Ezekiel 41:19
Each
winged creature had two faces: A human face looking at the palm tree on one
side, and a lion's face looking at the palm tree on the other side.
Thought
for the day – Patterns
As I was reading the chapter today, I found myself wondering about the idea that patterns play an important part of Scripture. Ezekiel’s descriptions of the winged creatures on the walls and doors of the Temple are an echo of his vision of the winged creatures before the throne of God, the Cherubim. The same Cherubim appear before the throne of God in John’s Revelation, In Solomon’s Temple and also there a Cherubim the guards the gates to the Garden of Eden. A reminder that there is more to life than is explained in our theories.
The Cherubim in Judaism play a very specific role. They are guardians of sacred spaces, hence the Cherubim at the Garden of Eden. But they also appear on the curtain dividing the Holy of Holies and they overshadow the Mercy Seat on the Ark of the Covenant. All of these were and are visual reminders that there are holy places. All of these remind us that the holy spaces are sacred and deserve to be protected. They are the threshold and the place where God’s glory dwells. Whether it’s the Garden of Eden or the throne room of God. Where God is is paradise. The Cherubim are there protecting paradise.
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