Transcription
We have been talking about spiritual beings in the Bible. We have looked at how God is in the heavenly realms but not by himself. There is a whole staff team that the Bible calls the "Divine Council". But in the Bible, there are still more beings in the spiritual realm like the cherubim and also the angels. So, let us talk about them.
Okay, first, the cherubim. These are chubby little babies with wings, right? No, you have got to get that image out of your head. Cherubim, or in Hebrew "herubim," are way more fascinating. They are described as hybrid creatures, a collage of different animals. Every time they do appear, they look a little bit different. That is intense. Yeah, they are supposed to be intimidating. They stand guard at the boundary between heaven and earth. If you see them, you know you are entering the presence of the One who is above all and truly other. The first time the cherubim show up in the story of the Bible, they are standing outside of the Garden of Eden. Right. The garden is God's temple residence. So, he places these spiritual bodyguards at the entrance so that the rebel humans cannot get back in and ruin everything. But the biblical story is about how God wants us back in his presence. Yes, exactly. So this is why he chose the people of Israel and gave them the gift of a symbolic miniature Eden called the "tabernacle". And then, later, the Jerusalem temple. In both of these spaces, cherubim were painted and engraved all over, reminding the priests that they are working in God's presence. Now, if a priest went into the Holy of Holies, he would see there a golden box called the Ark of the Covenant. On it were two cherubim. What is going on here? The biblical authors describe the ark as the "footstool of God's throne", which the cherubim are carrying. Like we read in Psalm 99, "God sits enthroned above the cherubim." But there was no actual throne, but a box. Right. The Israelites were not supposed to represent God with any physical image. But when the prophets had visions about this space, they saw Yahweh sitting on his throne.
Okay, so cherubim guard the sacred space and carry God's throne. But why do they look like animal mashups? Well, they are symbolic representations of all of the creatures of the earth. Because they all belong to God. This is why in Isaiah's vision, all of the creatures are singing. Everything that fills the earth is God's glory. Like a choir? Yeah. Through the cherubim, all creation offers praise to its maker. Great. That is the cherubim.
Now, let us talk about angels. I am way more familiar with them: human-like figures with feathery wings. No, wait! Stop! Angels in the Bible do not have wings. What? No wings? No angel wings. In fact, angels are often mistaken for people because they look like us, just a bit more impressive. But the cherubim have wings. Yeah. The angels are different because they have a different purpose. Okay. Which is...? Well, humans cannot just march into God's throne so God will reach out to us. He often does through these spiritual ambassadors. So, angels are like spiritual messengers? Yeah. In fact, that is what the word "angel" means, a messenger. Right. This happens a lot in the Bible. Like the angel who tells Mary she is pregnant with Jesus. Yeah. The other main role of angels is to perform missions on God's behalf. Sometimes they rescue people from danger, like when Peter is released from prison. There are some really cool angels like Michael and Gabriel. Yeah. The name Gabriel means "God is my power". And Michael means "who is like God?" But notice, these names point to God, not to the angels. Like humans, the angels are images of God's presence and power. But still, how cool would it be to meet an angel? Yeah. And maybe you will. And maybe you already have. But no one in the Bible is ever encouraged to go looking for angels. When angels do show up, people are usually puzzled or freaked out. So, angels are really awesome, but they play a supporting role in the Bible. Yes, because God's ultimate purpose is to bring humans back into his presence in a reunited heaven and earth. In the meantime, he uses angels to guide and to serve his people. You just watched a video on cherubim and angels in the Bible. There is one angel character in the Bible who is a bit more complicated. He is called the "Angel of the Lord". That is what we are going to look at next.