Cherubim: The Guards of Eden (Angels & Demons Explained)

sometimes considered to be the highest form of the Angelic beings the cherubim are occasionally scattered throughout scripture and appear to take on a varied set of roles the cherubim or in their singular form cherub were considered to be the Angelic Servants of God those who perform Divine duties upon the Earth and set about to ensure his will was being carried out but primarily the occupation far preceded the antics of man where they were initially thought to have been created by God to guard the gates of Eden we've all likely seen the cherubim from Western Christian artwork where they appear to be small plump boys with wings sometimes even babies that hover around the clouds looking pretty innocent it's likely that this was inspired by the puto a figure in classical artwork depicted by a chubby child and that the use of a child in this instance in accordance with the cherubim was to exemplify their purity and innocence the putter would also become closely associated with that of the Roman and Greek god Cupid or Eros and so it is not uncommon for the cherubim to be confused with these mythological deities but this Stout and chunky form of the Cherub would not be its only representation for I would come across as far more intimidating in the descriptions from the hebraic prophet Ezekiel in the Bible Ezekiel is seen to have noticed the cherubim transporting the Throne of God across the khabar river in Ezekiel 1 5-11 titled ezekiel's inaugurable vision where the beings are described as having the likeness of man but with the addition of four hits that of a man a lion an ox and an eagle we are told I looked and I saw a windstorm coming out of the North an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light the center of the fire looked like glowing metal and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures in appearance their form was human but each of them had four faces and four wings their legs were straight their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze under their wings on their four sides they had human hands all four of them had faces and wings and the wings of one touched the wings of another each one went straight ahead they did not turn as they moved here we get a pretty good description of what these beings look like that they had four wings that they were human in form and that they had four faces made up of animals we also see here that some of their limbs appear to be like those of animals notably their feet which belong to those of a car it is understood that the four faces are representations of the four domains of God's rule man which stands for Humanity the lion for wild animals the ox for the domesticated animals and the eagle for the birds it's also interesting to note that they moved like flashes of light implying that they were Swift and were likely far beyond the power of a regular human man interestingly Ezekiel does not actually refer to them as cherubim in this part of the Bible but confirms their identity in chapter 10 telling us I looked and I saw beside the cherubim four wheels one beside each of the cherubim the whale sparkled like topaz as for their appearance the four of them looked alike each was like a will intersecting a wheel as they moved they would go in any one of the four directions the cherubim faced the wheels did not turn about as the cherubim went the cherubim went in whatever Direction the head faced without turning as they went their entire bodies including their backs their hands and their wings were completely full of eyes as were their four wheels I heard the wheels being called the whirling Wheels each of the cherubim had four faces one face was that of a cherub the second the face of a human being the third the face of a lion and the fourth the face of an eagle then the cherubim Rose upward these were the living creatures I had seen by the khabar river now you might have noticed that his description of them slightly changes from his account in chapter one you'll notice here that the face of the Yorks is replaced by the face of a cherub though the reasoning for this is ambiguous there is also an implication here that the Cherub face looks strikingly different from that of the human face though Ezekiel does not go on to explain what these differences were furthermore another difference that's quite profound in this chapter is that the entire cherub is described as being covered with eyes and is either centered within or around a set of whirling Wheels that which is also covered with eyes the wheels themselves are quite an interesting feature for they are otherwise referred to as the openim in hubray and are sometimes thought to be the wheels of a chariot used by God this East Orthodox art piece from the 5th or 6th Century depicts ezekiel's vision and is referred to unofficially as the tetramorph Cherub in this Mosaic and other pieces of Christian art the tetromorph shows us a being with wings and the four animals as described in Ezekiel 1 4 through 8. it is also believed that each of these four components represent the four evangelists with Matthew being the man Mark being the lion Luke the ox and John the eagle the Mosaic is also thought to be an amalgamation of the seraphim that Isaiah sees in Isaiah's Commission all the six-winged creatures found in Revelations where John sees what might have been another set of cherubim in chapter 4. often in Christian Mythos the cherubim are thought to be second to the seraphim in the Angelic hierarchy and whilst details can differ between the two classes depending on the source the key distinction between them appears to be their closeness to God and their form with the seraphim appearing with up to six wings yet again even these details can be altered depending on the author where one can expect to find even the mechanics of their wings to be a point of contention but whilst ezekiel's account of the cherubim appears to be one of the most Vivid we are still left in the dark as to who the cherubim are and what exactly their role is other than to serve God we see them carrying his throne across the khabar river and we see their presence amongst the whirling Wheels in ezekiel's vision but beyond this Ezekiel does not tell us what purpose they serve in the grander scheme of things some ideas propose that the cherubim are merely just another set of Angels or Celestial beings similar to the seraphim or that they are physical representations of God's judgment this likely stems from the account in Genesis 3. after God has banished Adam from the garden we are told so the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken after he 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 here the role of the cherubim is to primarily guard the gates of Eden and to prevent man from getting back in after Adam had taken the fruit from the Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil his natural progression would have been to take the fruit from the Tree of Life and to gain immortality but after having betrayed God by Falling for the Serpent's words God deemed a man Unworthy of immortality and so denied him from Ever suppering from the tree taking no chances we even see him here give the cherubim as if they weren't strong enough already a flaming sword to fend off man should he dare find his way back to Eden yet another idea regarding the cherubim also relates to the fall of Man in that they are considered by some to be a symbolic representation of a redeemed Humanity or a Humanity who had never sinned the cherubim by this idea are perfect in appearance eternally youthful powerful and the closest to God by this they serve as a reminder of what could have been had Adam and Eve not given in to their Temptations and remind Believers that they should strive to be better there's also hope in this idea in that should one be righteous and not make the same mistakes as Adam and Eve they might yet achieve the cherubim status and become closer to God there's also an idea that the cherubim are a symbol of God's Mercy Point Exodus 25 we see God make a covenant with the children of Israel as he sets out instructions for the construction of the Ark that which was a golden chest which contained the tablets of the Covenant he tells them make an atonement cover of pure gold two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide and make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover make one cherub on the 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 ought to face each other looking toward the cover place the cover on top of the Ark and put in the arc the tablets of the Covenant law that I will give you there above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the Ark of the Covenant law I will meet with you and give you all of my commands for the Israelites as can be seen God's instructions state that two cherubs ought to be fashioned out of gold and placed on the cover of the Ark this is otherwise referred to as The Mercy Seat a term which has who break meaning to cover appease cleanse or make atonement for it was believed that once a year a high priest would sprinkle blood of a sacrificed animal onto the mercy seed so as to atone for his sins and the sins of the Israelites in an effort to appease God's anger it was also believed that here in the presence of the Ark was the only place where forgiveness from God could be truly achieved with that the inclusion of the cherubim Atop The Mercy Seat certainly make them seem like advocates for God's mercy and figures that represent God's compassion towards mankind God also tells the Israelites that they're above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the Ark of the Covenant law I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites and by this it might be said that the cherubim are something of a bridge towards God or perhaps as close as one can ever get on the Mortal Realm by promising the Israelites that he will meet them there before the cherubim the cherubim automatically become hello tokens or characters those who are still held today in high regard as they signpost the way to God it isn't the first time that God instructs something to be built with the inclusion of Cherub symbolism for when it comes to building the Tabernacle in Exodus 26 otherwise known as the tent of congregation God instructs the Israelites to fill the tent with ten curtains he says make the Tabernacle with 10 curtains of finely Twisted linen and blue purple and Scarlet yawn with cherubim woven into them by a skilled worker by including the cherubim upon the curtains of the Tabernacle they serve as a constant reminder of how important they are to God and perhaps like in the aforementioned example with the fall of Man they serve to remind a man of what they could have been and what they still might be in terms of their closeness to God you'll notice that it requires a skilled worker to complete this task and not just anyone suggesting yet again the importance of these winged creatures as if that wasn't enough we later understand in the first book of kings that the ark was placed inside Solomon's Temple which furthermore cemented them as Paramount figures and that Solomon built two large cherubim statues that were made from Olive Wood we also see the terror room described in a more practical use for the Lord in that he uses them to fly in a song of Praise by David we are told he mounted the cherubim and flew he sawed on the wings of the Wind through this it might be said that the cherubim maintain yet another role and that is to serve in transporting God from Heaven to Earth meanwhile in Jewish beliefs the cherubim also have some Paramount important despite being the ninth rank in the Angelic hierarchy according to various editions of the Torah in some kabbalistic Works however the cherubim are considered to be amongst the seraphim in authority and appear to rank much higher rabbinical literature also points to there being a total of two cherubim one who is a girl and one who is a boy and that the two take the seat of either end of The Mercy Seat of course within Judaism there is a wider range of belief when it comes to the role and nature of angels and there is much debate within communities as to how biblical passages that speak of angels should be interpreted the cherubim are no exception with some beliefs painting them as more metaphoric or even illusionary figures to others interpreting them as mystical entities in various midrash the cherubim are sometimes twofold and are often seen as aforementioned God in the gates at the entrance to Paradise however their physical appearance is often debated with some believing they are more human in nature or others believing they take a more ambiguous form according to Titus flavius Josephus however a first century Roman Jewish historian he States in his book Antiquities of the Jews that no one can tell or even conjecture what the shape was of these cherubim another Jewish belief is that the cherubim exists not as gods for Paradise but instead something of a Divine chorier who acquires information from the spirit of a person It is believed that the spirit reveals to the Cherub every good and bad thing that a person has done which the Cherub then takes to the Seraph who will bring it before God for judgment meanwhile in some Islamic beliefs the cherubim are the closest of all the angels to God and can sometimes be seen as Sevenfold much like the archangels these angels are often thought to be found floating around the Throne of God where they constantly shower him with praise often with the phrase glory to Allah there's also an idea According to some Islamic exegesis that the cherubim shines so brightly that no one is actually able to see what they really look like it's evident then that the cherubim are unanimous amongst all three of the major faiths and whilst there are some differences they all appear to subscribe to the same idea that they are very close to God that they are exemplary figures and that they are by far superior perhaps fall beyond our own comprehension with that being said if there are any other stories or details about the cherubim that you've heard of then do let me know in the comments below and as always if you've enjoyed today's episode then don't forget to give this video a thumbs up and don't forget to subscribe for more content just like this until next time

Channel: The Legends of History

Views: 847,960

Keywords: Cherub, Cherubim, Angels, Demons, Angels & Demons, Legends, History, Legends of History, Mythology, Myth, Bible, Biblical Stories, Bible Study

Id: VHUNHgFp46A

Length: 19min 2sec (1142 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 15 2021