Hi - This is my first post. I am new to bible study - I was a "good" Catholic for my first 16 years, then nothing for the next ~30 years. I became hooked on bible study after accidentally viewing Pastor David's series on the Book of Revelation - more please!. Pastor David, I owe you - Thank you!!!! I currently am only up to Jeremiah in my personal reading. I have skipped around when something else made me curious. Please forgive my novice errors.


Recently I watched Chuck Missler's series Learn the Bible in 24 hrs. I was fascinated by his observation on Cherubim, the banners of the tribes of Israel, and the first books of the New Testament.

Was anybody else blown away by these observations??? I compiled the following information on Cherubim. I hope someone finds it interesting and sees the same thing that I do; otherwise pardon the interruption.


Before talking about Cherubim, let’s consider the portable Tabernacle of God and the Israelites that were traveling in the wilderness for 40 years.

God lived among the Israelites in the Tabernacle during the wilderness years and afterward.

The 12 Israelite tribes were assigned 4 positions (N, S, E, & W) relative to the Tabernacle of God. See Numbers 2:1-34
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?se ... ersion=KJV

See picture at http://www.americaisraelprophecy.com/ab ... nners.html See Dispensational Truth on Page 159 by Clarence Larkin

The position of these banners with their emblem is this: The Lion on the East, the Ox on the West, the Eagle on the North, and the face of the man on the South.

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NOW on to Cherubim

Ezekiel was down by the river Chebar when he saw four strange creatures. These livings creatures all had four faces. They are later described as Cherubim.

Exceprts from: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/searc ... earchOpt=0

*Ezekiel 1:10: As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.


*The name of a winged being mentioned frequently in the Bible. The prophet Ezekiel describes the cherubim as a tetrad of living creatures, each having four faces—of a lion, an ox, an eagle, and a man—the stature and hands of a man, the feet of a calf, and four wings. Two of the wings extended upward, meeting above and sustaining the throne of God; while the other two stretched downward and covered the creatures themselves. They never turned, but went "straight forward" as the wheels of the cherubic chariot, and they were full of eyes "like burning coals of fire" (Ezek. i. 5-28, ix. 3, x., xi. 22). Ezek. xxviii. 13-16 is manifestly a true account of a popular tradition, distinct from that in Gen. ii., iii.

*In the early days of Israel's history the cherubim became the divine chariot, the bearer of the throne of Yhwh in its progress through the worlds.

*The cherubim placed by God at the entrance of paradise <<so Adam and Eve could not get to the TREE OF LIFE>> (Gen. iii. 24) were angels created on the third day, and therefore they had no definite shape; appearing either as men or women, or as spirits or angelic beings (Gen. R. xxi., end)

*…the Slavonic Book of Enoch state that "cherubim and seraphim and the watchfulness of many eyes" (= ofannim).

*The Ethiopian Book of Enoch also mentions these three classes of angels as those that never sleep, but always watch the throne of God (lxx. 7; compare also lxi. 10).

*In the passages of the Talmud that describe the heavens and their inhabitants, the seraphim, ofannim, and ḥayyot are mentioned, but not the cherubim (Ḥag. 12b); and the ancient liturgy also mentions only these three classes.

*In the Zohar, where also ten classes of angels are enumerated, the cherubim are not mentioned as a special class (compare Zohar, Ex. Bo, 43a).

*Onkelos, the proselyte (beginning of the second century C.E.), says that "the cherubim had their heads bent backward, like a pupil who is going away from his master" (B. B. 99a); this is intended to explain the somewhat ambiguous verse referring to the cherubim in the Tabernacle (Ex. xxv. 20), meaning that the faces of the cherubim were bent downward toward the cover () of the Ark, but still with their eyes turned toward each other. Onkelos' view is also given in the Targ. O. on the passage, while the Targ. Yer. thinks that the faces of both the opposite cherubim were turned downward toward the cover (compare Friedmann, "Onkelos und Akylas," pp. 98-99).


*Concerning the form of these cherubim, an authority of the end of the third century says that they had the form of youths, <<maybe before completely fearing and understanding -Job 28:28 >> (, derived from כ ="like," and ="youth"; Suk. 5b; Ḥag. 13b). The last-named passage says that the cherubim which Ezekiel saw in his vision (Ezek. x. 1) also had this form,

*This conception of the cherubim, as representing the union of Israel with God, has been further developed by the Cabala, the cherubim being taken to represent the mysterious union of the earthly with the heavenly (see Baḥya b. Asher to Ex. xxv. 20; Zohar, Terumah, ii. 176a). The symbolical interpretation of the Alexandrians, mentioned above, is also found in rabbinical sources. Midr. Tadshe (ed. Epstein, p. 15)….

* = <<ALL of the above are like >400,000 EARTHLY Israelite people surrounding the portable tabernacle that carried YHWH through the desert for 40 yrs etc>>

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Some specifics on why some believe the flags were as described above:

The Lion is the banner of the tribe of Judah. (Ezekiel’s right side-East)

Rev. 5:5: And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

Genesis 49:8-10.

8: Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee.
9: Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
10: The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Judah was placed over the tribes of Issachar. Judah and Zebulun. These three tribes were camped on the East Side.



The Ox is the banner of the tribe of Ephraim (Ezekiel’s left side-West)

Deuteronomy 33:13-17 Moses blessing on Israel.

13: And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath,
14: And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon,
15: And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills,
16: And for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.
17: His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns : with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh. Unicorns in the hebrew, rem pronounced rame, means wild bull. The firstling of his bullock is talking about Ephraim who received the birthright. He was given the right of the firstborn by God through Jacob.

Hosea 10: 11: And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods. Jeremiah 31:18: I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.

Since Ephraim is the carrier of Joseph's birthright his emblem is the Ox. Ephraim was placed over the tribes of Manasseh and Benjamin. These three tribes were camped on the West Side.



The Eagle could be the banner of the tribe of Dan (North)

The Eagle, which would have been on the back of the creature, was the emblem of the tribe of Dan who was the leader of the encampment of Asher, Dan and Naphtali the North Side of the Tabernacle.

Biblical Texts.

It is pointed out that while in the prophecies Israel will change his name (Hosea, i. 9), be numberless (ibid. ii. 1), dwell in islands (Isa. xxiv. 15) with colonies and be the chief of the nations (Micah, v. 8), Judah will be a byword (Jer. xv. 4). The "isles" (Isa. xli. 1, xlii. 4), to which Israel was banished, were to be north (Jer. iii. 12) and west (Isa. xxiv. 15) of Palestine, and to be in a cold climate, since it is said: "Heat nor sun will smite them" (Isa. xlix. 10). It was further prophesied that the isles would become too small for Israel (Isa. xlix. 19) and that Israel should be a nation and company of nations (Gen. xxxv. 11). It would, therefore, have colonies (Isa. xlix. 20, liv. 3), so that it might surround the nations (Deut. xxxii. 7-9) and be above them all (Deut. vii. 6, xiv. 2, xxviii. 1). The children of Israel will always know and recognize the Lord (Isa. lix. 21, xlix. 3), which of course is interpreted to mean, "will be members of the true Church of England." The Anglo-Israelites triumphantly ask, "What nation save England corresponds to all these prophetic signs?" In further confirmation it is pointed out that one of the tribes of Manasseh was to become an independent nation (Gen. xlviii. 19): the United States obviously represents Manasseh. Both Ephraim and Manasseh shall exterminate the aborigines ("push the people together") in the countries into which they spread (Deut. xxxiii. 17). The lion and the unicorn are referred to in Num. xxiv. 8, 9; while the American eagle is intended in the prophecy in Ezek. xvii. 3. The promise that Israel "shall possess the gates of his enemies" (Gen. xxii. 17, xxiv. 60) is taken to be fulfilled in the possession by England of Gibraltar, Malta, Heligoland, Aden, and Singapore. Finally, it was prophesied that Israel should bear another name (Isa. lxv. 15) and speak another tongue (Isa. xxviii. 11). All these characteristics of Israel, as distinguished from Judah, are fulfilled, it is contended, in England, its colonies, and the United States.

Historic Connection.

The historical connection of the ancestors of the English with the Lost Ten Tribes is deduced as follows: The Ten Tribes were transferred to Babylon about 720 B.C.; and simultaneously, according to Herodotus, the Scythians, including the tribe of the Saccæ, appeared in the same district; the progenitors of the Saxons afterward passed over into Denmark—the "mark" or country of the tribe of Dan—and thence to England. Another branch of the tribe of Dan which remained "in ships" (Judges, v. 17) made its appearance in Ireland under the title of "Tuatha-da-Danan." Tephi, a descendant of the royal house of David, arrived in Ireland, according to the native annals, in 580 B.C. From her was descended Feargus More, king of Argyll, an ancestor of Queen Victoria, who thus fulfilled the prophecy that "the line of David shall rule for ever and ever" (II Chron. xiii. 5, xxi. 7). The Irish branch of the Danites brought with them Jacob's stone, which has always been used as the coronation -stone of the kings of Scotland andEngland, and is now preserved in Westminster Abbey. Somewhat inconsistently, the prophecy that the Canaanites should trouble Israel (Num. xxxiii. 55, Josh. xxiii. 13) is applied to the Irish. The land of Arzareth, to which the Israelites were transplanted (II Esd. xiii. 45), is identified with Ireland by dividing the former name into two parts, the former of which is ereẓ, or "land"; the latter, Ar, or "Ire."

Philological Arguments.

Philology, of a somewhat primitive kind, is also brought in to support the theory: the many Biblical and quasi-Jewish names borne by Englishmen are held to prove their Israelitish origin (H. E. Nicholls, "Surnames of the English People"). An attempt has been made to derive the English language itself from Hebrew (R. Govell, "English Derived from Hebrew"). Thus, "bairn" is derived from bar ("son"), "berry" from peri ("fruit"), "garden" from gedar, "kid" from gedi, "scale" from shekel, and "kitten" from quiton (ḳaton ="little"). The termination "ish" is identified with the Hebrew ish ("man"); "Spanish" means "Spain-man"; while "British" is identified with Berit-ish ("man of the covenant"). Perhaps the most curious of these philological identifications is that of "jig" with chag (ḥag ="festival").

Britain -->US -->American Eagle


Read more: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view. ... z16i4qRlf9



The Man could be the banner of the tribe of Reuben (South)

The tribe of Reuben was the leader of the encampment of Gad, Reuben and Simeon the South Side of the Tabernacle.

Reuben ‘s name was interpreted to mean "behold the splendid son!" ()

Read more: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view. ... z16i8CrFrD



Levites Numbers 2:17 (In the Middle)

Then the tabernacle of the congregation shall set forward with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camp: as they encamp, so shall they set forward, every man in his place by their standards.