iVa? utility. The importance of these symbols is mani- fest, 1, in the very minute description of them ; 2, in the fact that they do in some way pervade the entire pe- riod of grace, from the expulsion of Adam till, in the apocalyptic vision, we arrive at the gates of the city, having a right to the tree of life in the midst of the par- adise of God — such a right as man in innocence never attained. They were placed first at the front of the garden of Eden ; renewed in the tabernacle ; extended in the Temple ; resumed in the visions of Ezekiel ; in- corporated in the book of Psalms ; and in the prospec- tive history of Revelation they are left with us till the end of the world. The seraphim of Isaiah (ch. vi) ap- pear in all respects to be the same ; though differing in name and in position, they perform the same service. Even the idolatrous images, the teraphim, were proba- bly «n miwarranted and superstitious imitation of the figures at the east of Eden. True, there are periods when they are under a cloud, e. g. from the Deluge till the erecting of the tabernacle ; still, we dare not say they were extinct, for before the tabernacle was built in the wilderness we read of another, called the tabernacle of the congregation (Exod. xxxiii, 7-11). There is much mystery about them, and many mistakes occur among expositors in relation to them. 1. They are not angels, nor do they represent the peculiar ministry of angels. («) The Scriptures know no such orders as angels, archangels, cherubim, and seraphim ; the orders of angelic nature are described as thrones, dominions, principalities, powers (Col. i, 16). (b) Angelic power woidd have been a very ineffectual agency for offsetting the sword of flame, and was not needed to wield that sword w'hicli turns on its own axis, (c) The living ones are distinguished from angels in Rev. xv, 7. (c^) They join the elders in the new song, " Hast redeemed us to God by thy blood," etc. (Rev. v, 9). (e) Angels take but a small part in the direct administration of grace; they rather point the inquirer, and furnish as- sistance to the administrator (Acts x, 3 ; Rev. i, 1 ; 1 Chron. xxi, 18 ; Acts xii, 7). 2. Nothing vindictive or judicial belongs to them, (jt) There is no need of such power ; the sword and the fire imbody the whole power of justice, (b) We never find them executing ^uAgment, though they concur in it when executed, (c) They warn of danger from divine justice (Isa. vi, 3-5). (rZ) They call attention to justice (Rev. vi, 1, 3, 5, 7). (<?) They deliver the commission to those who execute it (Ezek. X, 2, 7; Rev. xv, 7). (_/') They join in celebra- ting the triumph over the victims of judgment (Rev. xix, 4). Very different is their function in the admin- istration of grace ; there they make application of the remedy to the very spot (Isa. vi, 6, 7), 3. They are not devoid of human sympathy, (ct) I'hey have the face of a man. (b) They have the hands of a man under their wings (Ezek. i, 8). (c) When the prophet was alarmed (" undone"), one of them brought him instant relief— just such relief as he felt in need of. (d) The throne Avhich they bear has a man above upon it (Ezek. i, 26). (e) In Rev. iv, 6, we find them in the midst of the same throne, and round about it. (f) They asso- ciate with the elders in sympathy with the one hundred and forty-four thousand who sing the new song (Rev. xiv, 3), and with the Church in celebrating the over- throw of her enemies (Rev. xix, 4). They thus abound in the sympathies of a redeemed humanity.
(I.) In general terms they represent mercy, as contra- distinguished from justice. 1. They are distinct from the sword, as already shown. If, in Ezek. i, 6, they seem to be evolved out of the fire, this is no more than we have already in the first promise, where the death of death is our life; and in Psa. cxxxvi, 10 sq. 2. They were united to the iXaariipiov, the mercy-scat itself. 3. They belonged to the holy of holies, both the larger figures of olive-tree, and the smaller of pure gold ; but this chamber was a type of heaven (Heb. ix. 24). 4. Other cherubic emblems were wrought on the inner cur- tains of the tabernacle, and inner walls of the Temple,
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both Solomon's and Ezekiel's (1 Kings vi, 29 ; Ezek. xli, 18-20). All is mercy inside of the Temple. 5. The like figures were made on the washstands of the Temple, in- terspersed with lions and oxen (1 Kings vii, 29 ; " lions and palm-trees," ver. 3() ; comp. Eph. v, 20 ; Titus iii, 6). 0. The lirraament over their heads, with its throne and man upon it (Ezek. i, 20, 27, combines Exod. xxiv, 10 with Kev. i, 15). 7. The i7'is surroimding all this glorj' of the Lord puts on the finish to that institution where mercy rejoices against judgment (Ezek. i, 28).