Order of Worship, Order of War

Cherubim have four faces: ox, lion, eagle, man. As James Jordan has argued, those four faces are associated with different offices of Israel and phases of Israel’s history: the ox is sacrificial and priestly, the lion is royal, the eagle is prophetic, and Jesus is the man of the new covenant who incorporates all Israel’s history into His own.

Each is also associated with a distinctive piece of tabernacle furniture: The ox is from the altar, the lion is enthroned with Yahweh on the ark, the eagle is associated with the ascending fire of the lampstand, and the man with the bread and wine and frankincense of the table of showbread.

In some passages, that is the order in which the faces or creatures are presented. It’s a liturgical order: From bovine sacrifice, the liturgy moves to leonine enthronement; then from the prophetic word to the full remaking of man. We move from altar to throne to word to bread. We move from confession to absolution to preaching to Eucharist.

At times, though, the order of cherubic faces is different. In Revelation 4-6, the order is lion, ox, man, eagle, which correspond to the four horsemen released by the first four seals (white, red, black, green). This isn’t a liturgical order, but an order of war, conquest, and spiritual battle. If the ox begins worship, the lion leads the charge after the dismissal. The lion conquers, the ox follows with the sword of sacrificial division, the man follows preserving the wine and oil of those who follow Jesus and withholding food from those who do not, and the eagle brings up the rear, spreading death.

The order of worship is: ox, lion, eagle, man; confession, enthronement, light, food. The order of conquest is: lion, ox, man, eagle; proclamation, division, deprivation, death leading to new life.