What then should ever raise this question? What could have caused His mind to run in the channel of thinking that this mighty and glorious dignity of equality with God, was not a thing to be striven for and eagerly retained? What should cause Him not to think of holding fast to, and striving for, that which by eternal and inalienable right was truly His, and which He truly was?
From the nature of the case as stated in the text, it is evident that on the part of someone there was a mind willing to raise a strife as to who should be equal with God.
It is plain that in someone there was manifested a mind, a disposition, earnestly to desire, and to seize upon, equality with God. By someone there was meditated a usurpation of equality with God.
Who was this? Can we find him? If we can find such a one, it is certain that we shall have found the key to the whole situation, the secret of the thought contained in the scripture under consideration, and the secret of the papacy.
We can find him. He is named, and fully described. His attempted usurpation, its origin, and its awful results are fully explained. Here is the description of an "anointed cherub" who sinned:
"Thus says the Lord God; You seal up the sum, full of wis dom, and perfect in beauty. You have been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, the sardius, the topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of your tabrets and of your pipes was prepared in you in the day that you were created. You are the anointed cherub that covers; and I have set you so: you were upon the holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. [Compare with Revelation 21:10-23; 22:1-4] You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, till iniquity was found in you. By the multitude of your merchandise they have filled the midst of you with violence, and you have sinned: therefore I will cast you as profane out of the mountain of God; and I will destroy you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire." (Ezekiel 28:12-16)
It will not be a repetition, but rather an addition, to insert here the Jews' translation of this passage. It runs as follows:
Thus has said the Lord Eternal, You were complete in out- line, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
In Eden the garden of God did you abide; every precious stone was your covering, the sardius, the topaz, and the diamond, the chrysolite, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold; your tabrets and your flutes of artificial workmanship were prepared in you on the day that you were created.
You were a cherub with outspread covering (wings); and I had set you upon the holy mountain of God (as) you were; in the midst of the stones of fire did you wander.
Perfect were you in your ways from the day that you were created, till wickedness was found in you.
By the abundance of your commerce you were filled to your center with violence, and you did sin: therefore I degraded you out of the mountain of God; and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
What are Cherubim?
It is important just here to study what the cherubim are, and what their place is.
In the tabernacle made and pitched by the children of Israel in the wilderness there were two apartments, the holy place and the most holy place.
The inner curtain that formed the top of the whole taber nacle was curiously and elegantly interwoven with figures of cherubim (Exodus 26:1). The veil which separated between the holy place and the most holy place was likewise wrought in figures of cherubim.
In the most holy place was the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein were the tables of the testi mony, the tables of the covenant, the Ten Commandments; and over the cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy-seat.
The top of this ark of the testimony was the mercy-seat. On each end of this mercy-seat was placed a golden cherub. These two cherubim faced each other and the mercy-seat, with outstretched wings shadowing the mercy-seat.
Above the mercy-seat dwelt the Shekinah--the bright shining glory of the presence of the Lord. And said he,
"There I will meet with you, and I will commune with you from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give you in commandment unto the children of Israel." (Exodus 25:22; see also Exodus 25:10, 11, 16-22; Hebrews 9:2-5; Numbers 7:89)
When the temple in Jerusalem was built to take the place of the tabernacle, all the inner wall and the inner face of the doors were carved in figures of cherubim and palm-trees and open flowers; and then all this carving and the whole inner surface of the house were overlaid with gold fitted upon the carved work, and "garnished with precious stones for beauty."
In addition to all this there were made two cherubim each ten cubits high, with wings ten cubits from tip to tip. The ark of the testimony that had been in the tabernacle was brought into the temple, and put in the most holy place with the tables of the testimony in it and the mercy-seat and the golden cherubim upon the top of it.
And these two large cherubim which were made with the temple, were placed also in the most holy place,
"...and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubim, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house." (1 Kings 6:27; see also 1 Kings 6:21-35; 8:1-11; 2 Chronicles 3:3-14; 5:1-10)
Now this earthly tabernacle, or this temple, with all its ap pointments was but a shadow of things in heaven. The taber nacle when it was made, was according to the pattern, or original, which the Lord himself showed to Moses in the mount (Exodus 25:9, 40; Hebrews 8:4, 5).
And when the temple was to be built to take the place of the tabernacle, a view of the pattern, or original, was given to David by the Spirit of God, and the plans were committed by him to Solomon for his guidance in the building and furnish ing of the temple (2 Chronicles 28:11, 12, 19).
Thus, the tabernacle, or temple, on earth, with its priest hood, its ministry, and all its appointments, was a shadow, a representation, of the tabernacle, or temple in heaven, and of the heavenly priesthood, the heavenly ministry, and the heav enly appointments (Hebrews 8:1-6; 9:1-14, 22-26).
Therefore the figures of cherubim above the mercy-seat, and the ark of the testimony, and over all the inner surface of the tabernacle and the temple, were but shadows or representations of the real cherubim in heaven itself.
There is a temple of God in heaven (Revelation 14:15, 17; 15:5; 16:1, 17).
In that temple Jesus Christ, our High Priest, ministers (Hebrews 8:1, 2).
In it is an altar of incense at which the merit of Jesus Christ is offered with the prayers of the saints (Ezekiel 1:11).
In it also is the ark of God's testimony; upon which is the mercy-seat where God himself dwells; and about it are the bright cherubim with outstretched, shadowing wings.
In the first and tenth chapters of Ezekiel there are recorded visions in which the prophet saw the glory of the heavenly throne and of Him who sits upon it, and the cherubim about it. Four of the cherubim he describes particularly.
These four had each four faces and four wings, and two of the wings of each one were stretched upward, joining one to another, and with the other two each one covered his body. By the sides of the cherubim, and apparently inseparably con nected with them ("for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels," Ezekiel 1:20, 21), were four living wheels "so high that they were dreadful."
"And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the color of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above. And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies. And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of a host: when they stood, they let down their wings. And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings. And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the color of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake." (Ezekiel 1:22-28)
"This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubim." (Ezekiel 10:20; compare also Exodus 24:10; Revelation 4:2-6)
By comparing these scriptures with Daniel 7:9; Revelation 4:2-8; and Isaiah 6:1-3, it is clearly seen that Ezekiel had a vi sion of the living throne of the living God.
As the cherubim are inseparably connected with that throne; and as the cherubim were also inseparably connected with the ark of the testimony in the earthly temple where the presence of the Lord dwelt between the cherubim; it is evident that the ark of God's testimony in the temple of heaven has the same relative place, and is therefore the base, or founda tion, of the throne of the living God.
In the earthly temple the ark of the testimony took its name from the testimony--the Ten Commandments--which was put within it. These commandments the Lord himself wrote with His own hand, and gave to Moses to deposit be neath the mercy-seat above which the presence of the glory of God dwelt, between the cherubim.
It is therefore evident that the ark of His testament in the heavenly temple takes its title also from the fact that therein, beneath the mercy-seat and the cherubim upon it, there is the original of the testimony of God--the Ten Commandments--of which that on earth was a copy.
And as this holy law--the Ten Commandments--is but the expression in writing, a transcript, of the character of Him who sits upon the throne, therefore it is written:
"The Lord reigns, let the people tremble, He sits upon [above] the cherubim, let the earth be moved." (Psalm 99:1)
"Clouds and darkness are round about Him: righteousness and judgment are the foundation of His throne." (Psalm 97:2)
"Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of your throne: Mercy and truth go before your face." (Psalm 89:14)