Cherubims
Genesis 3:24, "So he drave out the man; and he
placed at the east of
the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword
which turned every
way, to keep the way of the tree of life."
Exodus 25:18 20, "And thou shalt make two cherubims
of gold, of beaten
work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the
mercy seat. And make
one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on
the other end: even
of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the
two ends thereof.
And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on
high, covering the
mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall
look one to another;
toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the
cherubims be."
Ezekiel 10:20 22, "This is the living creature that
I saw under the God
of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew they were
the cherubims. Every
one had four faces apiece, and every one four wings;
and the likeness of
the hands of a man was under their wings. And the
likeness of their
faces was the same faces which I saw by the river of
Chebar, their
appearances and themselves: they went every one
straight forward."
When Ezekiel identified the "cherubims" as being the
"living
creatures," he also connected them by biblical
description to the
seraphims of Isaiah's vision (chapter 6) and the
"four beasts" that John
described in Revelation chapter 4. One thing the
cherubims, living
creatures, seraphims, and four beasts all had in
common was they carried
the messages of God and declared the holiness and
glory of God. They
were in fact God's messengers. Through the ages
different ones have as
messengers carried the messages of God. Angels have
carried messages,
such as the angels that appeared to Mary and Joseph
and Zacharias and to
the apostle John. The word "angel" literally means
"messenger." In
addition, during the Old Testament days God sent his
messages by means
of prophets. These prophets (messengers) had
messages from God to
deliver to the people and they faithfully delivered
them. In this New
Testament day we have had prophets, apostles,
evangelists, and pastors
and teachers who carried the messages of God to the
people.
When God drove man from the garden of Eden, he
placed at the east of
Eden Cherubims and a flaming sword which turned
every way to keep the
way of the tree of life. These cherubims as God's
messengers no doubt
declared the justice of God and man's unfitness
because of sin and
inability to return to partake of the tree of life.
The flaming sword of
God's justice also turned every way to prevent man's
return.
The two cherubims in the holy place had their wings
stretched forth
from one end of the Holy place to the other end and
their faces turned
inward to view the ark of the covenant and the mercy
seat. Typically,
the ark of the covenant was a figure of Jesus
Christ. The ark contained
the two tables of stone which had inscribed the
covenant of ten
commandments, a measure of manna, which was typical
of God's word, and
Aaron's rod that budded, which was typical of life
from the dead or a
resurrection. Thus in type we see Jesus Christ keep
the commandments of
God to a jot and tittle, live by every word that
proceeded from the
mouth of God, die on the cross for our sins and on
the third day rise
again.
It is on the basis of
Christ's work that we have mercy of God.
The two cherubims then would typically represent
God's messengers both
in the old and New Testament looking on and
declaring God's mercy
through Christ's finished work.
The cherubims, living creatures, and four beasts are
all described as
having four faces. One face is the face of a lion,
the next was a face
of an ox, the third a face of a man, and the fourth
a face of an eagle.
While on the one hand this describes the character
of God's messengers,
it also describes the message of God's messengers.
First, the character
of God's messengers is such that they must be "bold"
as a "lion." They
are called on to be courageous and bold in the face
of great opposition
and persecution. Second they are to be "laborers" as
an "ox." The
scripture compares them to oxen thusly, "Thou shalt
not mussel the mouth
of the ox that treadeth out the corn." Next they are
but "men" having
all the frailties and imperfections of men. They are
subject to the same
temptations as the flocks they shepherd. They are
not to be worshiped
or exalted as God nor or they to be treated as dogs.
Fourth, they are to
soar as "eagles" rising up above the plain of this
life while they
meditate upon the things of God and God's word and
while they preach the
unsearchable riches of Christ.
The message of God's messengers also answers to the
four faces in the
four gospels. Matthew shows Christ as the "lion"
(king) of his kingdom.
The main theme of Matthew is the "kingdom of God"
and Christ as the
king. The book of Mark shows forth Christ in his
labors as an "ox"
laboring in the field. The key word in Mark is the
word, "and," showing continuous activity. The book of Luke shows Christ
as a "man." It has
the details of Christ's birth and his early life.
More details of Christ
as a man are given in Luke than in the other
gospels. Finally, the book
of John gives us an "eagles" eye view of Christ as
it begins with his deity before the world begins. It causes us to soar
as we view him as
the God that is (the great I AM).
When the cherubims, living creatures, seraphims, and
four beasts gave
glory and honor to God those to whom the message
came also gave glory to
God. In Isaiah 6, the seraphims cried "Holy, holy,
holy, is the Lord of
hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory." This
message along with
what Isaiah saw and experienced caused him to see
himself as a condemned
sinful man, but then the seraphim laid a live coal
from off the altar
upon Isaiah's lips saying "this hath touched thy
lips; and thine
iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged."
This is typical of the
gospel ministry declaring Christ's work at the cross
redeeming us from our sins, thus making our hearts
glad and causing us to praise God. Revelation 4:9
11, "And when those beasts give glory and honor and
thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for
ever and ever, The
four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat
on the throne, and
worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast
their crowns before
the throne saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to
receive glory and honour
and power: for thou hast created all things, and for
thy pleasure they
are and were created."
I AM - The God That
Is
Exo. 3:13, 14, "And Moses said unto God, Behold,
when I come unto the
children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God
of your fathers
hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me,
What is his name? What
shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM
THAT I AM: and he
said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of
Israel, I AM hath sent me
unto you."
One of the names for
God the children of Israel knew him by was "I
AM." The term, I AM, indicates an unchanging ever
present God. A God
that is "the same yesterday, to day, and for ever."
When Jesus told some
unbelieving Jews in John 8:58, "Verily, verily, I
say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am," they knew
he was claiming to be
the great "I AM" and thus took up stones to cast at
him.
The gospel of John
presents a picture to us of Jesus as being the great
"I AM." Jesus referred to himself as I am the ____
in eight different
ways as follows:
1. I am the light of
the world (John 8:12; 9:5).
2. I am the bread of life (John 6:35).
3. I am the good shepherd (John 10:11, 14).
4. I am the door of the sheep (John 10:7).
5. I am the door (John 10:9).
6. I am the resurrection and the life (John 11:25).
7. I am the way, the truth, and the life (John
14:6).
8. I am the true vine (John 15:1).
First Jesus said, "I
am the light of the world." It is a particular
world that Jesus is the light of. He is not the
light of the world of
darkness, nor of the world of iniquity, nor is he
the natural light of
the natural world (He created the sun, moon, and
stars for that
purpose). He is, however, the light of the spiritual
world. To see
takes eyes and light. Without either it is
impossible to see. When a
person is born again he receives spiritual eyesight
and Jesus becomes
his light (that which manifests) and he is able to
perceive spiritual
things (I Cor. 2:9 14). Jesus in his life has made
manifest to us thru
his word everything that is good!
Second, Jesus said, "I
am the bread of life." We don't normally think
of bread as something that gives life, but something
that sustains life
or gives sustenance to life. When we eat natural
bread it may satisfy
our appetite for a little while, but after a while
we hunger again, thus
we eat more. However, the bread that Jesus is, is
something we eat and
satisfies our hunger so that we never need hunger
again. When I came to
realize that Jesus has saved me from my sins by his
finished work at the
cross, I have never had to hunger for another
savior. I am satisfied he
saved me and I no longer need or desire another
savior. This bread of
life (Jesus) satisfies me.
Third, Jesus said, "I
am the good shepherd." As the good shepherd he
gave his life for the sheep. Jesus is also called
the "great shepherd"
of the sheep. There have been many down thru the
ages who have given
their lives that others might live. Not one of them,
however, ever
redeemed one person from even one single sin! Jesus,
by being the good
shepherd manifests his love for the sheep, and by
being the great
shepherd, manifests his ability to save them. The
fact that he is my
shepherd makes these thoughts precious.
Fourth, Jesus said, "I
am the door of the sheep." He also said, "All
that ever come before me are thieves and robbers:
but the sheep did not
hear them." Thus Jesus is our eternal security. We
are preserved in
him. No one can touch our eternal life for they must
go thru the door
(Jesus) to get to us and this is impossible. Aren't
you glad that your
eternal life is preserved and secure in Jesus
Christ?
Fifth, Jesus said, "I
am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall
be saved, and shall go in and out, and find
pasture." A distinction is
made between this door and the previous door. The
previous door speaks
of Jesus as our eternal security and preservation.
This door speaks to
us of the kingdom of heaven, i.e., the church
kingdom on earth. It is
thru the finished work of Jesus and our obedience to
his word that we
are saved from a condemning conscience as taught in
I Pet. 3:21, "The
like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now
save us (not the
putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the
answer of a good
conscience toward God, ) by the resurrection of
Jesus Christ." Also
thru the completed work of Jesus and his word, we
are fed of this
spiritual food thru the preaching of the gospel and
thru reading and
studying God's word.
Sixth, Jesus said, "I
am the resurrection and the life." Death is a
reality we all face. Yet, it is not the end of all
things, but only a
passageway, thanks to Jesus. Jesus himself died on
Calvary's cruel
cross, yet three days later he arose a victor over
death, never to die
again. He has the power over death. When we think of
death usually it
is the death of the body we are thinking about. Yet
the scriptures say,
You hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses
and sins. When we
were dead (absent of spiritual life) God quickened
(gave spiritual life)
us as we read in John 5:25, "Verily, verily I say
unto you, the hour is
coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the
voice of the son of God,
and they that hear shall live." Both the new birth
and the resurrection of our bodies are "life from the dead" by the power
of Jesus who is the
"resurrection and the life."
Seventh, Jesus said,
"I am the way, the truth, and the life." "There
is none other name under heaven given among men
whereby we must be
saved." Jesus is "the way" of salvation. It is
because he is "the
truth" personified that he was a fit savior, for he
was holy, harmless,
undefiled, and separate from sinners, who kept the
law to a jot and a
tittle and thus became the only savior of sinners.
It is because he is
"the way" and "the truth" that he is "the life"
giving us eternal life.
Eight, Jesus said, "I
am the true vine and my Father is the husbandman."
He also said, "I am the vine and ye are the
branches." It is only as we abide in him, his love,
his words, and his commandments that we as the
branches (his disciples) can bring forth fruit to
the glory of God. Jesus said, "Without me ye can do
nothing." We are dependant on him to do anything
godly and good in his sight. As "the vine" he
supplies all we need to be fruitful. His
chastisement purges us that we may be even more
fruitful.
In each of these
things that Jesus said "I AM" there is a present
reality of the presence of God manifests towards us
that gives us hope
and consolation as we live our present lives. Jesus
truly is "the God
that is.