Because the Bible confirms that Lucifer was a high-ranking cherub, to understand who he really was, his function and role in the heavenly government, we must first study and seek to understand who is a cherub? and what is the role of a cherub in heaven?
EZEKIEL 28:14
You were a covering cherub with outstretched wings; I set you, and you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked among the stones of fire.
WHO IS A CHERUB?
Cherub is a name given in the Christian Bible to a category of angels. Cherubim have generally been described in Christian tradition as bodiless angels, reduced to a winged head. Cherubim are equally mysterious, as they are said to have wild features similar to those of humans and animals.
In modern Christianity, cherubim are the angels of the second choir of the first angelic hierarchy. They precede the thrones and follow the seraphim. Cherubim are the throne bearers of the Almighty, always attentive to God. Cherubim are so bright that none of the lower angels in the hierarchy can see them.
In the Hebrew religion the cherub is an Angel charged with the task of guardian
(Cherub simply means guardian of the temple). Cherubim are therefore the guardians of the temple and the throne of God. They are extremely powerful angels, they are part of the category of warrior and protective angels. and whose specific attributes are science and wisdom.
WHO IS A CHERUB? AND WHAT IS THE ROLE OF A CHERUB?
1. Angels without bodies, reduced to a winged head.
2. They have wild features similar to humans and animals. And often when the Bible wants to teach us its types of angels (CHERUB), they are often described as animals to describe their wild and animal side (Ezekiel 41:18-19) or sometimes as human figures like kings or princes.
3. Cherubim are the angels of the second choir of the first angelic hierarchy. They precede the thrones and follow the seraphim.
4. Cherubim are the bearers of the throne of the Almighty.
5. Cherubim are angels charged with ensuring the task of guardian
6. They are part of the category of warrior and protective angels.
7. They accompany the divinity and have the function of guarding and protecting sacred places.
8. Cherubim are mysterious beings, they sometimes have two faces, one of a man and the other of a lion; (Ezekiel 41:17-19).
In the Bible Adam and Eve had been driven out of the Garden of Eden, and a cherub, equipped with a flaming sword, had been placed at the door to guard it and definitively forbid him access so as not to eat the other remaining fruits of the celestial garden.
GENESIS 3:22-24
22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: now therefore let us forbid that he put forth his hand, and take of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever. 23 And the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 And he let the man go, and set at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims holding a flaming sword, to guard the way to the tree of life.
In the same way, Lucifer was cast out into heaven after his rebellion, and an angel was placed at the gate of heaven to bar his way and prevent him from returning. In the same way, man was cast out of the Garden of Eden and a cherub angel was placed to prevent man from finding the entrance to heaven which represents the Garden of Eden.
But the difference between the two cases is that God had mercy on man by granting him another chance to come back to live with Him in paradise. The door that was closed in the Garden of Eden in the book of Genesis was the symbol of the true door which is JESUS CHRIST.
Jesus Himself declared in the gospel of John 10:9 "I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out, and find pasture". He also said in John 14:6: "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me".
So the will of God is to bring men back to paradise (Garden of Eden) but unfortunately we will not be able to reach paradise (Garden of Eden) without going through Jesus Christ because he is the door and the way. So accept JESUS CHRIST in your life because he is the door and the way that brings us back to paradise.
We also see in the Old Testament a Representation of a cherub in the construction of the tabernacle called Cherubim of the Ark, to which were added the Propitiatories, and one of which only approached the tip of the wings.
EXODUS 25:17-19
17 You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. 18 You shall make two cherubim of gold, beaten work you shall make them, at the two ends of the mercy seat. 19 You shall make a cherub at the one end and a cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubims that come out of the mercy seat at its two ends.
In the Bible, cherubim are depicted as special beings, often lions or oxen with human heads (in the temple described by Ezekiel, the cherubim have two faces, one of a man and the other of a lion; (Ezekiel 41:17-19 ); they accompanied the deity and had the function of guarding and protecting the sacred places.
Ezekiel 41:17-19
As far as the door, the inside of the house and the outside, all the wall around it, within and without, all according to the measure. 18 It was decorated with cherubim and palm trees. There was a palm tree between two cherubim. Each cherub had two faces, 19 a man's face turned on one side toward the palm tree, and a lion's face turned on the other side toward the other palm tree. It was so all around the house.
The four living creatures seen in the vision of Ezekiel 1 are identified in Ezekiel 10 as cherubim, who are the bearers of the throne of God. Cherubim, minor deities that guard the thresholds of the temples or palaces of God.
Other Bible verses about cherubim:
Psalm 99:1
The LORD reigns, the people tremble; he sits upon the cherubim, the earth trembles.
1 Samuel 4:4
The people sent messengers to Shiloh, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwells between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
2 Chronicles 3:10
He made in the house of the most holy place two carved cherubim, and overlaid them with gold.
1 Chronicles 28:18
and the pattern of the altar of incense of refined gold, and its weight. He gave it the pattern of the chariot, the cherubim of gold, which spread out their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD.
1 Kings 8:6,7
Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD into its place, into the innermost sanctuary of the house, into the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubim.
Genesis 2:8
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
NB: I give this Bible verse from Genesis 2:8 to draw your attention to the fact that man was the first covering cherub in the Garden of Eden before being removed from his position and replaced by a cherub angel.
Conclusion:
As mysterious as they are, the angels of the Bible are often described as having human qualities, even speaking like humans and having human-sounding names.
The Bible confirms in the book of Ezekiel 28:14 that Lucifer was a covering cherub with outstretched wings. This means that one of the purposes of his creation was to protect the throne of God which represents the heavenly sanctuary. Like all cherubim, they were placed closer to the throne of God which the book of Ezekiel 28:13 describes as Eden, the garden of God. Unfortunately, the one who was supposed to protect the garden of God desecrated the heavenly sanctuaries by his violence and sinned against God (EZEKIEL 28:18).
Because of their mysterious side, often when the Bible wants to teach us its types of angels (CHERUB), they are often described as animals to describe their wild and animal side (Ezekiel 41:18-19) or sometimes as human figures like kings or princes. This is why the cherub called Lucifer is represented in the book of Ezekiel 28:12 as the king of Tyre. Indeed, the prophet in this verse uses the image of the king of Tyre to teach us the origin of the cherub called Lucifer.
THE ANGELIC HIERARCHY:
The nine angelic choirs are divided into three groups: at the top, the first hierarchy is composed of the Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones; then come the Dominations, Virtues, Powers; then the Angels, Archangels and Principalities.
FIRST GROUP:
1. SERAPHIM
2. CHERUBIM
3. THRONES
SECOND GROUP:
4. DOMINATIONS
5. VIRTUES (SOVEREIGNS)
6. POWERS
THIRD GROUP:
7. PRINCIPALITIES
8. ARCHANGELS
9. ANGELS.
NB: The Seraphim angels are the closest to God and lead the worship in heaven by singing endless praises to the ETERNAL GOD.
The Seraphim occupy the highest place, closest to the fiery glory of GOD. Their name means “the fiery ones.” Archangels are the second lowest, the lowest angels.
Seraphim are first-ranking angels, the oldest, strongest, most powerful, highest, and most powerful of all the angels in heaven. Seraphim have a power that surpasses all others, including archangels, because of their position before the throne of God.
ISAIAH 6:1:2
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the LORD sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and his armor filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each having six wings; two of them covered their faces, and two covered their feet, and two gave them flight. 3 And they cried out to one another, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts! The whole earth is full of his glory!” »
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