 The Inscrutable Question: Lucifer’s Duties as Anointed Cherub, Ezk 28:14a; Cherubs of the Mercy Seat
13) First of all, Lucifer was placed in the position of supreme rulership with plenipotentiary power delegated to him by God.
14) Plenipotentiary: [WNNCD ] Latin: invested with full power. A person and especially a diplomatic agent invested with full power to transact business.
[OED ] A person invested with full, unlimited, or discretionary powers or authority.
15) Lucifer was delegated plenipotentiary authority over the government that God established for the orderly function of the angelic population.
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Lucifer’s duties in this regard was three-fold: (1) to guard the throne room of God in order to protect it against any intrusion of unrighteousness, (2) to supervise the angelic population within the parameters of God’s decreed policies and procedures, and (3) to proclaim divine policy and procedure in both areas.
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The guarding of the throne room is a part of Lucifer’s function as high priest. As such he is to be the protector and defender of divine integrity. This principle may be confirmed by observing cherubic function in the angelic conflict.
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When Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden any ideas of returning there were prevented by the stationing of two cherubs at its entrance.
Genesis 3:24 - So God drove the man out and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubs and the flaming sword [ an offensive weapon ] which turned every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life.
19) Adam and Eve, now fallen could not eat from the tree of life without perpetuating their fallen condition. The divine remedy for their spiritual and physical death was the redemption solution.
20) Cherubs next appear in Scripture as images inside the Tabernacle and Temple. Again we see their function is primarily to guard the integrity of God.
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Images of two cherubs are positioned on top of the ark of the covenant, which is positioned behind the second veil inside the holy of holies.
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They are a part of a piece of furniture referred to as the “mercy seat” and their function in the Tabernacle gives us information about the role of cherubs in the third heaven.
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In order to understand this let’s go over a few principles regarding the presence of cherubs inside the Tabernacle. The major source of information for these principles is from notes on the Tabernacle by H. C. Woodring.
Cherubs of the Mercy Seat & Second Veil
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The inside of the Tabernacle was divided into two sections. Behind the first veil was the holy place and behind the second veil was the holy of holies.
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Inside the holy of holies was the ark of the covenant upon which rested the mercy seat.
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The ark was designed to protect and preserve its contents. This is the function of all arks in Scripture.
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Noah’s ark was not designed to navigate but rather to float. It protected the lives of its passengers both human and animal until God determined its final resting-place.
Genesis 6:14 - “Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms and shall cover it inside and out with pitch.”
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The basket, in which Moses’ mother cast him into the Nile River is referred to in the King James Version as an “ark of bulrushes,” thought to be papyrus reeds. It too could not be navigated. It was designed to float on the river until deposited at the place of God’s choosing. Its function in the meantime was to preserve and protect the child inside.
Exodus 2:3 - When Moses’ mother could hide him no longer, she got him a wicker basket [ KJV: “ark of bulrushes” ] and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile.
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In both Genesis 6:14 and Exodus 2:3 the word translated “ark” is the same: teba /tay-BA /. In the Lord’s instructions regarding the construction of the ark of the covenant a different word is used: ’aron / a-RONE /.
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These two words are synonyms in the Hebrew. This is established by New Testament references to each. Hebrews 9:4 mentions the ark of the covenant and Hebrews 11:7 refers to Noah’s ark. In both cases the same word is used: kibwtÒj / kibotos /.
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Therefore, the ark of the covenant is designed to protect and preserve its contents from danger and damage.
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The ark and the mercy seat are two separate and distinct articles of furniture. The ark speaks of the person of Christ while the mercy seat speaks of the work of Christ.
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The mercy seat rests on top of the ark, which supports it. It is the perfect person of Christ that makes His work propitious to the Father.
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The ark is a rectangular box made of acacia wood, a type for the true humanity of Christ.
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This acacia wood box was covered inside and out by an overlay of pure gold, a type for the undiminished deity of Christ.
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Pure gold is uncontaminated by alloy in any way and it was not affected in the slightest by being adapted to the wood. Thus, the gold’s association with the wood does not diminish the Lord’s deity and the wood’s association with the gold does not aggrandize His true humanity.
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Two distinct substances are used to make one ark. You could not separate one from the other without destroying the ark itself.
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This demonstrates that the Person of Christ is an eternally inseparable union of undiminished deity and true humanity.
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The impeccable integrity of both natures is demonstrated by the contents of the ark.
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The Tables of the Law. In Deuteronomy 10:3-5, Moses relates how he was instructed by the Lord to place the stones containing the Ten Commandments into the arc of the covenant. Their presence in the ark represents sin in the sense of transgression of known divine laws.
The golden calf incident was a direct violation of divine Law revealed in the Ten Commandments. As soon as they were issued the people were immediately instructed to refrain from building and worshipping idols. Yet in Exodus 32 this is exactly what they did. The worst offenders were executed in:
Exodus 32:28 - The sons of Levi did as Moses instructed and about three thousand men of the people died that day.
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The Urn of Manna. This represented God’s logistical grace provisions. God’s daily supply of life support was designed to enable the Israelites to submit to His divine mandates, not reject them.
As the first generation was en route from Mount Sinai to Kadesh-barnea a number of them began to complain about the manna and whine for meat to eat. The Lord disciplined them by directing a wind to blow quail from the sea. They fell among the Jews in tens-of thousands covering the ground three feet deep. When the people ate them they contracted a plague.
Numbers 11:33 - While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people and the Lord struck the people with a very severe plague.
v 34 - So the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah / KIB-roth-ha-TAH-a-va /, because there they buried the people who had been greedy.
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