God's providence and continued
supervision are as important in themselves as the original design:--but
this is not the central idea embodied in the passage.
There is another Scriptural allusion which suggests the idea of a
Heavenly Conclave, and great act of Creation in heaven. It may be
considered somewhat remote, and even fanciful--but the fact is recorded
_both_ in the Old Testament and the New, and _something_ must be meant
by it. And, moreover, other and very meaningless interpretations have
been from the earliest times given, so that I can hardly omit the
subject if I would. I refer to the permanent presence in heaven, around
the Divine Throne, of the singular forms of being called _Cherubim_,
which seem to indicate some mysterious connection between the life-forms
of earth and the inhabitants of heaven, and some permanent
representation of typical created forms in heaven. In Ezekiel, chapter
i., and again in chapter x., this vision is presented to us.
The prophet was to be prepared, by a very vivid exhibition of the power
and glory of God as the Author and Ruler of the universe, to appreciate
the depth of degradation to which the Jews had fallen in their rejection
of such a God as their Lord and King and of the justice of the terrible
overthrow which was the consequence of that rejection.
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