Cherubim, the Heavenly Tabernacle and The Apocalypse

Most of you, upon reading the title of this post, are probably thinking right about now that I've left the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church for some non-discrpit, evangelical, "Left Behind" flavor of Protestation having discovered the key to the scriptures in "The revelation of Jesus Christ (Apoc 1:1)." Although some of you may be disappointed, I am still a Catholic... despite the fact that I have been studying the final book of the Sacred Scriptures. Furthermore, I've learned that it is the long-standing tradition of Christianity that the Apocalypse is in fact the key to understanding the Bible, but not in any of the ways you may have heard before. While I cannot promise too much, it being the middle of a busy semester, I hope to continue this exploration in to John's visions with periodic installments. So stay tuned.

Before I proceed, I need to mention two books I have been reading so that 1) you can read them and 2) you don't think that I'm coming up with all of this myself. You should, or rather, must read the Navarre commentary on Revelation and Scott Hahn's The Lamb's Supper. This, of course, presupposes that you have a basic understanding of the Old Testament and the Gospel according to John (both of which I'm working on). Also, in order to follow along with this post, you will need a good translation of the Bible with you, because I'm not going to type out every verse to which I refer here.

So, what do cherubim have to do with the Apocalypse of John? Upon reading the book, you will notice that this "rank" of angelic being is not mentioned at all... and that is precisely why this topic is important. (Very brief review of the angelic hierarchy: Seraphim (from seraph, or burning ones) who are highest and nearest to the Divine Essence, then Cherubim (or guardians), "Thrones," Dominions, Powers, Authorities, Principalities, Archangels, and lastly Angels. This is attested to in the Tradition from psydo-Dionysius, to Origen, Aquinas to Dante. Also see Col 1:16, Eph 1:21 and 1 Pet 3:22).

Now, the role of the Cherub through out the Old Testament is that of Guardian; not necessarily those personal guardian angels, with whom we should have good relationships, by the way (story of Tobit), but of the Holy things of God. In Genesis 3:24 (go get your bible and read it, because I know you haven't even located it yet), after our first parents have eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the Lord drives Adam and Eve out of Paradise and he "placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword" at its entrance "to guard the way to the tree of life." Because of sin, the first people are barred from Paradise, death entered the universe and the tree of life is closed and guarded.

Fast-forward to Exodus 37:6-9 (go to it, J-Dub). This is the Lord's instruction for the construction of the Ark of the Covenant. Does anyone, besides my wife, know what was/is contained inside the Ark? Not only the stone tablets upon which the finger of God wrote the Decalogue, but also the Staff of Aaron (the first High Priest), and (drum-roll please) manna come down from heaven to sustain the Israelites in the desert. It is the Ark which is set up in the Holy of Holies in the Temple and is the location of the presence of God on earth for the Jews. Now, notice who/what is on top of the Ark, "overshadowing" or guarding the presence of the Lord from man; it's the cherubim. To refresh you memory, only the high priest was allowed to enter into the presence of the Ark once a year on the Day of Atonement.

When Solomon builds the Temple in Jerusalem we see another use of the cherubim. In 1 Kings 6:23-28, two more cherubs guard the "inner sanctuary," or Holy of Holies. Their wing span is equal to their height and both their wings completely span the width of the temple. Just like the cherubim who guard the entrance to Eden, these cherubim allow no one to enter into the presence of God. Coincidence?

Finally, we go to Revelation. We first need to look at the description of the vision of the heavenly court John sees (Apoc. Ch 4). Here there is a throne on which the Father is seated. Above him is an emerald rainbow (Baldacchino?). All around him are the 24 elders--the 12 tribes of Israel and 12 Apostles (con-celebrants?)-- seated on thrones (remember "thrones" is a class of angels). Then there are 4 six-winged seraphs (Is 6:2). What is missing from this description of a heavenly liturgy? In all of the OT liturgical functions, cherubim stand guard over the presence of God, lest nothing impure defile him. Here in Revelation, clearly, this is the presence of God and there are no guards. In Apoc. 11:19, "God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple..." Earlier, the Lamb (Apoc. 5:6) appears "as though it had been slain" and plays a central role in the heavenly liturgy.

It is the tradition of the Catholic faith that the heavenly liturgy is the Mass, or rather, the Mass is the heavenly liturgy on earth (straight from Scott Hahn). It is Christ, the fulfillment of the old covenant who "is worthy to opens the scroll"--open the OT scriptures--who also opens the heavenly temple to all men (the temple veil is torn in two (Luke 23:45), while Jesus' also-seamless tunic is not torn, but remains in tact (John 19:24-25)). The total absence of the cherubim from an otherwise heavily OT-esque scene points to the end of the guardianship role of the cherubim; Christ has re-opened Paradise and, since sins are wiped away, has given all men access to the Tree of Life, the Cross, upon which Jesus offers his own Body and Blood as bread and wine (remember the manna in the Ark) in the Eucharist.

This is one solitary aspect of this amazing book. I am growing more and more convinced that it is impossible to be a serious Catholic without at least a basic understanding of what the Holy Spirit is revealing through the Beloved Disciple in the book of the Apocalypse. Go read it!