THE CHERUBIM
&
THE SERAPHIM
(Part 3)
#01.146
I SAW THE LORD
The Seraphim
A Live Coal
"In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple" (Isa 6:1).
"...we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2). We shall no longer see Him as king Uzziah, not as the cherubim have had Him formed -- but as He is! For the king of the old mind is dead.
What causes such a king as Uzziah to die? Is it merely old age? When a person finally tires of ruling in the flesh, does he give up that carnal ghost and submit to God? Not in a million years. Such powers never relent. The fact is, they grow more adamant and determined with each passing day. Their demise comes when the Lord is seen high and lifted up. They die when the plague of God's glory breaks forth, consuming all flesh and vainglory.
There have been things in us that had kept us from seeing the Lord as He presently IS -- which is -- high and lifted up and sitting upon His throne. Those things are the same cherubim of the mind that exalted Uzziah. And it is no mystery, they have kept us from seeing things as they clearly are.
But let me also say this, dear sons of God, this is the year many Uzziahs will die, if they have not already! If they are not dead, they are mighty sick, and in my spirit I can hear the death knell and mournful fifes sounding their forlorn lament. In the year this king dies you will see the Lord high and lifted up with His train filling the temple. For that matter, it is the reality of seeing the Lord that will disannul the carnal king.
In every case listed in the Bible where the Lord was seen, men's kingdoms crumble. Whether as an individual or that of multifaceted regimes -- none could remain when He was seen.
When the prophet, Micaiah, saw the Lord sitting on His throne with all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left hand, it meant the end of king Ahab's life. (1 Kings 22:19-38). Ezekiel could not stand upon his feet when He saw the one in the likeness of the Lord: "This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face" (Ezek 1:28, also 3:23), and the record reports that the rebellious house of Israel would meet their end. It was very much the same when Amos saw the Lord. "I saw the Lord standing upon the altar: and He said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered" (Amos 9:1).
Additional references: "And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. (Rev 21:22). And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. (Rev 21:23). And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it" (Rev 21:24).
No visible manifestation is seen when the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are beheld. They are the fulness of the temple. The glory of the sun and moon no longer shines when the glory of God is beheld; for the Lamb is the light thereof. Every kingdom, religious and secular, and their reflections fail to glow when true Glory is seen. How, then, can our small Uzziahs remain when we see the Lord high and lifted up? They cannot, and they will not.
It is upon seeing the Lord that His (1)train fills the temple. The temple will not be seen, as John wrote (Rev 21:22); but His train will be. The train is His skirt, His garment, it is that which covers and flows down from Him. Hello "train"! Do you not know that the Lord is clothed upon by you? You are his "train"! You are, I am, we are all as much His train as we are the cloud with which He is clothed: "And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon His head, and His face was as it were the sun, and His feet as pillars of fire" (Rev 10:1).
There is no dispute that we, along with those on the other side of the veil, are His cloud of witnesses. He also comes with and in the same cloud. It is this cloud which is seen when He appears to the world. And this cloud is His train that fills the temple when king Uzziah dies. The armies, machines, stone slingers, towers, and cities of our own making will cease with his death. When all those things die, then we, the train of the Lord, will fill the temple! The Lord will be seen by those called to this hour. They will see Him sitting upon His throne, high and lifted up.
Brethren, I see the dead bodies of your Uzziahs. I see the funeral processions across the land. I see the mourners following after that ancient king. And there is great dearth in the land of flesh. Nevertheless, it is the death of this king which enables our Lord's Train to be seen for what it is. After this, and in the presence of the Lord and His holy angels, Babylon the Great falls, as well as all the kings of the earth.
"And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning...saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more. For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! For in one hour is she made desolate. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her." (Rev 18:9-11, 17, 19-20). And so it is as well with Uzziah and his great city and nation, the ones within and without, the one of secular religion and the one of the world. "And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall" (Isa 30:25).
Brethren, I cannot say that the falling of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center is connected with the above verses or not; for the Spirit has not revealed it to me. I can say, however, it looks very suspicious. I can also say that whether or not those towers relate to the fall of Uzziah's towers and the fall of that great city (New York and the nation) -- those towers are falling in the midst of God's sons. And once they are reduced to a heap of rubble -- rivers and streams of living waters shall flow from God's vast Kingdom into all the earth. Therefore, let Uzziah go! Let him go; for he is dead! It is time for the Lord's train to fill the temple of the individual and of the temple corporately, and it is time for the seraphim to come forth.
The Seraphim
"Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew" (Isa 6:2).
Seraphim comes from the singular, seraph, and means, to be on fire. They are the flaming firebrands of God, with each having six wings, the number which represents man. This is speaking of the Seraphim being you and me. They are not angelic beings out there in some ethereal space of the heavens. They are here. Even as we are the train filling the temple, so are we the flaming seraphim. "And of the angels He saith, Who maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire" (Heb 1:7).
Having six wings speaks of man; but these men, the seraphim, are burning flames of fire. They are no longer in the image of man, but of God who is Fire. They have been transformed into His express image.
And wings speak of the Word of God, or His Voice, which transports us from the earth to the heavens. We see this in another figure with Jacob's ladder upon which the angels ascended and descended. We have all heard the Word in God's Voice, and when we did, we were lifted. They were the wings of the seraphim, and they carried us to heights unknown, to the place of their origin -- the throne of God.
"Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew" (Isa 6:2, NASB). As with the cherubim, so it is with the seraphim. They both cover and keep the way of God's glory. The seraphim's wings are lifting us in the expanse of the heavens, while covering God's glory of their faces. And likewise, with their anointed walk, which is like the wind. No one can tell where they are going or from whence they come. Their feet are covered.
Carnal man has no part with the seraphim, those flaming God-beings who are in the image of the God of consuming fire. They are of the same substance, and the carnal eye cannot rest upon such glory. Without wind, wings are as good as dead. They are ineffectual. They have no foundation by which they can lift the body. The Word without the Spirit is as good as dead. These flames are direct descendants of Nobility, and they have been conformed to His express image. They are in the image of the One who said: "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live! (Exo 33:20).
The golden wings of the cherubim over the mercy seat cover God's glory. There are words, those of gold, which can gather up the wind of the Spirit and be lifted from the earth. These same wings, although having put on the nature of the living God, conceal His glory. We can see the same with the fiery wings of the Seraphim. They are keeping that which is Holy. They are keeping the way life. "And with twain, he covers his feet."
There is a walk in God with the Seraphim, like the wind, that no man can see. Even today, there is a word walking trough the land that no carnal man can see. Men of earth have no idea what is going on, and if that earthiness is rooted in the churches, and it is, neither will they see.
But we can see the walk of the Seraphim; for we do not stand afar off with our eyes focused on outward things. We are under the wings of those illusive creatures. We are the feet, we are the hands, we are the body. Spoken plainly -- we are the Seraphim, and there is a fire-burning essence about the Seraphim that is hidden from man. Thus the four wings that cover, while the two others lift us into the unveiling heights of the heavens "...and with two he did fly."
You see, while lifted in flight, the flaming heralds of God declare things never before seen as though they already are: "And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth IS filled with His glory" (Isa 6:3).
Can you declare such a thing? Can I? Can we make such assertions and not lie, even though it is true? If we make them from the heavens, from the (2)third floor balcony, we can, but not so if they originate from the carnal mind, regardless of how much presumptuous faith we marshal.
As we soar into the heights of God's great expanse, it is then that we can truly see that the heavens and the earth, and all the hosts of them -- are FINISHED! It is then that we see the glory of God fills the whole earth. The manifestation of it? Of course not! That comes in its predestined time. Everything will be ushered into the view of every eye when the season arrives.
Moreover, I would be a fool to declare something I only presumed to be a fact, and especially if there is no evidence of it. And please, don't quote Hebrews 11:1 and say that faith is the evidence when that faith has not been birthed from hearing the word of the Anointing. There is no way I could make claims that the earth is full of God's glory if I cannot see that it is so. If I see it, however, even if others do not, I can say it and not lie.
How can one person in Christ see something someone else cannot? It is a simple point of perspective. The vision becomes clear when we view from the heavenly state of the Seraphim (that parabolic third-floor balcony). It is the heavens wherein the Seraphim fly that such earth-filled glory can be seen, and then heralded. Truly, it is finished! It was finished before God formed the earth or planted any living thing. And let me humbly say, whosoever has caught the vision of the Last Day will cease from walking the walls in the nighttime. They will no longer point the finger of condemnation, nor will they pluck the Seeds of the Kingdom from the fertile soil of unproven, wavering minds. Ah, but to soar as the Seraphim -- what a difference it makes in our speech. While peering from on high, it is a simple thing to truthfully say -- THE EARTH IS FILLED WITH THE GLORY OF THE LORD! IT IS FINISHED! But let us know -- this finished work will never be seen by others until there is a renewing of the cherubim in their minds, and they are lifted heavenward.
By the time we see the cherubim, the imaginary figures, in the most Holy place, they have been overlain with pure gold. No longer are the imaginations, the creative thoughts, those of carnal wood, but they are gold of the Spirit. With the renewing comes the transformation, from wood, to gold, to fire -- the Seraphim.
"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" (Ezek 10:4). "And the sound of the cherubims' wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when He speaketh. And the cherubim 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" (Ezek 10:5,19).
We see clearly in these verses that the sound of the cherubim's wings is the Voice of God, and it is by lifting our voice, His Voice, heralding it by the Spirit, that we are lifted from the earth.
It is also important to note that these winged creatures, they who are empowered by the Living Word and Voice of God, go out.
So much has been said and taught over the years about entering Tabernacles, and it is tremendous word. However, can we not see that entering into Tabernacles is not the manifestation of the Sons of God, but rather -- the exit! As long as we are in the comforting confines of the Tabernacle, individually or collectively -- the service is to ourselves and not the world, and this is good for the season of that appointment. For the Lord said that He would (3)meet us between the Cherubim; however as great as that meeting is, how long is it supposed to last in that one place, and when will we know it is time to depart?
We will remain in holy communion until the Lord furnishes us with orders and He removes Himself from the seclusion of the mercy seat. When He is no longer secluded and leaves from that secret place, when the glory of the Lord goes up from the cherubim and stands over the threshold of the house -- we will know the time has come for the manifestation of the Sons of God -- first a manifestation within the Temple, and then outwardly to the world! Being joined to Him would make it highly unlikely for us to remain behind. Therefore, when He moves -- we move.
"And the posts of the door moved at the voice of Him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke" (Isa 6:4). When His voice is heard in our temples, it will shake the very foundation. That is the only thing which will cause the doorposts to move. And when those doorposts move, the veil is rent, and there is no more a division between the two chambers. They become one! There is no longer a division between the soul and Spirit. They are one!
"And the whole house was filled with smoke." We know the smoke is one representation of God's glory, and it is this glory which fills the whole house of God. I'm reminded of going up on Mount St. Helens this past summer. It was something we wanted to see while we are in Portland. However, we were not able to see it; for the whole mountain was covered with fog. We were disappointed, of course, but what rang so clear in my spirit offset the disappointment. I saw it as the manifestation of the sons of God over the Kingdom. When the proper time and conditions were met, they collectively rise and reign. They also rain. When the Sons of God reign, they are seen; but like the wind, the structure of the Kingdom, the Mountain, cannot be seen. Neither can the inworkings of the most Holy place be seen; for it is filled with smoke. Their presence conceals it; for that is one of the purposes of the cherubim, whether in the carnal mind of man or transformed and in the image of God. Every thing remains hidden. No natural man can see how the Kingdom of God works. They cannot look at its blueprints and build it themselves, although they have attempted it by going over the images the cherubim of the minds have drawn up. One must be born from above to see it, as Jesus told Nicodemus (John 3:3). You can't see the structure of it; but the manifestation of it is there with the whole house being filled with the Train of His smoke.
The manifested Sons of God will in one sense display the Glory of the Kingdom, while in another, as transformed cherubim they conceal it. "Then the LORD will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy" (Isa 4:5).
Just because a religious man might desire to lay claim to God's Kingdom, this does not privilege him to it. He can work his schemes; but it will produce no living fruit, and if he should touch the mountain, he will die. To insure the sacred mountain is not defiled, the fire and smoke of cherubim cover it.
A Live Coal
"Then flew one of the Seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: and he laid it on my mouth and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said, I, Here am I; send me" (Isa 6:6-8).
Allow me to stir our minds with a question. What sort of being could possibly hold a live coal in its hand without being burned? That which has been transformed into the same substance; namely, creatures of fire, the Seraphim, they who are in the same image of God who is a consuming fire (Heb 12:29).
There are many analogies of God's word -- gold, water, lightning, thunder, rain, snow, hail, fire, etc. -- and depending on how and for what purpose it is being used will determine the analogy. A live, red-hot coal speaks of a living firebrand of a word that has come straight from the incense-consuming altar. It is a word from the throne, and only living firebrands in God's image can hold them in their flaming hands. The natural man cannot hold them; but the Man from heaven can. He can also minister that word, and when it touches the lips of those who have been awakened, their iniquity is taken away, and their sin purged (Isa 6:8). That is the nature of the fire from the altar. It sets people free and purges them from any form of perversity and sin. Where the law fails, the living fire of God is victorious. It is then that the man, or woman, will say, "Here am I, send me."
The church is not lacking in uncountable numbers of anxious but unrefined men and women who are saying that very thing, "Here am I, send me." Yet in my spirit, I am hearing the true cry from humbled hearts, saying, "...Woe is me! for I am (4)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" (Isa 6:5).
This pleading comes from broken hearts and contrite spirits of those who are never seen or heard. They do not stand before people and declare the latest breaking revelation of the day. They are those who are obscure, hidden away, with little or no fellowship. But their eyes are seeing the King, the LORD of hosts. They may not realize it; but the Seraphim are laying the live coal of fire upon their lips. They are being made ready, and it will not be long before we hear them crying out in true assurance -- "Here am I, send me," and they will be sent!
When our Lord is seen high and lifted up, His voice is trumpeted by His anointed, when the live coals are scattered from the hands of the seraphim over the city, you can count on all other kings to become nought. No longer will we worship, Uzziah, God's strength; for all honor and glory and praise will be to Him alone.
Therefore, brethren, there must be Seraphim among us, or else, there will be no living coals touching the lips of the saints or being scattered over the cities of the world and the church.
If we are hearing this by way of the Seraphim of the spiritual mind and not the Cherubim of the carnal mind, the vision is true and we are one with that burning word. If we are hearing it by the Cherubim, the only thing that can come is an imaginary figure, an imagination of what is being said. We then might attempt to walk it out in the flesh; but try as we may, we cannot do it. That is a proven fact.
Let us pray that we can with all truthfulness proclaim: King Uzziah is dead; for we see the Lord sitting upon His throne, high and lifted up, and we are filling His temple. Let us be able to know the reality of being like Him due to seeing Him as He IS. For it is then that we can touch those of the world with fire, and they shall live!
To be continued...
Elwin R. Roach
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2. For more on this analogy see KINGS: CHILDREN AND SONS Pub. #00.125.
3. "And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel" (Exo 25:22).
4. Undone: damah...to be dumb or silent... (Strong's).