8. The Cherubim of Glory
At this point there must be a pause to consider
in greater detail some of the extraordinary features of this
campaign.
Certain outstanding difficulties were mentioned
earlier:
- Why Gideon’s army should have in it so many fearful
soldiers;
- Why the Midianites too should be in a state of
panic.
To these must be added:
- The problem of the selection of such strange means for putting
the enemy to flight, and the startling success which attended the
stratagem;
- The interpretation of the barley-cake in the
dream as representing the sword of Gideon; it is a highly unusual word that is
used to describe how the cake “tumbled” into the host of
Midian.
All these details, and a number of others, fit
into the picture with remarkable ease once a certain feature of the story is
properly grasped, namely, that before preparations for the struggle were
complete there had appeared in the sight of the men of Israel and also to the
astonished gaze of the Midianites a vision of the Cherubim of Glory, “the
chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof”, “the chariots of God
which are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels”.
Recalling the over-powering grandeur of the
vision of the Cherubim chariot as seen by Ezekiel, with its wheels of fire, its
flashing lightning, the accompanying noise of thunder and tempest — with
all this in mind, certain details of the Gideon story are worth a second
look:
(a) “The sword of the Lord and of
Gideon” is a strange battle cry for men using no weapon in the fight. But
let it be realised how close is the connection is Scripture between “the
sword of the Lord” and the Cherubim of Glory, and much that is mystifying
will then become plain. The following should be considered: “So he drove
out the man: and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and a
flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life”
(Gen. 3:24). (A thoughtful student will not require to be warned against
thinking of angels in white robes brandishing flaming swords in all directions.
For a fuller description of what Adam and Eve saw, reference should be made to
Ezekiel 1.)
“Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam,
and he saw the angel of the Lord standing n the way, and his sword drawn in his
hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face” (Num.
22:31).
“If I whet my glittering sword (RVm:
‘the lightning of my sword’) and mine hand take hold of
judgement” (Deut. 32:41).
“And it came to pass, when Joshua was by
Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there stood a man
over against him with his sword drawn in his hand” (Josh. 5:13; see also 1
Chron. 21:12; Isa. 30:30 with 31:8 and 37:36; Ezek. 38:21).
(b) The smashing of earthenware jars, the
wheeling of torches and the thunderous shout of the three hundred are now seen
to be a deliberate human representation of the Cherubim of Glory, and the
chariot of the Lord. Consider some of the details from Ezekiel’s
description of the cherubim, and mark the similarity with Gideon’s
arrangements: “a stormy wind out of the north....fire flashing
continually....a brightness out of the midst of the fire....their appearance was
like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches....out of the fire
went forth lightning. And the living creatures ran and returned as the
appearance of a flash of lightning....wheels like unto the colour of a
beryl....a wheel in the midst of a wheel....full of eyes round about....the
spirit of life was in the wheels....I heard the noise of their wings, like the
noise of great waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a noise of tumult like
the noise of an host.” Add to these further details from the appearance of
the glory of the Lord on mount Sinai: “thunders and lightnings....and the
voice of a trumpet exceeding loud”; and from the vision of the Cherubim of
Glory in Rev. 4: “the voice....as it were of a trumpet talking with
me....lightnings, thunderings and voices”. (Compare also 2 Thes. 1:7,8;
Matt. 24:31; Zech. 9:14; there are many other passages.)
(c) “A cake of barley bread tumbled
into the host.” This most unusual word occurs again in Genesis 3:24 to
describe the “cherubim and a flaming sword which turned every
way.” The immediate interpretation: “This is none else than the
sword of Gideon” is now more easily understood, especially when it is
realised that the Hebrew words for “sword” and “cherub”
sound very much alike.
(d) If there had already been a manifestation of
the cherubim, the fearfulness of the Midianite host is immediately explained.
Compare the remarkable incident at Dothan: “And Elisha prayed, and said,
Lord, I pray thee open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes
of the young man; and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and
chariots of fire round about Elisha” (2 Kgs. 6:17). Also, “the Lord
made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses,
even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of
Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the
Egyptians to come upon us” (2 Kgs. 7:6).
(e) The presence of so many fearful men among
those who obeyed Gideon’s call is also explained. They came, although
without faith and against their own inclination, because of the divine
imperative which the cherubim vision implied