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2.
(
, $
, 2431), from
, “propitious,” signifies that readiness of mind,
that joyousness, which is prompt to do anything; hence, “cheerful” (Eng., “hilarious”), 2
Cor. 9:7, “God loveth a cheerful (hilarious) giver.”¶
Note:
In the Sept. the verb
$
translates a Hebrew word meaning “to cause to
shine,” in Ps. 104:15.¶
C. Adverb.
$
$
(
E
, 2115), cheerfully (see A, No. 1), is found in the most authentic
mss. in Acts 24:10, instead of the comparative degree,
$
$
.¶
D. Noun.
(
, $
, 2432), “cheerfulness” (akin to B, No. 2), is used in Rom. 12:8, in
connection with showing mercy.¶
CHERISH
(
1
, 2282) primarily means “to heat, to soften by heat”; then, “to keep
warm,” as of birds covering their young with their feathers, Deut. 22:6, Sept.;
metaphorically, “to cherish with tender love, to foster with tender care,” in Eph. 5:29 of
Christ and the church; in 1 Thess. 2:7 of the care of the saints at Thessalonica by the
apostle and his associates, as of a nurse for her children.¶
CHERUBIM
$
(
$ &
, 5502) are regarded by some as the ideal representatives of
redeemed animate creation. In the tabernacle and Temple they were represented by the
two golden figures of two-winged living creatures. They were all of one piece with the
golden lid of the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies signifying that the prospect of
redeemed and glorified creatures was bound up with the sacrifice of Christ.
This in itself would indicate that they represent redeemed human beings in union with
Christ, a union seen, figuratively, proceeding out of the mercy seat. Their faces were
towards this mercy seat, suggesting a consciousness of the means whereby union with
Christ has been produced.
The first reference to the “cherubim” is in Gen. 3:24, which should read “… at the
East of the Garden of Eden He caused to dwell in a tabernacle the cherubim, and the
flaming sword which turned itself to keep the way of the Tree of Life.” This was not
simply to keep fallen human beings out; the presence of the “cherubim” suggests that
redeemed men, restored to God on God’s conditions, would have access to the Tree of
Life. (See Rev. 22:14).
Certain other references in the OT give clear indication that angelic beings are upon
occasion in view, e.g., Ps. 18:10; Ezek. 28:4. So with the vision of the cherubim in Ezek.
10:1-20; 11:22. In the NT the word is found in Heb. 9:5, where the reference is to the ark
in the tabernacle, and the thought is suggested of those who minister to the manifestation
of the glory of God.
We may perhaps conclude, therefore, that, inasmuch as in the past and in the present
angelic beings have functioned and do function administratively in the service of God,
and that redeemed man in the future is to act administratively in fellowship with Him, the
“cherubim” in Scripture represent one or other of these two groups of created beings
according to what is set forth in the various passages relating to them.¶