““Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them.” (Exodus 26:1 ESV)
You shall make them with cherubim. We’ve not seen such a thing, except perhaps in depictions in places or pictures of the sistine chapel which I am quite sure does not capture what cherubim actually are.
Cherubim is the plural of cherub. They are found in Genesis 3:24 as angelic guards placed by God at the garden to keep it from Adam and Eve after their fall. Early archeology indicates Babylon having colossal figures of winged bulls and lions with human faces guarding the entrances of temples and palaces. In Psalm 18 god is said to ride upon a cherub (Psalm 18:9–10). And in Ezekiel’s vision they are called “living creatures” (Ezekiel 1, 10). If you recall, we sing “cherubim and seraphim…” in one famous hymn called “Holy, Holy, Holy.” That is based off of a vision of God’s glory and holiness in Isaiah 6. A coal is taken from the altar there to heal Isaiah’s sinful lips. The Bible depicts the coal that is taken from the altar is from between the cherubim (cf. Ezekiel 10:2, 6). In Ezekiel these living creatures depict something of God’s glory and have four faces—man, lion, ox, and eagle (Ezekiel 1). The ox is replaced in Ezekiel 10 with the face of a cherub. The temple in Ezekiel has carved on it alternating palm trees and cheribum each with two faces, a lion on one side and a man on the other.And in our text in Exodus 25, these cherubim are found later facing each other with wings outstretched above so as to constitute a throne on which the glory of the Lord appeared and from where he speaks.1 There is an amazing correspondence at the resurrection scene where there are two angels one at each end of the tomb, and there Mary meets and hears the Lord speak to her:
“And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. John 20:12They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” John 20:13Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. John 20:14Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” John 20:15Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).” (John 20:12-16 ESV)
Obviously the cherubim are more than a couple of chubby babies with wings. Man’s art sometimes doesn’t skillfully depict these things rightly. Yet, according to Exodus 25 there were those of great skill who were commissioned to do so. We can ascertain from early archeology and biblical evidence what these angelic creatures look like. And essentially they are mighty servants of God related to his glory. We are never meant to worship them, for they are servants for our salvation (cf. Hebrews). And yet, we are not meant to ignore them.
The skillful work that was put forth in the tabernacle also reminds us that God puts skillful workers in the church today, not to depict cherubim necessarily, but to expound and teach the Bible. They are called workmen, and exist to bring stability to the Christian and his or her life by their preaching and teaching.
As a pastor, I am quite glad that the Lord did not commission me to depict cherubim in the form of art in the church building. Nonetheless, if he did, there would be skilled people that we could hire to get the job done. This however is not the task of the pastor. It is however to explain the text to the understanding of the people of God so they would be solid. At times we come across a cherub in the text, and we can’t just move past such things without stopping to learn and hopefully to explain, lest we ourselves and others get taken away into things that simply do not do justice to the true art of holy Scripture.
One day, I assume that we will see these mighty guards called cherubim; and hopefully when we do, we will not be expecting something less than Scripture has revealed.
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Cheribum and Skillful Workers
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You shall make them with cherubim. We’ve not seen such a thing, except perhaps in depictions in places or pictures of the sistine chapel which I am quite sure does not capture what cherubim actually are.
Cherubim is the plural of cherub. They are found in Genesis 3:24 as angelic guards placed by God at the garden to keep it from Adam and Eve after their fall. Early archeology indicates Babylon having colossal figures of winged bulls and lions with human faces guarding the entrances of temples and palaces. In Psalm 18 god is said to ride upon a cherub (Psalm 18:9–10). And in Ezekiel’s vision they are called “living creatures” (Ezekiel 1, 10). If you recall, we sing “cherubim and seraphim…” in one famous hymn called “Holy, Holy, Holy.” That is based off of a vision of God’s glory and holiness in Isaiah 6. A coal is taken from the altar there to heal Isaiah’s sinful lips. The Bible depicts the coal that is taken from the altar is from between the cherubim (cf. Ezekiel 10:2, 6). In Ezekiel these living creatures depict something of God’s glory and have four faces—man, lion, ox, and eagle (Ezekiel 1). The ox is replaced in Ezekiel 10 with the face of a cherub. The temple in Ezekiel has carved on it alternating palm trees and cheribum each with two faces, a lion on one side and a man on the other.And in our text in Exodus 25, these cherubim are found later facing each other with wings outstretched above so as to constitute a throne on which the glory of the Lord appeared and from where he speaks.1 There is an amazing correspondence at the resurrection scene where there are two angels one at each end of the tomb, and there Mary meets and hears the Lord speak to her:
Obviously the cherubim are more than a couple of chubby babies with wings. Man’s art sometimes doesn’t skillfully depict these things rightly. Yet, according to Exodus 25 there were those of great skill who were commissioned to do so. We can ascertain from early archeology and biblical evidence what these angelic creatures look like. And essentially they are mighty servants of God related to his glory. We are never meant to worship them, for they are servants for our salvation (cf. Hebrews). And yet, we are not meant to ignore them.
The skillful work that was put forth in the tabernacle also reminds us that God puts skillful workers in the church today, not to depict cherubim necessarily, but to expound and teach the Bible. They are called workmen, and exist to bring stability to the Christian and his or her life by their preaching and teaching.
As a pastor, I am quite glad that the Lord did not commission me to depict cherubim in the form of art in the church building. Nonetheless, if he did, there would be skilled people that we could hire to get the job done. This however is not the task of the pastor. It is however to explain the text to the understanding of the people of God so they would be solid. At times we come across a cherub in the text, and we can’t just move past such things without stopping to learn and hopefully to explain, lest we ourselves and others get taken away into things that simply do not do justice to the true art of holy Scripture.
One day, I assume that we will see these mighty guards called cherubim; and hopefully when we do, we will not be expecting something less than Scripture has revealed.
Gathered much of this from the ISBE Dictionary