Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 832. Bible Study: Ezekiel 10 (Cheribum and God's presence departing)

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832. Bible Study: Ezekiel 10 (Cheribum and God's presence departing) · Faith by annm2705

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Continuing in chapter 10, God's glory departs from the temple.
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I looked, and I saw the likeness of a throne of lapis lazuli
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above the vault that was over the heads of the cherubim.
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The Lord said to the man clothed in linen.
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Go in among the wheels beneath the cherubim.
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Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim
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and scatter them over the city. And as I watched, he went in.
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Now the cherubim were standing on the South side of the temple
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when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court.
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Then the glory of the Lord rose from above the cherubim and
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moved to the threshold of the temple.
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The cloud filled the temple, and the court was full of the
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radiance of the glory of the Lord.
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The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far
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away as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when
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He speaks. When the Lord commanded the man
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in linen take fire from among the wheels from among the
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cherubim, the man went in and stood beside a wheel.
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Then one of the cherubim reached out his hand to the fire that
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was among them. He took up some of it and put it
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in the hands of the man in linen, who took it and went out.
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Then it says in parentheses under the wings of the cherubim
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could be seen what looked like human hands.
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I looked and I saw beside the cherubim 4 wheels, one beside
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each of the cherubim. The wheels sparkled like Topaz.
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As for their appearance, the four of them looked alike.
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Each was like a wheel intersecting a wheel.
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As they moved. They would go in any one of the
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four directions the cherubim faced.
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The wheels did not turn about as the cherubim went.
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The cherubim went in whatever direction the head faced without
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turning as they went. Their entire bodies, including
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their backs, their hands, and their wings were completely full
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of eyes, as were their four wheels.
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I heard the wheels being called the whirling wheels.
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Each of the cherubim had four faces.
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One face was that of a cherub, the second the face of a human
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being, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of
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an eagle. Then the cherubim rose upward.
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These were the living creatures I had seen by the Kiba River.
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Then the cherubim moved, or when the cherubim moved, the wheels
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besides them moved, and when the cherubim spread their wings to
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rise from the ground, the wheels did not leave their side.
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When the cherubim stood still, they also stood still, and when
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the cherubim rose, they rose with them, because the spirit of
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the living creatures was in them.
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Then the the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold
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of the temple and stopped above the cherubim.
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While I watched. The cherubim spread their wings
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and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with
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them. They stopped at the entrance of
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the east gate of the Lord's house, and the glory of the God
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of Israel was above them. These were the living creatures
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I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the Kibar river, and I
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realized that they were cherubim.
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Each had four faces and four wings, and under their wings was
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what looked like human hands. Their faces had the same
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appearance as those I had seen by the Khabar River.
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Each one went straight ahead. So that was Ezekiel's.
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He was referring back to his first vision where he saw these
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these beings and he's describing them exactly like he had seen
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them before. Well, I mean, maybe not exactly
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like there's some differences that I noticed in here before
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they had like before he was describing the wheels as having
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eyes all over them. But then in verse 12, it says
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their entire bodies, including their backs, their hands, their
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wings were completely full of eyes, as were their four wheels.
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So that's a little bit different than the way he described.
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Maybe he left off that detail of them having eyes all over them
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before. And and again, we don't know if
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these are literal beings or if they, I mean, if they're, they
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could be literal beings, they could be symbolic in a vision.
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But it's interesting. He saw very similar things twice
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in his vision. So again, or they could be both.
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They could actually be a literal thing.
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Just because we haven't seen it doesn't mean that it doesn't
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exist because these were described in the throne room of
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God. And it, it could, I mean, who's
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to say we, we're not going to know until someday when we see
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it for ourselves. But it kind of, it doesn't
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really matter except that there's, there's another detail
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here on the cherubim. They each had different faces.
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So in the 1st chapter of Ezekiel, his first vision, he
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said it was an ox, a human, a lion and an eagle.
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In this chapter 10, he says they have a face of a cherub, human,
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lion, and eagle. So 3, the human, lion and eagle
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are all the same. Now the other question is if
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they are, you know, there's so many unanswered questions that
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we could have about this, like #1 is, is this to be taken
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literally? Do they really look like this?
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Or are all of these things given as a symbolism to something
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else, Whatever they are or were, they were connected with God and
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they had a job to do and God commanded them.
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And they also had like a, they were fiery beings.
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So they had coals and they had these like they had fire within
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them. So they are just something
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something we've probably have never seen before.
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And with everything that God creates, you know, I'm not going
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to say that those don't exist because he's, he's seen them
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twice. You know, maybe they are
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symbolic or maybe they are real, or maybe they are both.
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Maybe they are created like so many things that God has within
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the Bible, and he's revealed that these literal things have
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symbolic significance. So there could be both a literal
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little entity and he called them creatures that were surrounding
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the throne of God. So they could be both.
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And it's kind of, I don't know, there's nowhere else in the
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Bible that tells us about this. So it's only speculation of what
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we would tend to believe for each of these things.
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But it is interesting and it made me think about when I when
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I noticed that in chapter 10 it says the faces were cherub,
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human, lion and eagle. And I remembered from the first
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chapter that it was an I, an ox, human, lion, and eagle.
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And so I wondered, is that a translation error?
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And so I went to blueletterbible.org and I looked
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up the verse and it shows cherub in the NIV version at least.
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And I didn't find it listed any other way because I was curious.
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I was like, was that just a, an error or does the actual Hebrew
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writing look like the other word?
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Like does cherub look like ox or something?
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Why does it why does he describe the, the cherubim that they have
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a cherub as their face? Like it's just describe.
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I don't know that that just didn't make a lot of sense.
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But the first chapter said it was an ox.
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And then of course, my mind's going to wander and and I just
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was curious because I do have a theory that some of the these
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ancient religions actually worshipped fallen angels.
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And if God created something that looked like the cherubim.
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OK, so this is speculation. It's just, it's kind of like
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logic. If then, OK, so if God created
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these beings and these beings truly did look like this and
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they were what Ezekiel identified as cherubim, they're
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something that are in the presence of God and these were
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obedient to God. But this is speculation.
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Could there be others who are disobedient to God that actually
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came to earth and rebelled against God and wanted to be
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worshipped just like the Bible tells us Satan did.
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Satan wanted to be worshipped. So out of curiosity, I looked, I
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just, you know, searched the question.
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Which ancient gods had the face of a bull?
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This is kind of interesting. So several ancient gods and
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figures were depicted with bullheads or strong bull
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associations, most notably the Phoenician Canaanite deity Baal
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or Baal or however you say it, or Haddad.
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There's so many different names for like the same entity,
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sometimes shown with a bull's head on a man's body.
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I also saw a depiction of Molech that looked like that too.
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And so I wonder if there's just a whole bunch of names for the
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same thing, or if there are these different entities that
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are being worshipped. It says and the Mesopotamium
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protective spirit Lamasu, which features a bulls body with the
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human head and sometimes bullhorns.
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The famous Minotaur from Greek myth had a bulls head on a man's
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body but was a monster, not a God.
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Surprise surprise though tied to bull worship in Crete, Egyptian
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gods like APIs and Buchus were sacred bulls, embodying deities
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like TA, Armant, and even the Greek God Dionysus was sometimes
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depicted with bull horns. So you have Baal, often depicted
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as a powerful man with the bull's head symbolizing strength
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and kingship linked to the storm God Haddad.
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And then La Masu is Mesopotamium and its protective deities, with
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a human head, bulls body and eagles wings, sometimes with
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bulls horns guarding entrances. And then the Minotaur Greek, a
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creature, a man's body, bull's head borne from Crete, a monster
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hidden in a labyrinth representing potent bull
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symbolism. Then you have Dionysus, Greek
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associated with the bulls, sometimes shown with bull horns
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representing fertility and wild power, and APIs and Buchus,
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Egyptian sacred bulls revered as living embodiments of the gods
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TA and Mont and other bull related deities or concept
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Molech. Later portrayals influenced by
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the Minotaur legend often show this deity as a bull headed idol
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for child sacrifice. Then Lamu and Sulabha, Sumerian
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cattle gods, though not always depicted with bull hands in
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iconic in iconography. So there is something about the
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bull and whether it's literal or just is it just a coincidence
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that all of these different ancient areas started
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worshipping something that looked like a bull?
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It's just, I don't know, I don't have the answer, but it just
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brings about that question. So then the other question I had
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was when we talk about cherubs, a lot of times we'll see cherubs
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or, you know, people will describe the things like that
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are associated with Valentine's Day as cherubs, these little
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chubby little angels that, you know, have these arrows and
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wings and they, you know, it's all about love.
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And so I, I was just curious like if, if we know the biblical
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description of a cherub, Cherubim, plural from Ezekiel's
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vision, they have four faces, a human, a lion, an ox and an
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eagle. And they have 4 wings, 2 wings
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stretch upwards while the other two cover their bodies.
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They have a a body. They have human hands under the
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wing. They have straight legs with
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feet like polished brass calves and are full of eyes and their
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movement are like flashes of lightning with wheels within
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wheels that move with them. They are powerful, fiery and
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fearsome, guarding sacred places like Eden.
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And so then when you get into artistic and popular cherubs,
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their appearance, they are depicted as plump infants are
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toddlers like babies with wings, and they represent innocence,
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purity and love often associated with Cupid.
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The childlike image comes from a folk etymology linking cherub to
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like a child, a concept later challenged by biblical
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descriptions. So it I, I just wondered like
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who started illustrating cherubs like babies?
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That's what I was wondering because like the Bible, this was
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written in, you know, the what, 500 something BC when Ezekiel
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was written. So this has been around for
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quite a while. And where did we ever who
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started this? Actually it looks like the book
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The Book of Ezekiel was written 571 BC.
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So I was wondering who came up with this depiction of cherubs
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that are what we see today as Valentine's Day and how did that
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all happen? So I just searched who started
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illustrating cherubs like babies?
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Italian Renaissance artist Raphael Rafaelo Sanzio
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popularized the iconic image of cherubs as chubby baby like
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figures called puti in paintings like the Sistine Madonna around
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1512 to 1514. This is AD SO15-O gosh, no, 2000
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years later, they are portraying these beings with the same name.
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Like why not just give them a different name?
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Why call them something that's in the Bible already that's
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already documented? Or in the, you know, the book of
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Ezekiel, it's already documented what they look like.
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Why use the same name but make them look something different
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than the way they're described in the Bible?
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Because the way they were described in the Bible was the
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way they were described first. So what would make someone do
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that? It said, though the sculptor
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Donatello had reintroduced the Pluto motive into Christian art
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earlier, blending classical figures with religious themes
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leading to this common visual tradition, the classic roots.
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The idea comes from the Greco Roman figures like Eros or
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Cupid, often depicted as winged infants representing love or
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spirits. Well, maybe the spirit part is
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right, but I don't know. Donatello early 15th century
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reintroduced these winged children puti into Christian
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context, associating them with playful spirits or Spiritelli,
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setting the stage for later artist.
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And then Rafael, early 16th century, famous for the two
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iconic cherubs at the bottom of the Sistine Madonna, inspired by
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children he saw making the chubby winged baby image
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ubiquitous in Western art. And then Raphael's immense
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popularity spread this depiction, and artists like
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Andre Montanaga, Paglio Vernosi and Anthony Van Dyke continued
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to use them, often as background elements or Halos, linking them
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to divinity. Divinity In essence Raphael
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solidified the image, but the groundwork for blending
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classical Pootie with cherubic rolls was laid by Donatello and
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other Renaissance artists. So it essentially 2000 years
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after they were documented they became very different looking.
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Which then brings me to question, why not?
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Why? But God made 10 commandments and
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in Exodus 20 verse four he said you shall not make for yourself
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an image in the form of anything in heaven above or in the earth
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beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them
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or worship them. For I the Lord your God, am a
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jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of their
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parents to the third and 4th generation of those who hate me,
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but showing love to 1000 generations of those who love me
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and keep my commandments. So that was like the second
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commandment that God gave. And when I think about these
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idols that were created, I mean that that is like one of the
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top, the first things that God said.
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I mean, the first thing he said was you have no, you shall have
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no other gods before me. And then he says, don't even
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make an image of anything that you're going to worship.
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Not that these cherubs were being worshipped, but these
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other gods, these deities that had these bull faces or bull
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bodies or something that all these different ancient
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civilizations did worship and they had depictions of them on
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walls. And so they were creating images
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of these things. And we know that in the very end
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times, there's also going to be some image that the false
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prophet is going to give the ability to speak to and that is
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going to enforce this mark of the beast.
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We were talking about marks in Chapter 9.
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The mark, you know, sometimes God did it, but then God's enemy
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does it too. And so I, I just, you know, it's
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like if we would read the Bible, if we would study the Bible and
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we would have obeyed the Bible. You know, all these years ago,
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God said, you know, you shall not do this.
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And I don't think it was to limit us as much.
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It was to protect us, protect us from harm, because.
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If we are worshipping other things or entities other than
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God, it's going to lead us to destruction.
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That's how God's protecting us. He doesn't want us to be led to
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destruction. But if we are doing that, we are
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going to be led to destruction. So the only one that we should
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worship is God. And and then that brings about
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like what is really considered worship?
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What does that mean? And so I just like, What does
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worship mean? Worship means showing deep
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reverence, honor, and devotion to someone or something
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considered divine, sacred, or worthy, often involving acts of
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praise, prayer, and ritual, but also extending to everyday
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actions that express profound respect or adoration, like
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bowing down or dedicating one's life to a higher power or ideal.
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The term comes from worth ship, meaning to ascribe worth or
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value. So the key aspects of worship,
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and I think these are good just to think about so that we don't
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worship things other than God. But here are the key aspects of
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worship. Honoring a divine being.
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The most common meaning involves revering a deity, God, or gods
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through prayer, hymns, offerings, and sacred
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ceremonies. So if we're doing sacred
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ceremonies for anything other than God, then we're worshipping
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something else, showing extreme respect.
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It can also describe intense admiration or devotion to a
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person or thing like a celebrity worshipped by by fans.
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So that is also something that people today could do.
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There's a lot of celebrities that people do worship.
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I mean, they, they just, they kind of lose their minds around
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these people and think of them as something greater than what
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they are. Just like realizing that they're
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human beings just like all of us.
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They do have talent, but that's about, you know, the difference
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that they, you know, have a talent that God gave them.
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So but just I guess that's another thing that is a
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checkpoint with us that we're not, you know, it could be
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athletes too. We could worship an athlete
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because of their ability, but we have to be careful that we don't
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put them on. They don't becomes like so
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important to us where they're more important than than God.
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Even even a relationship, even a family member, it can be all
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sorts of different people or things that we could start
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giving more reverence to than we give reverence to God.
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We have to make sure that we're giving God the ultimate
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reverence. And I think that's something
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that we can all check ourselves on because I don't know if we
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all give God enough credit for and, and worship for all that he
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has done. Because I don't know how often
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we really think about what God has done for us.
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Like what that truly means that God saved us from that God saved
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us from eternal separation from him.
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And not only that, but he promised us an inheritance.
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And with, with his Son Jesus, I mean that we are going to be in
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the presence of God, living and interacting and, you know,
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sharing life together in person with God.
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And we could never make it there by ourselves.
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And, and if we just like just stop and think about that, like
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how, how much love that was for God.
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And it says the greatest, there's no greater love than to
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lay one's life down for another. And that's what Jesus did for
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us. He laid his life down so that we
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could enjoy the Kingdom, the Kingdom of God.
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And that just gives some time to think about that.
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And, and it you just realize, like anything else that we
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worship, are they going to be giving us the Kingdom of God?
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Are they going to be giving us eternal life?
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Are they going to wipe away all of our tears?
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Are they going to be bringing us together with others that love
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God? I mean, they're they're it's
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just incomparable. There's no way that anything
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else can do what God can do. And maybe because we don't see
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feel or we don't like, he's not like present that we don't have
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that ongoing thought of him because it is something like he
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is in the heavenly realms and he is, although he is present, he's
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not physically present right now.
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And I think sometimes when we physically see someone, it does
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make a difference. You can still love someone from
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a distance, but it does, it makes it easier to love somebody
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that you actually see. But we just, so I think that's
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why we all have to keep ourselves in check, you know,
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just to keep reminding ourselves of who God is and what he's done
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for us and not to forget him. That's often when he tells the
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people of Israel, you know, that they're going to forget him and,
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and it shows that that really did happen.
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So there's other things about worship.
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It says actions and intent. Worship encompasses both
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internal feelings, love, awe, submission, and external acts,
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bowing, easing, serving that express, express this
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worthiness. So are we doing that for God?
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Are we showing Him love? Are we, you know, in awe of
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everything that he's created and are we submitted to him?
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Is he our Lord? That's how we worship Him And
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external do we bow and praise and serve Him?
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Are our lives, Are we serving God in our life?
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I mean, that's a form of worship.
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And if we're not serving God, who are we serving?
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In biblical roots in Hebrew and Greek, words for worship often
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mean to bow down, to prostate oneself, or to kiss the ground,
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signifying humility and homage beyond ritual.
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Modern understanding often includes living a life that
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reflects this devotion, such as showing love to others or
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appreciating nature as acts of worship.
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Now that's where we have to be careful is we can appreciate
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nature because nature is beautiful, but we don't worship
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it. And there are some people in the
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world who do worship nature and they even talk like Mother earth
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and stuff like that, like give personification to the creation
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that God has created. We have to remember that, you
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know, this, all of this, it is beautiful, but God created it.
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There's a creator behind that. It's not you don't worship the
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the you know the book, but you worship the author and of you
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know meaning God God's word. So in different contexts,
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Christianity attributing honor to God expressed through
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scripture, praise, prayer and obedience.
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In Islam on internal and external deeds pleasing to
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Allah, including rituals and obedience to his will.
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And Hinduism, devotional love, Bakati or bhakti directed
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towards deities, often through rituals and prayers.
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So there's a lot of different ways that people worship, but it
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does seem like obedience is there, prayer is there and
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there's a reverence and we just have to make sure that it's to
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God, to the one true God, the the God of Abraham, Isaac and
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Jacob and his son Jesus who has given us salvation.
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So anyway, that is about, oh, actually in verse, not verse,
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but chapter 10. I did not read the questions and
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answers from the study Bible. So I'll read that and then I
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will wrap this chapter up. So why did God want burning
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coals scattered over the city? Fire is usually a symbol of
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God's judgement against evil. The burning coals represent
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divine judgement against Jerusalem.
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What would a wheel intersecting a wheel look like?
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This was Ezekiel's description of God's royal chariot with all
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of his attending angels. It was quite a sight, as one
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might expect. The description of a wheel
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within a wheel mostly has to do with the ability of the chariot
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to go neither forward, backward or sideways with no need to turn
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the chariot so the wheels intersect one another at 90°
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angles. Why were the cherubim covered
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with eyes? As with the first vision, the
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numerous eyes represent the all seeing nature of God.
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Nothing, even those done those things done in secret, can be
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hidden from God. Why were the wheels called the
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whirling wheels? This name, as well as the
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depiction of a wheel intersecting a wheel, suggests
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God's constant motion. He is active and moving.
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Why did Ezekiel call these creatures cherubim?
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Ezekiel called the creatures cherubim to draw the association
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between them to the presence of God.
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God's throne was above and between the cherubim on the ark
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from Exodus chapter 25. The temple was filled with
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carvings of cherubim in First Kings chapter 6 and God is
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frequently seen in the Old Testament as being carried by
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cherubim in Psalm 18 verse 10. The message is this, God is on
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the move and that's the end of chapter 10.
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So if you have not subscribed to this channel, please do so and
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come back. I try to do a chapter a day from
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the Bible to stay in the Word and stay close to God.
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So hope you join again. Thank you.