All Abou By Rev. Christopher Hall
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hen we hear the word “angel,” all sorts of images may come to mind. Popular depictions of angels include fat babies flying with tiny wings who smile sweetly at young couples, or pretty women with wings like a dove unfurling behind them. During the season of Advent, we might think of the angel Gabriel, a more masculine version of the person in white with large wings. But usually our artistic imaginations don’t fit well with how Scripture depicts angels. In fact, even calling these supernatural invisible beings “angels” does not stay true to the bigger picture of these distinct creatures that we receive in the Word. Scripture uses many different titles and words to describe what we put under the category “angel.” Paul references “thrones, dominions, rulers” (Colossians 1:6), “authorities” (Colossians 2:15), and in the Old Testament we hear about cherubim (Exodus 25:18-20) and seraphim (Isaiah 6:1-6). A better way of describing these beings is what we confess in the Nicene Creed, calling them “invisible” creatures.The word “angel” comes from the Greek word (transliterated as “angelos” with a hard “g”) and means messenger. Likewise, in the Old Testament the Hebrew word translated “angel” also refers to a messenger.
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Learning about these invisible creatures will not only clarify our thinking and knowledge of what God’s Word actually says, but also will help us understand how God still blesses creation and how we fit into creation through our own vocations. We’ll take a closer look at the two main angelic beings featured in the Old Testament, the cherub and seraph, and then see how that plays out in the New Testament.
Cherubim The word “cherub” may have been borrowed from the Akkadian people of ancient Mesopotamia, who believed in creatures called “kerubu.” These were mythological beings with human faces, the body of a bull, and wings. It was their job to guard the throne and temple of the false gods whom the Akkadian people worshipped. As with many false gods, they are inspired by created beings and angels are no exception to
that. Of course, God reveals the truth of this in His Word, where we see the holy cherubs (or cherubim) guarding the tree of life from Adam and Eve after the Fall (Genesis 3:24). Psalm 18:10 says, “He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.” Their close presence with God is best seen in the Ark of the Covenant, where God commanded Moses to put two images of these creatures on the mercy seat, or lid, and make them so their wings touched one another. The Bible doesn’t provide any detail about their appearance until later, when Ezekiel saw a vision of them and wrote about them in detail. He saw four creatures with feet like a calf, four wings with human hands, and four faces: a man, a lion, an ox, and eagle. (Ezekiel 1:4-16). In fact, it is from this appearance that early Christians began associating those faces with the four Gospel writers. They are called tetramorphs, which now play a special role at every Higher Things summer conference. The image is also found in Revelation, where they surround Christ on His throne (Revelation 4:7). The cherubim present an alarming appearance, and this raises an important question. Is this what these beings look like in fact, or is this only how they appear to us sinful and limited people? Many Church fathers understood this appearance to be more symbolic and poetic, but we cannot know for certain until we see them face to face after our own deaths. Either way, it is clear that they point us to Christ in His glory and not to themselves.
