Enigma in the Mirror

[redhotmagma]

1Co 13:12 For at present we are observing by means of a mirror, in an enigma, yet then, face to face. At present I know out of an instalment, yet then I shall recognize according as I am recognized also."

Jas 1:22 Now become doers of the word, and not only listeners, beguiling yourselves."
Jas 1:23 For if anyone is a listener to the word and not a doer, this one simulates a man considering the face he inherited in a mirror;"
Jas 1:24 for he considers himself and has come away, and immediately forgot what kind he was."
Jas 1:25 Now he who peers into the perfect law, that of freedom, and abides, not becoming a forgetful listener, but a doer of the work, this one will be happy in his doing."



esoptron <2072>

esoptron esoptron

Pronunciation:   es'-op-tron
Origin:   from 1519(Eis= In or into) and a presumed derivative of
3700 Optanomai:

to gaze (i.e. with wide-open eyes, as at something remarkable; and
thus differing from 991, which denotes simply voluntary observation;
and from 1492, which expresses merely mechanical, passive or casual
vision; while 2300, and still more emphatically its intensive 2334,
signifies an earnest but more continued inspection; and 4648 a
watching from a distance):-appear, look, see, shew self.

If you look at Optanomai most incidences of this word are seeing the risen Lord, here are some other examples:

Act 16:9
A  vision appeared to Paul during the night: A Macedonian man was standing there 2  urging him, 3  "Come over 4  to Macedonia 5  and help us!"

1Ti 3:16
And we all agree, 1  our religion contains amazing revelation: 2  He 3  was revealed in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, 4  seen by angels, proclaimed among Gentiles, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

1Jo 3:2
Dear friends, we are God's children now, and what we will be 1  has not yet been revealed. We 2  know that 3  whenever 4  it 5  is revealed 6  we will be like him, because 7  we will see him just as he is. 8

Rev 1:7
(Look! He is returning with the clouds, 1  and every eye will see him, even 2  those who pierced him, 3  and all the tribes 4  on the earth will mourn because 5  of him. This will certainly come to pass! 6  Amen.) 7

Rev 11:19
Then 1  the temple of God in heaven was opened and the ark of his covenant was visible within his temple. And there were flashes of lightning, roaring, 2  crashes of thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm. 3

Rev 12:1
Then 1  a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet, and on her head was a crown of twelve stars. 2

1Co 13:12 For at present we are observing by means of a mirror, in an enigma, yet then, face to face. At present I know out of an instalment, yet then I shall recognize according as I am recognized also."

So the word for mirror is to gaze at something remarkable INSIDE.  What do we see but an enigma ( an obscure saying, enigma, riddle an obscure thing).  We look with natural eyes, and what do we see?  We hear a riddle

Jas 1:23 For if anyone is a listener to the word and not a doer, this one simulates a man considering the face he inherited in a mirror;"
Jas 1:24 for he considers himself and has come away, and immediately forgot what kind he was."
The word for kind is genesis.  He forgot what his origin is

Eze 28:12 `Son of man, lift up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, And you have said to him:Thus said the Lord Yahweh:You are sealing up a measurement, Full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty."
Eze 28:13 In Eden, the garden of Elohim, you have been, Every precious stone your covering, Ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle, and gold, The workmanship of your tabrets, and of your pipes, In you in the day of your being produced, have been prepared."
Eze 28:14 You [are] an anointed cherub who is covering, And I have set you in the holy mount, Elohim you have been, In the midst of stones of fire you have walked up and down."
Eze 28:15 Perfect [are] you in your ways, From the day of your being produced, Till perversity has been found in you."
Eze 28:16 By the abundance of your merchandise They have filled your midst with violence, And you do sin, And I thrust you from the mount of Elohim, And I destroy you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the stones of fire."

When I think of enigma or riddle I think of the Sphinx.  What is a sphinx?  A cherub?

So to put it all together:
We look through a mirror with natural eyes trying to see the heavenly, if we hear the word and it does not cause the fruit=action, when we look in the mirror (gaze at something remarkable INSIDE) , we see an enigma (which is really something you hear).  The sphinx tells the riddle, Sphinx=Cherub.  The riddle is that we are the cherub who's lost his covering.  Our covering was precious stones (the word precious is only used of stones that cover the temple, or the breast plate, stone=chief cornerstone)  If we don't have eyes to see, if the word hasn't vivified us, when we try to gaze into heaven all we see is our fleshly covering, we forget our genesis (where was mans origin?).  We see beast=cherub with 4 faces (the word for cherub hear happens to appear 66 times).  And so what do we do but worship the beast=cherub=carnal mind=our false covering=the veil covered in cherubs.  Our original covering was the precious cornerstone.

Eze 28:12 `Son of man, lift up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, And you have said to him:Thus said the Lord Yahweh:You are sealing up a measurement, Full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
"Eze 43:10 "As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, so that they will be ashamed of their sins and measure the pattern.
this word for measure/pattern only occurs in the above 2 instances

The pattern of the temple with Christ who is our covering, full of wisdon and perfect in beauty

2Co 3:18 Now we all, with uncovered face, mirroring the Lord's glory, are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the spirit."
this is the only other incidence of mirror in the nt with the same name base

When our face is covered we see the enigma, when its uncovered we see the Lord's glory.

[redhotmagma]

http://jacobisrael71.wordpress.com/2010/01/02/garden-of-eden-revealed/

Genesis 3:24
So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

What you'll find interesting is these CHERUBIM are also woven in the VEIL that keeps people from the holiest of holies. These CHERUBIM are also on either side of the MERCY SEAT, keeping the MERCY SEAT in DARKNESS/SHADOW.

So let me tell you what these CHERUBIM are. The TRANSLATION for CHERUBIM is "IMAGINERY CREATURE" – which means, THEY DON'T EXIST.

This CHERUBIM is WHO WE THINK WE ARE. I know this is a lot of take in. But our CARNAL EGO is what keeps the TRUTH hidden WITHIN. It is our CARNAL EGO that keeps us LIVING OUTSIDE THE GARDEN (US) instead of WITHIN (where God and Christ sit)

Isaiah 37:16
O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between/WITHIN the cherubims.

Where else does God dwell "church"? ... IN US!

Hebrews 9:5
And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.

A SHADOW blocks the LIGHT. The CHERUBIM keep the TRUTH HIDDEN within. This is what is keeping us from ENTERING INTO ETERNAL LIFE. (to know God and who we are)

This is why we must DIE TO OURSELVES (OUR EGO) You see, it is this COVERING CHERUB (flesh/carnal ego) that is keeping us from entering in.

[Cardinal]

 :cloud9: Interesting thread. I agree with a lot of it. But......the cherubim do exist. They are the false ideas/doctrines (and the accompanying spirit) that the LORD allowed to come into the heart of man, to keep him from entering into the Most Holy, for NO MAN comes to the Father unless the Father call him.

He ordained these cherubim be woven into the fabric of the curtain; they are created by the eating of the shewbread unworthily (without the Spirit interpreting it). In so doing He made sure that no man could steal His glory by saying he came into His presence thru his own works.

We were one with Him from the foundation of the world means not that WE are Christ as in 1 only, but rather that 1+1 = 1, as in the wife and husband are 1 flesh. The New Age mantra that WE are Christ, is one of the cherubims. My  :2c: Blessings....

[micah7:9]

http://jacobisrael71.wordpress.com/2010/01/02/garden-of-eden-revealed/

Genesis 3:24
So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

What you'll find interesting is these CHERUBIM are also woven in the VEIL that keeps people from the holiest of holies. These CHERUBIM are also on either side of the MERCY SEAT, keeping the MERCY SEAT in DARKNESS/SHADOW.

So let me tell you what these CHERUBIM are. The TRANSLATION for CHERUBIM is "IMAGINERY CREATURE" – which means, THEY DON'T EXIST.

This CHERUBIM is WHO WE THINK WE ARE. I know this is a lot of take in. But our CARNAL EGO is what keeps the TRUTH hidden WITHIN. It is our CARNAL EGO that keeps us LIVING OUTSIDE THE GARDEN (US) instead of WITHIN (where God and Christ sit)

Isaiah 37:16
O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between/WITHIN the cherubims.

Where else does God dwell "church"? ... IN US!

Hebrews 9:5
And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.

A SHADOW blocks the LIGHT. The CHERUBIM keep the TRUTH HIDDEN within. This is what is keeping us from ENTERING INTO ETERNAL LIFE. (to know God and who we are)

This is why we must DIE TO OURSELVES (OUR EGO) You see, it is this COVERING CHERUB (flesh/carnal ego) that is keeping us from entering in.

:bigGrin:  So let me tell you what these CHERUBIM are. The TRANSLATION for CHERUBIM is "IMAGINERY CREATURE" – which means, THEY DON'T EXIST.

This CHERUBIM is WHO WE THINK WE ARE. I know this is a lot of take in. But our CARNAL EGO is what keeps the TRUTH hidden WITHIN. It is our CARNAL EGO that keeps us LIVING OUTSIDE THE GARDEN (US) instead of WITHIN (where God and Christ sit)

[WhiteWings]

41.  THE CHERUBIM.

It is hopeless to arrive at the meaning of the Cherubim from etymology.  Only by the usage of the whole of Scripture can we form an approximately true idea.  Their description is twice given (Ezek. 1:5-14; 10:20;  and Rev. 4:6-9). By a process of elimination we arrive at the fact that they are a celestial order of spirit-beings, and we can form no more notion of them than we can of other heavenly orders which are named, but not explained, and for the want of better words are called "Thrones," "Dominions," "Principalities," "Powers," &c.  They are to be distinguished from the symbolic figures of them, which were made to represent them.

Negatively, we may note :

   
• That they cannot be the Godhead, or Divine in their nature, for (1) likeness of any kind was strictly forbidden (Deut. 4:15, 16, &c.); and (2) the Godhead is distinguished from them by being mentioned at the same time.
  
  
• Though heavenly, or celestial and spiritual in their nature and character, they are distinguished from the angels (who, as their name implies, were spirits used as messengers).  Compare Rev. 5:8, 11 and 7:11, where, first the cherubim offer worship, and then the angels.  They must therefore be real spirit-beings, for they could hardly be represented emblematically and really in the same verse.  Moreover, they are never dismissed on errands as angels are, and are never seen apart from the Throne.
  
  
• They cannot be merely symbols, for, though symbolic and emblematic representations of them were allowed to be made, they themselves are not symbolic, or we should have symbolic symbols of symbols, and no reality at all.
  
  
• They cannot be a symbol of the "Church" or any portion of redeemed humanity, for they are distinguished from them in Rev. 5:9, 10, according to the best readings of the most ancient MSS. and critical Greek texts, where the "us" of v. 9 should be omitted, and the "us" and "we" of v. 10 should be "them" and "they."  Compare also Rev. 7:9-11.
  
  
• For the same reason they cannot be symbols of "the four gospels" or books of any kind, for the cherubim are ministers associated with wrath; and call for the judgment plagues.  See Rev. 6 and 15:7.  Moreover, there is no connection between these and the presence of the cherubim in Eden, in the Tabernacle, in the Temple, and the Throne of God.

Positively, we may note :

   
• That the three root letters of kerub, = b, are the root letters of the word KaRaB, which reappear in our GRiP, GRaB, GRiPe, GRasP.  In a passive sense the notion would be that of holding something in safe keeping :  and, as a matter of fact, the symbolic representation of them were held fast to the mercy-seat, being made out of the same piece of gold (Ex. 25:18, 23).
  
  
• In Gen. 3:24 they were placed to KEEP (or guard) the way to the tree of life, and preserve the hope of re-genesis for a ruined creation (cp. Gen. 2:15, where we have the word "keep" in this sense).
  
  
• Their presence on the mercy-seat binds this hope with atonement, and with Israel.
  
  
• On the vail the hope is bound up with the coming of the Christ in incarnation and redemption.
  
  
• They are four in number, and four is the number of Creation (see. Ap. 10).
  
  
• They are represented by the symbolic heads of the four great divisions of animate creation :  the lion (of wild beasts), the ox (of tame beasts), the eagle (of birds), man (of humanity).
  
  
• They are beneath the Throne, for the earth is Jehovah's footstool.
  
  
• Their song, when they speak, is of creation (Rev. 4:11), and is in connection with the earth.
  Redemption is a "new song" for them, relating to others.
  
  
• We conclude therefore, that the cherubim are celestial or real spirit-beings, associated in some way with the embodiment of creation's hope as expressed in Rom. 8:19-23.  The emblematic representations made of them connect that hope with "the hope of Israel" and associate it with the blood-sprinkled mercy-seat, and the rent vail (Heb. 10:10,20.)

[Cardinal]

 :cloud9: You can liken them to, "I will be a lying spirit in the mouths of the prophets" and the Lord God said, "Go". Are they good or bad; depends on your perspective.....