The King's Sceptre

There is a strong correlation in the scriptures between the color or metal, gold, and the subject of kings or kingdoms. Fourteen times in the Old Testament the word, sceptre is used to indicate a rod representing the authority of the King. One time in the New Testament it is used to represent the authority of Jesus Christ, our King.

Gold is associated with the sceptre in the case of the Medo-Persian King Ahasuerus:

1. Est. 4:11 "All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days."
2. Est. 5:2 "And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre."
3. Est. 8:4 "Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king,"

The law was that the person who dared come before the king without having been called was to be put to death. The exception was that the person would be given mercy and not put to death if the king held out the golden sceptre. In the above case, Esther, the queen went into the king's presence and the king held out the golden sceptre and Esther's life was spared.

The sceptre was sometimes used in the Old Testament to testify of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and thus that he was coming as a King with authority:

1. Gen. 49:10 "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be."
2. Num. 24:17 "I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth."
3. Ps. 45:6 "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. 7 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. 8 All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad."
Ps. 45:6 is quoted in Heb. 1:8 "But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom." This leaves us no doubt that the Lord Jesus Christ has a kingdom and that he reigns with authority in that kingdom. He is the possessor of the true "golden sceptre" of the kingdom of God. He reigns and rules in righteousness.

The King's Queen and Daughters

There is a strong correlation in the scriptures between the color or metal, gold, and the subject of kings or kingdoms.

The following passage of scripture associates the bride of the king (queen) and his daughters with gold:

Ps. 45:6 "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. 7 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. 8 All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad. 9 Kings' daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir. 10 Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house; 11 So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him. 12 And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall entreat thy favour. 13 The king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold. 14 She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee. 15 With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king's palace."

Notice that this passage among other things speaks of the bride of the King, i.e., the Queen, and the daughters of the King. They are both spoken of as having been clothed with gold. As God's covenant people we have two relationships or positions with Christ: we are his bride and we are his offspring. We are his bride in that he has brought us into a covenant relationship with him:

1. John 3:29 "He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled."
2. Rev. 21:2 "And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."
3. Rev. 21:9 "And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife."
4. Rev. 22:17 "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."
5. Eph. 5:25 "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: 30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones."

Therefore, we conclude that as Christ is the King, his bride, his covenant people, are the Queen that is dressed in gold as the bride of the King.

Next, we note that we are also the offspring of the King and thus his daughters:

1. Mat. 21:5 "Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass."
2. John 12:15 "Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt."
3. 2 Cor. 6:18 "And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."
4. 1 Pet. 3:6 "Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement."

We are the bride of Christ by covenant relationship and we are the daughters of Christ by spiritual birth. We are also his daughters by adoption. As the bride of Christ and as the daughters of Christ we are brought into a relationship with the King of Glory and are clothed with the King's clothing (gold).

The King's Witnesses

There is a strong correlation in the scriptures between the bible color or metal, gold, and the subject of kings or kingdoms.

In the tabernacle in the wilderness and later in the temple there were two cherubims located within the most holy place. In the tabernacle these two cherubims were made of beaten gold. In the temple the two cherubims were overlaid with gold. Thus, in both places, the cherubims were being associated with the king. In our study of numbers we proved that the number two is associated with the bible subject of witness.

Further, the cherubims are associated with the subject of witness in the tenth chapter of the book of Ezekiel. There were four cherubims each with four wheels. The four cherubims are typical of the gospel ministry of this New Testament age. The gospel ministers are witnesses of the grace of Christ and of the wonderful works and deeds of the Lord Jesus Christ our and their King.

In the tabernacle and in the temple the Lord is said to dwell between the cherubims:

1. 1 Sam. 4:4 "So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God."
2. 2 Sam. 6:2 "And David arose, and went with all the people that were with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the LORD of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims."
3. 2 Ki. 19:15 "And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth."
4. 1 Chr. 13:6 "And David went up, and all Israel, to Baalah, that is, to Kirjathjearim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up thence the ark of God the LORD, that dwelleth between the cherubims, whose name is called on it."
5. Ps. 80:1 "To the chief Musician upon Shoshannimeduth, A Psalm of Asaph. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth."
6. Ps. 99:1 "The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved."
7. Isa. 37:16 "O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth."

Since the wings of the cherubims stretched from one wall to the other wall and a wing of each cherub touched a wing of the other cherub in the middle, it can be asserted that the phrase, "dwelleth between the cherubims," could also mean dwelleth underneath the wings of the cherubims.

We have a two-fold witness of God's mercy and of his covenant work and of his sacrificial atonement. The cherubims overshadowed the mercy seat. The blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled on the mercy seat. The mercy seat was founded upon the ark of the covenant. The two fold witnesses we have of the God's mercy, of his atoning blood, and of his covenant work are the Old Testament and the New Testament.

The cherubims had their faces inward: Ex. 25:18 "…and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be." The Old Testament looks forward to the sacrificial atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the subsequent mercy manifest therefore. This all having been done according to God's covenant counsel. The New Testament looks back upon the Lord Jesus Christ and of the mercy accruing thereof and all of this being accomplished by the covenant work of Jesus Christ.

The wings of the cherubims stretched forth from one wall to the other wall: 1 Kings 6:27 "And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house." The testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ given unto us in the Old Testament and in the New Testament stretches from before the foundation of the world unto the Glory World, when time shall be no more.
The wings of the cherubims also touched one another. Multitudes of prophecies of the Lord are given to us in the Old Testament and subsequently are pointed out to us in the New Testament. Additionally, the Old Testament testifies to us of the need of a Saviour and the New Testament testifies to us of the One who saved us. Thus they touch one another.

The LORD (meaning Jehovah) of host dwelled between the cherubims. It is interesting that Jesus Christ (Jehovah) appeared as a man on the earth to redeem his people between the writing of the Old Testament and the New Testament. He appeared between the cherubims.

The two cherubims had a total of four wings and they stretched forth their wings on high. Four is the bible number associated with the subject of the work of the Holy Spirit. According to the scriptures, "holy men spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." Also, "all scripture is given by inspiration of God…" Therefore, we see the testimony of the Old Testament and of the New Testament was given to us under the direction and leadership of the Holy Spirit.

The Lord spoke from between the cherubims: Num. 7:89 "And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims: and he spake unto him." Things are even better today as the Lord often speaks to us through the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments and especially through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Finally, the cherubims in the tabernacle were made of gold of beaten work. The cherubims in the temple were made from wood of Olive tree and overlaid with gold. This shows forth a two-fold nature. Men wrote the Old and New Testaments. Yet, men wrote the Old and New Testaments under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. The Old and New Testaments are King Jesus' testimony to His people: " All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."