"PROTECTING THE WAY OF LIFE"

MF Blume
October 18. 1998 am

Gene 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

It is important that we study "the way to the tree of life."

Since cherubims were there to keep that way, then we must learn about the cherubims.

And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.

The above verse informs us that there is some understanding in the picture of the cherubims overshadowing the mercyseat that we can know.

The letter to Hebrews simply did not get into it for whatever reason.
But there is understanding there.
Let us search that understanding.

The Greek word that MERCY SEAT is translated from is:

2435 hilasterion {hil-as-tay'-ree-on}
AV - propitiation 1, mercyseat 1; 2

It is also translated in the KJV as PROPITIATION.

Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth [to be] a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son [to be] the propitiation for our sins.

The word PROPITIATION in the above verses is the exact same word that was translated into mercy seat in Hebrews 9:5.

"Hilasterion" is both MERCY SEAT and PROPITIATION.
So if God set forth Jesus to be a propitiation for our sins, and propitiation is also the same word as MERCY SEAT, then we can say that God set forth Jesus to be a MERCY SEAT for our sins.

Mercy Seat.

Every year in Israel, since the time of Moses and the Ten Commandments and the LAW, there was a Day of Atonement.
All the sins of Israel that were committed were removed from them on that day.
The way God did it was by having a lamb slain.
Now we must understand at this point that everyone who sins is guilty of death according to God.
Everyone sinned, so everyone is guilty of death.
But nobody said that ANOTHER could not die instead of us and pay the price.
The price of death had to be paid.
We owed a price and a debt of death.
But if another could pay for us, then we would be free.
And that is why the lambs were slain each year in Israel and sacrificed.
Their deaths stood in the place of the people.

So the High Priest was chosen to go into the Most Holy Place in the temple, where nobody else could go, and offer the blood of the lamb.

And He would sprinkle it on a section of the Ark of the Covenant.
He would sprinkle it on the Mercy Seat.

All of this was highly symbolic of the great work that God would do through Jesus Christ for the world, centuries later.

When John the Baptist saw Jesus Christ, he was informed by God about Jesus and cried out, "Behold the Lamb that taketh away the sins of the world."
Jesus was what the LAMB of the sacrifices symbolized.
Jesus was going to die on the cross like a sacrifice for us and our sins.
And like the lamb's death paid the price of the Israelite's sins, so they did not have to die, Jesus' death pays the price for the whole world.

You might ask, "Why did Jesus have to die, if lambs could pay the price every year?"

Its just that.
Lambs had to die every year.
And lambs were not humans.
If it is human sin that must be paid for by human death, then how could lamb death pay the price?
It really could not.
But the reason God allowed it in the Old Testament was because it symbolized what would truly pay the price.
So it could "get by".
It symbolized and pointed ahead to JESUS CHRIST, the one whom the LAMBS represented.
The who truly takes away the sins of the world.

Now, the High Priest sprinkled the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant.

And all of this was symbolic, too.
All of it.
We already said that the Lamb represented Jesus.
But we also found out that the word propitiation in the New Testament was also translated as mercy seat.
So this tells us that Jesus is not only the lamb, but He is also the MERCY SEAT.
(And other verses tell us that He is also the High Priest!)

When the High Priest sprinkled blood upon the Mercy Seat, God removed the sins of the people who waited outside the holy building for the work to be done.

The lamb was killed and the price was being paid for.
Blood indicated that the death payment occurred.
So that is why the High Priest brought the blood and sprinkled the Mercy Seat with it.

Sprinkling the mercy Seat removed the sins of the people.

Jesus is our MERCY SEAT.
He is our means of being forgiven of our sins.
God's MERCY for mankind is shown in Jesus Christ.

Now that we understand that, let us move on to the issue today.

Hebrews 9 said that CHERUBIMS of GLORY overshadowed the Mercy Seat.
Jesus is represented by the mercy seat.
So you could say that Cherubims overshadowed Jesus Christ.

God has a message for us in this thought.

Hebrews 9:5 said that the writer could not speak of that particularly at the time of writing.
In other words, there is some understanding we are to get about this picture.
In a chapter that says the sacrifices and lambs and the blood of Old Testament rituals represented things about Jesus, the writer said that cherubims overshadowing the mercy seat represent something.

With the idea that Jesus is the Mercy seat in mind, let us go back to the time God first told Moses to make the cherubims and the mercy seat.

And let us notice something wonderful there.

Exod 25:18-19 And thou shalt make two cherubims [of] gold, [of] beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: [even] of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.

In verse 18 we read the cherubim were "in the mercy seat."
In verse 19 we read the cherubim were "of the mercy seat."
If Jesus is the Mercy Seat, what would the cherubims represent who were IN the mercy seat and OF the mercy seat?
What does the Bible say is IN Jesus Christ and OF Jesus Christ?

Roma 12:5 So we, [being] many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

1Cor 1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus...

1Cor 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,...

THE CHURCH is "in" Jesus Christ.

Ephe 5:29-30 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

The Church is the BODY OF CHRIST.

The Cherubims represent the true CHURCH.
Church means CALLED OUT ONES.
The true people of God.

Exod 25:20 And the cherubims shall stretch forth [their] wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces [shall look] one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.

The cherubims looked towards the mercy seat.

That was where the blood was sprinkled.
The entire reason the church exists and we are saved and forgiven of our sins is because of the blood that was shed for us by Jesus Christ.

Jesus' blood!

The Mercy Seat's blood!

The blood of Jesus was shed as our blood.

So God looks at our old lives as dead and gone.
When we are baptized in Jesus' name, we are saying that when He was buried, we were buried, since He did it in our places.
And therefore, God sees us as new creatures.

2Cor 5:17 Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

We are in Christ, and that means we are new creatures.

We are what the cherubims represent.
And no wonder they gaze at the blood all the time.
It was the shed blood of the Lamb that puts us IN CHRIST.
The cherubim were IN the Mercy Seat, and they gazed at the blood of the lamb.
We are in Christ!

They are in the most holy place of the Temple where the Presence of God dwelt.

Only new creatures can be in the presence of God.

Follow peace with all [men], and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

Unless we are holy we cannot be in His presence.

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

Speaking of being IN CHRIST, we read that Jesus is made sanctification and righteousness for us.

That means being IN HIM makes us holy.
That is why these cherubims are in the presence of God.
They are IN THE MERCY SEAT.
THEY ARE IN CHRIST.

Notice this about Cherubims.

The first thing mentioned about them.

And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Lest Adam take and eat of the fruit of Life and live forever, these cherubims were put in the Garden entrance to protect the way of the tree of life.

The way to get to the tree of life was protected after Adam was cast out of the Garden.
Why would God protect the way to the tree of Life after Adam was cast out.
A flaming sword was there, too, and that kept Adam out because He would die from the flames if he tried entering to eat of the tree of life.

Reve 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

God allows people to eat of the tree of life if they overcome.

That means God wants us to get to the tree of life and eat.
Since Adam was cast out, today we see that God wants us to get back in.
And that is why cherubims were placed to protect the way of the Tree of Life.
It had to be preserved.
It had to be non-contaminated.

What is the way?

The cherubims protected the Way.

When the cherubims looked and gazed at the Mercy Seat where the blood was, notice what else they did.

And the cherubims shall stretch forth [their] wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces [shall look] one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.

While their faces looked towards the blood, their wings covered the Mercy Seat.

They were still seen keeping The Way.

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

They covered the Mercy Seat.

They covered the WAY.
They protected the Way.
Jesus is the Way.
Jesus is the Mercy Seat.
Jesus' shed blood is our eternal life.

They protected the WAY of the tree of Life.

Adam was not supposed to eat its fruit and live forever, but since our sin is forgiven by the blood, we could say the Blood is the way to eternal life.

John 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

His blood is eternal life.

His flesh is eternal Life.
Here we see both pictures put together.
His shed Blood forgave us of the sins that kept Adam out.
His flesh is like the fruit of Life from the Tree of Life.

All Adam had to do was eat to have eternal life.

But today we must eat and drink.
We must drink because the blood removes our sins so that we are fit to enter the Garden again and pass through THE WAY to the tree of life where we can then EAT and live forever.
The Blood is the Way and the flesh is the Life.
Jesus has both, so He is the WAY, the truth and the LIFE.

Let us always PROTECT THE WAY.

People need to get eternal life, but they cannot get there unless they have THE WAY.
The reason cherubim are seen protecting the way, is because God is telling the Church that we must always keep the WAY available.
Without the BLOOD there is no remission of sins.
So without the blood there is no WAY to get to the tree of life.
So I will tell you that the only way to have eternal life is to realize you have to die because of your sins.
And Jesus Christ shed His blood and died to pay for those sins.
But like the people of God who waited outside for the price of the sacrifice to pay for their sins, it is only those who live for God, and believe enough to dedicate their lives to God totally, that have their sins forgiven.

You are buried in Christ's death by water baptism.

You make His death your death when you are buried into His death by baptism.

Roma 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

His death is the way to leave Adam's messed up race, and enter Christ and be a cherubim IN HIM and OF HIM.

A new Creature.
In the presence of God.

God wants you in His presence, so you are going to have get hold of eternal life.

He preserved the way since Adam fell.
The lamb was slain from the foundation of the world.
He had a plan since the beginning.
Since Adam first was cast out.
He had the idea of a Church.

The Blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ is what saves.

But it also keeps.
And these cherubims protect that Way.
They are looking at the blood and they never stop looking.
I saw many people stop looking.
They looked and believed and were saved, but many stopped looking.
Something got their eyes off the blood and the Lord Jesus.

Hebr 12:1-2 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of [our] faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The race set before is one that we must finish.

Its not the one who runs the swiftest, but the one who endures to the ends.
We will make it by looking to Jesus.
And then it says that He experienced suffering, but held on to the will of God the Father.
He endured the shame, hating every minute of it.

Hebr 12:3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

Your mind can faint and be made weary.

Thoughts and lies enter your mind.
But if you look to Jesus who went through it and made it, you can have hope.
The one thing that has caused many to look away from Jesus has been things that have entered their minds that made them busy themselves over other problems.
Their minds became weakened by these things.
Often they became bitter and they became resentful over things other Christians may have done.
Something was said to them that upset them and made them turn their eyes off Jesus.
They did not PROTECT THE WAY.
Looking to Jesus is the way to win.

Their gaze was intent.

It was diligent.
It was important to them.

Ezek 1:7 And their feet [were] straight feet; and the sole of their feet [was] like the sole of a calf's foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass.

Jesus' feet:

And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

Walk like Jesus
Straight feet.
Walk a straight path
The chpater that speaks of lookinmg to Jesus, lest we faint, also says:

And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

Prov 4:27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

Isai 35:8-10 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it [shall be] for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err [therein]. No lion shall be there, nor [any] ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk [there]: And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Follow peace with all [men], and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

Its a holy WAY.

You must walk straight.
You must live right.
You must have peace between yourself and others.
Not fighting.

Hebr 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble [you], and thereby many be defiled;

Looking diligently.

Diligent: Showing persistence and application in whatever is undertaken.
Look diligently.
Jesus is the WAY.
The WAY to glory is to look to Jesus.
Your relationship with Him depends upon how diligently you LOOK to Him.
Protect that relationship with Him.
As with wings, cover everything else away from your sight that may distract you.
Do not look at discouraging believers.
Do not look at mistakes of others.
These are number one excuses that cause people to backslide.
Have Persistent looking.
Apply yourself to looking.
Keep your eyes on Jesus, or else you will see problems and bad things others do and will stop the race and leave the way of Life.
Stop looking, and a root of bitterness might spring up.
Bitterness because of what you saw other than Jesus.

Look to Him.

He faced shame and contradiction of sinners and endured the cross.
He succeeded!
He's been through it.
He was 100% God and 100% man!
So He went through it as a man, but He made it!
Do not look at discouraging, weak believers, look to the One who is strong and never failed.
And you will protect THE WAY for YOU!