During the offering time we played this version of “Ezekiel Saw De Wheel” by The “Vocal Union Quartet” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceDdAeKIo4E)
OPEN: How many of you have ever heard that song before?
It was written back in the 1940s by a popular folk singer named Woody Guthrie and has been sung by various quartets and choirs ever since.
The reason we played it this morning is because it was inspired by the text we’re reading this morning. Turn with me to Ezekiel 10:1-5 and follow along as I read.
TEXT: Ezekiel 10:1-5
OPENING PRAYER
I love preaching. Over the years I’ve found that the Bible is like a tapestry, its themes and stories are so interwoven and intricate, that if you pay close attention you can see the patterns and imagery that would simply amaze you.
ILLUS: Have you ever seen a tapestry being made?
As you watch, you find the artist adds one layer of thread after another and as you watch the patterns begin to unfold before you. You’re not sure how the worker of the threads does this, but it is amazing because of how intricately the thread works itself into that pattern. And before you know it, a beautiful wall hanging has appeared out of nothing.
That’s how it is with Scripture.
The interwoven nature of what God has done is amazing.
Once you see the patterns develop you realize how masterful the plan had been.
And that’s exactly how I felt as studied the texts for this morning.
In this sermon series we’re dealing with sounds from the Bible
And the sound we’re focusing on today is described in Ezekiel 10:5
“the sound of the wings of the cherubim… like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.”
Now many people, when they hear the word “Cherub” think of cute harmless little children with tiny wings on their backs (we showed such a picture on the overhead).
Let me perfectly clear here…
Cherubs are not “cute”, they're not little, and they’re not harmless.
They’ve very powerful and they’re very intimidating angels.
You don’t want to mess with them.
Here in Ezekiel 10 we have one of those confusing visions in Scripture where God painted a very specific picture for the Jews. The picture – He was ticked. And He’d been ticked with them for several decades now. Judah had been sinning for years, committing idolatry and shedding of innocent blood, and finally God had had… enough.
In the vision, God orders fire to be taken from among the cherubim and scattered all over the city in punishment of their sins. And later in Ezekiel 11 – the Shekinah Glory departs from the City.
Now Cherubim seem to be everywhere in this vision.
In fact, I think they’re mentioned more in these chapters in Ezekiel than anyplace else in Scripture.
And although we’re not told much about them, it’s obvious they are scary beings.
I mean - even the sound of their wings is scary.
The sound was almost like the voice of God Himself.
The sound of the wings of these angels… was like the sound of judgment!
Let me repeat: Cherubs are powerful and intimidating.
You don’t mess with them.
They’re such powerful creatures, that it’s little wonder that people try to worship angels. Years ago, in a TV interview, one woman said: “I pray to my angel all the time”.
You know what she was doing?
She was worshiping the angels.
Idolatry.
ILLUS: Some time back I read of an Internet Website called "Angelic Creations" and they were hawking a new book written by a woman worked tirelessly to perfect her skills to get the attention of angels so that she could get what she wanted and what she felt she needed.
You know what she was doing?
She was worshiping angels.
And that’s really nothing new.
Even the Apostle John nearly fell into that trap
In the book of Revelation 22:8-9 we’re told:
“I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”
So even the most spiritual person can be tempted to try and worship angels.
In fact, Scripture tells us there was ONE angel who actually wanted to be worshiped.
Do you know that was?
That’s right: SATAN!!!
In Ezekiel 28:12-15 God says this about Satan:
“You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings.
On the day that you were created they were prepared. You were an anointed guardian cherub.
I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you.”
Now, isn’t that interesting?
Satan was a Cherub.
I don’t quite know what to make out of that except that he was such an honored and beautiful angel and he felt that HE deserved praise and glory and honor and power that belonged to God.
Now, it helps to understand WHO angels are and why they were created.
Hebrews 1:14 tells us “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”
Who were created to serve?
US. Christians.
There are Bible scholars who believe that Satan’s job was to serve God’s creation.
They think Lucifer’s job was to oversee and protect this world.
But Isaiah 14:12-15 tells us what happened to him.
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!
You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’
But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.”
Satan sought to take God’s place.
For his arrogance he lost everything he’d been given and was ultimately cast down out of heaven.
But Satan wasn’t about to take this laying down.
He was mad now, and now he sought revenge.
He sought to destroy the very creation that God loved so much.
(PAUSE)
So the first cherub we’re introduced to in Scripture was the bad guy.
The villain.
But he’s NOT the only Cherub we read about in the Bible.
The 2nd Cherub we’re introduced to is also mentioned in Genesis.
Genesis tells us that God created a beautiful garden for Adam and Eve.
What was the name of that Garden? (the Garden of Eden)
And God created two special trees in the middle of that Garden.
The tree of…. (Life)
And the tree of (The Knowledge Of Good And Evil)
God only gave Adam 1 commandment:
“You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:16-17
Well … we all know how that turned out.
The Satan deceived the woman, convincing her that if she ate of that tree it would make her wise like God. So she bit on the temptation, then she bit on the fruit…and she gave it to her husband and he bit.
Then God came down for a visit and confronted them about their disobedience.
And then He proclaimed curses on Satan, and on Eve… and on Adam.
Then we’re told that God said:
“Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever”
therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the Garden of Eden he placed the CHERUBIM and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.” Genesis 3:22-24
What’s going on here?
Why would God have a cherub guard the Tree of life?
Well, because Adam and Eve had sinned.
They ate of the tree that God commanded them not to eat.
Do you remember the punishment for eating of the tree of knowledge?
That’s right: DEATH
As Romans 6:23 says “The wages of sin is death”.
As long as they could eat of the tree of LIFE they wouldn’t die.
They probably would have lived forever.
But their sin had robbed them of that right.
And so God placed Cherubim in front of the Tree of Life to guard it from the hands of sinful men… and so death reigned in a once perfect world.
Now this is what I’m seeing here:
Cherubim were entrusted with guarding things that were PRECIOUS to God.
Let me repeat that:
Cherubim were entrusted with guarding things that were PRECIOUS to God.
Satan was entrusted with protecting the gift of God’s world.
Now he failed at that - but that was his responsibility.
And the Cherub in the Garden was entrusted with protecting gift of the Tree of Life.
But there’s a third GIFT that God had Cherubim protect.
In Exodus 25:17-22 Moses is told how the Ark of the Covenant is to be crafted “You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat.
Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be.
And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.”
(We showed a picture of a replica of the Ark)
Now this is how these cherubim would have looked on the Ark.
What does it look like these angels doing?
Do you see how their wings are spread over the top of the lid?
It’s like they’re shielding or protecting that part of the Ark.
What’s so special about that part of the Ark?
Well, that was where the blood of the sacrifice was placed on the Day of Atonement.
This area – just beneath the angel wings - was the MERCY SEAT.
It’s called the Mercy Seat because God had declared that when blood of an innocent sacrifice was placed on that mercy seat – He would have mercy on His people. He would regard their sins as COVERED by that innocent blood.
The cherubim are protecting this part of the ark!!!!
They are standing guard over the most precious place in God’s theology.
Now this is what’s REALLY interesting.
What do you think is INSIDE the Ark of the Covenant?
Hebrews 9:4 tells us “This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.”
So inside the Ark of the Covenant was a jar of manna; Aaron’s Rod that had budded miraculously… the stone tablets?
Stone tablets? What was on the stone tablets????
THE LAW!
The Law declared the righteousness of God.
And the Law declared the unrighteousness of sin.
And the Law prescribed the punishment FOR sin.
And what was the punishment for sin? DEATH
To make matters clear to us… the Bible says this:
“All HAVE SINNED and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)
So if we’ve ALL sinned… what do we deserve? Death.
“The wages of sin is death…” Romans 6:23
The LAW (that prescribed death) lay within the Ark of the Covenant.
But on TOP of the Ark… was the Mercy Seat.
The Mercy Seat was where the blood of an innocent sacrifice could covered the sins of the people of that the LAW said needed to die for their sins.
And the cherubs were placed there by God to protect the Mercy Seat.
Why do that?
Why protect the “Mercy Seat”?
2 Peter 3:9 tells us “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
God doesn’t desire to destroy us.
God doesn’t want to drop the hammer on us.
God doesn’t want to cast us aside and annihilate us.
God is patient with… hoping that we will wake up to the fact that we need to repent and be forgiven.
Now follow this:
The first Cherub – Satan – brought death to mankind.
The 2nd Cherub – the one the guarded the Tree of Life – enforced the punishment of death for sin.
But 3rd set of Cherubs were placed on the Mercy Seat to protect God’s most valued gift.
That gift?
The gift of Mercy.
The Gift of Life.
Mercy and life brought about by the blood of an innocent sacrifice.
That’s beautiful imagery isn’t it?
ILLUS: This past week I was meeting with a group of ministers and one of them spoke of reading an article that said that practically every culture on the face of the earth has engaged in animal sacrifices. Why? Because they ALL realized something had to die to pay for their sin.
Hindus, Muslims and many other cultures down thru history have sensed the need that something has to die for their sins.
And of course, God drove that home throughout the Old Testament as well.
The death of a bull or goat was said to bring about forgiveness of sins (Leviticus 5:10)
But there’s a problem with that
Even the slowest witted individual would eventually realize that the blood of sheep and goats could never really pay for their sins. I mean… those animals didn’t DO anything to cause the sins. And those animals hadn’t even VOLUNTEERED to pay for the sins.
As Hebrews 10:4 tells us “… it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
ILLUS: Now God still honored those animal sacrifices as payment for sins.
This is kind of how it worked:
After church today I might go out and get something to eat.
I’ll stop at a restaurant and order some food.
And when the bill comes I’ll take out this Credit Card.
Now – will the restaurant will honor my Card as payment.
Of course they will.
Does the card actually PAY for the meal though?
Well… no.
The restaurant will ACCEPT the card as payment… but eventually A REAL PAYMENT has to be made.
So God accepted the animal sacrifices as payment, but eventually the real payment had to be made. And WHO made that REAL PAYMENT for our sins?
Jesus.
Think about the Mercy Seat this way.
Down here we have the Communion Table.
The table is roughly the size of the Ark of the Covenant.
Now picture the top of this table as if it were the top of the Ark itself.
Right about here would be the Mercy Seat.
And lo and behold – that’s where we have this
(I took the lid off the communion tray with the cups and removed one that still grape juice in it).
1 Corinthians 11:26 says “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
Every time you take of communion you are celebrating the fact that Jesus’ blood has covered your sins. It was placed on the Mercy Seat. It was the blood of an innocent and WILLING sacrifice that God accepted for the forgiveness of your guilt.
It’s all covered now.
Right here (point to the center of the communion table) at the Mercy Seat.
CLOSE: One last thing.
Now I could be wrong about this (but I’m probably not).
Take a look at this picture of the Ark again.
Does it look to you like they might be looking down on to the Mercy Seat?
Think about that as we read this passage from I Peter 1:12
(The Gospel has) “now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.” I Peter 1:12
Well - look at that!!!
Kinda looks like those angels on the ark are looking INTO something, doesn’t it?
They LONG to look into it.
They’re excited about God’s plan for man’s salvation.
Do you remember Jesus’ comment “… there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:10
Who’s rejoicing?
The angels.
They’re excited beyond all imagination.
Let’s sum it up.
The sound of cherub wings was like the sound of the voice the Almighty God.
• It was the sound of sin – when Satan came and tempted Eve
• It was the sound of judgment – Angel guarding the Tree of Life
• It was the sound of mercy – thru the blood of Jesus.
That’s the Gospel
That’s what we all need to be acceptable to God.
INVITATION
