Ezekiel 10 – The
prophet sees another very hard-to-follow vision: above the vault, over
the cherubs’ heads, something that looks like a sapphire and above this a
throne. The man in white (the vision of chapter 8) is told to take burning coal
from between the cherubs and scatter it over Jerusalem.
The
man goes into the courtyard of the Temple and a cloud fills the inner court. “The
glory of Yahweh rose off the cherubs,” and the court is filled with the
brightness of the glory of the Lord. There are four wheels to the side of the
cherubs – glittering like chrysolite (a greenish, clear gem).
The
vision is complicated – it is of the angelic cherubim and wheels. “The cherubs
spread their wings and rose from the ground to leave, and as I watched, the
wheels rose with them. They paused at the entrance to the east gate of the
Temple of Yahweh, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them. This
was the creature that I had seen supporting the God of Israel beside the river
Chebar, and I was now certain that these were cherubs. Each had four faces and
four wings and what seemed to be human hands under their wings . . . Each moved
straight forward” (10:19-22).
Cherubs in Jewish
thinking were angelic, spiritual beings that served the one God. Investigation of the
origin of who and what they were in Jewish thought led to my reading about the
entire angelic hierarchy. It was interesting and eye-opening. The Wikipedia
article I started with directed me to a site that described the kabbalistic version;
kabbalah is a school of Jewish thought that is very mystical. This is the
hierarchy described:
· Seraphim – the highest – are caretakers of God’s
throne. They regulate the movement of the heavens and emanate a light so bright
no one can look at it. Four seraphim surround God’s throne. They each have six
wings – two cover the face, two the middle and two cover the feet. Archangels Michael and Lucifer are
among the Seraphim.
· Cherubim – Next down the chain, beyond God’s throne,
the cherubim guard light and stars. They have four faces – a man, an ox, a lion
and an eagle. They guard Eden and the throne of God. Gabriel is one
· Ophanim – Wheels/Thrones – beryl-colored wheel within
wheel, the rims of which are covered with eyes. Also called Lords of Flame.
· Thrones – symbols of God’s justice and authority
· Dominions – keep the order of the cosmos
· Principalities – guard nations/countries and are concerned
with politics and war
· Powers – bearers of conscience and keepers of history. They are
also angels of birth and death and are concerned with ideology, philosophy,
theology, etc. They are the only order
created after the fall.
· Archangels – chief angels (messengers) Michael, Gabriel
and Raphael
· Angels – the lowest order and the closest to man
It was interesting looking into this because New Testament
references to “principalities and powers” were never something I associated
with angels and archangels.
I have tried to look up the origin of the angelic hierarchy idea,
but it is really not clear where it came from. Some say from Assyria or the
Canaanites or just the Mesopotamian area generally. There may have been a
common source for ideas about this set of angels and powers, but I can’t find
anything simple to explain. Clearly, though, they are embedded in the story
from the very beginning.
It is two cherubs who are given the task of guarding the gate to
Eden. Satan is there is the story, but we are not given any narrative in the
Bible itself to explain his presence. Seems to me the
important thing is they were seen as part of the heavenly court. God was not ALONE before the creation of animals and
humans. And they seem to serve as guardians of both Paradise and the Sanctuary
of the Temple. Perhaps they are evoked here in Ezekiel because they continue to
guard God’s Holy Temple and city even when it seems to have been subjected to
the desecration of the Neo-Babylonians.
Ezekiel 11 – Here the prophet
repeats the promise of God to return those who have been exiled from the holy
city. They will be gathered and returned where they will cleanse the city of
its horrors.
I find it interesting what is said in verse 16: “I have sent them far
away among the nations . . .and for a
while I have been a sanctuary for them in the country to which they have gone”
(11:17). This idea of God Himself being a sanctuary for his people will soon
form the heart of the New Covenant. We
do not need to be in the holy city or in the Temple there to be sheltered in
God’s presence.
Meanwhile
the cherubs and their wheels transport the “glory of the God of Israel” to the
mountain east of the city, where it will hover until it is able to be returned.
John 11 - The raising of Lazarus of Bethany, brother of Mary and Martha. Mary is
said to be the one “who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with
her hair” (11:2), but that story does not appear in John until chapter 12, and the Jerusalem
Bible note here indicates that John has confused this Mary with the woman
of Luke 7:37.
The sisters
send an urgent message to Jesus about Lazarus’ illness, but he does not come
for two days. “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s
glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it” (11:4). They return
when he is dead. He actually finds upon his return that Lazarus has been dead
four days.
Martha goes
out to meet him, expressing faith that even now he can save Lazarus. Jesus
assures her that he will rise again, and she thinks he is talking about the
“last day” (11:24). Jesus responds that
he is “the resurrection and the life.
Those who believe in me, even though
they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die”
(11:25-26). She tells him she believes
him and also believes that he is “the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming
into the world” (11:27).
Martha goes
home and tells her sister that Jesus, “the
teacher,” is back and wants to see her. She goes to him, followed by a
number of Jews who were consoling her. When she sees Jesus, she too expresses
the belief that Lazarus would not have died had Jesus only been there. The
weeping of Mary and the Jews with her move Jesus (11:33). He asks where Lazarus
is. He is weeping too. He is “greatly disturbed” when he comes to the tomb. He
orders the stone taken away. Then he looks upward and says, “Father, I thank
you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this
for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent
me” (11:42). Then he orders Lazarus to “come out!” (11:43) He comes out with
the burial cloths on him.
Many
believe, but some go to the Pharisees and tell on him. They call a meeting. They are worried that the Romans will
come and “destroy both our holy place and our nation” (11:48). Caiaphas—high
priest that year—tells them it is better to have one man die for the people
than for the nation to be destroyed. He
implies that Jesus will not only die for the nation but “to gather into one the
dispersed children of God” (11:52). Is this meant
to be some ironic recognition of the
universal saving role Jesus will play, ironic only because the truth is on the lips of one of the men
responsible for his lynching?
Jesus
goes to the town of Ephraim near the wilderness and remains there. The Passover is near, and many are
going to Jerusalem. They look for
Jesus and wonder if he will come. The chief priests and Pharisees have let
people know that they want to arrest him.
This is the ultimate story
of Christ’s power over the flesh and our mortal existence. It’s interesting that this amazing story only appears in one
of the four gospels. The less
dramatic one about Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha seems to have been more
widely told. But the story reinforces the major theme of John’s approach to the
gospel – that Jesus – from the beginning of creation on – is the source of
life, both spiritual and material, and He is the One who has power to raise the
dead to life. The quotes I
have included above speak volumes about what this fact can mean for our
individual lives if it is apprehended as a spiritual reality available to all
of us as friends and beloved of Jesus.
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