Jacob was on his way from Beersheba to Harran, when he came to a special place where he decided to stay overnight. For this he took a stone from the stones of the place and used it for his head as support. While he slept he received a revelatory dream which gave him insight into the exchange of angelic powers (cf. Genesis 28:10-12).

 

10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran.

11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.

12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

 

 

It is mentioned in verse 12 that first the angels of God ascended and others descended. The reason for this exchange of angels was that Jacob was in a time of transition, from the land of ‘promise’ (note: Beersheba) to the land of the ‘pioneers’(note: Harran), in order to prepare the field for future generations who would later be blessed by him (cf. Genesis 28:14-15).

 

14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.

15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

 

The angels who were destined for the land of promise ascended and the angels who were set by God in the pioneering phase descended.

 

In this regard, the Lord let me know that when we decide on our path to go deeper into our God-given promise, there is an exchange of angelic powers within the levels of the supernatural realm or the encounter of different kinds of angels. Herein the presence of God and the stairs or ladder have a special significance (cf. Genesis 28:12-13).

 

12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

13 There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.

 

Concerning the encounter of angelic forces, the Lord led me to 1 Kings 6, which deals with the building of the temple of Solomon, who established a permanent residence for the God of Israel in the city of Jerusalem.

 

The construction of the temple was based on the time cycle of redemption. It began in the second month (note: Iyar/Ziv) and was completed in the eighth month (note: Bul/Marcheshvan) after about seven years (cf. 1 Kings 6:1.37-38).

 

1 In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the Lord. …

37 The foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv.

38 In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the temple was finished in all its details according to its specifications. He had spent seven years building it.

 

On the basis of the inventory used in the temple, we can see principles of the supernatural realm.

In 1 Kings 6:8 it is said, that Solomon used a spiral staircase to connect the different levels of the rooms.

 

8 The entrance to the lowest floor was on the south side of the temple; a stairway (note: spiral staircase) led up to the middle level and from there to the third.

 

The characteristic of the spiral staircase involves God's guidance through the power of His word in the form of the rod and staff that are related to His governing presence (cf. Psalm 23:2.4b i.c.w. Revelation 4:2-3.6a).

 

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, …

… 4b your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

 

2 At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. 3 And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. …

6a Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. …

 

It is the victory of Christ on the cross that is the connection to the different levels of the spiritual realm. This is illustrated by the Hebrew word ‘lûl’, which is used for the word ‘spiral staircase’.

God works with His supernatural power and glory through the cycles of time, which is illustrated by the shape of a spiral staircase (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:18).

 

18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

 

 

In the eyes of God time carries an important value. We can clearly notice this high status of time by the fact that God with His secret presence and glory filled the tabernacle at the time of Moses when it was completed in the first biblical month ‘Nissan/Aviv’ (note: beginning of the cycle of redemption) and also filled at the time of king Solomon when the Ark of the Covenant was transferred to the temple in the seventh biblical month ‘Ethanim/Tishri’ into the building (note: beginning of the cycle of blessing; cf. Exodus 40:1-2.16-17 i.c.w. 1 Kings 8:2.8-13).

 

1 Then the Lord said to Moses: 2 “Set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, on the first day of the first month. …

16 Moses did everything just as the Lord commanded him.

17 So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month in the second year.

 

2 All the Israelites came together to King Solomon at the time of the festival in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month. …

8 These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today.

9 There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.

10 When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord.

11 And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple.

12 Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; 13 I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever.”

 

Therefore, it is also important for us as God's people to recognize the value of time and to respect it by letting ourselves be led by the Holy Spirit through the time cycles of God and to become active accordingly when the Lord commands us to do so.

 

 

It is said in 1 Kings 6:19.23-29 that Solomon placed the ark of the covenant with the cherubim made of pure gold in the holy of holies (note: oracle => translated as sanctuary) of the temple.

 

The holy of holies (note: oracle) or the so-called ‘sanctuary’ is the place to receive a message from God in the form of an answer to a request.

 

=> Oracles can be given by the Lord in the form of dreams, visions, supernatural signs, natural signs or clear words.

The request of the priests of the Tenakh (note: Old Testament) of Urim (note: lights) and Thummim (note: perfections, also holiness, truth, right) is an example of the answer to a requested oracle (cf. Exodus 28:30; Leviticus 8:8).

The task of the two lots (note: revelation and truth) is assumed today by the Holy Spirit, who is poured out in our hearts so that we carry Him within us (cf. John 16:13 i.c.w. Romans 5:5).

Oracles differ from prophecy in that they are requested and given in response to the answer of a prayer, intercession or petition.

Prophecy comes as a direct initiative from the Godhead, regardless of whether the prophet or the hearer was looking for the word.

Solomon's temple contained an area for oracles, which in some Bible translations is called sanctuary. The Hebrew word for ‘oracle’ is ‘dĕbîr’, which means ‘the back, the back room in the temple, sanctuary, back or speaker’.

Oracles are often instructive and prescriptive in nature, but can also be a discourse (note: constructed action) of a particular speech of the Lord. The Greek word for ‘oracle’ is ‘logion’. It refers to ‘a speech or the burden of the speech of the Lord’.

The Hebrew word for oracle is ‘dābar’ (speak) and its basic word is ‘dĕbîr’. It refers to the guidance one receives from God in response to a question (see Judge 6:36-40: Gideon's interpretation of an oracle). <= (The text set in ‘=>’ is based on an explanation from the ‘Prophet`s Dictionary’ by Paula A. Price, Ph. D.; pages 367 and 368).

 

In addition, King Solomon had cherubim nine meters high made from olive wood by God’s order, which he covered with pure gold. The coverage by the wings of the cherubim extended from the northern to the southern wall of the holy of holies (see 1 Kings 6:19.23-29).

 

19 He prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the Lord there. …

23 For the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim out of olive wood, each ten cubits high.

24 One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing five cubits – ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip.

25 The second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were identical in size and shape.

26 The height of each cherub was ten cubits.

27 He placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room.

28 He overlaid the cherubim with gold.

29 On the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers.

 

=> Cherubim are heavenly beings with several wings, which consist of animal and human form.
A) They are the guardians of paradise (cf. Genesis 3:24) and the bearers of the throne of God (cf. Psalm 18:11; Ezekiel 10:1; Ezekiel 11:22).
B) The cherubim were made above the ark of the covenant in the temple (cf. Exodus 25:18; 1 Kings 8:6). <= (note: The text set in ‘=>’ is based on an explanation from the CD-ROM Bible Edition, Luther Bible 1984)

=> The Hebrew name ‘cherub’ means ‘brightness, flashes of lightning’. The plural of the Hebrew word is ‘cherubim’ which means ‘great, mighty one’.
According to 1 Chronicles 28:18, the cherub is ‘the image of the chariot’, which reminds us of Ezekiel 1 and 10, where the cherubim form the living chariot on which the God of Israel travels (cf. Psalm 18:10; 2 Samuel 22:11) and on which He floats to judge (cf. Psalm 80:1; 1 Samuel 4:4; 2 Samuel 6:2). <= (note: The text set in ‘=>’ is based on an explanation from the ‘Biblischen Namen-Lexikon’ by Abraham Meister, page 208)
The cherubim are the class or specific kind of supernatural angelic beings by which Lucifer was formed (cf. Isaiah 14:12; Ezekiel 28:14).

The cherubim made of pure gold on the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant were ordered by Moses to be made by the command of God (cf. Exodus 25:17-22).

Exodus 25:17-22:
17 “Make an atonement cover of pure gold – two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. 18 And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover.

19 Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends.

20 The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover.

21 Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law that I will give you. 22 There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.

The cherubim made of olive wood and covered with pure gold were, however, ordered by Solomon to be made by the order of God.

These two types of cherubim carry within them a mystery about the characters of the glory of God.
The cherubim on the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant reveal the personal presence of the glory of God in the supernatural realm.

The much larger cherubim, made of olive wood and covered with pure gold, point to the cooperative glory for a community on earth that is covered by the glory of God in the form of a shadow, in order to see the light in His light (cf. Psalm 91:1.4a i.c.w. Psalm 36:10).

Psalm 91:1.4a:
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. …

4a He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; …

Psalm 36:9:
9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.

 

These forms of glory in the types of cherubim point out to us as saints the essential characteristics of glory that we are allowed to represent in the Holy Spirit as the temple of God that we are, by sanctifying ourselves and creating space for the presence of God to prove the Lord’s dominion in us as holy.

This is brought about by the resulting and supernatural moving forward in cooperation with angelic powers, which once personally in our destiny as well as corporately as the people of God leads us deeper into our mandate to transfer the king's heavenly decrees in the earthly realm and bring them forth in the Kingdom of God.

 

Amen and Amen.

 

In His Wisdom,

 

Daniel Glimm