Ezekiel 10:20

"This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim. Every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I saw by the river Chebar, their appearances and themselves; they went every one straight forward."

The purpose of Ezekiel in this reiteration of what has already been revealed surely indicates the importance of this identity of the two visions, an importance which we have already stressed.

CHERUBIM

"And I knew that they were cherubim ..." (Ezekiel 10:20). We are indebted to Anton T. Pearson for most of the information cited here.[19] Cherubim are emblematic, composite figures representing glorified human life, or angelic life, spiritualized and exalted to have a part in the service of God Himself. In the sacred Scriptures, they are seen as performing a number of functions: (1) Here, they are bearers of the sapphire throne of God. (2) They guard the tree of life (Genesis 3:24). (3) They are honored with a place above the Mercy Seat in the ancient Tabernacle (Exodus 25:18-20; 37:7-9). (4) They are personified as wind or cloud. (5) They form the chariot of Deity (2 Samuel 22:11; Psalms 104:3; 1 Chronicles 28:18). They worship God perpetually (Revelation 4:6; 5:6; and Revelation 6:1). In our opinion, there is no way to be absolutely certain about the nature and work of these creatures, which seem to this writer to have many characteristics which lift them above any connection with humanity.