(II.) They seem to represent mercy in its dispensa- tion, so to speak — in its instrumentalities, with all their hiteresting and happy varieties. AVhile the swoj-d=the whole power of justice, deters man from entering the earthly paradise ; drives men away in their wickedness ; awakes against the Shepherd; torments enemies in the second death ; on the contrary, the living ones represent the entire administration of mercy (Ezek. i, 12 : '• Whith- er the spirit was to go, they went ;" ver. 20 : " Thither was their spirit to go"). "Wliether an organized Church, an open Bible, an altar, or a temple ; whether patriarchs or prophets, priests or presbyters ; apostles, John the Baptist, or Christ himself; evangelists, pastors, or teach- ers ; whether angelic messengers, or httle children, be the instrumentalities in dispensing the grace of God, the qualities of cherubim are, and ought to be, the char- acteristics with which they are imbued : the courage and power of the lion ; the patience and perseverance of the ox ; the sublimity, rapidity, and penetration of the eagle ; with the sympathetic love and prudent fore- cast of our own humanity ; each one full of eyes, within and without (Eph. iv, IG). In this view they do, as it were, bring God near to men.
(III.) The cherubim, in this dispensation of mercy, bring out prominently the idea of the throne of God — the throne of grace (Ezek. i, 26: " Likeness of a throne"). In I'salm xcix, 1, " The Lord reigneth" is parallel with "inhabiting the cherubim." Both in the tabernacle and Temple the Shekinah was between the two cher- ubim, which seemed to constitute, with the lid of the ark, the verj' throne itself, according to Exod. xxv, 22, and Ezek. xliii, 7. In the versions of Ezekiel, the cher- ubim seem to support the throne ; in Isa. vi, 2, and Rev. iv, G-9, they appear as attendants. To the English reader the seraphim might seem to be above the flu-one, but the original places them above the Temple, in which position they ma}' still be below the throne, for the skirts of his robe tiow down and till the holy house.
(IV.) The idea of carrying tlie throne, or bearing royalty in his throne from one place to another, brings us to the acme of the whole cherubic system — "the chariot of the Lord.''' The key-note of this is given in 1 Chron. xxviii, 18: '-Gold for the pattern of the char- iot... . the cherubim that spread out their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord ;" compare Psa. xviii, 10 : " He rode upon a cherub ;" and Hab. iii, 8, 13, 15. These figures constituted a " moving throne." Sec Ci'.KATrRE. (K. II.)
Livingston, Gilbert Robert, D.D., a (Dutch) Eeformed minister, a descendant of the celebrated Ilev. John Livingston (q. v.), was born at Stamford, Conn., Oct. 8, 1786, and graduated at Union College in 1805. He studied theologj' imder Kev. Dr. Perkins, of Great Hartford, Conn., and Rev. Dr. John Henry Livingston (q. v.). In 1811 he l)ecame i)astor of the Reformed Dutch Church in Coxsackic, N.Y., where about six hundred per- sons were the fruits of his ministry of fifteen years. In 1826 he removed to Philadeliihia as pastor of the First (Dutch) Reformed (or Crown Street) Church. Here again his ministry was greatly blessed, three hundred and twenty persons being added to the Church, and over one hundred in a single year. He died jNIarch 9, 1834. He was a man of large, physical frame, benevo- lent countenance, and amiable temjier. His |ireacliing was practical, and addressed more to the understanding and conscience of the people than to their feelings. His pastoral labors were incessant and successful. At one
period of his life he embraced what were generally known as "New Measures," but he lived to abandon them in his later ministry. A single sermon and a tract are all that he is known to have published. — Sprague, Annals; Corwin's Manual Eef. Chttrch ; Fu- neral Sermon bv C. C. Cuvler, D.D. ; Historical Dis- course by W. J. R. Taylor, D.D. (W. J. R. T.)
Livingston, Henry Gilbert, son of the preced- ing, was born at Coxsackie, N. Y., Feb. 3, 1821, graduated at Williams College in 1840, was principal of Clinton Academy (now Hamilton College) for two j'ears, studied theology in Union Theological Seminar}', N. Y., where he graduated in 1844, and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Long Island in the following autumn. He became pastor of the Presbyterian church of Carmel, N. Y., in 1844, but removed in 1849 as pastor of the Tliird Reformed Dutch Church of Philadelphia. Resigning in 1854 on account of feeble health, he returned to Car- mel, and became principal of the Raymond Institute, and also supplied the vacant church of which he was formerly pastor. He died suddenly, Jan. 25, 1855. " No doubts, no fears, no darkness" beclouded his dying hours. IMr. Livingston was a man of noble mould, tall, massive, intellectual, modest, amiable, dignified in man- ners, somewhat reserved, diffident, and self-distrustful. His character was finely balanced. True manliness, transparent simplicity, moral purity, generosity, and the most delicate sensibility, were blended with deep jiiety and beautifid consistency of life, with a holy ministry and a full use of all his talents. Only two of his dis- courses \vere published. See Memorial Sermon by W. J. R. Tavlor, D.D., and Sprague's Annals, vol. ix. (W, J. R. T.)