Sometimes things in the Bible are represented symbolically. This article investigates how angels are used symbolically in the Bible. It is part of a collection on this subject found on this website. The Angelic Doctor
proposed some theories about angels without presenting a thorough understanding of the stories that they were extracted from.
Angels - imagery and symbols
Do you really think the when God talks of heavenly chariots that God has a standing army with chariots in heaven. Worse yet, are the chariots and horses alive as a creature or a pair of creatures. A literal interpretation of some scriptures would lead us to this conclusion.Psalms are songs and in songs people tend to use poetic license and we have to know where to draw the line.
Psalms 68:17 [KJV] The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place
Psalms 91:4 [KJV] He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler
It is also repeatedly used in other types of poetic prose like that often used in prophecy.
Isaiah 2:4 [KJV] And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Micah 4:3 [KJV] And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Is the following passage literal or symbolic?
Psalms 18:1-16 [KJV] I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. 2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. 3 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. 4 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. 5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. 6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears. 7 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth. 8 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. 9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet. 10 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. 12 At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire. 13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire. 14 Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them. 15 Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils. 16 He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.
It would not make sense to use a passage like this to claim that it represents the definitive image of the true God. It describes Him with wings and snorting fire. You would have enough common sense to look for the way that He is typically described in real interactions and use that as His real description. How about this one?
Luke 16:22 [KJV] And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abrahams bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried
How does it compare to this one?
John 3:13 [KJV] And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
Another logical leap is made in the case of Satan. The cherubim in the temple had wings, Satan was a cherub hence Satan has wings. The problem is that EVERYTHING in the Temple was symbolic. In some ways it is like a house plan. In a house plan plumbing is often drawn with dashed and dotted lines but the actual pipe is continuous.
Some things that people say about angels are just weird
Some people believe that angels are not people but they are something that they cannot define. It reminds me of the Trinity. You can't really define it but it is true. You don't really know what it is but you know that it definitely is whatever you want at that time.
one of the common beliefs is that they are chariots and horses.
II Kings 6:16-17 [KJV] And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. 17 And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
So you see. It is obvious because Elisha's eyes were opened and all he saw was horses and chariots. There are no riders described. This creates a kind of conundrum. The only way that this could happen is if the riders were so normal looking that they did not bear description or if the horse and chariot was the angel, which is just weird. Typical chariots and horses had riders and these riders looked like normal riders.
The combination of chariots and horemen was a common millitary arrangement
Genesis 50:9 [KJV] And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.
Joshua 11:6 [KJV] And the LORD said unto Joshua, Be not afraid because of them: for to morrow about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel: thou shalt hough their horses, and burn their chariots with fire.
II Samuel 15:1 [KJV] And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.
II Kings 7:6 [KJV] For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us
Because II Kings 6:17 talks only of horses that is supposed to mean that the horses were angels and of course the same logic would have to apply to the chariots.
Concerning Cherubim
Satan is the anointed cherub that covereth Ezekiel 28:14
Ezekiel 28:14 [KJV] Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
we know that there is more than one cherub that covereth from the most holy place
Exodus 25:20 [KJV] And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be
This tells us that there are at least two but does not tell us that there are ONLY two. This is talking about a function i.e. covering the mercy seat with protection and looking to each other for support. Any two angels that are assigned this task would be cherubim. From Ezekiel 28:14 above, It appears that it was once a responsibility of Satan.
Based on this description of cherubim it seems to apply to Michael and Gabriel
Daniel 10:13 [KJV] But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
They look to each other for support in protecting the government of God.
From Job we see that several angels stand in the presence of God but only some willingly do God's will. From the scriptures we learn that the good ones are elect angels. Gabriel does both.
Luke 1:19 [KJV] And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.
Daniel 8:16 [KJV] And I heard a mans voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.
Michael also does both since he is the one who fights in Revelation. Although there is no specific mention of him relying on Gabriel for support the fundamentals of love dictate that if one does it for the other then the reverse would also be true.
Michael is one of the chef princes Daniel 10:13, also called an archangel (Jude 1:9) and the great prince (Dan 12:1)
Daniel 10:13 [KJV] But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
Jude 1:9 [KJV] Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee
Daniel 12:1 [KJV] And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
Michael has to be at the same rank of Satan, because from the ark there had to be at least two anointed cherubs that covereth, hence Michael is an anointed cherub that covereth
Gabriel says that he stands in the presence of God (Luke 1:19 above) an obvious reference to Job 1:6 and Job 2:1 noted earlier. Hence Gabriel and Michael appear to be of the same rank (since there is currently at least two anointed cherubs that covereth) and as such Gabriel would also be an anointed cherub that covereth.
The cherubs that cover are represented with a normal face in most representations i.e. there is nothing special about their faces. There is a possibility that they could have bulls faces but that is for another subject. The cherubim in Ezekiel's firestorm have four faces so the question becomes why?
Gabriel looks like a man Daniel 8:16, Daniel 9:21 and very much like Christ (Daniel 10) and is terrifying to look at (notice Zecharias in Luke 1:11-12 and compare with Daniel and with John in Revelation 1:17)
Daniel 8:16 [KJV] And I heard a mans voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision
Daniel 9:21 [KJV] Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation
Luke 1:11-12 [KJV] And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
Revelation 1:17 [KJV] And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
Satan is represented as a dragon Revelation 12:3-4, Revelation 12:7-9, Revelation 13:2-5, Revelation 13:11
Revelation 12:3-4 [KJV] And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
Revelation 12:7-9 [KJV] And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Revelation 13:2-5 [KJV] And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. 4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Revelation 13:11 [KJV] And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon
and as a serpent Genesis 3:1
Genesis 3:1 [KJV] Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
That does not mean that he looks like a serpent or a dragon. It is describing a type of personality. If he was an anointed cherub that covereth then the image on the mercy seat would be of dragons or serpents.
How is it that cherubs are conceived to be four headed creatures that fly around carrying God on his throne? If you cannot explain the vision then you cannot claim to know the imagery so you cannot know which parts are real. If you did not understand the imagery in the lean cows that ate the fat ones you would think that cows are carnivores.
Living Creatures
In seeking to understand the Bible we are constrained by the definitions in the Bible. The Bible talks a lot about living creatures in genesis (Genesis 1:21, Genesis 1:24, Genesis 2:19, Genesis 9:10, Genesis 9:12, Genesis 9:15, Genesis 9:16) and it is also mentioned in Leviticus 11:46. In none of these instances do we see God talking about supernatural beings. When God gets to Ezekiel we cannot create a meaning just because we do not understand, we have to stick with God's definition and seek the meaning in that. What God showed Ezekiel 1-3 was a likeness of things that existed on the Earth, living creatures. They were things that breathe air and could die, that is why they are called living creatures and not supernatural or holy or anything else. These creatures therefore represented some form of life on earth. God did not give an interpretation and so we must seek the interpretation from God and not make it up. The interpretation from God must come from His word not our imagination. There is an explanation.
Seraphim
Isaiah talks about seraphim. Do you understand the vision?
Isaiah 6 [KJV] In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. 6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. 9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. 11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, 12 And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. 13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.
If you do not understand the vision then you do not know if it is talking about angels or insects. First seek out an interpretation of the vision that is pertinent to the problem that Israel faced and then we can talk about a credible meaning of seraphim.
The word cherubim
Cherub does not mean living creature or vice versa. These are descriptions of things in the Bible that people tend to equate but do not understand by their own admission. To me it makes sense to apply the same common sense and reasoning that we use to understand what God is like to understanding the angels (actually people apply bogus reasoning to understanding what God is like too). People claim that a cherub is always a type of angel and that is true in the precise interpretations of both words.
Mickelson's Enhanced Strong's Dictionaries of the Greek and Hebrew Testaments- H4397 mal'ak (mal-awk') n-m.
- 1. a messenger.
- 2. (specifically, of God) an angel.
- 3. (thus, also) a prophet, priest or teacher.
- [from an unused root meaning to despatch as a deputy]
- KJV: ambassador, angel, king, messenger.
Angel means messenger of God. When we use the word angels we are typically referring to spiritual ministers of God and a cherub is always a type of minister/messenger of God too, but the word cherub is not defining a type of spiritual creature. The meanings offered in most Bible dictionaries are not derived from any scripture but from peoples imagination. God names things what they are and if we want to know what the name means then we must look at what the thing does. Every name that God gave an item in the Bible was related to something that the item did. Genesis sheds some light on the matter
Genesis 3:24 [KJV] So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
What were they doing? Guarding and protecting.
The mercy seat also had two cherubim
Exodus 25:18 [KJV] And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat
What were they doing? Is it in any way similar to the Garden of Eden?
Leviticus 16:2 [KJV] And the LORD said to Moses: Tell your brother Aaron not to enter freely into the Most Holy Place behind the veil in front of the mercy seat on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.
Did anyone that appeared in the Garden of Eden also Appear on the mercy seat?
Hebrews 10:19-20 [KJV] And where these have been forgiven, an offering for sin is no longer needed. 19Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,
What are these doing? Where do palm trees grow?
Ezekiel 41:18-25 [KJV] And it was made with cherubims and palm trees, so that a palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub; and every cherub had two faces; 19 So that the face of a man was toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side: it was made through all the house round about. 20 From the ground unto above the door were cherubims and palm trees made, and on the wall of the temple. 21 The posts of the temple were squared, and the face of the sanctuary; the appearance of the one as the appearance of the other. 22 The altar of wood was three cubits high, and the length thereof two cubits; and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls thereof, were of wood: and he said unto me, This is the table that is before the LORD. 23 And the temple and the sanctuary had two doors. 24 And the doors had two leaves apiece, two turning leaves; two leaves for the one door, and two leaves for the other door. 25 And there were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubims and palm trees, like as were made upon the walls; and there were thick planks upon the face of the porch without.
Cherub was used as a name in Israel
God tends to name things what they are. Did this man have a beak and wings? Is is possible that the early Israelites knew what the word meant?
Ezra 2:59 [KJV] And these were they which went up from Telmelah, Telharsa, Cherub, Addan, and Immer: but they could not shew their fathers house, and their seed, whether they were of Israel
Why would some name their child weird creature with multiple heads and wings? It obviously had a different meaning to that in their day.
What is Ezekiel talking about?
Ezekiel talks about cherubim in chapters 1, 9, 10, 28 and 41. We are told in chapter 10:15, 20, 22 that what he spoke of in chapter 1 were cherubim i.e. the same as at Chebar. What is he talking about? The cherubim in the tabernacle had only one face, those in Ezekiel 1 and 10 had four faces and in Ezekiel 41:18 they had two faces. It should be clear that appearance is not what defines a cherub.
Satan is a cherub but does that mean that he has four heads?
Ezekiel 28:14 [KJV] Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
Ezekiel 28:16 [KJV] By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire
If I said that Aaron was the anointed High Priest that entered the Most Holy Place would you assume that Aaron was transformed into some weird being called a High Priest? Of course not. He would still be a man but anointed to some function. It is the same with the cherub. It is a functional description not a species of creature.
Ezekiel 28:14 [NET] I placed you there with an anointed guardian cherub; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked about amidst fiery stones.
Ezekiel 28:16 [NET] In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned; so I defiled you and banished you from the mountain of God the guardian cherub expelled you from the midst of the stones of fire.
The word cherub describes an activity that angels can perform. It is not a rank or classification of four headed angels with wings. Anyone can perform that function. You cannot use something that you don't understand to prove that you understand something else. It is illogical.
He said that one face was like that of a cherub. For him to make such a statement and expect his audience to understand, the appearance of a cherub would have to be something familiar. One face was that of the familiar cherub, presumably the one on the curtains of the tabernacle and entrances to the temple.
Ezekiel 10:14 [KJV] And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
He then shows that the whole thing was a cherub.
Ezekiel 10:15 [KJV] And the cherubims were lifted up. This is the living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar.
So this was a cherub that was different from the familiar cherub of the Sanctuary which had only one face. One thing is for sure and that is that to be a cherub does not depend on how many faces you have. I would go so far as to suggest that to be a cherub does not depend on appearance at all. Something with four faces can be a cherub and something with one also can be as well as something with two faces. This is confirmed by Ezekiel 41
Ezekiel 41:18 [KJV] And it was made with cherubims and palm trees, so that a palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub; and every cherub had two faces
The cherubim in Ezekiel 41 had only two faces.
The creatures in genesis were called cherubim too
Genesis 3:24 [KJV] So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
The entrance to the garden of Eden was in the east that is the only way that putting the cherubim there makes sense.
Ezekiel 47:1 [KJV] Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar
With a bit of effort you can also determine that the entrances to the Tabernacle in the wilderness and Solomons Temple were on the east side. Eden is represented in the Temple. The cherubim in Eden had a flaming sword with them. It seems like they were the spotters but the sword did the destroying. I do not believe that the sword can represent Christ but it could represent Christs Judgement. A sword came from out of His mouth in Revelation.
Revelation 1:16 [KJV] And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength
The point here is that there is imagery in the word cherubim that relates to the Tabernacle and Garden of Eden. It is not about angels at all but about a job of protecting the tree of life.
If anyone wants to speak authoritatively on a part of Ezekiel then they must demonstrate that they have a general understanding of what he is saying in total and that what is being proposed fits in with the rest. Ezekiel is having a vision. What does it mean? If you can't tell me that then you cannot blame me for believing that you do not know what you are talking about. Is the vision of chapter 1 dealing with the same thing as chapter 10? How does chapter 28 fit in? It is not my intention to explain Ezekiel here, just to show that the bogus interpretations applied to words linked to angels are just that.
