a year ago i became infatuated with studying the bible, more so as a form of literature than anything else. it wasn’t until i was thirteen when i really started to question the existence of god, jesus, or whoever is apparently the holy one that’s responsible for mankind and its actions since day one. i haven’t stopped questioning since, and i claim myself to be solely agnostic (possibly more spiritual than most) and nothing more.
the bible never ceases to fascinate me in ways that other topics simply can’t, mostly because of the age-old questions “is god real?” and “is there life after death?” something i don’t think is possible for humans to ever know in our lifetimes. you can have faith in something, but there will never be any real physical evidence of it. after all, that’s what faith is — having mostly blind trust in someone or something. verses depicting the vision of god, the scenes of heaven and hell, and going into explanation on the nine different “ranks” of angels and the other-worldly spheres they inhabit and have dominance over, ultimately peak my interest. even the pure concept of angels is fucking weird, given that they’re mostly described as “representative of the rulership of the divine powers manifested through several orders as the unseen creature that stands in the proximity of God and as the mediating totality between the visible world” (globalbizarre.com) so they aren’t humans like us, they were created by god as some sort of power protectors, and they live forever? let’s take a look at the highest three of the order of angels that are introduced in the bible. because they’re pretty fucked up and intense looking.
seraphim (burning)
Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory’” (Isaiah 6:1-3)
a seraph (singular) is an angel whose purpose is to essentially sit next to god’s throne and chant praises to him, over and over. this perpetual worship may sound a bit conceited, but they also serve god in other ways. in hebrew, the word seraph means ‘burning,’ and they are capable of purifying one of their sins, such as one such seraph taking a burning coal from the celestial fire of the altar, and touching isaiah’s lips (the only one of whom that gives a firsthand encounter with god’s highest of angels in the bible.) seraphim serve as god’s servants right beside him in his heavenly court, and they appear around him in a large choir, with their volume being loud enough to shake the palace foundations.
cherubim (streams of wisdom)
thrones
