Chapter 6 – The Cherubim in Exodus by Fay Berry

Chapter 6 – The Cherubim in Exodus by Fay Berry

After the initial euphoria of their transition from slaves to free men and women, it did not take long for Israel to start complaining. They had been delivered by the mighty hand of God’s meek servant Moses, they had been baptised into Moses and passed through the sea on dry land, but now they found themselves in the unforgiving wilderness of Sin which is between Elim and Sinai, “And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness” (Ex 16:2)
God gave them “bread from heaven,” (Ex 16:4) and they could eat to their fill. It was a miracle, and for a few days they appreciated it, but it soon became “that light bread,” (Num 21:5). Israel craved bread and that desire filled, then they craved water and Moses cried out to God in despair, “What shall I do unto this people? They be almost ready to stone me.” God’s Angel, the Archangel Michael told Moses to stand upon the rock in Horeb and smite the rocked and water would come out and the people could drink, so from the midst of the Cherubim that went before them in the wilderness, all their needs were provided for. However, sin, their own, and sinners would trouble them throughout all their wilderness wanderings, because “The Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.
Jethro the priest of Midian, Moses’ father in law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel, he took Zipporah, Moses’ wife and her two sons and brought them to Moses in the wilderness and they shared a sacrifice there before God. Taking Jethro’s advice, Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people so that he should not be exhausted in having to judge his people alone. It is wonderful to have wise advisors to help us with the decisions we have to make on our journey to the kingdom.
Israel travelled onwards with the Cherubim providing shade from the burning heat in the day and providing light at night and they came to the desert of Sinai and they camped before the mount.
There the Cherubim rested on top of the mount and the Lord called unto Moses from out of the “thick cloud” (Ex 19:9) that was upon the mountain and promised him that if Israel would obey him that He would make them to himself a “kingdom of priests and an holy nation.” The Lord told Moses to prepare the people “against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come Dow in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.” And the Angel of Yahweh “set bounds unto the people round about, saying “Take heed to yourselves that Ye go not up into the mount or touch the border of it for whosoever touches the mount should surely be put to death.
On the third day, from the Cherubim on the top of the mountain came “thunders and light nights, and a thick cloud upon the mountain and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud” (Ex 19:16) and the people in the camp trembled, and “mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly,” (Ex 19:18).
“Moses spake and God answered him” from within the Cherubim “by a voice.” And the Angel of Yahweh came out of the Cherubim “down upon the mount Sinai, on the top of the mount, and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount, and Moses went up” (Ex 19: 20). How amazing was that, that the Angel of God met Moses there on the mount. How would Moses have felt, with all the thunder and lightning and fire and smoke and the trumpet and the noise. It was too much for the people of Israel, they could not cope. It must have been almost too much for Moses as well. What a wonderful man he must have been for Michael the Archangel to meet him there on the mount and talk with him. I can barely comprehend it. The Picture in my mind is so real.
Then Michael became concerned for the people below, that they might disregard his warning and come and touch the mountain and die, so he sent Moses down again to tell the people what he had seen and to advise them of what they should and should not do whilst he was away back up in the mount, because Michael had told him to go down and get Aaron and bring him with him up on the mount. I shall leave it here because after this comes the Ten Commandments.

After the initial euphoria of their transition from slaves to free men and women, it did not take long for Israel to start complaining. They had been delivered by the mighty hand of God’s meek servant Moses, they had been baptised into Moses and passed through the sea on dry land, but now they found themselves in the unforgiving wilderness of Sin which is between Elim and Sinai, “And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness” (Ex 16:2)
God gave them “bread from heaven,” (Ex 16:4) and they could eat to their fill. It was a miracle, and for a few days they appreciated it, but it soon became “that light bread,” (Num 21:5). Israel craved bread and that desire filled, then they craved water and Moses cried out to God in despair, “What shall I do unto this people? They be almost ready to stone me.” God’s Angel, the Archangel Michael told Moses to stand upon the rock in Horeb and smite the rocked and water would come out and the people could drink, so from the midst of the Cherubim that went before them in the wilderness, all their needs were provided for. However, sin, their own, and sinners would trouble them throughout all their wilderness wanderings, because “The Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.
Jethro the priest of Midian, Moses’ father in law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel, he took Zipporah, Moses’ wife and her two sons and brought them to Moses in the wilderness and they shared a sacrifice there before God. Taking Jethro’s advice, Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people so that he should not be exhausted in having to judge his people alone. It is wonderful to have wise advisors to help us with the decisions we have to make on our journey to the kingdom.
Israel travelled onwards with the Cherubim providing shade from the burning heat in the day and providing light at night and they came to the desert of Sinai and they camped before the mount.
There the Cherubim rested on top of the mount and the Lord called unto Moses from out of the “thick cloud” (Ex 19:9) that was upon the mountain and promised him that if Israel would obey him that He would make them to himself a “kingdom of priests and an holy nation.” The Lord told Moses to prepare the people “against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come Dow in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.” And the Angel of Yahweh “set bounds unto the people round about, saying “Take heed to yourselves that Ye go not up into the mount or touch the border of it for whosoever touches the mount should surely be put to death.
On the third day, from the Cherubim on the top of the mountain came “thunders and light nights, and a thick cloud upon the mountain and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud” (Ex 19:16) and the people in the camp trembled, and “mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly,” (Ex 19:18).
“Moses spake and God answered him” from within the Cherubim “by a voice.” And the Angel of Yahweh came out of the Cherubim “down upon the mount Sinai, on the top of the mount, and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount, and Moses went up” (Ex 19: 20). How amazing was that, that the Angel of God met Moses there on the mount. How would Moses have felt, with all the thunder and lightning and fire and smoke and the trumpet and the noise. It was too much for the people of Israel, they could not cope. It must have been almost too much for Moses as well. What a wonderful man he must have been for Michael the Archangel to meet him there on the mount and talk with him. I can barely comprehend it. The Picture in my mind is so real.
Then Michael became concerned for the people below, that they might disregard his warning and come and touch the mountain and die, so he sent Moses down again to tell the people what he had seen and to advise them of what they should and should not do whilst he was away back up in the mount, because Michael had told him to go down and get Aaron and bring him with him up on the mount. I shall leave it here because after this comes the Ten Commandments.