The path into our consciousness, into the temples within, include threshold keepers. Whether their task is to keep out the lesser ready for entrance and/or to guard the sacred essence of our being - it’s on each of us to identify these inner voices or realities as we embark on our inner psychic work.
Franz Kafka imagined this internal struggle in his very short and troubling story Before the Law.
Ezekiel imagines these guardians in today’s chapter and the ones coming up as he continues his guided tour of the future temple, destined to to be built in Jerusalem during the messianic age. The step by step description of the temple echoes the chapters in Exodus that describe the construction of the Tabernacle. One of the similar motifs is that of the Cherubim - the mysterious creatures that serve as guardians of the sacred.
But Ezekiel - in the first chapter of this book and in this one - is painting a much more complex depiction of these mythic beings. In chapter one they have four faces - here, just two. As he’s led by the angelic guide he notices the details of the decorative frieze that surrounds the innermost parts of the compound:
וְעָשׂ֥וּי כְּרוּבִ֖ים וְתִמֹרִ֑ים וְתִֽמֹרָה֙ בֵּין־כְּר֣וּב לִכְר֔וּב וּשְׁנַ֥יִם פָּנִ֖ים לַכְּרֽוּב׃ וּפְנֵ֨י אָדָ֤ם אֶל־הַתִּֽמֹרָה֙ מִפּ֔וֹ וּפְנֵי־כְפִ֥יר אֶל־הַתִּמֹרָ֖ה מִפּ֑וֹ עָשׂ֥וּי אֶל־כׇּל־הַבַּ֖יִת סָבִ֥יב ׀ סָבִֽיב׃
“It consisted of cherubs and palm trees, with a palm tree between every two cherubs. Each cherub had two faces: a human face turned toward the palm tree on one side and a lion’s face turned toward the palm tree on the other side. This was repeated all over the temple;
Ezekiel 41:18-19
The cherubim, celestial winged beings are mentioned 90 times in the Hebrew Bible. Their antecedent seems to be the exotic, composite beast known as lamassu in Assyrian temples and palaces: partly ox, lion, eagle and human. These creatures served as mythic gatekeepers for gods and kings. An Assyrian ivory plaque displays a pattern, much like in Ezekiel’s vision, of cherubim and date palms, which probably represented the Tree of Life. It’s not impossible that Ezekiel saw such impressive reliefs, inherited from Assyrian culture in the imposing structures of Babylon.
Scholars try to make sense of the different Cherubic appearances in Ezekiel’s visions - four faces there, two faces here. In ‘The Mythic Image” Joseph Campbell, wrote that
“the winged lion-bull with human head combines in one body includes those four signs of the zodiac that in the earliest period of Mesopotamian astronomy marked the solstices and equinoxes: the Bull (spring equinox and eastern quarter), Lion (summer solstice and southern quarter), Eagle (later Scorpio: autumn equinox and western quarter), and Water carrier (winter solstice and northern quarter). These are the four “living creatures” of Ezekiel’s vision and of the apocalypse.”
Vincent Calabrese explores this mystery further - including the religious problems that arise from Ezekiel’s visions of divine/human figurative images:
“A number of problems arise with the presence of these carvings in the Temple. Although no longer widely observed in the Jewish world today, many traditional halakhic authorities consider the second commandment, which includes the injunction “You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image, or any likeness of what is in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth” (Exodus 20:4), to constitute a general ban on the main of human and animal images. Even among those who permit some image-making, there are those who hold that the depiction of human beings is especially forbidden. Ezekiel’s Temple seems to include depictions of both human and animal life. Perhaps making matters even worse, the creature carved onto the walls recalls the strange, multi-faced beings which we encountered in the “vision of God” with which the Book began — raising the possibility that these carvings are of an angelic being, or even depict some aspect of the Godhead itself.
If we grant that these carvings portray something which in ordinary circumstances would be forbidden to depict, then this case would in fact fit a pattern associated with the Temple. Many things forbidden during ordinary times and in ordinary places are not only permitted but actually mandatory within the Temple precincts. The priestly garments, for example, are composed of a forbidden mixture of wool and linen, and the duties of the priests include lighting fires on the Sabbath, an activity which if performed outside would merit the death penalty.
Thus we find in the space of the Temple a sort of controlled and sanctified transgression. It should be stressed that these acts consist entirely of ‘ritual’ commandments — there is no evidence that the Temple served as the scene of ‘holy’ acts of violence or sexual sin. Nevertheless, this pattern — of the requirement within the Temple grounds of acts which would be sinful without — helps create the impression of an otherworldly environment, in which the ordinary rules of life do not apply. Perhaps, these moments suggest, in such an extraordinary atmosphere the presence of God is more easy to discern.”
Whatever the meaning and purpose of the cherubim in Ezekiel’s visions - the mythic creatures kept evolving - and still serve, with modifications, as the guardians of the sacred center of Jewish life.
Since the Middle-Ages, pairs of lions can often be found on top or next to the doors of the Ark of the Torah in synagogue. Some art historians suggest that these are the symbolic replacements of the original cherubim from the tabernacle and the temple, no longer with four or two faces - just one - fierce lions.
For Ezekiel, this haunting image is just one in a long series of visions that will keep leading him - and us - step by step into the innermost essence of the temple that transcends time and space. Perhaps just invoking these ancient guardians will help each of find safety and protection, hope and healing in this violent world.
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