They put 30 foot-wide angels over the top of the Holy of Holies, on the outside - communicating clearly to people: back off. The only place I can find in the whole Bible that describes what an angel looks like is in Ezekiel 10, and Ezekiel has this vision. It says: 'wheels-within-wheels.
The word is: ophanim-within-ophanim; ophals - like ophthalmology. It was the word for angels e.g. cherubim, seraphim and ophanim.
He said: I'm seeing these cherubim, and they've got ophanim all around them; and in his description of what an angel looked like, it said it had ‘four faces’. So you've got this creature with four faces, with eyes all over their body, eyes all over their wings, eyes all over their backs. Four faces - so you can't sneak up on them; and wherever an angel moved, the faces and the eyes went with them; and when the angel lifted his wings, there were eyes, within eyes, within eyes, within eyes. If you saw that on TV - you would turn it off before your children saw it! But this was an angel!
Remember in Isaiah, an angel appears to him; and it says that he fell down and pretended like he was dead? Like, no need - I'm dead already!
Any time an angel appears to a man, it always invokes immediate fear - and they always start the same way. If they're going to kill him, they're just going to kill him; if they're not going to kill him, what do they always say?
“Fear not, for I bring you good news”.
In other words: fear not - I'm not here to kill you (it was the exception to the rule). When an angel appeared to you, you thought you were dead.
So there's this group of shepherds, and this angel appears, and the glory of the Lord shone around about; and it says: they were grievously afraid - and watch what the angel says...
Now remember, in the days of Caesar Augustus - this is what the angel says: “And the angel said to them: do not fear, for behold, I give you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour - and His name is Christ, and He is Lord.”
In other words, Caesar isn't Lord - Jesus is. To the shepherds, living in the days of Caesar Augustus - Caesar Augustus was Lord; but now you have angels appearing in heaven, and they're saying: Caesar isn't Lord, Jesus is.
The shepherds would have got excited, because Caesar had promised ‘peace on earth’, and ‘goodwill to all men’ - but he didn't deliver. He delivered fear and oppression, and 80% taxes - and ultimate fear of losing land that had been in your father's possession since the Book of Judges.
He was not a good king; and now, from the sky, it's being announced that there is another king. This is a sign to you: you will find a Baby wrapped lying in a manger. Suddenly there was an angel, and a multitude of heavenly host praising God, and saying:
”Glory to God in the highest; and on earth, peace and goodwill to all men!”
God is saying: if you want to substantiate yourself with celestial signs, I'll give you celestial signs - I'll give it to you! I'll put a large star in the sky; I'll get kings to come from other nations; we'll put up a multitude of heavenly hosts; witnesses everywhere!
How fast do you think the word would have spread: listen, there's a new king in town!
This threatened Herod, who was the token king of the Caesar. Herod ordered that all the baby boys should be killed.
That tells you who the real God is. If I say: I'm God; and you say: you're God; then whoever the real God is - He's the one that's not scared! He's the one that's not threatened!
Even later in His life, they were saying of Jesus: You say You're the king of the Jews? You say this? He goes: yeah, it is what you say. He goes: ah, whatever. Essentially, at Jesus' trial, this was Jesus' answer to everything: whatever. At the end of the day, I'm going to win, you're going to lose - do whatever you want to do. Like, whoever the real God is, isn't afraid;
“And it happened, as the angels departed from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another: indeed, let us go to Bethlehem, and see this thing which has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. And hurrying they came and sought out both Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in the manger. In seeing, they publicly told about the words spoken to them concerning this child, and all those who heard marvelled about the things spoken to them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things in her heart”.