Revelation 4:6b – In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.”
“In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back.” We first see these four in Ezekiel 1 and 10. In these verses it is revealed that these four are cherubim. We are first told of cherubim as the guardian with a flaming sword to keep Adam and Eve from re-entering the Garden of Eden to eat from the tree of life (Exodus 3:24). In Exodus 25:18-22, cherubim are to be on the cover of the Ark of the Covenant. These cherubim serve the same purpose as the cherubim in the Garden of Eden. In the Garden of Eden they cherubim guarded Adam and Eve from coming and eating from the tree of life, but also from trying to sneaking back into the garden to live in this paradise in which they communed with God. They didn’t want to leave. Who would? But the fellowship between God and man had been broken by man. God’s message, God’s word to mankind is sacred. Since God is always sincere and God cannot lie (John 17:3, 14:6, Numbers 23:19, 1 Samuel 15:29, Hebrews 6:18), when He speaks to man the Word that He shares is sacred. It is not only a message to us, but it is Him revealing Himself to us (2 Corinthians 2:15-16, John 1:10, Exodus 3:14, Isaiah 45:5, Isaiah 44:24). Yes, it is to reveal His plan for us to us, but it is also an intimate message from Him to us where He bares His heart to us. We may, in our human frailty, think of it in this way. Imagine that you love someone greatly. What we do with one that we love is we give ourselves to them. We, with the peril of rejection looming, bare our heart and our mind to the one we love. The words we tell them are intimate. Our words that we share are indeed who we are. We open our chests and our minds and say to that person this is who I am. The vehicle of revealing is our words. But those words are definitely us. If we open up and the one we love rejects us, we are deeply wounded. That is why we are guarded about whom we will share so intimately with. If the person scoffs at our words from us about who we are, we do not merely consider that a rejection of our words, but indeed a rejection of us, of who we are. These words are not detached from our essence, they are part of it. This is true of us and much more true of the Word of God that He has shared with us. He has opened His heart and mind and said to us “Here, I AM.” Adam and Eve did not merely “disobey” God, but when they, who had such close intimate communion with God, went against His Word, they went against Him. They rebelled not merely against His Word, but against the intimate bond that He had created with Him. They did not merely turn their face from God, but, in essence, shoved away from Him who sees all, to proclaim their right to self-rule and rejecting God’s rule over their heart. The Lord God had loved Adam and Eve without reserve and they pushed away from Him. His Word, just as precious as our Bible, was shoved aside for their own will. They rejected His right of rule over them. Just as Israel so often did, and just as we, sadly, so often do. So God gave them what they asked for in their rebellion, a separation between God and mankind.
Cherubim prevent the re-entrance into the Garden of Eden. No longer did man have a place there. The cherubim at the entrance to the Garden of Eden is a guardian, and also a reminder. So is the cherubim on the lid of the Ark of the Covenant. The cherubim on the covenant are representative that the righteous relationship between God and man was broken. They are representative that man could no longer walk beside God as Adam and Eve could. The Ark of the Covenant cherubim were to harken us back to the cherubim at the Garden of Eden. They reminded the people that, although they could have the High Priest bring an offering for forgiveness of sins, they themselves could not come into His presence. The High Priest offered up blood from innocent animals to secure a less than perfect and less than eternal forgiveness from God. This allowance was never meant to be the complete and final answer, but a pointing to what was to come. It pointed to who was to come. It was pointing to the day that He who was rejected by man, who exposed His heart and mind to man, only to be rejected by Him, would come to earth to be what only He could be. That is the perfect and final sacrifice that once again allows mankind to have Shalom (perfect peace and unity with God) (Colossians 1:20).
Cherubim are angelic beings who do the will of God. These cherubim are before the throne of God. We have seen them as guardians, as posts at the door that prevent entrance. Why are these Cherubim here surrounding the throne? What will of God are they executing. One thing we know, is that God does not need to be protected. These cherubim are executing His will and representing His will to us. They are a reminder that the man who is not covered by the blood of Christ does not have union with God. All this is so very exciting.
Family, God so loved the world that He gave us His Word, which is a very intimate part of Him. Jesus, His Son, came to us as His Word in the flesh. Nothing that God says is trivial. All is given with intent, purpose and gravity. It is not to condemn us, but to bless us (John 3:17). His Word is Him sharing Himself with us. Yes, it tells us how to live, but more importantly, it draws us back to intimate and eternal fellowship with Him. It is calling us to intimacy with God. Jesus is God calling us home, forever. Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.