STANDING GUARD

When you hear "cherubim", you do think of these chubby little baby angels?  I guess Raphael's church fresco paintings have influenced us.

Scripture says the cherubim were armed angels and it would be pretty hard to picture babies with a flaming sword.  Cherubim were especially tasked to protect the holiness of God and the entrance to God.

Consider these two particular places that cherubim were found: Eden's garden gate and the Tabernacle.

GARDEN OF EDEN
After the LORD drove Adam and Eve out of the garden, the cherubim were posted to ensure the guilty pair could not come back in.

By that, God was denying them access to the Tree of Life (the impartation of eternal life).  That was not God being harsh; that was God being compassionate.  He knows the ravages and degradation of sin and He did not want Adam and Eve to live eternally in that state.

THE TABERNACLE
The cherubim were also found in the specific orders God gave to Moses as to how He would have the Tabernacle built.  These guardians were to be woven figuratively into the curtains of the Tabernacle and also cast as golden figures over the Ark of the Covenant.

1.  THE ARK OF THE COVENANT
Solid gold cherubim were to go above the mercy seat, which was the lid on the Ark of the Covenant.  That is where the presence of God was said to come and dwell.

The ark was found in The Most Holy Place and was to be accessed only once a year by the high priest.  On the Day of Atonement, the high priest confessed his personal sins and the sins of Israel before entering.

Once inside, the high priest sprinkled lamb's blood on the lid of the ark.  God then showed mercy (hence the name "mercy seat") as His wrath was appeased for another year.  A rope was tied to his leg so that if he went in without being properly cleansed and the LORD struck him dead, they could drag him out.

2.  TABERNACLE CURTAINS

Thick, three-story curtains surrounded The Holy Place and also divided it from The Holy of Holies.  The curtains were made of tightly twisted linen in royal colors of blue, scarlet, and purple.  Moses was told to include a design of cherubim in the curtains.  Why?

The LORD was teaching them that a holy God cannot be accessed by an unholy people.  They must come to Him in a particular way.  They must approach Him through the blood of a sacrifice. 

Israelites (both men and women) and Gentiles could come into the larger courtyard.  But only the High Priest and the Levites charged with upkeep of the Tabernacle were allowed into The Holy Place.

As they entered and looked up toward the three-story curtain (shown open for the sake of illustration but would have been closed) they saw the cherubim and knew access to God was restricted.  Even the most "religious" Israelite, the high priest who entered beyond the veil, was reminded of separation when he saw the beautiful golden cherubim standing guard.

Why was access to God so hard?  It seemed hard to people because He made only one way.  Today people struggle for the same reason.  They want to think any approach to God is worthy, but that's not what God says.

These curtains represented Jesus' body.  At the instant Jesus died, God the Father shook the earth, turned out the lights, and the veil in the temple tore from top to bottom, opening a way into The Most Holy Place.  Hebrews 10:20 explains that Jesus was the Sacrifice that bought our accessibility into God's presence.

God wants to dwell in our midst and He made a way - a very costly way for Him - to deal with our sin so that we COULD come to Him.

No wonder good works will not gain entry...nor trying to be goody-two-shoes...nor thinking your way to Him through philosophy...nor reaching for him in church attendance.  Those human efforts insult the good work His Son accomplished.

"THERE IS SALVATION IN NO ONE ELSE, FOR THERE IS NO OTHER NAME UNDER HEAVEN GIVEN AMONG PEOPLE BY WHICH WE MUST BE SAVED."  ACTS 4:12

"SO THAT AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE WILL BOW - IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH AND UNDER THE EARTH AND EVERY TONGUE CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER."  PHILIPPIANS 2:11