The Guards of The Garden of Eden-Flaming Sword

While to us, this pic would be
considered a flaming sword:

it is not what is referred to in Genesis 3:24, when God tell us that He placed Cherubims (plural) and a flaming sword which turned every way.


It is cherub, in the singular.

Cherubims is pronounced "ker-oob"; the 'ims' is silent.

Cherub is pronounced "kheh-reb".

Neither is a naked baby with ribbons and musical instruments, as is often brought to mind when we try to picture a cherub.

What God creates, the devil often imitates; he has no original thought except to disobey God. So he mocks what God creates.

And just like the Cherubims, the Cherub is quite large, mobile and swift. Though many may search for the garden of Eden in their lifetimes, they will never find it. God's guards are always on duty.

Both angelic hosts that we know of in Scripture, seraphim and cherubim, are God's ministers. Hebrews 1:7 "And of the angels He saith, Who maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire."  Isaiah 6:2-3 "Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. --And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is The LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory."

The Guards of The Garden of Eden-Cherubim

I have heard it said that the apple is the tree of knowledge, while some contend that the pomegranate is. Neither is true. We just don't know what that fruit actually was or looked like, or even tasted like. Why? Because it grows in the garden of Eden. And Eden is blocked from our view and reach.


While Scripture does not reveal how many are guarding it, we do know that Cherubims prevent us from accessing it. The garden must be very large, because a small garden would only require one Cherubim, as they are very huge, according to the descriptions given throughout Scripture.
Exodus 37:6-9 describes the making of the Mercy Seat with the two Cherubims over it. And while I have found a variety of images that could give us a visual description of it, this is the best I could find:

One cubit equals 18-inches. The Mercy Seat in the tabernacle was 45 inches long and 27-inches wide. The cherubims were made out of one piece of pure gold, including their wings, which covered the Mercy Seat they faced.





The description given in 1 Kings 6:23-30 is of the cherubims filling the oracle within the house of The LORD that King Solomon built for God. The cherubims carved of olive tree wood were ten cubits high. Verse 24 says their wings were 5 cubits each from tip to tip. Fifteen feet high and, wing-wise, seven and one-half feet wide; HUGE. Verse 27 "And he (King Solomon) set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house(of God).

The Book of Ezekiel has various descriptions of the actual cherubim who are always with God. Ezekiel 1:5-25; Ezekiel 41:18-19. Other references are made to cherubs in his visions, but these two sections are descriptive. Each cherub has two faces, one a man and one a lion; one face faces one direction, the other face faces the opposite direction.

But how big do you suppose the Cherubims actually are? Let's search the Scriptures and see what they do;

Isaiah 37:16---wherein God dwells
Psalm 99:1---The LORD sits between them
2 Kings 19:15; Psalms 80:1---where God dwells
Psalm 18:10--The LORD rides upon a cherub

They are The LORD's throne and chariot. They are many and do many things, as we see here. Throne; chariot; guard. I like that description in Ezekiel 1 of their movement. (I could actually visualize it this time.) These are they who stand guard over the garden of Eden.

Vibrant Faith-Dressed To Overcome

My FAITH in GOD is Vibrant and Alive and Active.
We know that "Faith Comes From Hearing and Hearing By The Word of GOD" (Romans 10:17) and we know that "Faith is the substance of things Hoped for, the Evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1).

When we apply The Word of God to ourselves, we are covering ourselves with The Word of God, Jesus Christ. We are clothed in Him from head to toe.

Ephesians 6:17 tells the believer to "take (up) the Helmet of Salvation"; in other words, put that helmet on our heads.
And several times we read that we have many crowns: Crown of Life, Crown of Righteousness, Crown of Glory, Crown. We are each other's Crown. We are the Crown of Splendor in The LORD's hand. He is our Crown.

Ephesians 6:13 says we wear Him like armor and goes on to describe what our armor is.
Ephesians 6:14 Belt or Sash of Truth & Breastplate of Righteousness
Ephesians 6:15 Shoes of Peace, not as the world knows peace, but The Preparation of The Gospel of Peace
Ephesians 6:16 The Shield of Faith, which quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked. This shield is actually not held in our hands, but in our hearts. As is
Ephesians 6:17 The Sword of The Spirit, which is The Word of God.

Since we know that The Word of God is Jesus Christ, we learn now that both the Shield and the Sword are articles of clothing. How cool is that?

1 Thessalonians 5:8 also tells us that our Breastplate is not just His Righteousness on us, but His Love, as well.

Are you fully clothed in your Faith before you begin your day? or your night? Or are you dressed like the emperor in his new clothes, who goes out in his birthday suit believing himself to be beautifully clothed, when in fact he is wearing nothing at all.

Jerusalem Belongs to GOD

2 Chronicles 6:6 "But I have chosen Jerusalem that My Name might be there; and have chosen David to be over My people Israel."

Jerusalem belongs to GOD. Israel belongs to GOD. To declare war on either is to declare war on GOD.

The Word of GOD tells us to 'Pray for the peace of Jerusalem" in Psalm 122:6 and "Pray for the salvation of Israel" in Romans 10:1.

Let us pray earnestly and fervently.

BACK TO THE ALTAR

I miss the altar where we used to pray
Where we would meet God at the end of the day
How could I let it all slip away?
I want to go back to the altar and pray.

I want to go back to the altar tonight
I want to hear God say "Everything's alright."
I need to see Jesus face to face;
I want to go back to the altar place.

Down on my knees when I'm down on my luck
How do I get down when things are lookin' up?
I need to be humbled in God's precious sight;
I want to go back to the altar tonight.

I want to go back to the altar tonight
I want to hear God say, "Everything's alright."
I need to see Jesus face to face;
I want to go back to the altar place.

Let's pray together with your hand in mine
Let's see Jesus one more time
Down at the Mourner's Bench where we first met
Let's go back to Jesus and meet Him again.

We want to go back to the altar tonight
We want to hear God say "Everything's alright"
We need to see Jesus face to face;
We want to go back to the altar place.

Let's go back to the altar place.