Gifts of Heaven · Volume 2 · Chapter 344

Cherubim and Seraphim

25th August 1844.

Oh Lord! What is the difference between cherubim and seraphim?

[1] The cherubim mean and are the eternal outflow of divine love and the seraphim are the outflow of divine wisdom; this is the difference. Therefore one said since old: This one is love-glowing as a cherub and wise as a seraph. Thus, through the cherubim, divine love is understood, and through the seraphim, divine wisdom, in all it’s heavenly work. Note: In the work of the afterlife, 'From hell to heaven' (Robert Blum jl.rbl1.127,07), Volume 1, Chapter 127,7 ff. the Lord speaks to a blessed spirit:

[2] "It is a real joy to Me that you let feelings sprout in your heart that are worthy of My love and bear much resemblance to the great flaming thoughts of the cherubim and seraphim who praise Me and who are the bearers of My will in eternity. But as sublime as such thoughts and feelings are, whose depth and size only few spirits are able to grasp, so I still prefer it when My little children quite heartily call me 'Father' and My friends say to Me: Dear brother' – as if the greatest angels of praise sing Me with the deepest wisdom songs and sink together completely exhausted in the end, so that they come to insight and see after their great invocations, that all their greatest and most flaming thoughts are not even able to touch the hem of My garment, while My very simple little children can play blissfully with My heart and mind and live with Me at all times and enjoy at My table the bread of real life!

[3] Behold, those who sing of My greatness, power and strength and praise the eternally infinitely great God, they are outside of Me and see Me more or less as you on earth have often looked at the starry sky and sung exceedingly exalted – but thereby did not know yet what the stars you sung about are and what is in them. But who say to Me: Oh dear Father! Oh you, My divine Brother!' – they are with Me and even in Me. They sing and praise Me like true little children their only true father and no longer look at My greatness, power and strength from some sort of holy shy distance, where a great chasm always separates them from Me, as you once were from the stars you sang of – but they are themselves on the stars with their Father in the full enjoyment of that holy reality, which is hardly suspected by the great singers.

[4] Do you now notice this important difference? Yes, you notice it already! And because you notice it, you are already much happier than you were before; and that is good and right and most pleasing to Me, because it is therefore in My order. Soon you will be able to see and enjoy at My side the magnificently great works full of wonder upon wonder. If you would ask there always with great sublimity: Who feels it deeply enough, and who feels fully what God is? Behold, My dear little children would laugh at you and tell you – But childishly weak brother Thomas! What nonsense are you raving about there? Who can ever feel and sense deeply enough and completely what God is in Himself? How can the finite ever grasp the infinite? Behold, this is a vain rhapsody! God is the Father of us all, and we love Him above all things, and He is with us and guides us, and we see Him how dear and endlessly good He is! And that is indeed far more. To love God as the holy best Father above all else, is endlessly worth more than we want to fathom Him! What is more worthy of a man: To immerse oneself in great thoughts and, if a poor brother passes by the great thinker, not even notice him for all his great thoughts – or leave the great thoughts to God the Holy Father and with loving eyes obligingly meet the poor brothers? Let us therefore leave the great to the great! But we remain so beautifully small together only in love, and we will be happier than the great happy ones!

[5] See, Thomas! So would all the brothers talk to you, and you could not disagree with them. But that's why we stay together so beautifully small. For in order to see the whole sky, one does not need to have eyes as big as the sky itself. You can do the same with your ordinary little eyes! Do you understand that?"