Automatic Transcript Generated:
Speaker 1
So Dennis is asking regarding cherubim and seraphim. Does the Bible tell us if both of these creatures are at God’s throne at the same time?
Speaker 2
Hi, Dennis, this is an interesting question.
Speaker 3
So the short answer is not exactly.
Speaker 2
And there is kind of a little bit of a debate regarding exactly.
Speaker 3
Who are the seraphim, what are the cherubim? Are they really like different species of angels?
Speaker 2
Is this just a matter of title? What really is the difference there?
Speaker 3
So really about the only time we.
Speaker 2
See seraphim being referred to heavenly beings in heaven is in Isaiah six, starting at first two.
Speaker 3
And this is Isaiah having one of his first visions. He says, above the throne of God, he says, above it stood seraphim.
Speaker 2
Each one had six wings. So it knows the six wings for them. With two he covered his face with two he covered his feet and with two he flew.
Speaker 3
And one cried to another and said.
Speaker 2
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory.
Speaker 3
And then if we jump to verse.
Speaker 2
Six says, then one of Serfin flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it. And he said, Behold, this has touched your lips. Your iniquity is taken away and your sin is purged.
Speaker 3
Let’s unpack this a little bit.
Speaker 2
They have six wings.
Speaker 3
This is not necessarily unique to only the Seraphim, but we see angels with.
Speaker 2
Two wings, with four wings.
Speaker 3
So here in this vision, they had six.
Speaker 2
And then they say, Holy, holy, holy, which is interesting. We’ll get back to that. And then they had that live coal and went and touched Isaiah’s tongue with it.
Speaker 3
Now this is important because the Seraphim.
Speaker 2
Just the word itself sort of means like burning until it’s consumed up.
Speaker 3
And that word sort of shows up.
Speaker 2
Earlier where the Hebrews were bitten by the fiery serpents. That word seraphim shows up again. But in that case it was a descriptor of the snakes that they were fiery, they were seraphim snakes.
Speaker 3
So some people say, well, the seraphim then looked like serpents, they look like flying snakes.
Speaker 2
Can tiley rule that out?
Speaker 3
But in this context it says they have feet, they have other places.
Speaker 2
It says they have a face and say his.
Speaker 3
So they probably could be more human.
Speaker 2
Like in this case.
Speaker 3
So that’s seraphim I just gave you a lie about what are they like?
Speaker 2
And they’re associated with fire, often fire for seraphim. Now, I mentioned they said holy, holy, holy. Well, that’s interesting because we see that again in Revelation four, starting at verse six, where it says before the throne, now we’re definitely at the throne of God here. And there was a sea of glass like crystal, and in the midst of the throne and around the throne, so circling and encompassing the throne were four living creatures full of eyes in the front and back. The first living creature was like a lion.
Speaker 3
And then you could go on and.
Speaker 2
On to verse eight. So revelation four, verse eight. It says, the four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within, and they do not rest day or night, saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.
Speaker 3
So slightly different than the holy, holy, holy, the whole world is full, filled.
Speaker 2
With his glory that we see in Isaiah six. But it’s a similar phrase to God. I mean, this is very important. You’re always seeing presence of God, this being said. So here we have four creatures that described a little bit differently in Revelation. But importantly here, these are circling the throne. And it’s pretty well agreed by people that these here are actually cherubim. If you read throughout the Bible, a lot of the Psalms, for example, they talk about the cherubim like Psalm 1810, and he rode upon the cherub and flew and flew upon the wings of the wind. So God’s throne is carried by, circled by the cherubim. And we see that very often throughout the Bible.
Speaker 3
Now you have these two different classes.
Speaker 2
One associated with the throne, the seraphim associated with fire.
Speaker 3
Unfortunately, Isaiah is the only time we.
Speaker 2
Ever see the seraphim again really caught up by name, being in the same space as God.
Speaker 3
So do we see them together at the same time in the Bible?
Speaker 2
The answer is no.
Speaker 3
But that doesn’t.
Speaker 2
Mean they’re not there.
Speaker 3
We’ll be talking about later on who’s in heaven.
Speaker 2
And there’s a lot, there’s a lot of people in heaven.
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In His Service
BibleAsk Team
