Photo credit: Jeremy Park, Bible-Scenes.com
In the song Holy, Holy, Holy are the lyrics, “Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Him”. When I was younger, I always depicted the cherubim as the chubby baby angels, and honestly had no idea what the seraphim even were, other than some sort of angel. The only time we see seraphim in the Bible, is the book of Isaiah. In chapter 6, they are describe as standing over Adonai, having six wings. Two for covering his face, two for covering his feet and two for flying. They cry out, “More holy than the holiest holiness is Adonai-Tzva’ot! The whole earth is filled with his glory!” (Isaiah 6:2-3) It is the seraphim that takes the glowing coal from the alter with the tongs, touching it to Isaiah’s mouth. The Ancient Hebrew Lexicon defines seraphim as “A supernatural creature, possibly a winged serpent or a dragon”. The Hebrew letters Samekh, Reyesh and Pey make up the word Seraphim and literally means “to burn or consume by fire.” It is no wonder that this is the angel that took the coal from the altar, burning away Isaiah’s sin. Seraphim (to burn or consume by fire) has a numeric value of 340 as does “to watch or guard; to keep or observe; to hide away”, and “King of Exaltation”.
On the other hand, the cherubim, we see multiple times throughout scripture. In fact, Lucifer himself is said to have been a cherub. Ezekiel 28 tells of Lucifer’s fall, and in verses 12-16, specifically about him being a cherub.
[12] You put the seal on perfection; you were full of wisdom and perfect in beauty; [13] you were in ‘Eden, the garden of God; covered with all kinds of precious stones – carnelians, topaz, diamonds, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphires, green feldspar, emeralds; your pendants and jewels were made of gold, prepared the day you were created. [14] You were a keruv (cherub), protecting a large region; I placed you on God’s holy mountain. You walked back and forth among stones of fire. [15] You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, until unrighteousness was found in you. [16] When your commerce grew, you became filled with violence; and in this way you sinned. Therefore, I have thrown you out, defiled, from the mountain of God; I have destroyed you, protecting keruv, from among the stones of fire.
There are a couple of things that I find interesting concerning these scriptures. First, Lucifer was in the garden of Eden; he was a protector. And second, the list of stones that is listed that covered him. I recently read in a book by Perry Stone that this is the exact list of stones that were to put on the breastplate of the high priest, minus three.
[17] Put on it settings of stones, four rows of stones: the first row is to be a carnelian, a topaz, and an emerald; [18] the second row a green feldspar, a sapphire, and a diamond; [19] the third row and orange zircon, and agate, and an amethyst; [20] and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They are to be mounted in their gold settings. [21] The stones will correspond to the names of the twelve sons of Isra’el’ they are to be engraved with their names as a seal would be engraved, to represent the twelve tribes. Exodus 28:17-21
The KJV lists the three stones that are in the breastplate but not mentioned in Ezekiel as “ligure, agate, and amethyst”. The tribes of Gad, Asher and Issachar are represented by these three stones. To read more about the missing stones, and scripture references, click here.
After Lucifer’s fall and all was stripped from him, we see new life within the garden, Adam and Eve. While we do not know the exact amount it time from when Adonai told them not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil to Satan slithering in on his belly with temptation, we know the result. Banishment, a curse upon mankind, the earth and Satan himself.
[22] Adonai, God, said, “See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, to prevent his putting out his hand and taking also from the tree of life, eating, and living forever –“ [23] therefore Adonai, God, sent him out of the garden of ‘Eden to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. [24] So he drove the man out, and he placed at the east of the garden of ‘Eden the k’ruvim and a flaming sword which turned in every direction to guard the way to the tree of life. Genesis 3:22-24
Definitely not a chubby, baby angel. Perry Stone’s commentary on these verses states, “Angels guard the Tree of Life to prevent the fallen couple from eating of the tree and living forever in a sinful condition. This section is the first reference to cherubim. The cherubim are special angelic guardians of holy things and of the presence of God.”
A guardian of holy things, a flaming sword, God meant business when He wanted that tree protected. In the book of Revelation, it was written to the church in Ephesus, “Those who have ears, let them hear what the Spirit is saying to the Messianic communities. To him winning the victory I will give the right to eat from the Tree of Life which is in God’s Gan-‘Eden.” Revelation 2:7 This is a tree that at the end of my race, by having eternal life in Yeshua, I will be given the right to eat from. The Complete Jewish Study Bible states, “To eat from the Tree of Life means to have eternal life. Genesis 2:9; 3:22, 24 reveal that this was true in the original Gan-‘Eden (Garden of Eden). This is also true in God’s Gan-‘Eden, or the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:1; 22:2, 14, 19). In the Tanakh, the term “tree of life” is used I Proverbs 3:18; 11:30; 13:12; 15:4 to describe wisdom, the fruit of righteousness, desire fulfilled, and a wholesome tongue – all which may be seen as aspects of eternal life.”
When I broke down the individual Hebrew letters of the word k’ruvim, I saw that they literally from the picture of an angelic guardian. It is spelled כ(Kaf), ר(Reysh), ו (Vav), and ב (Bet). כרוב (remember, Hebrew is read right to left)
Kaf- To Cover
Reysh – The Highest
Vav – (it’s symbol is a hook or a nail) connecting
Bet – The house of or, what is inside the covenant/within
The cherubim cover the highest, and what’s inside His house or tabernacle.
In Exodus, we find this to be literal as they are throughout the instructions given to Moses concerning the Tabernacle.
[17] You are to make a cover for the ark out of pure gold; it is to be three-and-three-quarters feet long and two-and-a-quarter feet wide. [18] You are to make two k’ruvim (Cherubs) of gold. Make them of hammered work for the two ends of the ark-cover. [19] Make one Keruv for one end and one keruv for the other end; Make the k’ruvim of one piece with the ark over at its two ends. [20] The k’ruvim will have their wings spread out above, so that their wings cover the ark, and their faces are toward each other and toward the ark-cover. [21] You are to put the ark-cover on top of the ark. “Inside the ark you will put the testimony that I am about to give you. [22] There I will meet with you. I will speak to you from above the ark cover, from between the two k’ruvim which are on the ark for the testimony, about all the orders I am giving you for the people of Isra’el.” Exodus 25:17-22
You are to make the tabernacle with ten sheets of finely woven linen and with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn. You are to make them with k’ruvim worked in, that have been crafted by a skilled artisan. Exodus 26:1
You are to make a curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and finely woven linen. Make it with k’ruvim worked in, that have been created by a skilled artisan. Exodus 26:31 (This is the curtain that would hang between the Holy Place and the Especially or Most Holy Place).
The wall, the curtain, and the ark covering were all guarded with the image of the cherubim. I can not help but think that this was to serve as a reminder of the sacredness and the holiness of the things of God, and what was being guarded within the Garden of Eden. Numbers 7:89 tells us that just as He said He would, Moses “heard the voice speaking to him from above the ark-cover from between the two k’ruvim; and he spoke to him.”
During Solomon's reign, he decided to build a permanent tabernacle, the temple, in Jerusalem. Again, we see the cherubim throughout the temple just as in the tabernacle.
[23] Inside the sanctuary he made two k’ruvim of olive-wood, each seventeen-and-a-half feet high. [24] Each of the two wings of one of the k’ruvim was eight-and-three quarters feet long, so that the distance from the end of one wing to the end of the other was seventeen-and-a-half feet. [25] Likewise the [wingspread of the] other keruv was seventeen-and-a-half feet; both k’ruvim were identical I shape and size. [26] The height of the one keruv was seventeen-and-a-half feet, likewise that of the other. [27] He set the K’ruvim in the inner house; the wings of the k’ruvim were stretched out, so that the wing of the one touched each other in the middle of the house. [28] He overlaid the k’rumim with gold. [29] All around the walls of the house, both inside the sanctuary and outside it, he carved figures of k’ruvim, palm trees and open flowers. [20] He overlaid the floor of the house with gold, both inside the sanctuary and outside it. [31] For the entrance to the sanctuary he made doors of olive-wood, set within a five-sided door-frame. [32] On the two olive-wood doors he carved figures of k’ruvim, palm trees and open flowers. He overlaid the doors with gold, forcing the gold into the shapes of the k’ruvim and palm trees as well. [33] For the entrance to the Temple he also made doorposts of olive-wood, set within a rectangular door-frame, [34] and two doors of cypress-wood; the two leaves of the one door were folding, as were the two leaves of the other. [35] On them he carved k’ruvim, palm trees and open flowers, overlaying them with the gold fitted to the carved work.
Cherubim are spoken of in Psalm 99:1, Adonai is king; let the peoples tremble. He sits enthroned on the k’ruvim; let the earth shake! The psalm continues to speak of the majesty and greatness of God and His works in the time of Moses, ending with verse 9 saying, “Exalt Adonai our God, bow down toward his holy mountain, for Adonai our God is holy!”
Perhaps the most intriguing scriptures pertaining to the cherubim is found in the book of Ezekiel. While he did his best to describe them, his account still shows that the things of glory are hard to put into human words and descriptions.
[5] Inside, there appeared to be four living creatures that looked like human beings; [6] but each one had four faces and four wings. [7] Their legs were straight, with feet like calves’ hoofs. They glittered like burnished bronze. [8] Beneath their wings they had human hands on their four sides. The four of them had faces and wings as follows: [9] they touched one another with their wings; they did not turn when they moved, but each one moved straight forward; [10] as for the appearance of their faces, they had human faces [in front], each of the four had a lion’s face on the right, each of the four had a bull’s face on the left, and each of the four had an eagle’s face [toward the rear] [11] thus their faces. As for their wings, each had two that stretched upward and joined those of others, and two more that covered their bodies. [12] Each [living creature] moved in the direction of any of its faces; in whichever direction the spirit wanted to go, they went, without turning as they moved [13] thus the appearance of the living creatures. With them was something that looked like fiery coals burning the way torches do, with the fire flashing here and there between the living creatures; the fire had a brilliance, and out of the fire went lightning. [14] The living creatures kept speeding here and there like flashes of lightning. [15] As I gazed at the living creatures, I saw wheels on the ground, one next to each of the four-faced living creatures. [16] All four wheels looked the same: their inner parts gleamed like beryl, and their structure seemed to be that of a wheel inside a wheel. Ezekiel 1:5-16
Ezekiel would have other visions in which he would see the cherubim. Chapter 10 holds a vision in great detail, in which he sees a man clothed in linen who is told to “Go in between the wheels under the k’ruvim, fill both your hands with fiery coals from between the k’ruvim, and throw them on the city.” (Ezekiel 10:2) It is in this chapter that Ezekiel expands on his description of the k’ruvim saying in verse 12, “Their whole bodies, including their backs, hands and wings, and also the wheels were full of eyes all around – even the wheels of the four k’ruvim.” This description is similar to John’s account in Revelation 4:6-8, [6] In front of the throne was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living beings covered with eyes in front and behind. [7] The first living being was like a lion, the second living being was like an ox, the third living being had a face that looked human, and the fourth living being was like a flying eagle. [8] Each of the four living beings had six wings and was covered with eyes inside and out; and day and night they never stop saying, “Holy, holy, holy is Adonai, God of heaven’s armies, the One who was, who is and who is coming!”
In Herews 9:5 it reads, “and above it were the k’ruvim representing the Sh’khinah (Shekinah), casting their shadow on the lid of the Ark”. While watching a teaching on David’s Tabernacle by Perry Stone, he mentioned something that I do not think that I will ever forget. He described that the flooring would have been made of white limestone, and that as the sunlight would come through the top of the tabernacle it would cast the shadow of the wings of the cherubim onto the white floor. While he was not able to touch the ark itself, David was able to stand within the shadow of its wings. Perhaps this is where his prayer in Psalm 17 may have come as verse 8 says, Protect me like the pupil of your eye, hide me in the shadow of your wings.
Cherubim has a numeric value of 228. As I started looking at other words and phrases that equal 228, I was once again amazed at what I found, in fact with one of them I was downright shocked.
228
Light of Yah – This made me think of both Ezekiel and John’s description of the cherubim.
Yah is a shelter – I instantly thought of Psalm 17:8 and “The shadow of your wings”.
To roast, to catch, seize, to singe, to burn – Ezekiel 10 brings this to life with the fiery coals from beneath the cherubim.
TREE OF LIFE – The very thing in which we first are introduced to the Cherubim. The tree that is guarded and protected by the angelic guardian.
While I may never grasp or be able to understand the depths of the descriptions of the cherubim, it is enough to know that they are amazing beings, charged by God as guardians. Of all the things I have read concerning the cherubim, the most profound comes from The Book of Mysteries by Johnathan Cahn. He states, “The cherubim formed the barrier to prevent evil, sin, fallen man, from entering the presence of God. So, the sign of the cherubim represents everything that separates us from God, everything that separates us from peace, purpose, meaning, and love.” He then brings up the supernatural event that took place at the death of Messiah, when the veil that separated the holy place from the holy of holies was torn from top to bottom. He goes on to say, “Yes, the parochet, the colossal barrier that separated man from God, torn apart from top to bottom. But the parochet was not simply a cloth, but the vessel of a mystery. Embroidered on its fabric were images of the cherubim…the guardians of Eden, still guarding the way back to God, and the barrier separating man from God. But when Messiah dies, the sign of the cherubim separating man from God was pulled apart. As the veil was pulled apart, so too were the cherubim. For Messiah was passing through…as through the cherubim…the return to paradise.” Yeshua, Jesus has made it possible for us to come before a holy God, the sacrifice that enables us to no longer be separated from our Creator. The cherubim cry “Holy, holy, holy, is Adonai, God of heaven’s armies! The one who was, who is, and who is coming!” So too, should we offer this kind of worship before the King of Glory. Spirit, and truth; the Father seeks such to worship Him.
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