`And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be

no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any

more pain: for the former things are passed away ... and he shewed me a

pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the

throne of God and of the Lamb.  In the midst of the street of it, and

on either side of the river, was there the tree of life ... and there

shall be no more curse ... that they may have right to the tree of

life, and may enter in through the gates into the city' (Rev. 21:4;

22:1 -3,14).

Here is the complete reversal of the consequence of the fall of man in

Eden, and we have surveyed yet another `fulness', the fulness of Redemption

that spans the ages and their burden of sin and death.  The creation of the

universe, being the act of the infinitely wise God, brought into being a

definite purpose, and that purpose can be perceived at least in some measure

by rea is with men and He ing what the Scriptures indicate will be the

condition of things at the end.  The Tabernacle of God will then be with men

and He will dwell with them, God will be all in all.  Two things are linked

with the Cherubim in the Scriptures, `dwelling' (1 Sam. 4:4), and `speaking'

(Num. 7:89).  Where the word is used in the singular, we read, `He rode upon

a Cherub and did fly', but this has to do with deliverance from enemies.

While we read both in Exodus and Ezekiel of a `Cherub' in the singular, it

always has reference to `one' of the Cherubim, but in Ezekiel 28:14 and 16

`the anointed Cherub' seems to be associated with `the overthrow of the

world'.  The change from the singular to the plural takes place after the

fall of man, and the Cherubim with their four faces, the lion, the ox, the

man and the eagle, symbolize Adam and the dominion put in subjection under

his feet, who in turn is the figure of Him that was to come.  While the

purpose of God to dwell with His creatures was temporarily checked by the

failure of the first creation, it was reintroduced at the creation of man,

for we have the homely words of Genesis 3, that speaks of the `voice of God

in the garden at the cool of the day' and the call, `Adam, where art thou?'

Once again the fall of the creature hindered the attainment of the Divine

purpose, yet Love found a way; the purpose was not abandoned but the whole

purpose was placed upon a redemptive basis, consequently the Cherubim are

seen to be an integral part of the Mercy Seat.  Some idea of the way the

purpose is pursued through the ages may be visualized by the following graph:

Purpose to dwell.

Cherubim. Man and his

`The Tabernacle of God

The Cherub.  `Cover'

dominion enters and

is with men and He

(Exod. 28:14,16

Cherubim now part of

and He will dwell with

Exod. 26:14).

the Mercy seat.

The  Overthrow

of  the  World

of  Heaven

From the `Anointed' that failed, on via the cross to the glory of the

`Anointed' Who gloriously succeeded, the purpose of love is carried to its

goal on the wings of the Cherubim, or rather on the grace that these strange

creatures set forth.  Thus the outstretched firmament coincides with the

outstretched wing of the Cherubim, the whole span of the ages being Under the

Redeeming Aegis.