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Father. This restores beauty, order, consistency, and harmony, to the otherwise disturbed and distorted sense. In the tabernacle and temple, Christ, by his type, presented his intercession before the symbol of his Father; as he now, in his own Divine person, appears before the same glorious personage above.

In the vast work of man's redemption, the Father is officially supreme. It belongs to him to guard the laws, and sustain the honors of the eternal throne. It is to him, therefore, that the expiation of Christ was made. It is before him, that Christ presents the blood of atonement, and offers up the incense of his intercession. And as the Father is the personage before whom Christ actually appears in heaven, so the Shekinah before which Christ typically appeared in the most holy place on earth, must be regarded as a representation of the same person.

And this perfectly accords with the appearance of the glorious Shekinah. Had Christ been shadowed forth in it, we might have expected the appearance of a human form, as this was the form in which he actually appeared on the earth, and in which he often appeared, before his incarnation, to the patriarchs and prophets. But the Shekinah seems to have presented no definite form whatever. It was a dazzling brightness, beaming forth from the cloud; fit emblem of Him, who is represented as dwelling in light unapproachable, "whom no man hath seen, or can see" and live.

But we must now turn to those other important appendages of the ark, viz., the cherubim. Of these there were two; one on each end of the lid or covering of the ark, called the mercyseat. They are represented as "stretching forth their wings on high, and covering the mercy-seat with their wings." They are also represented as having "faces looking one to another, towards the mercy-seat." In the most holy place of the temple, there were two other cherubim, of much larger dimensions, not attached to the ark, but standing one on either side of it, and overshadowing it with their wings, 1 Chron. 3: 10-13.

The precise form of the cherubim is not made known to us; nor is it certain that all the cherubim spoken of in the Scriptures were of the same form. Those described by Ezekiel had each of them four faces, looking towards the four points of the compass. Those in the tabernacle and temple seem not to have had more than two faces each, perhaps not more than one; as it is expressly said that their faces turned inward towards each. 4

SECOND SERIES, VOL. X. NO. II.

other, and towards the mercy-seat. The cherubim of Ezekiel had each of them four wings, Ezek, 1:6-10. It does not appear that those in the tabernacle and temple had more than two. The cherubim of Ezekiel were furnished with wheels, as well as wings; an appendage not mentioned in connexion with any of the other cherubim figures spoken of in the Scriptures.

It is not likely that the cherubim were images or resemblances of any earthly, created object. They were symbols of some order of heavenly beings. This is evident from the place which they occupied, both in the tabernacle and temple. Their place was in the holy of holies, close by the Shekinah and the mercy-seat; and as the holy of holies was itself a type of heaven, and as the whole service performed there was but a resemblance of what is done in heaven; so, manifestly, the cherubim were symbols or resemblances of some class of heavenly beings. But who? What? What order of heavenly beings do they represent ?

By Mr. Hutchinson and those of his school, they are regarded as emblematical of the Trinity. But this idea is too absurd to require consideration. God, who strictly forbade that any image or likeness should be made of himself, would not have instructed Moses, almost in the same breath, to form such an image. Besides, the God of Israel is always represented as distinct from the cherubim. He dwelt "between the cherubim," and could not have been represented by them.

The suppositions chiefly prevalent among Christians in regard to the import of the cherubim are, that they denote either the angels of heaven, or the glorified spirits of saints in heaven. The former of these is the more common opinion, and after much study and reflection, I am constrained to think it the

true one.

From what we know of the cherubim, their characters and offices are entirely consonant to those of the angels. The angels are deeply interested in the great subject of redemption. They study it with profound attention, and learn from it "the manifold wisdom," and the abounding grace and glory of God. "Into which things the angels desire to look," 1 Pet. 1: 12. The cherubim too, as exhibited in the tabernacle and temple, appear deeply interested in the same wonderful subject. Their faces are turned inward upon the mercy-seat-the place where mercy and truth symbolically meet together, and where right

eousness and peace embrace each other, contemplating the wonders and glories of the scene, in a posture of the most devout attention.

The angels are interested in the church of God-in the worship and ordinances of the church; and are thought by many to be present in the assemblies of the saints; see 1 Cor. 11: 10. So the cherubim are represented as deeply interested in the church, and as being present in her most solemn acts of worship. Besides the cherubim in the most holy place, pictures of cherubim were inwrought in all the curtains and veils of the tabernacle; thus indicating that the beings, of which these were the types, were present there to behold the ordinances and worship of that sacred place. Also in the temple there were not only the standing figures of cherubim in the most holy place, but Solomon, we are told, "carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim ;" indicating the same important fact as before; see 1 Kings 6: 29, 35; 2 Chron. 3: 14.

The angels are represented as not only loving and serving God, but delightfully praising him. At the dawn of the creation, "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." And at the birth of our Saviour, the angels heralded his incarnation with songs of praise. So the seraphim (which are supposed to be the same as cherubim) are represented as engaged in the most reverential acts of devotion and praise. They cry one to another in the upper temple, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory," Is. 6: 3.

If it be said that the acts and offices of the cherubim, here referred to, are no more consonant to those of the angels than they are to those of glorified saints, and consequently that nothing can be determined from them in regard to the question before us, I proceed to notice other representations of Scripture respecting the cherubim, which are of a more decisive character.

The placing of cherubim at the entrance of the garden of Eden, "to keep the way of the tree of life," is perfectly natural, on the supposition that they signify angels; but hardly to be accounted for on the other supposition. There were no glorified saints at this period in heaven; nor, so far as we know, in any part of the universe. And if there had been, why should their representations or types be stationed at the entrance of the garden of Eden," to keep the way of the tree of life"? All this

seems very consonant to what we know of the offices of angels, but not at all in conformity with what God has revealed to us respecting the employment of glorified saints. They are not posted as sentinels in different parts of God's kingdom, and charged with the performance of arduous and responsible duties; but they rest from their labors, and their works follow them." They have entered upon that rest which remains for the people of God.

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But this leads me to remark further, that the cherubim, like the angels, and not like the saints, are represented as the servants, the ministers, of God's throne. I hardly need quote passages to show that the fact here asserted is true of the angels. They are represented as standing, in the posture of servants, round about the throne. "I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to show thee these glad tidings," Luke 1: 19. It was in their capacity as servants to the throne of God, that the angels appeared unto Jacob, ascending and descending on the ladder which reached from earth to heaven, Gen. 28: 12. It is in the same capacity that they are spoken of as "doing the commandments of God, hearkening unto the voice of his word ;" and as being "ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation," Ps. 103: 20; Heb. 1: 14.

It is interesting to look through the Bible, and notice the extent of the angelic ministry, and the manner in which it has been accomplished. We find the angels ministering to Abraham in repeated instances: to Hagar in the desert; to Lot in Sodom; to Jacob, on his return from Padan-Aram; to Moses; to Joshua; to Gideon; to Manoah and his wife; to Elijah the prophet; to Daniel, in repeated instances; to Zechariah the prophet, and Zechariah the priest; to Mary the mother of Jesus; to Joseph; to the shepherds; to Peter and John; to Paul, and Philip, and Cornelius; to the soul of Lazarus, after its release from the body; and more than all, to our Lord Jesus Christ. At the close of his temptation, "angels came and ministered unto him ;" and in the garden of Gethsemane, "there appeared an angel from heaven unto him, strengthening him." Indeed, it is said of the angels of the Lord," that they encamp round about them that fear him, to deliver them," Ps. 34: 7.

And in waiting around the throne of God, the angels have been ministers, not only of his mercy, but of his wrath. It was through their instrumentality that Sodom and Gomorrah were

destroyed; that the Egyptians were visited with such desolating judgments, Ps. 78: 49; that the people of Israel were smitten, after they had been numbered by David, 2 Sam. 24: 16; that the hosts of the proud Assyrian were cut off as in a moment, Is. 37: 36; and that the impious Herod was devoured of worms, even before he was laid in the dust, Acts 11: 23. It is through the ministry of angels, that both the righteous and the wicked are to be gathered, at last, before the throne of judgment, to hear their destinies awarded, and to enter on the changeless retributions of eternity.

But I have said more than was necessary to show that angels are the servants of God's throne. Their very name imports as much as this:-angels, messengers, whose office it is to do the commandments of God, and bear his messages from one world to another.

It will be evident, on reflection, that the office of the cherubim is very similar. They, too, are represented as standing near the throne of God, apparently waiting the intimations of his will. In the tabernacle and temple, their place was close by the glorious Shekinah, the visible manifestation of the presence of the Most High, and when Isaiah "saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, high and lifted up," he saw also the seraphim standing near it, ready to fly on his errands of mercy or of wrath.

The cherubim which Ezekiel saw, were in a still more obvious attitude of service. They are represented as bearing up the throne of God, and as constituting, by their wings and wheels, the chariot of his glory. He saw the likeness as of a firmament upon the heads of the living creatures; and "above the firmament was the likeness of a throne;" and upon the throne was "as the appearance of a man, * Ez. 1: 22, 26. It is with reference to this representation, that we read of "the chariot of the cherubim," 1 Chron. 22: 18. It is also said of the Jehovah of Israel, "He rode upon a cherub, and did fly," Ps. 18: 10.

It must be evident from what has been said, that the angels and the cherubim stand in the same relation to the great Sovereign of the universe, and are employed in the same offices and

The personage here presented, I have no doubt, is the Son of God. He appears in a human form. He also was the person whom Isaiah saw, sitting on his throne, surrounded by the seraphim, see John 12: 41.

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