Tuesday: Like Burning Coals of Fire
Daily Lesson for Tuesday 13th of May 2025
Cherubim, either as living beings (Ezekiel 10:8) or the gold symbols of them (Exodus 25:18), appear all through the Old Testament. They are often depicted as standing immediately next to God’s throne, radiating His glory to the universe. Cherubim also are embroidered into the curtain before the Holy of Holies (Exodus 26:1). In the book of Psalms, God’s supreme power over creation is poetically pictured as God being borne through the air by cherubim (Psalms 18:10). God commanded that the ark of the covenant be topped by two solid gold cherubim with their wings extended toward one another (Exodus 25:18-20).
Read Ezekiel 1:4-14. What similarities do you see between this passage and the scenes depicted in Isaiah 6:1-6 and Revelation 4:1-11?
Image © Steve Creitz at Goodsalt.com
Ezekiel is presented with an impressive display of God’s power. It is a confusing scene to begin with, matching the predicament that God’s people found themselves living with at the moment: the chosen people not in the land of promise but in Babylonian captivity. As Ezekiel studies the scene placed before him, he looks up and sees God’s throne above it all.
Notice the important similarities with other “throne” visions. The living creatures that Ezekiel witnesses have the same faces as the living creatures in John’s vision: a lion, an eagle, an ox, and a man.
The mysterious creatures with four faces are not specifically named in Ezekiel’s initial description; later, in another throne room scene (see Ezekiel 10:1-21), they are called “cherubim,” and we also find the burning coals from Isaiah’s vision of the seraphs. They share the faces of the living creatures mentioned in John’s vision.
Whenever we see God’s throne—whether in the typical ark of the covenant, which served as God’s meeting place with Moses (Exodus 25:22), or the breathtaking visions of the prophets—the cherubim are always there. They are intimately tied to the throne of God. All of God’s creatures were designed to reflect His glory—whether we are talking about the human race made in His image or the angelic beings who are posted immediately next to His glorious throne.
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Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. How do you measure up in contrast to the holiness that Ezekiel witnesses here? What does your answer tell you about your need of the gospel? |
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A man went into the preaching ministry, worked for seven years, then resigned to go back to medical school and become a doctor. He came to the conclusion that “People don’t want spiritual health. They just want to feel good.” He said that after working as a physician for seven years, he again resigned, this time to go back to school and become an attorney. He said, “People don’t want spiritual health. They don’t even want physical health. They just want to get even.”
The fire mentioned in Ezekiel 10:2, where the prophet sees a vision of a man clothed in linen told to “go in between the wheels under the cherub, and fill your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.” These coals represent God’s judgment, but also His purifying work—they are a symbol of both destruction and the potential for cleansing and renewal. The spiritual apathy in Ezekiel time and indeed our time shows that that God had reached a point where judgment was necessary because the people had rejected His truth and lived for their own desires—just like today where we prefer comfort or revenge over real transformation.
I am very late making a comment today because I had to travel to Sydney for my annual retina check. Some years ago I had a retinal detachment followed by a retinal tear. A vitreo-retinal surgeon managed to patch it up but I lost a fair bit of visual acuity in my left eye as a result. I still have peripheral vision in that eye and together with my good right eye, I hardly notice the issue. One result of this is that I have to go back every year for a checkup. The surgeon wants to ensure that the problem does not reoccur. Each year the tests become more sophisticated and they now take photographs of my eye with special cameras using laser light to scan the retina. The light is quite bright and the resulting images are quite astounding in the detail they deliver to my specialist.
I had a look at the Sabbath School lesson for today on the two-hour train trip back home and I thought that some of the interactions the prophets had with God involved bright lights that showed up imperfections. These interactions were not condemnations. Rather, they were illuminations which encouraged Moses, Isaiah, Exekiel, Paul, and John to share the message of salvation to the people around them. The encounters, like my retinal tomography, could be considered as diagnostic.
Applying this to our Christian experience today: are we in need of some bright "God-light" in our lives today? I don't mean a dramatic epiphany that sends us blind, but rather are we willing to have a diagnostic session that resets the direction of our lives?
The author of Hebrews puts it this way:
"Drawing near" may not be as dramatic as bright lights, but perhaps it is what we really need.
Maurice – I’m glad to find your eyes are still healthy enough to keep enjoying their function!😊 You asked, “'Drawing near’ may not be as dramatic as bright lights, but perhaps it is what we really need.” You say “perhaps” — I say “definitely.”
To me, the very purpose of the Gospel is for us to be enabled to draw nearer and nearer to God. And as we do — not just once a year for some ‘annual inspection,’ but continually, every moment of every day — our spiritual vision becomes clearer, gradually calibrated toward 20/20 clarity.
I can’t think of any greater purpose for being called by the Holy Spirit than this: to draw closer to God so our vision — our understanding of Him — sharpens, and our relationship with Him deepens in love and reverence for the benefit of all.
Ezekiel's vision has some similar elements and complexities as Isaiah's in Isaiah 6. I would certainly have a similar response as Isaiah did in Isaiah 6:5.
Even the "holiest" among us would feel overwhelmed by such a display of the Glory of God. The closest equivalent I can think of is to enter a nuclear reactor and observe it's operation. It would destroy us unless we were miraculously protected. Yet, we need that "holy fire" to cleanse our lips and lives, as well as the lives of everyone on this planet.
Is it possible that Ezekiel saw the four angels of Revelation 14 and 18 preparing to deliver coals from the altar, a message that would lighten the earth with the Glory of God prior to the end of time? I'm just pondering a thought and connection in my own mind.
Another thought that comes to mind is how willing angels are to do the work assigned to them. You don't read of angels refusing to carry out their mission. Yet God has that challenge in getting us to carry out the mission of cooperating with those angels. The Great Commission is our mission. It's a co-mission that is accompanied by angels and the presence of God, in the Holy Spirit. It's also a mission that will pay a rich commission to those that carry it out.
Lord, touch our lips with "Holy Fire", and make us more like you, that we would happily go on your errands to save a lost and dying world.
"More Like You" - Scott Wesley Brown
Wondering why God needs the Cherubim’s
Hello Wendy! It's not that God needs the Cheribim, they are eager to do His bidding because they love and appreciate Him. It kind of makes me wonder what is our problem?
Certainly God could do it all Himself, however He delights to see the joy on the faces of those that willingly go on His errands. Besides, it is beneficial to all, angels and humans that serve God out of a heart appreciation of who He is, not just because of what He's done. He is so worthy of our praise, allegiance and service.
In Isaiah's vision of the throne room of heaven, Elohim asks a question. Isaiah answers it with "here am I, send me." (Isaiah 6:8) If only all of us as God's people would have such a willingness to serve God.
We are far from having a hint of God's identity. And we don't need visions of a superpower to describe God's glory, but Isaiah and Ezekiel needed to. After these prophets, God revealed to the whole Universe His most amazing power through a simple human. God's glory doesn't need to be visual, but its results show it! God's most powerful representation has a name and became one like us!
Who are these four living creatures mentioned here?