seraphim hovered on both sides of Him that sat upon the throne, and therefore formed two opposite choirs, each ranged in a semicircle, they presented antiphonal worship to Him that sat upon the throne.-Delitzsch.

The cherubim in the temple represented no doubt spiritual powers and presence in the most general sense, those who look upon God and reflect His light. If we distinguish between them and the cherubim, as we do in our "Te Deum," these last would seem more especially to represent those divine energies and affections of which the zeal, devotion, and sympathy of man are counterparts.-F. D. Maurice.

The name cannot possibly be connected with saraph, a snake (Sanscrit, sarpa, Latin, Serpens); and to trace the word to a verb såraph in the sense of the Arabic ‘sarafa ('sarufa), to tower high, to be exalted, or highly honoured (as Gesenius, Hengstenberg, and others have done), yields a sense that does not very strongly commend itself. On the other hand, to follow Knobel, who reads sharâthim, worshippers of God), and thus presents the Lexicon with a new word, and to pronounce the word seraphim a copyist's error, would be a rash concession to the heaven-storming omnipotence which is supposed to reside in the ink of a German scholar. It is hardly admissible, however, to interpret the name as signifying directly spirits of light or fire, since the true meaning of saraph is not urere (to burn), but comburere (to set on fire or burn up). Umbreit endeavours to do justice to this transitive meaning by adopt ing the explanation "fiery beings," by which all earthly corruption is opposed and destroyed. The vision itself, however, appears to point to a much more distinctive and special meaning in the name, which only occurs in this passage of Isaiah. . . If the fact that a seraph absolved the seer by means of this fire of love (vers. 6, 7) is to be taken as an illustrative example of the historical calling of the seraphim, they were the vehicles and media of the fire of divine love, just as the cherubim in Ezekiel are vehicles and media of the fire of divine wrath. For just as in the case before

The seraphim afford us a model for imitation. Our Lord has animated us in our Christian course by promising that, if we are faithful, we shall be made like the angels in heaven; but if we would hereafter resemble them in glory, we must first resemble them here in temper. Let us, therefore, prepare in time to join the concert of these holy intelligences. I. They burn with love to God. The honour

us, a seraph takes the fire of love from the alter; so there, in Ezek. x. 6, 7, a cherub takes the fire of wrath from the throne-chariot. Consequently the cherubim appear as the vehicles and media of the wrath which destroys sinners, or rather of the divine doxa, with its fiery side turned towards the world; and the seraphim as the vehicles and media of the love which destroys sin, or of the same divine doxa with its light side towards the world. . . . "Seraphic love" is the expression used in the language of the Church to denote the ne plus ultra of holy love in the creature. -Delitzsch.

(8) Thus expressing his profound reverence and becoming modesty in the Divine presence. We can hardly approach those who are greatly our superiors but with downcast eyes, intimating the consciousness we feel of their preeminence, and our profound respect for their excellency and dignity. We cannot look at the sun shining with meridian splendour, but we are obliged to cover our eyes with our hands. Such is the infinite glory of the eternal Jehovah, that celestial spirits around His throne appeared to our prophet covering their faces with their wings. Light inaccessible and full of glory, in which God resides, was too strong for them directly to contemplate.-Macculloch.

(7) In Scripture language the feet sometimes denote all the lower parts of the body which decency requires to be concealed. In eastern countries these were generally covered by the long garments which they were accustomed to wear hence it may have been thought want of respect to appear in public, on solemn occasions, with the feet uncovered.-Macculloch.

In a similar description of the cherubim in Ezek. i. 11, it is said that they covered their bodies. In Isaiah the expression clearly denotes, not the feet only, but the lower extremities.Barnes.

How little do we know of beings whose forms from their faces to their feet are 'covered!'-B. W. Newton.

EXAMPLE.

the seraphim, &c.

able name they bear is derived from a word signifying to burn, and denotes. the fervour of that zeal for the interests of their Lord by which they are animated. II. Notwithstanding their vast endowments, they bend with reverence and humility before the throne of the Lord. III. They fly with rapidity to execute His commands.-Henry Kollock, D.D. : Sermons, pp. 585, 586.

redemption. Possibly (though perhaps not probably) this earth is the only sphere in which His glory in this respect is manifested. But here it is manifested in the mission and work of His Son (Eph. iii. 10). Even where Even where the Gospel has not yet been proclaimed there are senses in which His glory as the God of redemption is manifested: even there, for Christ's sake, He is patient with sinners, He strives with them by His Spirit, He is preparing them for the future triumphs of the Cross. The history of our race, when it shall be seen as a whole, will all redound to His glory as the God of redemption (8). 3. In the holiness of God the seraphim find the supreme subject for adoration and song: Holy, &c. Other attributes of the Most High are the themes of their thought and worship, but it is His holiness that excites their most rapturous praise. Why 1. They have never needed His mercy; it is reserved for us to sing the sweet song of redeeming grace. On account of our redemption they rejoice. (Luke xv. 10), but doubtless they rejoice in it most because the mercy shown us is a holy mercy; it was so shown as to solve some of the profoundest moral problems, and so as to leave untouched the principle of righteousness on which God's throne eternally abides (Rom. iii. 26). Not having needed that mercy themselves, it is natural that they should rather magnify the holiness which has been shown in it and which is the need of all. It is the holiness of God that gives value to all His other attributes. They are valuable only because they are directed by unswerving holiness. The holiness of God is the foundation of the peace, the joy, and the love of the moral universe. Were God not holy, even hell itself would be a more awful abode; for then to all its other woes would be added the possibility of suffering inflicted in mere vindictiveness.

2.

We

also are called to join in the song of the seraphim (Ps. xxx. 4, xcvii. 12): let us beseech Him so to sanctify us by His Spirit, that in our lips the song may not be a sacrilege!

III. THE EFFECTS OF THE SONG. 1. "The posts of the door moved at the voice of Him that cried" (). A symbol this of the constant effects of the proclamation of truth. At every new announcement of it earthly things that seem most solid shake, and many of them totter and fall and disappear (2 Cor. x. 4; Heb. xii. 26-28). 2. And the house was filled with smoke. In response to the worship of the seraphim the temple became so completely filled with the Divine glory that the radiance overpowered the prophet's vision. What he calls "smoke was excess of light (1 Kings viii. 10-12; Rev. xv. 8) (3). So would it be with us were our craving for a fuller manifestation of God in His works and word granted. We have as much light now as we can bear. A fuller revelation would only dazzle, confuse, and blind us. The time is to come when we shall see God "as He is," but this will then be possible, because " we shall be like Him; " and that time is not yet!

"

(a) "Above the throne stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly." The sense of awe increasing with the clearness and purity of a spirit and with the nearness of its approach to light from Him, and most covets to behold God; the face being veiled which receives its Him; the absence of all wish to display their own perfection in spirits who are perfect; the freedom and willingness to go anywhere, to the more obvious thoughts which the study of do any errands of mercy; these are some of this vision suggests. There are others which lie hidden, which we may have a glimpse of from time to time, and which words might mar. For it is true of earthly symbols, still more of heavenly visions, that they are meant to carry us out of words and above words. F. D. Maurice.

(8) Among the ancients, Mercury, the messenger of Jupiter, was always represented with wings.-Barnes.

(y) This title of Jehovah, with some variations, is found upwards of 260 times in the Old Testament. The meaning of the word hosts is doubtless the same as that of army in Dan. iv. 35, and includes all the myriads of holy angels who people the celestial spheres, as in 1 Kings xxii. 19 the Host of Heaven were seen by Micaiah standing round the throne of God. So in Ps. ciii. 21, cxlviii. 2, the Hosts of God are His angels. (Comp. Deut. xxxiii. 2.)

By a slight metonymy, or may be in a slightly different sense, the Host of Heaven designates the heavenly spheres themselves (Gen. ii. 1; Deut. iv. 19, xvii. 3; Isa. xxxiv. 4, &c.). It is probably with reference to the idolatrous worship of the Host of Heaven that the title of the Lord of hosts was given to the true God, as asserting His universal supremacy. (See Neh. ix. 6.) In the New Testament the phrase occurs only once, James v. 4, the Lord of Sabaoth. In Rom. ix. 29, it is a quotation from Isaiah.-Professor Rawlinson.

(8) Sin has already served, as all things must, to bring into view more clearly the glory of God, for had there been no sin there could have been no mercy; and in its punishment, its overthrow, and its extirpation, His glory will be yet more signally displayed. Hercules could never have been deified, if there had been no monsters to overcome. True is the seraph's song even now, but it shall be more manifestly and gloriously true in that day, so surely and swiftly drawing nigh, when Christ shall have subdued all enemies unto Him, and God shall be All in all.-R. A. B.

The vision reaches its highest point in the cry, Holy, holy, holy! It is the holiness of God which the seraphim proclaim, that which cannot be represented to the eye, that of which descriptions and symbols furnish no image. It is that holiness which fills not the heaven of heavens only but the whole earth, seing that was made very good, seeing that in its order and constitution it was still perfectly good, though men defiled it by their deeds, though the habitations of cruelty were set up in the midst of it.-F. D. Maurice.

(e) The voice of the seraphim at this time was so loud and melodious, and the power of their heavenly music was so great, when extolling the holiness and glory of Jehovah, that the posts, with the lintel of the door of the temple, seemed to tremble, to be shaken in the place where they stood, or loosed from their place. This was a very surprising effect (though seen only in vision), for these posts were so large and strong, that they supported gates of brass which are said to have required twenty men to shut them, on account of their ponderous weight.-Macculloch.

() Delitzsch thus gives the usual interpretation of this clause: The house was filled with smoke. Many compare this with the similar occurrence in connection with the dedication of Solomon's temple (1 Kings viii. 10); but Drechsler is correct in stating that the two cases are not parallel, for there God simply attested His own presence by the cloud of smoke behind which He concealed Himself, whereas here there was no need of any such self-attestation. Moreover, in this instance God does not dwell in the cloud and thick darkness, whilst the smoke is represented as the effect of the songs of praise in which the seraphim have joined, and not of the presence of God. The smoke arose from the altar of incense mentioned in verse 6. But when Drechsler says that it was the prayers of saints (as in Rev. v. 8, viii. 3, 4), which ascended to the Lord in the smoke, this is a thought which is quite out of place here. The smoke was the immediate consequence of the seraph's song of praise.

the

Visions of the throne of God were given to Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel among the prophets, and to John among the Apostles (a). I The distinguished privilege. "I saw Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple." "Mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." The invisible and unapproachable God revealed Himself to the bewildered seer through the glory of the afterwards incarnate. Christ (John xii. 41). May we behold God? Certainly we may. 1. In His Son Jesus Christ (Heb. i. 3; 2 Cor. iv. 4; Col. i. 15; John xiv. 8, 9). 2. In His works and Word. The works are the embodied words of God. In the Scriptures we may see the mind, the heart, the purposes, the character

of God. 3. In His sanctuary. In the act of worship, while in the temple, Isaiah beheld the glory of the Lord (Ps. lxiii. 1, 2, lxviii. 24). II. The profound abasement. It is true that "before honour is humility." The converse is also true. Isaiah's humility was the effect of overwhelming honour. A sight of God brought self-revelation; depravity was revealed by the dazzling whiteness of divine purity. 1. There was consternation. "Woe is me; for I am undone." 2. There was self-loathing. "I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips." The vision of God results in a vivid and painful sense of sin (Job xlii. 5, 6; Luke v. 8). III. The divine cleansing. Absolution is connected with confession (1 John i. 9). 1. The cleans

ing was efficacious. 2. The purification was by means of sacrifice. 3. The removal of defilement was immediate. A man so prepared is made ready for any ministry of testimony, toil, or tribulation.-Matthew Braithwaite.

(a) "We should naturally expect that a vision vouchsafed to an Apostle of Christ, at the end of the first century of the Christian era, would be larger in scope, brighter in glory, less enigmatical in structure, in significance, than those which were attached to the ministrations of prophets. This expectation is not disappointed. We find the visions of the throne of God which prophets saw revived and incorporated in the Apostle's vision, and we find the Christian seer enlightened with a more distinct understanding of the heavenly symbols. Isaiah saw the throne of God in the temple, surrounded by seraphim,"crying one to another, Holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts." Ezekiel, sitting by the river of Chebar, saw the throne of God as a chariot of war coming out of a whirlwind and going forth over the earth, attended by mighty ministers of judgment, carrying the Son of Man to victory. Daniel beheld the great session of justice; the gathered myriads before the awful purity of the Divine Judge; the consuming laws executed by the faithful servants. But the Christian Apostle, looking through the door of heaven, beheld all these ancient visions, which had come down through eight centuries

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of time, blended into one. He saw Isaiah's seraphim, but they had the appearance of Ezekiel's living creatures, with fourfold countenance; their wings were still visible, and their voices still responded, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!" He saw the thrones round about the Throne, as Daniel saw them, but he was able to count them; they were four and twenty; and upon the seats he " saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment, and they had on their heads crowns of gold.' The stream of fire, which the prophet saw proceeding from under the throne, was now 'a sea of glass like unto crystal." He that sat on the throne, who appeared to Ezekiel as though He were clothed with fiery amber, was "to look upon like a jasper and sardine stone;" and the rainbow was still there, "round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald." "Lightnings, thunderings, and voices" proceeded out of the throne, as before fire flamed out and devoured. "The seven spirits of God," like "burning lamps of fire," stand in the presence of the Holy One. And the Apostle witnessed the sublime service of heaven, the living creatures "giving glory and honour and thanks to Him that sat on the throne;" and, in response to their worship, "the four and twenty elders falling down before Him and worshipping Him," and singing their united praises, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power; for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created!"-R. A. Redford.

This is a chapter of autobiography. Here is disclosed the secret of the wonderful energy with which for more than half a century Isaiah prosecuted his ministry. He is the Paul of the Old Testament. Allowance being made for difference of phraseology, there is a striking resemblance between the call of Isaiah and of Paul (comp. chap. vi. with Acts ix.). Both sought to serve the heavenly King; and both received a commission to work, spiritual and catholic beyond all conceptions of their time,-the one penning the Gospel of the suffering Messiah, the other vindicating the truth that the Gospel is God's message to the world. The text reminds us

I. Of the Christian's offer of service. The offer of service which the prophet made was-1. Free. Hespoke spontaneously, and not as, the result of pressure from without (a). 2. Truthful. Un

like one of the sons in the parable (Matt. xxi. 30), he meant what he said. 3. Bold. It was made concerning an unknown mission. The justification of the boldness of his offer is, that it was made to God, who always qualifies His servants for the tasks to which He calls them. 4. Personal. The prophet placed at God's disposal, not some of his property merely, but himself. 5. It involved the most complete self-surrender. All thought of self control the prophet resigned. placed himself as an instrument in God's hands. He was ready to go where, when, and on what errand God might determine (8). Such are the offers of service in which God delights.

He

II. Of the steps that lead up to this offer. The offer may take men by surprise, but there has always been preparation for it, as there has been long preparation for the lightning that