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Him Zechariah speaks when he says "Behold, the MAN Whose name is the Branch"
(Zech. 6: 12). Some two centuries earlier Isaiah, looking forward to the day of
restoration, says, "In that day shall the Branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious"
(Isa. 4: 2), and so provides the text which is appropriate to the Gospel according to John.
---Illustration---
(BE-XXXVI.71).
The four gospels point to the Lord Jesus Christ as the One in Whom all these promises
were or shall be fulfilled. These four phases of prophecy however are all closely
connected with Israel; there is another fourfold promise that goes back to the days of
Adam that must also be fulfilled in Christ as set forth in the four gospels. From the
earliest times, the Cherubim have been associated with the four gospels and it will be
remembered that these living ones are described as having four faces:
"The face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side . . . . . the face of an ox on
the left side . . . . . also the face of an eagle" (Ezek. 1: 10).
That these cherubim are not of passing interest, but seem to be woven as it were into
the very text of Scripture, a moment's consideration will prove. There are six different
periods marked out in the Scriptures, where the cherub or cherubim (im Heb. plural)
accompany the unfolding of the Divine purpose:
Ezekiel 28:
A supernatural being, who held the title "the anointed cherub that
covereth". He was cast out as profane. The word "anointed" is used
of "The Messiah" or "The Christ" when applied to the Lord Jesus.
Genesis 3:
At the fall of Adam and at the expulsion from Eden, the cherubim are
seen associated with the flaming sword that kept the way of the
tree of life. "Paradise lost."
Exodus 25:
The cherubim now appear in the holiest of all and form a part of the
mercy seat at the meeting place of the priest and God. They are
intimately connected with the plan and purpose of redeeming love as
set forth in the typical teaching of the tabernacle.
I Kings 6:
The cherubim are a feature in the temple built and dedicated by
Solomon, whose reign of peace and abundant prosperity sets forth in
type the glory that is yet to be.
Ezekiel.
In the opening and closing sections of Ezekiel we see the glory of the
Lord leaving and returning to Israel accompanied by the cherubim.
Revelation 4:
Under the term "the four beasts" (Lit. "living creatures" as in Ezek. 1:),
the cherubim are associated with the great prophecy of restoration
that leads up to "Paradise restored" in the last chapter.
If we attempt to set out these references to the cherubim in structure form, we become
conscious of a gap, or something missing, but if we include the four gospels as indicating