First, let me say this is by no means an exhaustive look at the many verses in both Old & New Testaments that deal with angels or the Lord’s other ministering creatures. This is just some of the verses we could look at. For ease of recognition, I will put any reference of angel, cherubim or seraphim in bold red letters.

Genesis 3:24
“So He (the LORD) drove out the man (after Adam had sinned); and He placed Cherubims at the east of the Garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the Tree of Life.”

We do not know, for certain, just what these Cherubims were, but -- whatever they were -- they were awesome and terrible enough to keep Adam or any person from entering once again into the Garden of Eden.

2nd Samuel 22:11-14
“(11) He rode upon a cherub, and He did fly, and He was seen upon the wings of the wind. (12) And He made darkness pavilions round about Him -- dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. (13) Through the brightness before Him were coals of fire kindled. (14) The LORD thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice.”

Once more we see the awesomeness of the LORD and his ministering cherubs. We also see some of the powerful display of His Might.

Psalm 99:1
“The LORD reigns; let the people tremble. He sits between the cherubims; let the earth be moved.”

Honestly, now...as you consider the phrases “the people trembling” and “the earth being moved”, can you really imagine the LORD sitting between creatures that resemble those fairy-tale-like-cupid-creatures that so many people have associated with most angels...?? At least, this is what we mostly see on the WorldWideWeb...

Isaiah 6:1-7
“(1) In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a Throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. (2) Above it stood the seraphims; each one had six wings -- with two (wings) he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. (3) And one cried unto another and said, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts! And the whole earth is full of his glory!’ (4) And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

“(5) Then I said, ‘Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts’. (6) Then one of the seraphims flew to me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar; (7) and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, ‘Lo, this has touched your lips, and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is purged’.”

All throughout this passage, we see glory and majesty amd might; we see the LORD high and lifted up; we hear the seraphims crying “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts! And the whole earth is full of his glory!”, and the doorsposts “move” at the sound of their crying. It is very difficult to imagine one of these “cutesy” little cherub-like creatures being involved here, and even harder to picture fairy-like creatures crying “Holy, holy, holy!”

These verses in Ezekiel I will simply place here,
adding no commentary, for they need none.

Ezekiel 9:3
“And the Glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon He was, to the threshold of the house. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn by his side....”

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Ezek.10:1-22
“(1) Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a Throne. (2) And He spoke to the man clothed with linen, saying, ‘Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill your hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims, and scatter them over the city’, and he went forth in my sight.

“(3) Now the cherubims stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court. (4) Then the Glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the Brightness of the LORD’S Glory.

“(5) And the sound of the cherubims’ wings was heard even to the outer court, as the Voice of Almighty God when He speaks. (6) And it came to pass, that when He had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, ‘Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubims’, that he went in, and stood beside the wheels. (7) And one cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubims unto the fire that was between the cherubims, and took thereof, and put it into the hands of him that was clothed with linen; and he took it and went out. (8) And there appeared in the cherubims the form of a man’s hand under their wings.

“(9) And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the cherubims, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was as the color of a beryl stone. (10) And as for their appearances, the four of them had one likeness, as if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel. (11) When they went, they went upon their four sides; they did not turn as they went, but to the place wherever the head looked they followed it; they did not turn as they went. (12) And their whole body, and their backs, their hands, their wings and the wheels were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had.

“(13) As for the wheels, it was cried unto them in my hearing, ‘O wheel!’ (14) And every one had four faces -- the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. (15) And the cherubims were lifted up. This is the same living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar.

“(16) And when the cherubims went, the wheels went by them; and when the cherubims lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also turned not from beside them. (17) When they stood, these stood; and when they were lifted up, these lifted up themselves also, for the spirit of the living creature was in them.

“(18) Then the Glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims. (19) And the cherubims lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight. When they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD’S House; and the Glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

“(20) This is the same living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar, and I knew that they were the cherubims. (21) Every one had four faces apiece, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. (22) And the likeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw by the river of Chebar, their appearances and themselves, and they went every one straight forward.”

Matthew 4:8-11
“(8) Again, the devil took Him up into a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them. (9) And the devil said to Him, ‘All these things will I give You, if You will fall down and worship me’.

“(10) Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get thee hence, Satan; for it is written: You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve’. (11) Then the devil left Him, and behold angels came and ministered unto Him.”

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Matt.13:41-42
“(41) The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity. (42) And (His angels) shall cast them into a furnace of fire, and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

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Matt.24:31
“And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

In all three references from Matthew, we see another very important and powerful duty of angels, that being as ministers to Jesus (and to us -- see Hebrews 1:13-14) and to “bring in” the Harvest, both the righteous and the unrighteous.

Hebrews 9:1-5
“(1) The first covenant also had ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. (2) For there was a tabernacle made, and (after the first veil) -- wherein was the candlestick, the table, and the showbread -- this is called the sanctuary (or Holy Place). (3) And after the second veil, there was the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all.

“(4) This (part of the tabernacle) had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; (5) and over the ark of the covenant there were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the Mercy Seat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.”

Here Paul paints a very serious and spiritual picture of what it was like to be in the Old Testament tabernacle, and -- all throughout Hebrews -- he likens it to the new heavenly Ark of Glory (Heb. 9:23-24 & 10:19-23). Also, please note: Paul admits that he (and we) are unable now to “speak particularly” about the Mercy Seat and the cherubim of glory who overshadowed the Seat, so we should safely stick to Scripture when it comes to talking about angels, cherubim or seraphim. Hopefully, this is what we have done.