These
four figures are also mentioned in Revelation 5:6-14; 6:1, 3, 5-7; 7:11; 14:3;
15:7; 19:4. The translation of this word as "beasts" is one of the
most unfortunate, if not inaccurate, translations in the King James Version of
the Bible. The Greek word zoa, would
have been better translated "moving things," or "living
ones," rather than "beasts," for the figures portrayed in this
passage are not hairy, dumb animals as is suggested by the word
"beasts," but rather celestial entities, elsewhere called by their
name in the Hebrew, Cherubim.
These
figures are first introduced by name when they were placed at the gate of the
Garden of Eden to protect the way to the Tree of Life. In reference to the
passage in Revelation, we understand that is still their role. They are not
trying to keep Mankind from the Tree, but rather are trying to preserve the
sanctity of it and to keep it from the contamination of sin. (Revelation 1:7;
22:2, 14.) This "Tree of Life" is, no doubt, the very presence of God
Almighty, the "Glory of the Lord." For the Lord chose to dwell "between the cherubim" over the
mercy seat in the Temple in Jerusalem as He had in the tabernacle in the
wilderness, (Exod. 25:17-22; Numbers 7:89; 1 Sam. 4:4; Psalm 80:1; 99:1).
These
figures are always in, around, or over the throne, and indeed may be a part of
the throne. In fact, it seems from 1 Samuel 4:4 and 2 Samuel 6:2 that the
cherubim may be the very throne of God upon which He sits and upon which He
rides. The two cherubim of Exodus 25:18-22; 37:7 and Numbers 7:89 are made
"of one piece with the mercy seat."
However, these two cherubim are to "spread
out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings,"
thus they are an integral part of the throne.
Not
only were these cherubim a part of the throne of the Lord, but this throne was
also the chariot of God, (Psalms 18:11; 2 Samuel 22:11). This becomes more
evident when we study the referent passages from Ezekiel 1:4-18 and 10:1-22.
Ezekiel also saw these living ones (Ezekiel 1:4-18). They were emerging from a
bright fiery cloud, moving like a flash of lightning. Each of these living ones
was beside a wondrous wheel. They could go in any direction without turning.
These wheels contained the Spirit of the living ones, which directed them.
But
the Rider of this chariot overshadowed the wonders of these living ones and the
great chariot which they pulled. He sat in a firmament, shining like crystal.
Above this firmament there was the likeness of a throne that appeared like
sapphire and seated there was the likeness of a human form, the upper part of
which was as gleaming bronze as if it enclosed a fire and the lower part of
this form appeared as fire with a brightness that created a rainbow effect all
about it. Ezekiel explains that this was the likeness of the glory of the Lord.
The
seraphim are very similar to the cherubim. The word seraphim means “burning ones.” This could simply be a description
of the appearance of the cherubim for they are elsewhere pictured as fiery and
their representation in the tabernacle and the temple was made of burnished
bronze which glowed like fire. Isaiah 6:2-8 depicts these seraphim as similar
to the cherubim. They handle the holy fire from the altar.
What
are we looking at here? In Ezekiel chapter ten, we see these same living ones
and the same chariot wheels. The Lord showing Ezekiel the sins of the city of
Jerusalem, (Ezekiel chapter 8), had preceded this appearance. Then in chapter 9,
the executioners were summoned but they were delayed until the righteous were
marked in their foreheads by the man clothed in linen. Then in chapter 10 the
man clothed in linen is commanded to reach in between the whirling wheels and
to take burning coals of fire to scatter over the city.
After
this, (RSV 10:8) "the glory of the
Lord went forth from the threshold of the house" (the temple), and the
cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth.
“And the glory of the God of Israel was over
(or upon) them. These were the living creatures that I saw underneath the God
of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim." (RSV
10:19).
Elisha
knew that these were the "chariot of
the Lord and the horsemen thereof," (2 Kings 2:12). The living ones
were the horsemen, (or power source), of the chariot of the Lord! In this scene the Lord God
was departing from the Temple riding upon this chariot.
The
living ones in Revelation also are the throne and chariot of the Lord God which
is now in the heavens. It is no longer resident in the Holy of Holies of the
Temple in Jerusalem but rather in the true Temple which is in heaven.
But
why are these living ones pictured as "beasts" in the Greek
translation? It is because that in the Greek culture the starry time-telling
heavens were divided into sections which they described in terms of animals,
beasts. This lack of coherence between the Hebrew concepts of the heavens and
the Greek concepts has resulted in obscuring the meaning of these passages. The
Greeks called this great circle the Zodiac,
while the Hebrew name for it was Mazzaroth,
as in Job 38:32.
Four
constellations of the [Greek] zodiac were given the same names as the four
faces of the cherubim, and in ancient times they marked the solstices and the
equinoxes. Rabbinical tradition assigns them to the standards of the divisions
in the camp of Israel; the lion, Judah, on the east; the ox, Ephraim, west; a
man, Reuben, south; the eagle, Dan, north. Thus the standards, leading the
Israelites, would indicate Israel as the earthly counterpart of the heavenly
host, led by the cherubim. (ZPBD, 154).
The
Biblical view of the heavens is that the sun, moon and stars are for 'othoth, (translated “signs,” Genesis
1:14). The word 'owth is spelled with
the first and last letters of the alphabet and could be read in English as:
"A and Z," or in Greek "Alpha and Omega." It could well be
interpreted as “the letters of the alphabet.” These letters are the signs by
which writing is possible.
Thus
all of the configurations of the stars, which we call constellations, are
groups of letters of the alphabet, or words, in the sense of the Hebrew Old
Testament. They are not the hairy beasts of the Greek zodiac. It is therefore
possible for them to speak without being heard, as in Psalm 19:1-4:
“The heavens declare
the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. (2) Day unto day
uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. (3) There is no speech
nor language where their voice is not heard. (4) Their line is gone out through
all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a
tabernacle for the sun.”
This
idea is inherent in the fact that the Spirit and the Word agree in One. When we
see these cherubim on an analogy with the constellations, we can grasp the
significance of these Scriptures. The cherubim are vehicles of the Spirit,
Ezekiel 1:20-21, as is also the Word.
When
the Israelites encamped, their banners reflected the constellations of the
heavens by which they could navigate and by which they could tell time. True,
there were those who were ignorant of their true spiritual nature and
legitimate physical usage and so worshiped them as gods:
“25 Have ye offered
unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of
Israel? 26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your
images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.”
(Amos 5)
This
passage is referred to also in Acts 7:43:
“Yea, ye took up the
tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made
to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon”.
(Acts 7:43)
I
submit that all forms of astrology are a corruption of the proper understanding
of the Biblical use of the signs of the heavens.
These
cherubim were "full of eyes before
and behind," (Revelation 4:6), and in verse 8 they are "full of eyes within." The figures
seen by Ezekiel in 1:18 and 10:12 also were full of "eyes." The word "eyes"
in the Greek is #3788 opthalmos, the
eye.
The
word used in Ezekiel is Hebrew #05869 `ayin.
In the Hebrew it also bears the meaning of “fountain.” Several fountains or
springs of water were named -`ayin --
this, or that. Some of its transferred meanings in the Hebrew are: “a visible surface of earth,” Exodus
10:5, 15, or “appearance” as in Leviticus 13:5; and “gleam, sparkle (of metal,
jewels, etc.) as used in Ezekiel 1:4, 7, 16, 22, 27; 8:2; 10:9; Daniel 10:6.”
The appearance of the cherubim was that of the myriad stars, eyes, both
large and small within a constellation, gleaming and sparkling as jewels. This
is what John saw around the throne, not hairy, dirty, unclean beasts.
(See
Book of Enoch 39.12 and 13 for further reference to these living ones. Also see
my commentary at 12:3 “The Dragon, the Serpent, Leviathan and Rahab.”).
This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book,
Revelation In Context, available at the Living Word Bookstore in
Shawnee, Oklahoma and also available online at www.amazon.com or www.xulonpress.com. Free downloads are available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net
