Letting Christ Transform You From The Inside Out
These purposes include the following:
The main purpose of the Cherubim (four-winged creatures) and Seraphim (six-winged creatures) is to reside near the presence of God, serving, praising and worshipping Him for who He is - the holy one and the majesty of heaven. The seraphim tend to live and dance above the throne of God in his temple; the cherubim tend to reside below the moving sapphire throne of God in the heavens. Cherubim and Seraphim are the primary angels described as having wings. Other types of angels are generally not described with wings.
These six-winged angelic creatures are mentioned in the Book of Isaiah as well as the Book of Revelation. Their main purpose is to reveal God's awe-inspiring majesty to all of creation as they praise and worship God in his temple. They also fulfill any mission God sends them on.
God sent them on a mission to Isaiah, Son of Amos. Here's Isaiah's eyewitness account of his ethereal experience with both God and the seraphim:
In Isaiah 6:1-8 he states, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.
And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
Isaiah is known as one of the greatest prophets of God. He was a humble man who was aware of his sinful tendencies. It is quite possible that he felt unable to serve God because of these. God, who understands our reservations, sent the seraphim to touch Isaiah's mouth with a hot coal from His sacrificial altar and communicate a message to Isaiah that stated he was now cleansed of all his sin. By encouraging Isaiah in this way and showing Isaiah that no sin was too great to forgive, God's seraphim enabled Isaiah to do the following:
We also read about these angelic beings in the Book of Revelation, where the apostle John describes his vision of them:
n Revelation 4:7-9 he says, "The first living creature was like a lion, the second like a calf, the third had a face like a man, and the fourth was like an eagle in flight. And each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around and within. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”” And whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the One seated on the throne who lives forever and ever,the twenty-four elders fall down before the One seated on the throne, and they worship Him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things; by Your will they exist, and came to be.”
Special Note of Interest: Author Madeline L'Engle refers to these creatures in her writings. She has a unique way of presenting them that you might find enjoyable. Her books, "A Wrinkle in Time" and "A Wind in the Door" are great books for young adults as well as older ones.
Cherubim are four-winged angelic creatures who serve God in various ways. They are mentioned in the Bible in various books: the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible), 2 Samuel, Psalms, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Revelation. They guard the way to the Tree of Life, shelter the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, surround and support the throne God, and function as God's chariot. They were created with the stature and hands of a man and the legs of a calf. Each of them has four faces (lion, ox/cherub, eagle, and man). Their bodies are completely covered with eyes!
In Genesis they are given the mission of protecting Adam and Eve from eating from the Tree of Eternal Life, and having to live forever in their fallen state.
Genesis 3:24 states, "After God drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life."
Isaiah 37:16 states that "The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, sits enthroned between the cherubim." (The following scriptures support this fact: 1 Chronicles 13:6; 1 Samuel 4:4; 2 Samuel 6:2; 2 Kings 19:15; PS 80:1; PS 99:1)
Hebrews 9:5 states, "The cherubim of the Glory of the Lord overshadow the place of atonement."
In the Book of Ezekiel (chapter 10) they are connected to very large, sparkling wheels of fire, which also are covered with eyes. Their bodies and wheels link together, in a way resembling a chariot, to support the Glory and Presence of God, sitting on His sapphire throne, as He moves across the heavens. Two of their four wings extend upward (meeting above and sustaining the throne of God) and the other two wings extend downward (covering the cherub itself).
Here is Ezekiel's eyewitness account of the real cherubim.
Ezekiel 10:1-20 – Then I looked, and behold, in the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim something like a sapphire stone, in appearance resembling a throne, appeared above them. And He spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, "Enter between the whirling wheels under the cherubim and fill your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim and scatter them over the city." And he entered in my sight. Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the temple when the man entered, and the cloud filled the inner court. Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub to the threshold of the temple, and the temple was filled with the cloud and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD. Moreover, the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks. 6It came about when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, "Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim," he entered and stood beside a wheel. 7Then the cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire which was between the cherubim, took some and put it into the hands of the one clothed in linen, who took it and went out. 8The cherubim appeared to have the form of a man's hand under their wings. 9Then I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like the gleam of a Tarshish stone. 10As for their appearance, all four of them had the same likeness, as if one wheel were within another wheel. 11When they moved, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went; but they followed in the direction which they faced, without turning as they went. 12Their whole body, their backs, their hands, their wings and the wheels were full of eyes all around, the wheels belonging to all four of them. 13The wheels were called in my hearing, the whirling wheels. 14And each one had four faces. The first face was the face of a cherub, the second face was the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. 15Then the cherubim rose up. They are the living beings that I saw by the river Chebar. 16Now when the cherubim moved, the wheels would go beside them; also when the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels would not turn from beside them. 17When the cherubim stood still, the wheels would stand still; and when they rose up, the wheels would rise with them, for the spirit of the living beings was in them. 18Then the glory of the LORD departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim. 19When the cherubim departed, they lifted their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight with the wheels beside them; and they stood still at the entrance of the east gate of the LORD'S house, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them. These are the living beings that I saw beneath the God of Israel by the river Chebar; so I knew that they were cherubim.
Ezekiel 11:22 – Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, spread their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.
In recalling how the Lord saved him from his enemies, King David states the following:
2 Samuel 22:7,10,11,18 "In my distress I called to the Lord; I called out to my God. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears. ... He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet; He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.... He rescued me from my powerful enemy."
In the Book of Exodus, we get a clear description of the cherubim from God. He gives this to Moses because he has commissioned Moses to build a tent (tabernacle) for him on earth that resembles God's home in heaven. When Moses is finished, this will be where God places his presence amongst his people (Israel) on earth.
The detailed description of the tabernacle is fascinating! However, we will only focus on the latter part of the construction: the Holy of Holies Room, where two of the cherubim will reside. This room is an imitation of the throne room in the Temple of God, where God's presence lives.
Here are God's Instructions to Moses regarding the creation of the wooden cherubim:
Exodus 25:19-22 – Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the Testimony, which I will give you. There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.
Exodus 37:7-9 – Then he made two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. He made one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; at the two ends he made them of one piece with the cover. The cherubim had their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim faced each other, looking toward the cover. 1 Kings 6:24-32 – One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing five cubits--ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip. The second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were identical in size and shape. The height of each cherub was ten cubits. He placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. He overlaid the cherubim with gold. On the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers. He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold. For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood with five-sided jambs. And on the two olive wood doors he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with beaten gold.
2 Chronicles 3:11-12 – The total wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits. One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long and touched the temple wall, while its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the other cherub. Similarly one wing of the second cherub was five cubits long and touched the other temple wall, and its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the first cherub.
Ezekiel 41:18-20 – were carved cherubim and palm trees. Palm trees alternated with cherubim. Each cherub had two faces: the face of a man toward the palm tree on one side and the face of a lion toward the palm tree on the other. They were carved all around the whole temple. From the floor to the area above the entrance, cherubim and palm trees were carved on the wall of the outer sanctuary.
1 Kings 6:24 - 27 also describes the cherubim in a manner similar to the scriptures above.
One third of the original angelic beings chose to rebel against God's good purposes and as a result, they fell from their positions and now wreak havoc on the earth. These rebellious angelic beings are called demons.
The following passage potentially describes Lucifer, who was a cherub before he fell from the heavenly realm to earth.
Ezekiel 28:14 – You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones.
Ezekiel 28:16 – Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.