The Appearance of Cherubim and Seraphim- A Biblical Study
Many of us are drawn to the idea of angels as lovely winged beings, or cute infants with halos and harps. But it might come as a shocking surprise to learn that the angels described in the Bible do not match the images we often imagine. In Thrones of Angels: Meaning, Origins and Characteristics, we have talked about how biblically accurate Thrones angels look like, but there are still two unique angels in the Bible: The Cherubim and Seraphim. This article delves into the appearances and descriptions of Cherubim and Seraphim in the Bible and explains why some people confuse the depictions of Cherubim and Seraphim.
Description about the Cherubim
The Cherubim is mentioned in various books in the Bible. Below are all the verses I found which have any description of Cherubim in visions.
Ezekiel 1:5
Our best description of a Cherubim comes from the book of Ezekiel. His account is as follows:
And in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was human, but each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides, they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings, and the wings of one touched the wings of another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved. Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. They each had two wings spreading out upward, each wing touching that of the creature on either side; and each had two other wings covering its body.
It opens with a prophet experiencing a profound vision, in his vision, Ezekiel describes them as living creatures, but they are later revealed in chapter 10 as Cherubim. In Ezekiel 1:5, we know that cherubim are angels with four faces, four pairs of wings, the shape of a man, and the hooves of an ox. Their skin color was sparkled like burnished bronze.
Ezekiel 10- 8
Ezekiel’s encounter with the cherubim continues in Chapter 10, where additional details emerge.
Their whole body, including their backs, their hands, their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes all around, even the wheels that the four of them had.
In this chapter, Ezekiel enriches the portrayal of Cherubim by noting that the Cherubim were covered with eyes. This explains why some artistic interpretations of Cherubim do not feature them entirely covered in eyes, as these representations often draw solely from the first chapter of Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 41:18
In Ezekiel 41:18, the Cherubim are depicted alongside palm trees in the temple and only have two faces.
It was carved with cherubim and palm trees; and a palm tree was between cherub and cherub, and every cherub had two faces, a man’s face toward the palm tree on one side and a young lion’s face toward the palm tree on the other side; they were carved on all the house all around.
So, what does cherubim look like?
- Cherubim are described as having four wings. (Ezekiel 1:5)
- They have a general humanlike form but a head with four faces! (Ezekiel 1:5)
- Cherubim their feet were like those of a calf. (Ezekiel 1:5)
- Cherubim are described as transporting God’s throne on supernatural “wheels” full of “eyes”. (Ezekiel 1:5)
- Cherubim their wings and hands are covered with eyes. (Ezekiel 10- 8)
Description about the Four Living Creatures
In Revelation 4:6–8, four living beings are seen in John’s vision. These appear as a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle, much as in Ezekiel but vary in detail. They have six wings, whereas Ezekiel’s four living creatures are described as having four.
Before the throne was something like a sea of glass, similar to crystal. In the middle of the throne, and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes before and behind. The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle. The four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within. They have no rest day and night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy[a] is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come!”
Here is what we can glean from the Revelation 4:
- The Four Living Creatures are amid God’s throne and round about it.
- They have six wings
- Each has a different face, resembling a lion, an ox, an eagle, a human.
- They are full of eyes.
- The four living creatures never rest.
- They praise God continually.
Description about the Seraphim
The Seraphim, though less frequently mentioned, are no less significant. Their name, derived from the Hebrew for “burning ones,” reflects their role as purifiers and illuminators of the divine truth. Isaiah 6:1-7 provides a detailed account of Seraphim:
Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.
This is the only Scriptural reference to the word “Seraphim”. They are described in Isaiah as covering their feet and faces, as well as having hands, and a slightly humanoid appearance. And they are not described as covered with eyes on their body.
We may know the features of Seraphim:
- Seraphim have six wings.
- Seraphim cover their faces with a set of wings.
- They cover their feet with a set of wings.
- They fly with a set of wings.
- Their form may resemble a person standing upright—but with wings.
- They hover above God’s throne.
- They worship and praise God a lot!
Why do people often mix up Cherubim and Seraphim?
To provide a clearer distinction between Cherubim and Seraphim, here is a form:
Seraphim are always depicted either with one big eye in the center or covered with many small eyes. But in the Bible, we know that the angels with eyes depiction are actually of an ‘ophanim’ or Cherubim. So why do people often mix up Cherubim and Seraphim?
The main cause for this confusion is the diverse understanding of the verses in Revelation 4. In Revelation 4, John saw four living creatures, they had a human face, a cow’s face, a lion’s face, and an eagle’s face, and each of the living creatures had six wings with eyes covering their wings and bodies. These are not the same as, but have strong resemblances to the cherubim at the beginning of Ezekiel, each combining features of a human, lion, bull, and eagle, and all covered with eyes. Therefore, some individuals believe the “four living creatures” represent Cherubim. Meanwhile, cause they had six wings, some argue it signifies Seraphim. They depicted angels with six wings based on the Book of Revelation and Isaiah, such as the picture below:
On this basis, some people believe that the lion, bull, eagle, and human faces are symbolic, not real. So the face in the center gradually turned into a big eye. Eventually, representations of Seraphim in artwork began to mix with elements of big eyes.
The Bible does not provide a clear explanation regarding what type of angels the four living creatures are. So any interpretations are to be considered valid. For myself, I believe that the four living creatures are the cherubim, refer to: Ezekiel’s Cherubim and Revelation’s Four Living Creatures.
Conclusion
Angels as spiritual beings can take different forms. We do not have a clear description of angels, but we can learn from the Bible how they sometimes appear. That way, when angels appear to us in frightening images and say, “Don’t be afraid,” we won’t go to pass out.
Why is it that most people aren’t aware of angels that are all around us all the time first when I notice them I thought it was live energy or souls being born not one but many I also notice that when I extended my inner hand to play with each one individually just by lifting my hands up they would go up alittle and come back down and then go and the direction they wanted to go they have free will I’m still fascinated by what I saw and I’m seeing all the time and I’m not understanding why I’m able to see them all my life I thought that angels were people that had passed away with wings but I know thats not true
It’s just that most people don’t see them but angels are always around and protect us from Harm!
The Bible talks about Cherubims in the 2 Chronicles chapter 3 verse 11- 16 and chapter 5 verse 8. This is from the KJV Bible. As it also tells you of how the cherubims where made for the house of God. As Solomon was building a house of Gold to worship God in. This was around 1012 BC. So not everything you read on the internet is true. As you will find what I write to be true. As it came from the King James Version without editing.
In today’s terms believers in such as Eckankar and the Theophysical Society attribute these beings as Spiritual Masters who guide mankind. Case in point it is written , that such Spiritual Masters of which Zadok the chosen spiritua leader of the Kingdoms of David and Solomon was one of these Spiritual Masters and while there is no recorded record of his death He appears again and it is said he Taught Jesus, without interfering with his planned ministry, during the years of which are not recorded as to the whereabouts of Jesus. Such Spiritual Master or Travelers as some call them, all have the powers of a higher conscousness of which Jesus achieved and as having achieved the highest consciousness mankind can reach he (Jesus) was then titled Jesus the Christ because he achieved what is said to be the Christ Consciousness and had command of the atoms. Now this is different than being a God since God can create the atom and as Pslams 82.6 reveals “Ye are Gods and shall die like men” as Jesus did. The question of the century is now did Jesus want to be worshipped and my conclusion is no he did not since all evidence points to the fact that Jesus paused in the middle of the conversation about his father’s house and said “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”. Now it must be decided who was there and what were they doing to cause Jesus to pause and ask God to “forgive them”. The simple answer is quite shocking yet believable and the reason such Masters approach individuals who have a burning desire to know the truth as to their true purpose in this life and this in itself attracts the attention of these spirituual Travelers and why Jesus and Zadok formed a bond of which was Jesus’ destiny based upon the development of his spirit in previous lives so to speak.
I wish this comment would let me post some pictures. I recently had an awakening a bad spirit had attached to me I felt it in my soul I have sinned in my life I was on drugs for a long time but I always had heart never hurt no body and still prayed and still pulled out the bible to read being high and in my darkest moments I am an orphan who had no one so I always talked to God he walked with as a child a ball of light came to me ..I have seen the lion in formation in the sky I have seen the bull and the man as well as some other spirits I have pictures I took of them being I had an evil force attached to me I thought they were evil spirits well a few of what I saw and have pictures of very well maybe evil but I crossed some ones path today and got into a deep conversation with him about seeking God I have always seeked him but back to that evil spirit that attached himself to me that I think just recently I got him off of me I feel some kind of relief I was very scared so back to guy I spoke with today he’s the reason well and God is the reason I pulled out my Bible tonight witch I have not read in a while so I come across the word cherub and I wanted to no what the word meant like I new it was something of a chariot or maybe a wagon so I googled it and it landed me hear I red alot of your experience with seeing angels and you opened my eyes to what I am seeing that it’s not all bad in what I am seeing I have a picture of the lion in the clouds and the bull and the man and I have a picture of the cloud in perfect shape of a phenix bird the feathers and head and beak is as if someone painted it in the sky so I am seeing these angels you all have confirmed this for me a few Pics I have I am not sure of I wish I can share them with you all I am so glad I’m not the only one seeing this I’m so glad I came on here and red your experience with this I always joke and tell people I have proof of my craziness lol I would love to talk more about these things with all of you I feel we are chosen and that our minds are so intuitive with our surroundings God doesn’t show this to everyone because people don’t think of these things there to busy to search there own soul and don’t care or think about lifes creations on how and why and where we were created there to busy chasing money and having a good time or running around just sinning all the time for you to witness these angels you have to have a real opened mind and a great heart and a very deep thought within your soul is what I believe so many times it is mentioned in the Bible about those who do not see or hear this is a gift we have because we do take time out of the busy schedule the government has set up for us to block our gifts with there time schedule but some where down the line we search with in our soul and surroundings we pay attention we have gifts from God because of our open minds he is the only one who knows you deepest thoughts when your mouth is shut and your mind well conscious is speaking he also knows your heart and soul even if you have sinned but kept good thoughts and a good heart he knows…I’m gonna put my phone number here with the hope that maybe some of you would like to talk more about this but text first and tell me your from this page about the cherubs I don’t answer most phone calls with no names 702-400-1898