of the two gold cherubs on the Mercy Seat. This incredible room typifies the Most Holy Presence and apart from the Ark and its contents which signify Creations Redeemer, the dominating presence is that fo the Cherubim!!!
Numbers 7:89 God spoke to Moses in the tabernacle of meeting, “He heard the Voice of One speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the Mercy Seat that was on the Ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubim; thus He spoke to him.”
II Samuel 22:11 In the song of David, David says of God, “He rode upon a cherub, and flew; And He was seen (flew) upon the wings of the wind.”
I Chronicles 28:18 follows up this poetic picture of God & cherubim in the construction of Solomon’s temple. Here is this mysterious phrase, “refined gold....for the construction of the chariot, that is, the gold cherubim that spread their wings and overshadowed the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD.” Those two cherubs are God’s Chariot! In many passages, especially in Ezekiel, the Glory of God appears immediately above the cherubim, as though the cherubim are the Chariot of the Glory of God. (An interesting sidelight is 28:11-14. David gave to Solomon all the plans for the temple which the Holy Spirit had given him, and also all the gold and silver to be used for all the articles in the temple.) An intriguing text to ponder is II Kings 2:11. Elijah was taken up into heaven in what appeared to be a chariot of fire!!!
I Kings 6:12-8:7 In the account of the building of Solomon’s temple, there are 20 occurrences. Remember, this temple is permanent, unlike the “portable” tabernacle in the wilderness.
I Kings 6:23-28 For the “inner sanctuary”, Solomon made two giant angels (15') whose touching wingspan touched each other in the middle of the room, carved from olive wood covered in gold. Vs 29-35 The walls (no longer tapestries or curtains, but carved wood) on both the inner and outer sanctuaries and the doors were “carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, covered with gold. Beloved, this isn’t some novelty. This is the witness of the Holy Spirit for He gave these plans to David! (I Chron. 28:11-12)
III. Cherubim and Creation–Ezekiel: Here’s where it gets really interesting!
Ezekiel 1:1 “I saw visions of God.” And what is recorded next? The four living creatures. They each have four faces, a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle. (Many link these faces with the portrayal of the Redeemer Creator in the four Gospels) They also had four wings with the hands of a man under the wings. Now notice 1:24 “ when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise fo many waters, like the Voice of the Almighty.” Revelation 1:15 Of the Son of Man, “and His Voice as the sound of many waters.”
Ezekiel 1:26-28 Above the heads of the four living creatures appears a throne and on the throne was the likeness of a man. “This was the likeness of the glory of the LORD.” Keep in mind this appearance of the Glory of God is above the cherubim, the chariot of God.
Ezekiel 3:23 God sends Ezekiel into the plain to talk to him and he sees the Glory of the LORD in the same manner as the vision by the river Chebar. The vision is the same as chapter 1, no need to repeat it.
Ezekiel 8 As he is with the elders of Judah, he sees another vision, this time of God provoked to Jealousy by the Idolatry of the people, “and behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision I saw in the plain.” The same fiery vision of the Glory of God above the fiery cherubim. Vs 5-10 could serve as a preface to Paul’s words in Romans 1:18-23. The issue is turning from the Glory of their Creator God to worship images of animals. This animalistic image of jealousy was right at the entdrance to the temple.
Ezekiel 9:3 “Now the Glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple.”
Ezekiel 10: Because of all in chapters 8-9, we have an extensive appearance of the cherubim. This is the removal of the Glory of the LORD and notice the identification of the cherubim with God’s Glory and their active participation in the judgement of the idolaters and the removal of the Glory of God from the temple.
IV. The cherubim and Creation restored:
Ezekiel 40-44: Ezekiels vision of the temple. Perhaps the Old testament rendering of John’s glorious vision of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21. This temple is huge.
Ezekiel 41:1-25 The cherubim have a significant difference. The description of the walls and doors are like Solomon’s temple with one glaring difference! Vs 18-19 “Each cherub had two faces, so that the face of a man was toward a palm tree on one side, and the face of a young lion toward a palm tree on the other side; thus it was made throughout the temple all around.” Only two faces!! That of the Lion of the tribe of Judah is the Son of Man–The Creator is Creations Redeemer and He receives all of Creations Glory!
Ezekiel 43:1-5 Ezekiel sees the Glory of God come from the east to His temple, His dwelling place. Remember the cherubim protecting the eastern gate to Eden? Now access is restored! The vision was the same that Ezekiel saw by the River Chebar. “And the Glory of the LORD came into the temple (lit. house) by way of the gate which faces toward the east.” (See Lev. 16:14)
Revelation 4:1-11 In verse 6 we are reintroduced to the four living creatures, the cherubim, full of eyes in front and back. (“Beheld by angels”). In vs 7, they again are portrayed with the four faces, however, each cherubim appears to have one face. In vs 8, they have six wings and are given to continual praise to the Lord God Almighty. In vs 9-10, notice that they are the leaders of all worship, “Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him Who sits on the throne, Who lives forever and forever, (then) the twenty four elders fall down before Him Who sits on the throne and worship Him.....”
And take special note of verse 11. Why is the Lord worthy to receive glory and honor and power? Because “You created all things and by Your will they exist and were created.”
So it appears that the cherubim, the living creatures, are the protectors of creation. They are the manifestation of the Glory of the Invisible God of Creation. They are busy provoking God’s people to praise and adore the One Who created all things. Give Him Glory–that is the ministry and the message of the Glorious cherubim. We must heed the message of the cherubim. Our God’s plan is to restore all creation to its Glorious purpose–to be the showcase of the Glorious Worship of our God Who is Lord of heaven and earth.