What are cherubim? and it's purpose? I'm looking for the true origins of the cherub not the baby with wings nonsense.

Also if someone can help me, what is incense for? how is it used? what does it invoke?

All I know is that it is done in a certain direction, why?

A few mini questions, if anyone can help I would be grateful.

In Christianiy, Cherubim (plural of Cherub) were an order or rank of Angels.

They were usually considered the guards or guardians.

In the Bible, Cherubim were placed east of the Garden of Eden to protect it and keep man from re-entering.


Cherubim were known in Babylon and Egypt as creatures with wings that were half man and half lion.
They were also depicted as guardians there as well.


Infact all cultures speak of divine creatures that were sent by God or the gods to protect people or property.

In the East they were known as Cherubim and Dragons, in the West they are known as gargoyles.

The Qur'an implies angels can "walk"...

[17.94] And nothing prevented people from believing when the guidance came to them except that they said: What! has Allah raised up a mortal to be an apostle?
[17.95] Say: Had there been in the earth angels walking about as settlers, We would certainly have sent down to them from the heaven an angel as an apostle.
[17.96] Say: Allah suffices as a witness between me and you; surely He is Aware of His servants, Seeing.

====================






From: "Solomon Abdul-Rahman" <solcobbs@...>
Date: SunJun15,2003 3:37 am
Subject: what exactly are angels?

LET US LOOK AT THE BIBLE, TO FIND OUT...

Gen.19
[1] The two angels came to Sodom in the evening; and Lot was sitting
in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and
bowed himself with his face to the earth, ...
Exod.14
[19] Then the angel of God who went before the host of Israel moved
and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them
and stood behind them, ...
Num.22
[22] But God's anger was kindled because he went; and the angel of
the LORD took his stand in the way as his adversary. Now he was
riding on the ass, and his two servants were with him.
[23] And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road, with
a drawn sword in his hand; and the ass turned aside out of the road,
and went into the field; and Balaam struck the ass, to turn her into
the road.
[24] Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path between the
vineyards, with a wall on either side.
[25] And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she pushed against
the wall, and pressed Balaam's foot against the wall; so he struck
her again.
[26] Then the angel of the LORD went ahead, and stood in a narrow
place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the
left.
[27] When the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under
Balaam; and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he struck the ass with
his staff.
[31] Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of
the LORD standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand; and
he bowed his head, and fell on his face.
[32] And the angel of the LORD said to him, "Why have you struck your
ass these three times? Behold, I have come forth to withstand you,
because your way is perverse before me;
[34] Then Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, "I have sinned, for I
did not know that thou didst stand in the road against me. Now
therefore, if it is evil in thy sight, I will go back again."
[35] And the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, "Go with the men; but
only the word which I bid you, that shall you speak." So Balaam went
on with the princes of Balak.
Gen.19
[1] The two angels came to Sodom in the evening; and Lot was sitting
in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and
bowed himself with his face to the earth, ANGELS CAN BE SEEN
Gen.28
[12] And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and
the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were
ascending and descending on it! IN THE DREAM, THEY CAN CLIMB STAIRS







Judg.6
[11] Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak at Ophrah,
which belonged to Jo'ash the Abiez'rite, as his son Gideon was
beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Mid'ianites.
[12] And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The
LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor."
[20] And the angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the
unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over
them." And he did so.
[21] Then the angel of the LORD reached out the tip of the staff that
was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and
there sprang up fire from the rock and consumed the flesh and the
unleavened cakes; and the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.
[22] Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD; and
Gideon said, "Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the
LORD face to face." IN THIS INSTANCE, THE ANGEL HAD A ROD, IN HIS HAND
Exod.3
[2] And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out
of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning,
yet it was not consumed. AN EXAMPLE, OF AN ANGEL "APPEARING", TO
SOMEONE
Judg.13
[3] And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to
her, "Behold, you are barren and have no children; but you shall
conceive and bear a son.
[6] Then the woman came and told her husband, "A man of God came to
me, and his countenance was like the countenance of the angel of God,
very terrible; I did not ask him whence he was, and he did not tell
me his name;
[9] And God listened to the voice of Mano'ah, and the angel of God
came again to the woman as she sat in the field; but Mano'ah her
husband was not with her.
[13] And the angel of the LORD said to Mano'ah, "Of all that I said
to the woman let her beware.
[15] Mano'ah said to the angel of the LORD, "Pray, let us detain you,
and prepare a kid for you."
[16] And the angel of the LORD said to Mano'ah, "If you detain me, I
will not eat of your food; but if you make ready a burnt offering,
then offer it to the LORD." (For Mano'ah did not know that he was the
angel of the LORD.)
[17] And Mano'ah said to the angel of the LORD, "What is your name,
so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?"
[18] And the angel of the LORD said to him, "Why do you ask my name,
seeing it is wonderful?"
[20] And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the
angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar while Mano'ah
and his wife looked on; and they fell on their faces to the ground.
[21] The angel of the LORD appeared no more to Mano'ah and to his
wife. Then Mano'ah knew that he was the angel of the LORD. IN VERSE
TWO, THE WIFE DESCRIBES THE ANGEL AS A "MAN"
2Sam.24
[16] And when the angel stretched forth his hand toward Jerusalem to
destroy it, the LORD repented of the evil, and said to the angel who
was working destruction among the people, "It is enough; now stay
your hand." And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of
Arau'nah the Jeb'usite.
[17] Then David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who was
smiting the people, and said, "Lo, I have sinned, and I have done
wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let thy hand, I pray
thee, be against me and against my father's house."
Wis.16
[20] Instead of these things thou didst give thy
people food of angels,
and without their toil thou didst supply them
from heaven with bread ready to eat,
providing every pleasure and suited to every taste.IN THIS VERSE, IT
IS SAID THAT ANGELS HAVE "FOOD". THIS MEANS THEY "EAT"

4Mac.4
[10] and while Apollonius was going up with his armed forces to seize
the money, angels on horseback with lightning flashing from their
weapons appeared from heaven, instilling in them great fear and
trembling.
Matt.18
[10] "See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I
tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my
Father who is in heaven. ANGELS CAN "SEE", FOR THEY "BEHOLD" THE FACE
OF GOD
Matt.25
[31] "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with
him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
[41] Then he will say to those at his left hand, `Depart from me, you
cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels;
IN VERSE TWO, THE DEVIL HAS "ANGELS"
NOWHERE, IN THE BIBLE, HAVE I SEEN AN ANGEL BEING MENTIONED OF AS A
SPIRIT. IF ANYONE HAS, PLEASE, SHARE.

SO, WHERE HAS THIS IDEA OF AN "ANGEL", COME FROM? I HAVE NOT READ,
IN THE BIBLE, OF AN ANGEL BEING CLOTHED IN A ROBE OR HAVING WINGS, AS
THEY ARE PORTRAYED IN PICTURES.

BESIDES KNOWING THAT ANGELS ARE MESSENGERS OF GOD, CAN ANYONE
TRUTHFULLY SAY WHAT AN ANGEL LOOKS LIKE?

AND ALSO, DON'T FORGET, ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE, THE DEVIL ALSO HAS
ANGELS.

Holy Kuraan 35:1
" Praise be to Allah, Who created out of nothing the heavens and the earth, Who made the angels[/b], messengers with wings[/b],- two, or three, or four pairs: He adds to Creation as He pleases: for Allah has power over all things. "

blkrainbowfro

blktrainersI HAVE NOT READ,
IN THE BIBLE, OF AN ANGEL BEING CLOTHED IN A ROBE OR HAVING WINGS, AS
THEY ARE PORTRAYED IN PICTURES.

two, or three, or four pairs: ...

Ok thanks, just as I thought Cherubim are essentially beasts and not very nice ones at that.

Anyone knows what exactly incense is for?

Incense

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

[align=right]






[/align]Glass Incense burners make interesting designs in the smoke.





Incense smoke wafts from huge burners in Lhasa, Tibet.





Stick, granulated, and cone incense for home use





Stacks of incense sticks, bundled for sale at a Buddhist temple in Japan
Incense is a preparation of aromatic plant matter, often with the addition of essential oils extracted from plant or animal sources, intended to release fragrant smoke for religious, therapeutic, or simply aesthetic purposes as it smolders.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incense

Incense Road

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Incense Road or Incense Route connected Egypt with Arabia and the Indies. It was possibly started in the beginning of the Incense trade in 1,800 B.C. Indians shipped the incense to the ports of the Arabian peninsula. These would be Cane, Aden and Muza in the south and Berenice, Philotera, Myos Hormos, Leuce Kome and Aila in the North. The incense was then transported by caravan thru the desert to Petra and then to Gaza, Syria, and Alexandria in Egypt.

The Arabian Nabateans, became very wealthy as they functioned as middle men and controlled the secrets of the difficult route. Numerous towns sprang up around oases that defined the road, such as Ubar, Wabar and Sheba. The road followed no fixed route as the caravans continuously moved to avoid those places which sought to tax their cargoes. The Romans bypassed the road by sailing around the Arabian Peninsula through the Red Sea rather than having to pay the Bedouin in gold or silver in exchange for the spices and incense. They were eventually able to gain control of the road and developed it further, building wells and forts along it. But by about 42 A.D. most of the incense traffic was seaborne as it was a safer and faster passage.

The road is mentioned in the Old Testament, in Chronicles 2:9 and Kings 1:10, stating that the "Queen of the South" traveled on the "Gold and Incense Road" to meet King Solomon in Jerusalem. it is also mentioned in the Koran in Surat saba, Number 34, The Sura on Sheba. and in Surat an-Naml (the ant, Number 27).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incense_Road



Incense link to cancer


Burning incense may pose a risk to health

Burning incense, popular in places of worship and in people's homes, could be a cancer risk.
Researchers in Taiwan found that the smoke produced by burning incense is laden with cancer-causing chemicals.
Levels of one chemical believed to cause lung cancer were 40 times higher in a badly ventilated temple in Taiwan than in houses where people smoke tobacco.
Incense burning also creates more pollution than road traffic at a local intersection.
Ta Chang Lin, of the National Cheng Kung University in Tainan told New Scientist magazine: "We truly hope that incense burning brings only spiritual comfort, without any physical discomfort.
"But there is a potential cancer risk. We just cannot say how serious it is."
Air samples
Dr Lin's team collected air samples from inside and outside a temple in Tainan City and compared them to samples at a traffic intersection.






Incense burning caused more pollution than traffic
Inside the temple, they found very high concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a large group of highly carcinogenic chemicals that are released when certain substances are burnt.
Total levels of PAHs inside the temple were 19 times higher than outside and slightly higher than at the intersection.
A PAH called benzopyrene, which is thought to cause lung cancer in smokers, was found in very high quantities inside the temple.
Levels were up to 45 times higher than in homes where residents smoked tobacco, and up to 118 times higher than in areas with no indoor source of combustion, such as cooking fires.
Dr Lin said: "The concentrations of PAHs inside the temple depends on how many visitors come to worship that day.
Ceremonies
"During some major ceremonies, hundreds or even more than a thousand sticks are burnt at the same time.
"Sometimes the visibility is so low you can't see clearly across the room. We are concerned for the health of workers or keepers in the temples."
Dr Lin's team also tested for pollutants known as total suspended particles.
Concentrations of TSPs inside the temple were three times higher than at the traffic intersection and 11 times higher than outside the temple.
Brad Timms, a science information officer for the Cancer Research Campaign, told BBC News Online: "We know from previous research that industrial workers exposed to PAHs have an increased risk of lung and bladder cancer, and PAHs are also a recognised cause of occupational skin and scrotal cancers.
"The risk of cancer from burning incense will depend on the levels of PAHs given off from this source and the length of time of exposure, and clearly more research is needed to determine these factors.
"In the meantime workers in temples could minimise exposure to themselves and their worshippers by improving ventilation."