TEHILLIM 104

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3 Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:

We believe that the word is derived from the root rachav, "to ride" whether on an animal or in a vehicle. By transposing the first two letters and heemantively inserting wav before the last, we have "cherub" or that which is ridden -- in the plural, "cherubim." This convertibility of' the verb rachav into the noun "cherub" is illustrated in Psalms 18:10, thus:

WY-YIRCHAV

And-he-rode

CHERUB-AL

upon-a-cherub

WI-YOPH

and flew

In Psalm 104:3, the clouds are styled Yahweh's r' chuv or chariot, which is "ch'rub.," with the first two letters transposed.

The "Cherubim," then, constitute a vehicle, in and upon which the Eternal Power self-styled "Ehyeh" or "Yahweh," rides as in a chariot. Hence, David, in speaking of them in 1 Chron. 28:18, terms them ham-merchavah hak-cheru- vim," "the chariot of the Cherubim" which, he says, "spread out and covered the ark of covenant of Yahweh."

The Spirit is the rider, and the Cherubim the "clouds," the "horses," the "chariots," the "living creatures," the "wheels," the "great waters," the "winged host," upon which He rides. Hence, of the Eternal Spirit it is said: "Behold, He cometh with clouds" -- the clouds of His witnesses, of whom the present evil aion, or course of things, is not worthy (Rev. 1:7; Heb. 12:1; 1 Thess. 4:17); and again:

"Was Thy wrath against the sea that Thou didst ride upon Thine horses, Thy chariots of salvation? Thou didst march through the sea with Thine horses, through the heap of great waters" (Hab. 3:8, 15);

also,

"Whither the Spirit was to go the living creatures went .... and they ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. And the noise of their wings was like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, as the noise of a host" (Ezek. 1:12, 14, 24; Rev. 1:15; 19:14).

In this last citation, wings, great waters, Almighty, and host, all refer to the same company -- a multitudinous embodiment of the Effluence of the Eternal Father, who soars on these wings of the Spirit. Wy-yaide-al chanphai ruach (Ps. 18:10).

But the Eternal Spirit not only "rides upon," "soars upon," and "flies upon," but the Father by that Spirit also "inhabits the Cherubim." David, in Psalm 80, and Hezekiah in Isaiah 37:16, say in their address to Yahweh,

"O Yahweh of Hosts, Elohim of Israel, inhabiting the Cherubim, shine forth, Thou, He, the Mighty Ones (athtah-hu ha-Elohim). Thou alone of all the kingdoms of the earth; Thou didst make the heavens and the earth."

Phanerosis - Yahweh Manifested in Cherubim

4 Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:

The Cherubim stationed as guards at the east of Eden's garden were certain Elohim or powerful Ones, detailed by the Eternal Spirit for the protection of the Life-Imparting Tree, and "the Way," that led thereto. Hence, all communications from the Eternal throne for the instruction of mankind would pass through them. Themselves corporeal localizations of Spirit, they were vehicles in and by which were conveyed "the mysteries of the faith," into which they desired to look, but were not able (1 Pet. 1:12; Mark 13:32).

These "conveying vehicles" or chariots of the Eternal Spirit, were "public official spirits sent forth for service on account of those hereafter to inherit salvation" (Heb. 1:14). Hence, they are styled Malachim Yahweh, angels or messengers of the Eternal Power, self-styled Ehyeh or Yahweh. David, addressing these Angel-Elohim, says:

"Bless ye Yahweh, ye His angels, mighty of power, executing his command, hearkening to the voice of His word. Bless ye, Yahweh, all ye His hosts, His attendants, executing His pleasure";

and elsewhere

"O Yahweh, my Elohim"! -- O Eternal One, my Mighties -- "Thou art very great, covering Thyself with light as a garment, spreading out the heavens as a curtain; who makest dark clouds His chariot; who goes on the wings of spirit, making His messengers spirits, His attendants a flaming fire. He established the earth upon its foundations, that nothing shall be moved during the age and beyond" olahm wah-ed (Psalm 103:20; 104:1-5).

The angelo-elohal cherubic executors of the mandates of the Eternal Power, through His effluence, created our terrestrial system, which is subjected to their secondary administration in all its relations, until "a New Order of Cherubim" shall have been manifested to supersede them.

Until then, all things pertaining to this present "evil world," aion, or course of things, are under their supervision and control. They cause all things to work together for good to them who love the "Eternal Ail," and are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). That purpose is the polar star of their administration; so that nothing among the kingdoms and empires of the world is permitted to prosper that would contravene it.

Phanerosis - Yahweh Manifested in Cherubim

24 O Yahweh, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.

Consider the composition of the atmosphere: consider the constitution of the earth: consider the structure of the vegetation that flourishes upon it. Examine the tiniest blade of grass, the meanest insect, the commonest animal: they all exemplify, in the most perfect manner, the adaptation of means to ends - beneficent ends.

Yea, this prevailing wisdom is more prevailing still. There are creatures we cannot see: here also, when the microscope makes them visible, we behold the most perfect mechanical contrivances for fulfilling the objects of being.

In our own bodies, we carry about a whole world of such contrivances. Our general structure is a masterpiece of wisdom: our constitution in detail is an almost endless series of wise appliances, not to speak of the wonderful apparatus of digestion and assimilation, the fibre of every muscle, the minute vessels of every blood-holding part, yea, the discs in every drop of blood strike the highest intelligence dumb with admiration of the wisdom with which all things have been contrived.

Seasons 1.101

30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.

...it is manifest, that the ruach or spirit is all pervading. It is in heaven, in sheol, or the dust of the deepest hollow, in the uttermost depths of the sea, in the darkness, in the light, and in all things animate, and without life. It is an universal principle in the broadest, or rather, in an illimitable sense. It is the substratum of all motion, whether manifested in the diurnal and ellipsoidal revolutions of the planets, in the flux and reflux of the sea, in the storms and tempests of the expanse, or in the organism of reptiles, cattle, beasts, fish, fowls, vegetables, or men. The atmospheric expanse is charged with it; but it is not the air: plants and animals of all species breathe it; but it is not their breath: yet without it, though filled with air, they would die.

The atmosphere, which extends some forty-five miles in altitude, and encircles the globe, is styled the expanse, by Moses; and the breath of God, in Job. It is a compound body, consisting when pure of nitrogen and oxygen, in the proportion of 79 of the former to 21 of the latter, in 100 parts. These are considered as simple bodies, because they have not yet been decomposed; though it is probable they have a base, which may be ruach. This may exist free or combined with the elementary consituents of the neshemeh.

Uncombined, it is that wonderful fluid, whose explosions are heard in the thunder, whose fiery bolts overthrow the loftiest towers, and rive the sturdy monarch of the woods; and in less intensity gives polarity to light, the needle, and the brain. These three together, the oxygen, nitrogen, and electricity, constitute "the breath" and "spirit" of the lives of all God's living souls.

Thus, from the centre of the earth, and extending throughout all space in every direction, is the Ruach Elohim, the existence of which is demonstrable from the phenomena of the natural system of things. It penetrates where the neshemet el, or atmospheric air, cannot. When speaking, however, of the motivity and sustentation of organized dust, or souls, they are co-existent within them. In this case, the ruach Elohim becomes the ruach chayim, or "spirit of lives;" and the neshemet el, the neshemet chayim, or "breath of lives;" and both combined in the elaboration and support of life, the neshemet ruach chayim, or "breath of the spirit of lives."

Living creatures, or souls, are not animated, as physiologists and speculative "divines" erroneously imagine, by "a vital principle," capable of disembodied existence as the ghost of man, or the transmigrating spectres of other animal species; -- ghostly things, the laws and functions of which in the animal economy physiologists are unable to discover; and theologists are nonplussed to prove the existence of from the word of God.

On the contrary, "souls" are "made living" by the coetaneous operation of the ruach chayim and the neshemet chayim upon their organized tissues according to certain fixed laws. When the as yet occult laws of the all-pervading ruach, or spirit, shall be known, this subject will be understood; and men will then be as astonished at the ignorance of the "divines," and physiologists of this "cloudy and dark day," respecting "living souls'...

Elpis Israel 1.2.