kerobim
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kerobim [2024/04/08 20:23] – [Kerobim in Eden] ken | kerobim [2025/02/18 20:19] (current) – [Kerobim in Ezekiel] ken | ||
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כרובימ | כרובימ | ||
- | Also known as " | + | Also known as " |
- | + | The root word [[kerob]] | |
- | Etymologically, | + | |
The kerobim appear within the texts in only a few very specific contexts, each of which will be examined here. | The kerobim appear within the texts in only a few very specific contexts, each of which will be examined here. | ||
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The kerobim make their first appearance in Genesis 3, where they are placed to guard the entrance of Eden so that Adam and Eve may not return. | The kerobim make their first appearance in Genesis 3, where they are placed to guard the entrance of Eden so that Adam and Eve may not return. | ||
- | //And Yahweh the [[alehim]] said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So Yahweh the [[alehim]] banished man from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim | + | //And Yahweh the [[alehim]] said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So Yahweh the [[alehim]] banished man from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden kerobim |
From the context, it is clear that the role of the ' | From the context, it is clear that the role of the ' | ||
+ | This is certainly one aspect of the ' | ||
====Kerobim in the Temple and Tabernacle==== | ====Kerobim in the Temple and Tabernacle==== | ||
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In 2 Chronicles 2:3-7 - King Solomon sent this message to Hiram king of Tyre: //Send me cedar logs as you did for my father David when you sent him cedar to build a palace to live in. Now I am about to build a temple... [it] will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods. But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? Who then am I to build a temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him? Send me, therefore, **a man skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, and in purple, crimson and blue yarn, and experienced in the art of engraving**, | In 2 Chronicles 2:3-7 - King Solomon sent this message to Hiram king of Tyre: //Send me cedar logs as you did for my father David when you sent him cedar to build a palace to live in. Now I am about to build a temple... [it] will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods. But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? Who then am I to build a temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him? Send me, therefore, **a man skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, and in purple, crimson and blue yarn, and experienced in the art of engraving**, | ||
- | The specific skills required by Solomon are an odd combination of metallurgy, engraving and weaving of specific colored threads. | + | The specific skills required by Solomon are an odd combination of metallurgy, engraving and weaving of specific colored threads. |
+ | |||
+ | Most peculiarly though, decorative arts were strictly | ||
Granted, a great span of time had elapsed between the times of Moses and Solomon, so perhaps this apparent contradiction can be explained by the idea that this particular bit of the ten commandments had fallen out of favor culturally during the four-hundred years or so that elapsed. This hypothesis seems at least plausible, but only until one considers the fact that the requirements outlaid by Solomon during the construction of the Temple on Jerusalem actually mirror almost exactly the specifications for the Tabernacle laid out by none other than Moses himself, immediately following the penning of the very commandments which the specifications appear to break. | Granted, a great span of time had elapsed between the times of Moses and Solomon, so perhaps this apparent contradiction can be explained by the idea that this particular bit of the ten commandments had fallen out of favor culturally during the four-hundred years or so that elapsed. This hypothesis seems at least plausible, but only until one considers the fact that the requirements outlaid by Solomon during the construction of the Temple on Jerusalem actually mirror almost exactly the specifications for the Tabernacle laid out by none other than Moses himself, immediately following the penning of the very commandments which the specifications appear to break. | ||
- | The only difference between the cases of Moses and Solomon are that whereas Solomon sought to import skilled workers from Tyre (aka, Lebanon, aka Syria), Moses had no readily available neighboring allies from which to borrow employees and was forced to train some especially for the task. In fact though, it was not Moses himself who performed the training. Rather he handpicked a skilled | + | The only difference between the cases of Moses and Solomon are that whereas Solomon sought to import skilled workers from Tyre (aka, Lebanon, aka Syria), Moses had no readily available neighboring allies from which to borrow employees and was forced to train someone((This man's name was Bezalel, and he is discussed in the book, //UFOs In The Bible// by Ken Goudsward)) |
+ | We are now left with an intriguing set of dilemmas. | ||
+ | *Why would Moses himself fund a training program to accomplish a task that he had literally just outlawed. | ||
+ | *Why would the [[alehim]] be interested in getting involved in the art tutorial business? | ||
+ | *Why would [[ihoh]] tell Moses to outlaw visual arts, then give Moses a picture of how to make a sculpture? | ||
+ | Something strange is going on. Perhaps we have been missing some critical points of information in our traditional telling of these stories. | ||
- | These are the same skills that were taught to Bezalel by the Elohim for the construction and programming of the Cherubim, as discussed in [[UFOs In The Bible]]. | ||
- | Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give. These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze; blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather; acacia wood; olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece. Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.” This information is part of a large download given to Moses, during | + | ====Kerobim in Ezekiel==== |
+ | Ezekiel chapters 8-10 tells of an encounter with ' | ||
- | The Embroidery | ||
- | In our examination of this curtain separating the Most Holy Place, it may be helpful to also consider a second curtain described by Yahweh just a few verses later: “For the entrance to the tent, make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen—the work of an embroiderer.” In this case, it is clear that the decorations are an embroidered pattern. Notice that the actual image does not appear to be specified, at least not in this section of the text. Now, examine again the instructions for the first curtain. The word embroider is not used. Rather, the cherubim are to be “woven into it”. It is not yet clear exactly what this might mean, but it is explicitly distinct from the act of embroidering used on the second curtain. Additionally, | ||
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- | The Graven Image | ||
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- | So, did Yahweh really command Moses to go ahead and make a gold embroidered image of an angelic cherubim, a being who resides in heaven above or in the earth below? This interpretation seems extremely unlikely. Particularly, | ||
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- | Edit | ||
- | The Specialist | ||
- | The act of weaving cherubim into the curtain was something separate from an act of embroidery and was performed by a skilled worker of a different sort. In fact, Yahweh himself hand-picks one man to do the job. Yahweh trains him in the techniques required to follow the blueprints and carry out the construction. This is revealed in Exodus 31: Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the spirit of the elohim in wisdom, in understanding, | ||
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- | Why would such special training be required for the construction of a simple tent? The Israelites were already living in tents. They already knew how to make them. They also already knew metallurgy and smithing. Remember that golden calf? Weaving and goldsmithing were not technologies that they would have needed to import, or even upgrade. So what exactly was it that Bezalel was taught by Yahweh? And why was such advanced knowledge a requirement for building the Tabernacle, and particularly this so-called curtain that was ostensibly just some fabric with a picture of an angel on it. An important clue exists in the verse above, but one would never know it by reading the verse in English. Once again, a terrible act of translation has been committed and allowed to continue by the modern biblical compilers. One phrase in particular bears further investigation: | ||
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- | I have filled him with the spirit of the elohim in wisdom, in understanding, | ||
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- | This translation is problematic. The word ‘bronze’ is the Hebrew word, וּבַנְּחֹֽשֶׁת׃ (ubannehoset), | ||
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- | There is another factor at play here. Within Jewish law there is a concept known as kil' | ||
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- | Now that we have the materials sorted out, what exactly is it that Bezalel is supposed to do with these pure materials? The phrase to create artistic designs requires careful examination. It consists of three words in Hebrew, לַחְשֹׁ֖ב מַחֲשָׁבֹ֑ת לַעֲשׂ֛וֹת, | ||
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- | The third word here is another verb. It describes the noun (which has been identified as “plans or plots”). לַעֲשׂ֛וֹת (la-asowet) means ‘to do’. It is a generic action word. Sometimes, the translators use ‘to perform’. Usually, a verb describes the actions of a subject. Here, the verb is describing the action of an object. That object is the plans or plots or schemes or purposes. The object is not a physical object. The object is the plan. The plan is described as being active. | ||
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- | So, Bezalel is taught to “design active plans” or “calculate active purposes”. This language has a striking resonance to software engineering. As a computer programmer myself, I design and code programs to act autonomously. They are active plans whose purposes I have designed and calculated. I design active plans and I calculate active purposes. Is it possible that Bezalel, who was already skilled in fine craftsmanship and design, was receiving training in programming or computer operation? Is it possible that the architecture and artifacts within the Tabernacle are meant to function as some kind of computational device? Could this curtain have been some sort of technological component? Perhaps some kind of gold thread lattice or some kind of pattern that was integrated into the actual weave of the fabric itself. For what purpose? More information is required regarding this so-called ‘cherubim’. Before leaving this passage, however, some analysis is required with respect to the method of instruction given to Bezalel. Examining the passage again: | ||
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- | I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the spirit of the elohim in wisdom, in understanding, | ||
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- | The bold section here comes from the Hebrew phrase, וָאֲמַלֵּ֥א אֹת֖וֹ ר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֑ים (wa-amal-le otow ruach elohim). The classic translation is laden with modern post-trinitarian doctrine. “I have filled him with the spirit of the elohim.” But again, the translation is shoddy. ‘Wa-amal-le’ means simply ‘filled’, | ||
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- | The Hebrew word ר֣וּחַ (ruach) is a critical concept of theology. It is often translated ‘spirit’, | ||
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- | Consider also Bezalel’s name. Since he enters the narrative only after having received this instruction from the elohim, it is highly probable that his name has already been changed to reflect his new status. This practice is abundantly clear in the case of many other Biblical figures including ‘Israel’ meaning “contended with the elohim”, and ‘Abraham’ meaning “father of many nations”. Bezalel means “in the shadow of the elohim”. His very name backs up the phrase “full of the way of elohim.” He now inhabits their shadow. | ||
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- | So, what is the conclusion? Bezalel was filled in the way of the elohim, in wisdom understanding and knowledge and craftsmanship to design active plans or calculate active purposes in gold, silver, and copper. These are no mere architectural blueprints. The plans that Bezalel is working with are ‘active’. Bezalel has been instructed in the technology of the elohim in order that he may create these active plans called the cherubim. | ||
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- | Edit | ||
- | ====The Cherubim in Ezekiel==== | ||
- | At first blush, significant portions of the book of Exodus appear to be a set of instructions for a divinely inspired temple: the Tabernacle. As one examines the associated objects, however, a distinct impression begins to arise of something more than a simple static building. The instructions appear to indicate the development of something more mechanical, or perhaps, computational. What exactly are these cherubim that Bezalel is supposed to work on? There are some clues buried in the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapters 8-10 tells of another UFO encounter witnessed by Ezekiel. Again, he gives his precise location and the date. In the sixth year, in the sixth month on the fifth day. Compare this to the date given in Ezekiel 1: In my thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day. Unfortunately, | ||
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- | This time, he does not witness the landing of the UFO. Rather, an alien entity enters his home “while I was sitting in my house and the elders of Judah were sitting before me”. He describes “a fiery figure”, “as bright as glowing metal.” The being “stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head,”, then “lifted [Ezekiel] up between earth and heaven […] and took [Ezekiel] to Jerusalem. At the time Ezekiel was living in Babylon as a forced immigrant or perhaps a prisoner of war, but not all the Jews had been captured by the Babylonian armies, and many remained in Jerusalem. After being teleported or transported via UFO to Jerusalem, Ezekiel witnesses some strange things , not the least of which is that of a spacecraft taking off. It appears to be the same craft he saw six years earlier. Ezekiel is now standing in Jerusalem, in the holy temple. I looked, and I saw the likeness of a throne of lapis lazuli above the vault that was over the heads of the cherubim. | ||
When he says “above the vault that was over the heads of the cherubim” he is referring to a physical location, in the temple. These cherubim are the decorations on top of the Ark of the Covenant. This ark was one of the items made by Bezalel for the Tabernacle, and it was eventually moved to the temple in Jerusalem, where it remained at Ezekiel’s time. It is somewhat interesting that Ezekiel was allowed to see it, as the room containing it was considered sacred and only accessible to the high priests on special occasions. Nevertheless, | When he says “above the vault that was over the heads of the cherubim” he is referring to a physical location, in the temple. These cherubim are the decorations on top of the Ark of the Covenant. This ark was one of the items made by Bezalel for the Tabernacle, and it was eventually moved to the temple in Jerusalem, where it remained at Ezekiel’s time. It is somewhat interesting that Ezekiel was allowed to see it, as the room containing it was considered sacred and only accessible to the high priests on special occasions. Nevertheless, | ||
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This page is part of a series - see [[im]] backlinks for a dynamic list | This page is part of a series - see [[im]] backlinks for a dynamic list | ||
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kerobim.1712629419.txt.gz · Last modified: 2024/04/08 20:23 (external edit)