What exactly are these...?

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holdencaulfield

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Someone told me these creatures have names, I guess they are angels. Does anyone know what they are called, and what they do?

" In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle.Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever" (Revelations 4:6-9)
 
holdencaulfield said:
Someone told me these creatures have names, I guess they are angels. Does anyone know what they are called, and what they do?

" In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle.Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever" (Revelations 4:6-9)
Click to expand...

They are - in certain respects - John’s equivalent of the “wheels” in Ezekiel’s vision of the Divine “Chariot”. To see what’s meant, compare this passage with Ezekiel 1 & 10 🙂 The wheels, ophannim in Hebrew, are “angelic” beings; whether this is Ezekiel’s own view of them is not clear.​

cf.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H0212&Version=rsv

The “living creatures” are a combination of the wheels in Ezekiel’s vision, which are full of eyes, with Ezekiel’s cherubim. And the function of the cherubim in Ezekiel is as supporters of God’s Throne.
  • [&t=rsvbetween+the+cherubim (http://cf.blueletterbible.org/search/translationResults.cfm?Criteria=between+the+cherubim&t=rsv)
  • [%2A&t=KJV&sf=5cherub (http://cf.blueletterbible.org/search/translationResults.cfm?Criteria=cherub*&t=KJV&sf=5)
  • Exd 25:22 There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you of all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.
  • Num 7:89 And when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the LORD, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim; and it spoke to him.
  • Eze 10:2 And he said to the man clothed in linen, “Go in among the whirling wheels underneath the cherubim; fill your hands with burning coals from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.” And he went in before my eyes.
  • Eze 10:6 And when he commanded the man clothed in linen, “Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” he went in and stood beside a wheel.
  • Eze 10:7 And a cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some of it, and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and went out.
    The Throne itself is a development of ideas about the Ark of the Covenant:
  • “[He] sits between the cherubim” (or a related phrase) is found several times in the earlier OT books
  • Ezekiel (who was of a priestly family) comes along & adapts the thought of the Ark-as-Throne by seeing it as borne along on wheels full of eyes & borne up cherub-supporters
  • John adapts Ezekiel’s vision to a Christian purpose
    So there is a lot in this passage 🙂
There are four cherubs (the “living creatures” in Rev. 4) to act as symbols of the universality of God’s Kingship; earth was thought of as having four corners. And at one level, the wheels of Ezekiel are the rotations of the planets. The eyes represent universal knowledge: God’s, that is: the creatures may represent individualised Divine attributes (the OT speaks of the “eyes of the Lord”, & of His “ear”, in this way: rather as Proverbs speaks of “Lady Wisdom”).

If the imagery is rather hard to visualise, that is because both writers were trying to describe the indescribable. John draws on Ezekiel constantly, for imagery & text alike.
The text of Rev. 4 tells us what the creatures do; 😃 - they are shown doing what the seraphim in Isaiah 6.3 do: IOW, unceasingly praising God

Hope that helps.
 
Good heavens, Gottle of Geer, CAF members are fortunate
to have the benefit of your study.:tiphat:

I know that I am grateful for same. What a concise
explication, and how clear. I never wanted to wade into
Ezekiel, in terms of trying to understand the imagery,
and here I find a beautiful summmary. Thank you.
I hope to heaven that you’re teaching somewhere. 🙂

reen12
 
Gottle_of_Geer said:

They are - in certain respects - John’s equivalent of the “wheels” in Ezekiel’s vision of the Divine “Chariot”. To see what’s meant, compare this passage with Ezekiel 1 & 10 🙂 The wheels, ophannim in Hebrew, are “angelic” beings; whether this is Ezekiel’s own view of them is not clear.​

cf.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H0212&Version=rsv

The “living creatures” are a combination of the wheels in Ezekiel’s vision, which are full of eyes, with Ezekiel’s cherubim. And the function of the cherubim in Ezekiel is as supporters of God’s Throne.
  • [cf.blueletterbible.org/search/translationResults.cfm?Criteria=between+the+cherubim (http://cf.blueletterbible.org/search/translationResults.cfm?Criteria=between+the+cherubim&t=rsv)&t=rsv
  • [cf.blueletterbible.org/search/translationResults.cfm?Criteria=cherub (http://cf.blueletterbible.org/search/translationResults.cfm?Criteria=cherub*&t=KJV&sf=5)%2A&t=KJV&sf=5
  • Exd 25:22 There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you of all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.
  • Num 7:89 And when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the LORD, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim; and it spoke to him.
  • Eze 10:2 And he said to the man clothed in linen, “Go in among the whirling wheels underneath the cherubim; fill your hands with burning coals from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.” And he went in before my eyes.
  • Eze 10:6 And when he commanded the man clothed in linen, “Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” he went in and stood beside a wheel.
  • Eze 10:7 And a cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some of it, and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and went out.
    The Throne itself is a development of ideas about the Ark of the Covenant:
  • “[He] sits between the cherubim” (or a related phrase) is found several times in the earlier OT books
  • Ezekiel (who was of a priestly family) comes along & adapts the thought of the Ark-as-Throne by seeing it as borne along on wheels full of eyes & borne up cherub-supporters
  • John adapts Ezekiel’s vision to a Christian purpose
    So there is a lot in this passage 🙂
There are four cherubs (the “living creatures” in Rev. 4) to act as symbols of the universality of God’s Kingship; earth was thought of as having four corners. And at one level, the wheels of Ezekiel are the rotations of the planets. The eyes represent universal knowledge: God’s, that is: the creatures may represent individualised Divine attributes (the OT speaks of the “eyes of the Lord”, & of His “ear”, in this way: rather as Proverbs speaks of “Lady Wisdom”).

If the imagery is rather hard to visualise, that is because both writers were trying to describe the indescribable. John draws on Ezekiel constantly, for imagery & text alike.
The text of Rev. 4 tells us what the creatures do; 😃 - they are shown doing what the seraphim in Isaiah 6.3 do: IOW, unceasingly praising God

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Thank You.
 
holdencaulfield said:
Someone told me these creatures have names, I guess they are angels. Does anyone know what they are called, and what they do?

" In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle.Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever" (Revelations 4:6-9)
Click to expand...
In art, these images are used to represent the Four Evangelists - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Mark is the Lion, Luke is the Ox, Matthew is the Man, and John is the Eagle. 🙂
 
holdencaulfield said:
Is that the same thing as those baby angels?
Click to expand...

That’s them:)​

I think they pictured as baby angels (often with a pair of dinky little wings at the shoulders) because the word “cherub” was understood to mean “like a boy”. Probably with a bit of help from pictures of Classical Cupids - who are not very alarming beings; unlike “angelic” beings in the OT.
 
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