The Seraphim
(Part 3)
Pub. #90.97
THE WHOLE
EARTH IS FULL OF HIS GLORY
I AM UNDONE
FULL OF EYES
"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. Above it stood THE SERAPHIMS: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory." (Isa 6:1-3)
Our understanding of the cherubim has been an unfolding experience. Undoubtedly, they are among the most secretive objects of God’s creation. Now we come to the SERAPHIM who are just as evasive, or perhaps more so. Less is known about them than the cherubim. We can search the scriptures for some insight; but with what our Bible translations today have to offer, we won’t glean much. To begin with, the seraphim are only mentioned twice in the entire Bible: once in verse 2 of Isaiah chapter six, and again in verse 6. So you see, in the natural, there is not much to work from.
The seraphim, like the cherubim, also cover God’s glory; but what they cover is much closer than what we saw with the cherubim. The glory they cover is in their own faces and feet. This symbolism shows that the carnal eye is not permitted to see God’s radiance in their faces, i.e., their transformed nature. Nor can man see the glory of the walk in which they are called. No one can follow their steps, and furthermore, neither can they be hindered. As the wind, the Seraphim go whithersoever they choose (John 3:8). Their presence will not go unnoticed, this is sure, but the world will not know much about their person. Although they are full of God’s glory, like their Lord before them, they do not usurp it for themselves (Phil 2:6-7). This glory is only for the One who deserves it, Jesus Christ.
It is inherent in man to desire recognition. He wants to be noticed and known by name and face. He thrives on admiration. It is in his makeup to heap honor upon himself. To bask in the glory worthy of his ‘good’ works come natural to him. The seraphim, on the other hand, cover their glory. What a contrast!
Craving recognition from men is a good indicator that we have a distance to go. Hopefully, we are beyond that syndrome of personal self-worship and gratification, or in simpler terms — carnality.
Seraphim is a transliteration of the Hebrew word saraphim. It is the plural of seraph, or saraph. Although the word is seen only twice in our English translations, as mentioned above, it is used 126 times in the Hebrew.
Most all the other places where the Hebrew word is used relate to things being burned with fire, and at times in the negative sense. In many cases fire was used in connection with God's judgment upon sin. Isaiah 6:2-6 portrays the seraphim as intelligent, holy messengers of God who deal with sin. Not only do they bring earthshaking news from the throne; but with fire they purify men’s hearts, their unclean lips. Isaiah had no idea his lips were unclean until the glory of God’s throne and anointed word pierced his darkness.
What happened to Isaiah upon hearing those flaming words remind us of John 5:24-25. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life....The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live." With statements such as these, it might cause us to think the seraphim are very closely related to Christ, doesn’t it?
THE WHOLE EARTH IS FULL OF HIS GLORY
Listen to the words of one seraph to the other: "Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: THE WHOLE EARTH IS FULL OF HIS GLORY" (Isa 6:3). That declaration must have been like a bolt of lightning flashing from the throne (Ezk 1:13-14), for Isaiah’s life began to take on a marvelous change. What he saw and heard shook the very foundation of his confidence. The doorposts of the house, his house, moved and became unstable. He was left with no self-assurance. He was undone (Isa 6:4-5).
Why would so few words have been so earth shaking, especially to a man like Isaiah? There is no great mystery here, for when any fragment of Adam remains in a man, and the glory of God is seen or heard, his earth will always quake as his heavens pass away. At the presence of such glory, there is left no place for anything earthy.
The declaration, Holy, holy, holy, is powerful. Not in the natural, perhaps, but it is in the spiritual sense. The Hebrew word for ‘holy’ means ‘sacred’, and the root word (qadash) means clean’. When one sees by the spirit how sacred, how utterly clean God is, everything else appears muddled and dirty. Viewing God’s holiness in one dimension can arrest a person; but when three dimensions of His holiness are manifested, it is, no doubt, akin to standing on the surface of the Sun. No natural man can see such glory and live. There will be a change.
There is great significance in numbers, especially this one: "Three stands for that which is solid, real, substantial, complete, and entire. All things that are specially complete are stamped with this number three. Three denotes divine perfection" (E.W. Bullinger’s book, Numbers in Scripture). When one of the seraphim declared those three divine words of perfection, they pierced Isaiah’s soul like searing rivets of blazing fire. The unchained lightning of God’s absolute perfection surged through his being. It was a jolt more than his natural mind could handle, and he was left undone. The word repeated three times is enough to reduce any man to ashes; but the finishing touches for Isaiah’s transformation and perception of things followed: "...The whole earth is full of His glory." We all toy with such statements, and anxiously await that fire-filled day; but if we saw it in the scope that Isaiah saw it, we would also be left undone. Furthermore, there is an appointed time when we shall not only see it, but be a part of it (to be covered more in depth later in this series).
Nevertheless, what do we suppose ‘the whole earth’ is referring to? I believe it is speaking of exactly that: the whole earth, everything in it and of it, and everything of its heavens, land, and sea. In the earth, there is a church, a government, and the people, and all three shall be bathed in God’s glory. But there is more. Spiritually speaking, we know every person is a miniature earth themselves. Their earth consists of a spirit, soul, and body. These three realms of every person shall also be filled with God’s glory. Our Lord is able to save them all to the uttermost, to the uttermost region of a man, to the uttermost region of the earth. He is not only able, but He will do it, and Isaiah saw it! He saw God’s perfection from one end of the ages to the other and everything between. Every man, woman, and child was seen totally clean and without blemish. The whole earth was full of God’s glory. The church was pure, the government was pure, and all the people flowed like a pure symphony, crystal clear, in God’s harmony of sacred holiness. Everything and everyone was pure! Praise God! Although a prophet, what a humbling experience to a man formed from the dust, and so shall it be with you and me, brethren, and also the others.
What, or rather, who are these winged creatures that wield such powerful words of earthshaking changes in ones life? When we understand what and who the cherubim and the living creatures are, it becomes increasingly clear, especially when we see how closely related they are to one another. There is an obvious parallel between Isaiah's seraphim, Ezekiel's four living creatures, and the cherubim. We will see also the four beasts (living creatures) of Revelation speak the same. There are slight variations by each writer; but they are all associated to the same things: The manifestation of God's Glory from the throne, i.e., the Lord high and lifted up with his train filling the temple; the fiery splendor of the seraphim’s voices; and men’s lips being touched by God’s living fire. Dead stones would even be transformed and glorify God in this three-dimensional manifestation! O, who can abide His presence, as Malachi 3:2 questions? The answer is clear — no one in his natural might.
When a man finds himself in such lofty presence, the abounding evil of his heart will cease its beating. No longer will it spill ill words over the threshold of his lips. Where the law failed the live coal from the altar will succeed. It will stop the flood of sin that ever flows from that which Jeremiah said was deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jer 17:9). The law can bridle a man's tongue for a season; but it takes the fire of God to change it.
Many Christians have a hard time relating to fire in the spiritual sense. When they think of people being judged by fire, it is very difficult for them to see it being anything but literal. The lake of fire, for instance, is often viewed as natural fire. This is a good example of how men have missed the mark of truth. We will not discuss the lake of fire at this time; but before continuing, and for the sake of clarity, we will take a brief moment and let the scriptures identify fire as it is commonly used:
"Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make My WORDS in thy mouth FIRE, and this people wood, and it shall devour them." "...HIS WORD was in mine heart as a BURNING FIRE shut up in my bones..." "Is not MY WORD like as A FIRE? saith the LORD..." (Jer 5:14, 20:9, 23:29). "Who maketh His angels spirits; HIS MINISTERS a FLAMING FIRE" (Psa 104:4). And especially — "For THE LORD THY GOD is A CONSUMING FIRE (Deut 4:24, Heb 12:29). And death and hell were cast into THE LAKE OF FIRE" (Rev 20:14).
We see God is a consuming fire, His words are burning fire, His ministers are fire, His lake is fire, and together with these we have His seraphim of fire. Can they be separated from on another? We think not! They all burn with glory, God’s glory! When it comes to fire, light, lightning and glory — they are all one and the same, the express manifestation of God.
Let us also notice what it is to consume. For this action to take place there has to be two objects — a consumer and that which is consumed. In the above verse, God is the Consumer and people are the things consumed. With this, let us recall the powerful closing words of Paul after his discourse concerning the whole world: "For out of Him, and through Him, and INTO HIM, the all" (Rom 11:36 Literal). Paul simply tells us that ‘the all’ (excluding none) came out of God and shall eventually return to God. They shall all be consumed by God — He who is a consuming fire. It is simple physics: ‘The all’ who pass THROUGH and back INTO God shall become the same fire that He is.
We don't have to be rocket scientists to understand that everything Fire consumes is changed into that same element and image. When a blade of grass is consumed by fire, the law of physics rules and the grass becomes a flame. When combustible elements are subjected to fire — they change! They have no choice.
And we thought we were going to put on the image of Christ without any pain. Not so, dear friends, and neither will the rest of the world, for as Peter said: "Looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat" (2 Pet 3:12). There may be a nuclear war in the future that will ravish the heavens and the earth, as some believe and teach. We have no contention with this idea, for there is a great possibility of such things. It may literally happen; but the fire of which we speak has nothing to do with natural things. The fire is God — and in His blazing presence nothing of man's carnal powers and elemental arrangements will remain. That which is in the heavens of a man's spirit and soul will be consumed by fire. His kingdoms, all the elements of his flesh, and the base works in the world will vanish away in the awesome presence of God’s Seraphim of fire. And then will be seen: "Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: THE WHOLE EARTH IS FULL OF HIS GLORY" (Isa 6:3). Praise His glorious, fire-filled name!
To be a part of this world-changing fire, something must happen. To be ministering flames of God, dear friends, there must be a change on our part. The simple truth — we must be born from above, as Jesus said to Nicodemus (John 3:3). In other words, and since the Sun is from above, let us say, we must be born from the Sun/Son. We must first be conceived of that heavenly Seed, and from there that fire of God must consume the man of earth before we come into that same glorious image. How else could the Seraphim (the Burning Ones) have come to such blazing glory? No other way could it have happened. Carnal thoughts become Spiritual thoughts when God's flame is applied; self-centeredness becomes God-centeredness, hatred becomes Love, and evil men become Godly men.
Living Fire begets living fire the same way natural fire begets natural fire. All seeds bring forth after their own kind. Every living creature begets after its own kind. God alone is the eternal, self-existent, living flame that was not begotten. He simply is and always has been. He is the I AM! Everything else, however, must come from their parents.
The Seed by which we were begotten was of God. It was a Living Coal of Fire, pure and Holy. That is what was placed into the womb of our hearts, dear sons — a live coal of fire from the altar of the Son. Although men tried, it could not be extinguished. There may have been periods when the flame was a mere ember, and appeared dead; but it would not die, it could not die. It could not die any more than God Himself could die. If His Seed could die, then He could die; but we know such a thing is eternally impossible.
After one is conceived by the Spirit of Fire, i.e., the baptism of fire, as John the Baptist called it, he or she increases in glory. Once maturity is established, these flaming ministers become awesome manifestations of God to all they touch. Their flaming presence will change people's lives forever; for this is the law of physics.
For example, Isaiah was quite a man of God, even before he saw and heard the voice of the seraphim, the burning ones. He was a well-known prophet in the land, and had probably thought of himself as a man of great honor, and he was. For was he not chosen of God, and who else in his day had kept the letter of the law any better than he himself? What more could anyone have required or asked? The fact is, he was doing exactly what he was called to do, and nothing more was required of him, until, however, the time came for a change.
I AM UNDONE
At seeing the Lord high and lifted up and, hearing the thundering voice of one seraph to the other, Isaiah's world took on a drastic change. His former strength died, and what he once trusted in vanished. This did not happen, we might note, until his king (Uzziah) died. Most of us have, or have had, Uzziah as a king at one time or another, and he must go before the victory we are seeking becomes a reality. Uzziah represents various things in our lives, which we will hopefully cover some of them in the next publication. Today, however, we will only touch the subject.
The primary meaning of the name Uzziah is the Strength of God. One would not think such a thing has to go, but under certain conditions, it does. You see, when God’s strength becomes our king, rather than God Himself — it must go. As good as God’s strength is in our lives, it cannot take the place of God Himself. God’s strength was Uzziah’s downfall, or at least the way he took it as his own. It is common for men and women to lift God’s gifts and wonder-working power upon the throne of their minds. The ministries He gives to people very often become their kings. There is a season, however, which will dethrone them. It is when the King of that power is seen. When He is seen high and lifted up, and His voice is trumpeted through the lips of the seraphim, you can count on all other kings to become naught. No longer will we worship God’s strength in our lives; but all honor and glory and praise will be to Him alone.
When Isaiah’s king died, he saw the LORD high and lifted up. His own worth diminished to nothing, even his past calling became insignificant. The final blow to his self-esteem came with the word of the seraph. It opened his eyes and he saw God's glory filling the whole earth: "Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory" (Isa 6:3). In the majestic sphere of such a grand declaration, the prophet could say nothing, except, "...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." (Isa 6:5).
When the LORD is seen, the greatest of men are not immune to being humbled. Ezekiel fell upon his face when he saw Him and heard His voice in and about the living creatures (Ezek 1:28). Something similar happened to Jeremiah when the word came to him. He said, "...Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child" (Jer 1:6). Fortunately, his own assessment of himself was not the end of the matter. The LORD followed with, "Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Then the LORD put forth His hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth." (Jer 1:7,9).
In the presence of God and at the sound of His voice, both Jeremiah and Isaiah had trouble with their mouths, i.e., their hearts. Jeremiah viewed himself as a child with nothing to say, and Isaiah felt that his lips were unclean. If it had gone no farther, they would probably have been right, and would have vanished into obscurity. But a live coal was placed upon each prophets’ mouth, and that changed things.
The seraph placed it upon Isaiah's lips, and what touched Jeremiah's mouth was God's flaming hand as His word of fire was planted within. In the first chapter of Ezekiel these living creatures are seen as burning coals of fire (Ezek 1:13). Isaiah described them as seraphim (burners, burning fire), and every place they went and every thing they touched was affected greatly. Their words caused great men to melt like wax. These fiery wonders, these manifestations of God, destroyed the old and ushered in the new — and they shall do likewise once again.
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel’s description of these living entities were so symbolic that they defy man's natural logic to decipher. Without the Spirit of revelation it is impossible to unravel these great mysteries, but this, of course, stands to reason, as Paul enlightened us: "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him" (1 Cor 2:9).
One purpose of the cherubim, i.e., seraphim or living creatures, is to keep things hidden. From the beginning they have concealed the sacred things of God, and as long as carnal men remain, it will be the same. As man progresses deeper into Christ, however, they will see more and more of God’s wondrous glory, and all who see and hear will be tremendously changed.
FULL OF EYES
Ezekiel saw the cherubim completely covered with eyes: "And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had" (Ezek 10:12).
Who could have imagined such creatures? It is no wonder some people fail to put much stock into what he wrote. Some believe he saw flying saucers, while others conclude that he only had a bad dream from eating too many turnip greens, or perhaps some loco weed had found its way into his stew. But we can rest assured, it was neither. What he saw was by the Spirit, and it was not an illusion. John's words help to clarify that which seems strange to some. Chapter five of Revelation speaks of eyes; but this time there are seven of them, and they are associated with the slain Lamb.
Seven, as it is commonly understood, also speaks of perfection. Seven is the most frequently used number in the Bible. The Hebrew word for seven is sheval (Grk. hepta). It is from the root savah, to be full or satisfied, have enough of. Seven speaks of fulness, completion, perfection. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it without marring it. Hence the word Shavath — to cease, desist, rest; and Shabbath — Sabbath, or day of rest. It is Seven, therefore, that stamps perfection and completion to the things it is connected with: Of time, it tells of the Sabbath, and marks off the week of seven days. Seven completes the colors of the spectrum and rainbow. Seven also satisfies in music the notes of the scale, with the eighth being the same as the first, yet with a higher pitch, etc. (ref. Strong's Exhaustive Conc. & Theological Word Book of the Old Testament).
Therefore, the seven eyes of the Lamb speak of perfection, completion, nothing is lacking in what they represent. The following verse tells us plainly what the eyes are: "And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth." (Rev 5:6).
With only a small amount of insight we can see that the eyes of the cherubim, the seraphim, the living creatures, and those of the Lamb are all the same. They are THE SPIRIT of the Living God manifested IN FULLNESS. Let us pause for a moment and consider where the fullness of His Spirit is going: The seven Spirits of God are sent forth into A–L–L THE EARTH. Brethren, this hasn't happened yet; for if it had, we would see the whole world falling on their faces before the Lord; but praise God, we shall see it! It is His plan for the ages. Few, however, know very little about His plan that spans the eons of time. Those who should be wise with years are disappointingly backward in the affairs of God and His kingdom. Where they should be filled with light, darkness abides. In turn, they keep the people bound in the same.
Few are remotely aware that the Spirit is being prepared to be sent forth into all the earth. Before this, however, it will be sent into the whole expanse of our earth — our spirit, our soul, and our body. The Gospel that went forth in the days of the apostles turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). There had never been anything like it before or since. The sending forth of the seven eyes of the Lamb, however, which are the same as those of the Living creatures who are full of eyes, i.e., the fullness of God's Spirit, transcends anything that has happened to date. It is far beyond the range of man's finite imaginations. The Church as an infant was glorious; but just wait until it is of age — who can fathom it?
While enduring his affliction on Patmos, John saw it as signs. He found himself caught up to a place few have been lifted. What he saw was the same as Ezekiel and Isaiah’s visions. The heavenly creatures had wings, multiple eyes, and voices, and in the Old Testament the creatures were of fire. It is easily seen that they speak of the refining process they went through. They were judged and found worthy to become flaming emissaries of God. Their fiery appearance also speaks of the world coming into judgment at their presence. The wings, of course, indicate their dominion and authority in realms higher than any of the earth. Their habitation is in the heavens. Their power and authority are spiritual. The living creatures are full of eyes. The eyes are the fullness of the Spirit of God going throughout the earth.
Elwin R.
Roach
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