Wednesday, October 31, 2018

The Cherubim of Glory Hebrews 9:5


The writer of Hebrews shared about the contents of the “tabernacle” of God which was brought in with the “first covenant” of God, and in chapter nine and verse five of Hebrews the writer shared how the “tabernacle” included “cherubim” which were “shadowing the mercy-seat” where we read:

And over it the cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy-seat;
of which we cannot now speak particularly.

The verse begins, “And over it the cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy-seat;”. The writer began with the words, “And over it” which means “above the mercy-seat” “the cherubim” which were “two golden figures of living creatures with two wings; they were fastened to the lid of the ark of the covenant in the holy of holies (both at the sacred tabernacle and of Solomon's temple) in such a manner that their faces were turned towards each other and down towards the lid with which they overshadowed with their expanded wings. Between these figures God was regarded as having fixed his dwelling place” “of glory” which means “honor, praise, dignity and worship” “shadowing” which refers to “the cherubim covering with a shade” “the mercy-seat” which means “appeasing, expiating, placating and a propitiation” and was “used of the cover of the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies which was sprinkled with the blood of the expiatory victim on the annual day of atonement ”. The “cherubim” were “covering” the “mercy-seat” which was on top of the “ark of the covenant”.

The verse continues, “of which we cannot now speak particularly.”. The writer added the words, “of which” or “that and whereof” “we cannot now speak” which means “the Hebrew writer was not at this present time or henceforth able to say, affirm, exhort, command or maintain” “particularly” or “regard or respect in any particular way”. The writer of Hebrews could not share all that was contained not only with the “cherubim” over the “mercy-seat” and the “ark of the covenant” but also with the entire contents of the “tabernacle” of God.

When we consider these words in Hebrews, we see more of the components of the “tabernacle” or “temple” of God. This reference is to the angelic “cherubim” that “covered” the “mercy-seat” which was over the “ark of the covenant”. These were more of the aspects of God's heavenly temple which served as a “shadow” of the heavenly temple wherein God dwells. This is where Jesus entered as our “great high priest” and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sins, and the more we realize the significance of the “tabernacle” of God and the contents therein, the more we shall realize the extent to which God wants to have a relationship with us through His Son. May all who read understand and believe.

Next time shares about “when these things were thus ordained”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites,
http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.





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