“Cherubim and a flaming sword” (Genesis 3:24)
Boundaries. Seems we find them everywhere. “Do not touch.” “Do not cross over this line.” “Do not enter.” “Do not open.” “Do not use.” The “do nots” are everywhere. I confess that my sin nature has rebelled against some “do nots” in my lifetime. My index finger has touched something that a sign told me not to. I have peeked where I wasn’t supposed to peek. And yes, while standing in the checkout line during the pandemic, my toe has gone out of the bounds of the circle on the floor that told me where to stand in order to maintain a six-foot distance.
It was God who initiated boundaries. Back in the Garden after man sinned. Pay close attention to Genesis 3:24 – “After God drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.” This is actually one of the saddest verses in the bible, for it signaled the fall of man, the loss of paradise, and the separation of man from God. The cherubim formed the barrier, or boundary, to prevent man from entering the presence of God. And that boundary remained in effect for thousands of years.
That is until Christ came. The moment of Christ’s death on the cross, a supernatural event took place in the Temple in Jerusalem. The veil, the Hebrew parochet, that separated the holy of holies from the rest of the temple, was torn in two. Most of us learned that as children in Sunday School, or heard it from the pulpit in church. But did you know what was embroidered on the fabric of that curtain? It was the image of two cherubim, the guardians of Eden, still setting a boundary to the way back to God. But as the veil was torn in two upon the death of Christ, so were the cherubim. For the Messiah had passed through the cherubim who held the flaming sword, to make possible the way back to paradise. And as he did, the barrier between God and man was removed. No more judgment, no more shame, no more guilt, no more curse. At Christ’s death, every boundary separating us from God was removed.
But there is one other interesting thing about the veil in the Temple being torn in two. Remember, I said to pay close attention to Genesis 3:24? That verse holds two significant pieces of information for us. The first is the cherubim with the flaming sword. But the second thing of importance is that God placed them on the east side of the Garden of Eden. It is significant because in Matthew 24:27 we read, “For as the lightening comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” Christ’s death not only removed the boundary between God and man; it also opened wide the door for the Second Coming of Christ in the eastern sky!
Darlene