Welcome back my friend! We are going to continue our exploration of the cherubim. We learned last week that cherubim protect humans from being killed by God’s presence. What do they look like? Where do they dwell in 3rd Heaven? I’m glad you asked! We are going to answer those questions today!
God is Seated Above the Cherubim
We’ve seen the role of cherubim in the earth as protectors of God’s holy presence against sin leaching off humans. What about their roles in 3rd Heaven?
Cherubim are described as guards standing around the throne of God. Not only that, but the throne of God is placed above the cherubim.
“The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!” Psalm 99:1 (ESV)
If you imagine the heavens as layers where you have 1st heaven (earth) as the bottom layer, then 2nd heaven as the middle layer and 3rd heaven as the top layer, you will notice that once again the cherubim are placed between people and God’s presence. Could it be that they are once again guarding us against being devoured by the holiness of God before our sins are cleansed by the blood of Jesus?
Once again, we are free to travel to the throne room of God and rest in his presence because we are covered in the blood of Jesus. In fact we are already there as told to us in Ephesians 2:6 (ESV) “and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” Notice it says “seated” which is indicative of already being there.
Men Who Saw Cherubim
There are 2 men recorded in the Bible as going to 3rd heaven and seeing cherubim: Ezekiel and John. Let’s first take a look at how Ezekiel describe these majestic creations.
Ezekiel’s Description
“As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal. And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot.
And they sparkled like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: their wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went. As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle.
Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies. And each went straight forward.”
So we have a description of 4 creatures standing in a square of sorts. Their wings were touching each other. They have 4 wings, legs that are straight but have calf hooves for feet. Their bodies sparkled like burnished bronze and had human hands. They each have 4 faces: human, lion, ox, and eagle.
Let’s Continue Reading:
“Wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures. And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. And the living creatures darted to and fro, like the appearance of a flash of lightning. Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them. As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl.
And the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went. And their rims were tall and awesome, and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring crystal, spread out above their heads. And under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another. And each creature had two wings covering its body. And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the sound of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army. When they stood still, they let down their wings.
And there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads. When they stood still, they let down their wings. And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.” Ezekiel 1:4-28 (ESV)
Cherubim Description
Next, we see that the 4 living creatures are in tune with the Spirit. They follow the Spirit and go wherever the Spirit goes. Furthermore, we learn that the spirits of the 4 living creatures dwell inside the wheel with a wheel that are beside each of the 4 living creatures. The wheels follow the 4 living creatures and go where they go.
Cherubim are fascinating creations. It goes to show how creative our creator is.
We are going to take a look now at the 4 faces of the cherubim.
“As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle.” Ezekiel 1:10 (ESV)
Cherubim have four faces: human, ox, eagle, and lion. The Hebrew word for faces is also translated as presence. The first time this word is used in the Bible comes from Genesis right after Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit:
“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” Genesis 3:8 (ESV)
That word for presence is the same word for faces in our passage in Ezekiel.
If you think about their faces as being their presence. As in their presence is a lion, eagle, ox, or man. Depending on the circumstances their presence or face changes. Why do I say this? Because of the way John describes them in the book of Revelation. We will dig into that more in a bit, but for now let’s look at the verse that describes their appearance.
“the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight.” Revelation 4:7 (ESV)
The fact that Ezekiel describes cherubim as having four faces, but John describes them as four different living creatures confused me. I, of course, asked the Lord for clarity! Later, I was talking to Brett about this perplexing description, and he suggested that perhaps they are able to change form depending on what is needed. That resonated with my spirit, and I started meditating on the idea that they could change form. Yes, they have four faces at all times. The presence that is needed in a given situation will rise up and lead. It’s like the different parts of our spirit that rise up in different situations. When mercy is needed the part of our spirit that is mercy will lead, or when your ruler leads and you feel righteous passion overflowing from your being.
Ezekiel saw them as having 4 faces because all 4 faces were needed in his vision. While John saw them as 4 independent faces because that is what was required in his vision.
Why 4 different faces or presence? What is the purpose of each face/presence? Here are some of my observations when looking at how the Bible talks about each face.
What does each face or presence represent? I’m glad you asked! We are going to dive into that next week!
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