Chapter XIII: Part 13

+I. Earthly powers fade and perish, but the Eternal Power that uses them all lives on+ (ver. 1). Comfort here, when a great king or statesman is taken away from the head of a nation; when a great leader of an arduous reformatory movement, such as Luther, is laid low; when an eloquent preacher or wise pastor is summoned to his rest; or even when the head of a household is cut off just when his family most need his care. He who has wrought by their instrumentality can work without it (Ps. lxviii. 5, &c.) +II. In God's temples there is room only for God.+ "His train filled the Temple." Ahaz could build in the courts of the Lord's house an altar to the god of Damascus (2 Kings xvi. 10-16), but he could not worship two gods there, for the only living and true God departed when His sanctuary was thus profaned. God will have all, or none (Isa. xlii. 8). All His earthly temples must be counterparts of the one heavenly temple, where He reigns alone. In no church will God divide His empire with the State or with popular opinion: we _must_ choose between Him and all other authorities. In no heart will He reign along with any other principle or passion (Matt. vi. 24). +III. Until we reach the land where there is no temple, we cannot see God as He is.+[2] To Isaiah a vision of God was granted, and yet it was but a symbolic vision. He saw a throne, and on it seated a Being of indescribable majesty; but who imagines that he saw God as He is? Does God sit on a throne, after the fashion of kings such as Uzziah, who fade and die? The vision was a condescension to the human faculties of the seer, and served its purpose, that of impressing upon him the majesty and holiness of the Most High. And he tells us more of the ministers who surround the throne than of its Occupant! Him no words can describe; of Him no absolute disclosure is now possible; He can but give us revelations--visions--administrations of Himself. And this He has done. 1. _In nature._ The purpose of the manifold and wondrous universe is not accomplished if we look only at the creation, and do not discern in it veils not thickly hiding, but helping to reveal the Creator (Rom. i. 19, 20).[3] 2. _In Providence._ The manner in which the world is governed is, to the man who studies it comprehensively, earnestly, and reverently, a revelation of the character of the Ruler. 3. _In His Word._ That man miserably mistakes, who studies the Bible as anything less than a many-sided disclosure of God. 4. _In Christ:_[4] a familiar thought this, yet how seldom do we enter into its depths! We do not worship an unknown God, yet we cannot see Him as He is until we have entered into that light which is inaccessible and which no mortal can approach unto, until we have been ourselves transformed into "children of light," and so rendered capable of looking on "the Father of lights." +IV. Those to whom He reveals Himself most fully are most humble, and those whom He most exalts are most ready to serve.+ We have both these truths illustrated in the seraphim and in Isaiah.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The scene of the Vision is the Temple, and its features
will have the same whether we suppose them to have risen
before Isaiah's imagination while he was absent from the
spot, in the solitude of his chamber or his house-top, or
assume (as I myself prefer to do), that he was actually
praying in the Temple at the time.

Though it is unlikely that any of the successors to what
was but a small remnant of Solomon's kingdom perfectly
restored the Temple after it was deprived of its original
splendour by Shishak in the reign of Rehoboam, yet we see
the worthier princes from time to time repairing the
structure when it had been suffered to fall into decay, and
replacing, as far as they could, the treasures and the
costly decorations of which it was repeatedly despoiled to
buy off foreign invaders; and probably there was no period
in which the restoration would be more complete than in the
reign of Uzziah, who in his power, wealth, and
magnificence, came nearer than any other to Solomon. As
there will be much more of fact than of fancy in the
picture, if, for the clearer understanding of the scene of
the vision, we figure to ourselves the youthful prophet in
his rough hair or woollen garment (probably not unlike that
of the Capuchin friar as we now see him in the streets or
churches of Rome), going up to the Temple to worship;--and
if we look with him at the Temple as, at the end of 300
years from its building, it must have presented itself to
his eyes, with its ample courts, and colonnades, and porch,
and its holy house, and holy of holies, well-proportioned,
and of the most elaborate workmanship, though rather
massive than large according to our notions. As he crossed
the variegated pavement of "the great court of the
congregation," and stopped--for we have no reason to
suppose him a Levite--at the entrance to the inner, or
"priests'" court, on each hand would rise one of the tall
pillars which Solomon set up in token that the kingdom was
constituted by Jehovah, and would be upheld by His might
(1 Kings vii. 21; 2 Chron. iii. 17), and which, once of
"bright brass," but now mellowed into bronze, had their
square capitals richly wreathed with molten lilies,
chain-work, and pomegranates; before him, resting on the
back of the twelve oxen, and cast like them in brass, would
appear the "molten sea," a basin of thirty cubits in
circumference, and containing two or three thousand _baths_
of water, its brim wrought "like the brim of a cup with
flowers of lilies," and under these a double row of
ornamental knobs; while on each side stood five smaller
lavers, the bases of which rested on wheels, and were most
elaborately ornamented with oxen, lions, cherubims, and
palm-trees engraved upon them; and beyond these again he
would see the great brazen altar of burnt-offering, with
its never-extinguished fire; and overhead the roof of thick
cedar beams resting on rows of columns. These were the
courts of the palace of the Divine King of Israel, for the
reception of His subjects and His ministers. [Compare the
description of Solomon's own house, which besides its inner
porch had another where he sat to judge the people, 1 Kings
vii. 7. The arrangement of the Temple is plainly that of a
palace.] The house itself again consisted of two parts, the
outer of which, the holy place, was accessible to those
priests who were in immediate attendance on their unseen
Sovereign, while the inner, or holiest place, was the very
presence-chamber of the Monarch who dwelt "between the
cherubims," which spread their golden wings over the ark
containing the covenant He had vouchsafed to enter into
with His people, and itself forming a "mercy-seat," where
was "the place of His throne and the place of the sole of
His feet." In the position which I have, following the
requirements of the narrative in the chapter before us,
supposed Isaiah to be placed, he would see through the open
folding-doors of cypress, carved "with cherubims, and
palm-trees, and open flowers," and "carved with gold and
upon the carved work," into the holy place, which he could
not enter; and the light of the golden lamps on either side
would show him the cedar panelling of the walls, carved
with knobs and open flowers, with cherubims and palm-trees,
festooned with chain-work, and richly gilt; the mosaics of
precious stone; the cypress floor; the altar of incense;
the table with the shew-bread; the censers, tongs, and
other furniture of "pure and perfect gold;" and before the
doorway to the further end, and not concealed by the open
leaves of the olive-wood doors (carved and gilded like the
others), would be distinguishable the folds of the vail "of
blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen," embroidered
with cherubims. In the East the closed vail, or _purdah,_
declares the presence and secures the privacy of the
monarch, into which no man may intrude and live; and in the
Temple at Jerusalem it was the symbol of the awful presence
and unapproachable majesty of the King Jehovah, Lord of
hosts. . . . Perhaps on this occasion, or certainly on many
others, Isaiah had been joining in the public daily
sacrifice and worship, and had afterwards brought his own
free-will offering--a bullock or a lamb without blemish.
Such an offering, the symbol of his dedication of himself
to Jehovah's service, would be the natural expression of
his earnest desire for some token that at last it was
permitted him to enter on the actual functions of the
prophetic office for which he had been so long preparing;
and that this vision was the answer to such beautiful
prayerful desire--itself an inspiration from on high--we
may well believe.--_Strachey._

Some of you may have been watching a near and beautiful
landscape in the land of mountains and eternal snows, till
you have been exhausted by its very richness, and till the
distant hills which bounded it have seemed, you knew not
why, to limit and contract the view,--and then a veil has
been withdrawn, and new hills not looking as if they
belonged to this earth, yet given another character to all
that does belong to it, have unfolded themselves before
you. This is an imperfect, very imperfect, likeness (yet it
is one), of that revelation which must have been made to
the inner eye of the prophet when he saw another throne
than the throne of the house of David, another king than
Uzziah or Jotham, another train than that of priests or
minstrels in the Temple, other winged forms than those
golden ones which overshadowed the mercy-seat. Each object
was the counterpart of one that was then or had been at
some time before his bodily eyes. . . . The symbols and
service of the Temple were not, as priests and people often
thought, an earthly machinery for scaling a distant heaven;
they were witnesses of a Heaven nigh at hand, of a God
dwelling in the midst of His people, of His being
surrounded by spirits which do His pleasure, hearkening to
the voice of His words.--_F. D. Maurice._

[2] See my _Dictionary of Poetical Illustrations,_ No. 1501;
and my _Homiletic Encyclopædia of Illustrations,_ Nos.
2229-2240.

[3] P. D., 1489, 1493, 1496, 1502, 1504-1506, 1508, 1509, 1511,
1514, 1519, 1526, 2545, 2552, 2563; H. E. I., 2242.

[4] H. E. I., 854-857, 2241, 2243.

ISAIAH'S VISION.

vi. 1-7. _In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the
Lord, &c._[1]

Behold, in these temple scenes, both what the Lord your God is, and what He requires from you.

+I.+ The first of these temple scenes presents to our view +the majesty of God:+ "I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high, and lifted up." One of the first and most important truths for us to learn is the absolute rule of God--over nature, man, the principalities of heaven. He sitteth upon His throne: this is the attitude, 1. Of _supremacy and dignity;_ He sitteth while all other beings stand before Him to receive His commands, bow in adoration, or are prostrate in abasement. 2. It is the attitude of _ease and perfect security._[2] But, above all, mark the place of His throne as displayed in this wonderful vision. It stands in the temple; it has been sprinkled with the blood of propitiation; it is _now_ the mercy-seat. To the truly penitent all its terror appears softened with grace.

+II.+ The second of these temple scenes displays to us +the ineffable and incomprehensible nature of God.+ Let not man suppose that he can by searching find out God, or know the Almighty unto perfection. This is scenically, but most impressively, represented to us in the vision before us: "His train"--the skirts of the shekinah--"filled the temple," its fainter rays beaming from the central blaze in the holiest of all, and irradiating the more distant objects. But even that was too much for man, and it is therefore added, "And the house was filled with smoke;" a veil was thus drawn over what was too bright and dazzling for mortal vision; and though God dwelt in the light, yet it was light involving itself in thick darkness (Ps. xcvii. 2; Ex. xvi. 10). Revelation has not superseded mystery (Job xxvi. 14). As to His dispensations, we are all still to walk by faith rather than by sight; and as to the depths of His nature, rather to adore than reason. An infinite being is necessarily incomprehensible by finite beings;[3] He must be mysterious. If we could fully know God, we must either be equal to Him, or He must lose the glory of His nature and come down to ourselves (1 Cor. xiii. 9; Rom. xi. 33).

+III.+ The third view presented by this vision is that of +the adorable and awful holiness of God+ (ver. 3). This is seen in His titles (Ps. lxxi. 22; Deut. xxxii. 4); in His acts; in His law; in His visible image on earth, His Son incarnate; in His Gospel; in His judgments; in the reward of the righteous.

+IV.+ In the next scene which the vision presents we behold +a sinful man convicted and laid prostrate before this holy God+ (ver. 5).

+V.+ In the final scene we behold +a convicted, self-abased, and penitent man pardoned and consecrated to the service of God+ (ver. 6, 7). What are we taught by this wondrous representation? That for guilty men there is pardon, that for unholy men there is purification, and that lips once unclean, but not sanctified, may join in the hymns of seraphim, and, without dread, approach to God, and celebrate the glories even of His holiness. This we are taught, but not this only; not merely is the fact, but the manner of it, brought before us. See, then, the means. The instrument of purification is fire; but not any kind of fire, fire from any place; it is fire from the altar, the altar where atonement is made for sin; fire, therefore, both of Divine origin, and coming to us through the great Propitiation. We can be at no loss for an interpretation of the symbols thus employed. Our altar is the cross; the propitiatory sacrifice, the spotless Lamb of God; by the merit of His death, and the baptizing fire of His Spirit, and the guilty and polluted pardoned and sanctified to God.--_Richard Watson: Works,_ vol. iv. pp. 143-153.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] God is invisible; yet in that heavenly world in which He
has His special and eternal residence He manifests himself
in ineffable glory, dwelling in what the Scriptures call
"the light which no man can approach unto." Of that
heavenly world, the tabernacle and temple were splendid
emblems; they were "patterns of heavenly things." But why
the astonishing fact, that when sinful creatures created a
tent in the wilderness, and a temple subsequently at
Jerusalem, the visible glory of God descended, taking
possession of the place? God thus came down from heaven to
earth, with all these impressive circumstances of visible
majesty, to teach His creatures that He was awfully
glorious, and fearful even in His praises; that even in His
acts of grace His holiness is solemnly declared; and thus
to show with what reverence and purity man ought to
approach to Him. So when Isaiah was to be appointed to an
office in which he was to fear God, and not the face of
man, and which, to give it weight and authority, required
an entire sanctity, a scene similar to that which had been
displayed in the temple at its consecration, but greatly
heightened and magnified, was disclosed to him in vision.
The space of this visionary temple appears to have been far
more ample than that of the one at Jerusalem; the throne
was greatly elevated, it was "high, and lifted up;" the
"train," the "skirts" (as in the margin) of the cloud of
the Divine presence filled the whole place; instead of the
carved representations of the cherubim of glory fixed on
the mercy-seat, the prophet beholds the cherubim
themselves, living, and all ardour, activity, and
adoration; they are not represented in the vision as the
cherubim in the holiest of all, silently gazing on the
glory of God and the mysteries of His covenant, but as
hymning His praises, proclaiming His spotless purity, and
declaring "the whole earth to be full of His glory." The
prophet, beholding the wondrous scene, sinks oppressed and
self-abhorred, until a coal from the altar touches his
lips, and he is thus sanctified to the service of God, and
put among His ministers.--_Watson._

[2] No rebellions shake the throne of God; though "the heathen
rage and the people imagine a vain thing," yet "he that
sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have
them in derision." The throne of God is a rock in the midst
of the ever-rolling ocean of created existence, that heaves
and swells with ceaseless change; but, in comparison of
Him, its mightiest billows have but their moment of
existence, and sink into the mass at the base of the
immovable throne of the Everlasting One.--_Watson._

[3] An observer on a mountain-cliff may be able to survey the
whole circumference of a lake that lies beneath him, but no
man can see the whole of the ocean, simply because it _is_
the ocean, and not a lake.--_Watson._

THE SERAPHIM.

vi. 2. _Above it stood the seraphim:_[1] _each had six
wings, &c._

I. _"With twain he covered his face."_[2] They bow with prostrate awe, veiling themselves in the presence of the Divine glory, as though feeling the force of those strong words, "He chargeth His angels with folly, and the heavens are not clean in His sight." If the angels tremble when they gaze, what should man feel? II. _"With twain he covered his feet."_[3] Among Orientals this expresses reverence. Well may _you_ bow in reverence before Him! The sense of pardon will humble you, even while it fills you with holy exaltation. III. _"With twain he did fly"_--in readiness to execute His commands.--_Richard Watson: Works,_ vol. ix. pp. 150-153.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] As those that are nearest of a king's attendants stand
behind his throne or chair of state, at his elbow.--_Day._

This is the only passage of Scripture in which the seraphim
are mentioned. According to the orthodox view, which
originated with Dionysius the Areopagite, they stand at the
head of the nine choirs of angels, the first rank
consisting of _seraphim, cherubim,_ and _throni._ And this
is not without support, if we compare the cherubim
mentioned in Ezekiel, which carried the chariot of the
divine throne; whereas here the seraphim are said to
surround the seat on which the Lord worshipped. In any
case, the seraphim and cherubim were heavenly beings of
different kinds; and there is no weight in the attempts of
Hendewerk and Stickel to prove that they are one and the
same. And certainly the name _seraphim_ does not signify
merely spirits as such, but even, if not the highest of
all, yet a distinct order from the rest; for the Scriptures
really teach that there are gradations in rank in the
hierarchy of heaven. Nor were they mere symbols or fanciful
images, as Hävernick imagines, but real spiritual beings
who visibly appeared to the prophet, and that in a form
corresponding to their own supersensuous being, and to the
design of the whole transaction. Whilst the 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 _sârâph,_ a
snake (Sanscrit, _sarpa,_ Latin, _Serpens_); and to trace
the word to a verb _sâraph_ in the sense of the Arabic
'sarafa ('sarufa), to tower high, to be exalted, or highly
honoured (as Gesenius, Hengetenberg, and others have done),
yields a sense that does not very strongly commend itself.
On the other hand, to follow Knobel, who reads shârâthim,
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 _sâraph_ is not _urere_
(to burn), but _comburere_ (to set on fire or burn up).
Umbreig endeavours to do justice to this transitive meaning
by adopting 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 were the vehicles and media of the fire
of divine wrath. For just as in the case before us, a
seraph takes the fire of love from the altar; 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 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._

[2] 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 pre-eminence,
and our profound respect for the 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._

[3] 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._

A GLORIOUS EXAMPLE.

vi. 2. _Above it stood the seraphim, &c._

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 honourable 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.

THE SERAPHIM AND THEIR SONG.

vi. 2-4. _And above it stood the seraphim, &c._

I. THE SERAPHIM.--The Scriptures disclose to us the fact that there is a spiritual world, vast and variously populated, superior to this world, yet connected with it and exerting upon it powerful influences. Little beyond the _fact_ is made known to us; few details are granted us; yet glimpses into it have been vouchsafed, and among the most interesting and instructive of them is our text.

Only here do we read of _seraphim:_ elsewhere we read of _cherubim_ (Gen. iii. 24; Ezek. x. 1-22, &c.); and of _living ones_ (Rev. iv. 6-8). From the fact that these "living ones" in some respects resemble both the "seraphim" of Isaiah and the "cherubim" of Ezekiel, some eminent scholars believe these are three names for one order of beings. Others, with whom we are disposed to sympathise, believe that the two names "cherubim" and "seraphim" really indicate two orders of spiritual intelligences, resembling each other, yet distinct. Whether the "living ones" of the Apocalypse are cherubim, or seraphim, or a third order of exalted ministers of the Most High, is a question concerning which we cannot speak confidently.

Scholars are divided as to the significance of the name "seraphim:" some derive the word from a root signifying _to burn,_ others from a root signifying _to be exalted._

But there can be no question that the descriptions of the "seraphim," the "cherubim," and the "living ones" are symbolical; the terms employed are figures adapted to convey to our minds true descriptions of beings of whom a literal description would now be unintelligible by us.[1] _"Wings"_ are symbols of swiftness:[2] here the symbol is triplicated to indicate the exceeded swiftness--the immense energy--of these messengers of God (Ps. civ. 4). _"With twain he covered his face,"_ in token of humility. _"With twain he covered his feet,"_ in token of reverence. _"With twain he did fly,"_ in token of readiness to do God's will--three points in which we should strive evermore to resemble these exalted intelligences.

To them is granted an immediate vision of God, and the effect upon them is expressed by their song: _"Holy,"_ &c.

II. Consider next THIS SONG OF THE SERAPHIM. +1. They acknowledge God as "the Lord of hosts."+[3] This term in its first use in human language referred to the sun, moon, and stars (Gen. ii. 1; Neh. ix. 6, &c.). Thus considered, how wonderful are the conceptions which are opened out to us of the Divine power and glory! (Isa. xi. 2-6). But it includes also those thousands of thousands of exalted intelligences who hearken to His word and do His pleasure. "A great King" is the Lord our God! +2. They teach us that the glory of God is co-extensive with His works.+ All that Isaiah saw was that God's glory filled the temple: what they saw was that His glory filled the earth. _"The whole earth," &c._ 1. This declaration is true, if we think of Him _as the God of nature._ Everything that He has made is "good." Even a snowflake shows forth His glory. Science is a servant of God, and is teaching us to understand somewhat of the wondrousness and beneficence of His works. 2. It is true if we think of Him _as the God of providence._ Human history, comprehensively and thoughtfully considered, shows that, while men are free, they are yet under the control of One who rules over all in the interests of righteousness and truth (Ps. lxxvi. 10; Isa. x. 5-7, &c.). To angelic intelligences how profoundly interesting must be the problems which God is working out in the government of this world! (Rev. xv. 3). 3. It is true even if we think of Him _as the God of 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 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.[4] +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 had been shown in it and which is the need of all. 2. _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, and 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. 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."_[5] 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).[6] 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!

FOOTNOTES:

[1] _"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 God; the face
being veiled which receives the light for Him, and most
covets to behold Him; the absence of all which to display
their own perfection in spirits who are perfect; the
freedom and willingness to go anywhere, to do any errands
of mercy; these are some of the more obvious thoughts which
the study 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._

[2] Among the ancients, _Mercury,_ the messenger of Jupiter,
was always represented with wings.--_Barnes._

[3] This title of Jehovah, with some variations, is found
upwards of 160 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 light
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._

[4] 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, _seeing that was made very good,
seeing that in its order and constitution it was still
perfectly good,_ though man defiled it by their deeds,
though the habitations of cruelty were set upon the midst
of it.--_F. D. Maurice._

[5] 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._

[6] _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, there is a thought which is quite
out of place here. The smoke was the immediate consequence
of the seraph's song of praise.

A SIGHT OF GOD AND A SENSE OF SIN.

vi. 5-7. _Then said I, &c._

Visions of the throne of God were given to Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel among the prophets, and to John among the Apostles.[1] +I. The distinguished privilege.+ "I saw the 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 cleansing_ _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._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] 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, 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 of
time, blended into one. He saw Isaiah's seraphim, but they
had the appearance of Ezekiel's living creatures, with
fourfold countenances; 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 witnesses 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._

VOLUNTEER SERVICE.

vi. 8. _Then said I, Here am I, send me._

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._ He spoke spontaneously, and not as the result of pressure from without.[1] 2. _Truthful._ Unlike 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. He placed himself as an instrument in God's hands. He was ready go to where, when, and on what errand God might determine.[2] Such are the offers of service in which God delights.

+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 leaps suddenly from the sky. Such offers as the prophet made are preceded--1. By _a vision of God,_ of the thrice Holy One, filling the soul with awe, and causing it to tremble (vers. 1-4). 2. By _self-prostration of spirit,_ a conviction of utter sinfulness (ver. 5). This is the invariable result of a true vision of God (Exod. iii. 2; Josh. v. 14; Judg. vi. 22, xii. 22; Luke v. 8; Rev. i. 17). This is also a prime condition of fitness for service. 3. By _the touch of a mediator_ (vers. 6, 7). "They that be struck down by visions of God's glory shall soon be raised up again by visits of His grace." Blessed is the man who has _both_ visions. A sense of pardon is essential to large usefulness. Imperfect realisation of forgiveness is one of the most frequent causes of weakness in Christian service. 4. By _a moral transformation._ The offerer has become a new man from the centre outwards. Now he can hear God's voice: "I heard," &c. It is a voice to which now he feels he _must_ respond: "Here am I," &c. In some degree every Christian is thus prepared. These essentials of service are also essentials of Christian life. These experiences are at once your credentials and your powers.

+III.+ That +God always accepts offers of service for which there has been this preparation, and that bear these marks.+ He never rejects true volunteers. Offers hastily made and half-meant He passes by (Josh. xxiv. 18, 19; John ii. 23-25); but genuine, whole-hearted offers of service, He invariably accepts.

In conclusion, let us lay up in our memories three facts in connection with service. 1. _True service is not incompatible with failure._ We are too apt to connect failure with incompetency in the servant. Many do fail through incompetency, but not all. The prophet divinely called and most royally endowed may fail, because of the moral obduracy and perverseness of those to whom he is sent (vers. 9, 10). 2. _True service is not incompatible with sorrow_ (vers. 11, 12). That man is inhuman who without profound grief can behold the perversity of sinners, and the calamities with which in consequence they are visited. 3. _True service will never be left without reward._ Multitudes may reject the prophet's message, yet there will be "a tenth" who will accept it and be saved.--_J. R. Wood._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] H. E. I., 3633-3639.

[2] H. E. I., 3618-3626.

MESSENGERS WANTED.

vi. 8. _Also, I heard the voice of the Lord, &c._

+I. God wants messengers unto sinful men.+ Tidings concerning sin and salvation, mercy and deliverance, God's grace and man's misery, must be published. Might send seraphim and the angel host. God elects to send men to their fellow-men. "Whom shall I send?" is not the inquiry of a Divine perplexity, but the stimulative question of one who calls for willing workers. +II. God especially qualifies His messengers.+ How does He in an especial manner fit men for His highest service? 1. _By an awe-inspiring sight of Himself._ 2. _By distressing convictions of personal sin._ 3. _By sanctifying all the faculties to His use._ +III. God's call should meet with a ready response.+ He desires volunteers, "Who will go for us?" The constraint of love is the omnipotent motive force. 1. _The call is heard individually._ "I heard the voice of the Lord." 2. _The call provokes self-surrender._ "Here am I." 3. _The call demands entire self-abandonment._ "Send me"--anywhere, on any errands, at any time, in any capacity. +IV. How may we ascertain that we are required to become messengers of the living God?+ 1. By the separating voice of God. 2. By the discipline of preparation. 3. By the openings of beckoning opportunities. The "joy of the Lord" will be our strength when most we feel the pressure of "the burden of the Lord."--_Matthew Braithwaithe._

A STRANGE AND SAD ERRAND.

vi. 9, 10. _And He said, Go, and tell this people, &c._

A sad and mysterious errand, the statement of which might well have quenched the enthusiasm inspired by his vision of the Divine glory. When he exclaimed, "Here am I, send me!" how little did he anticipate for what purpose he would be sent! It must have astounded and saddened him, and it is full of astonishment and mystery for us. How could God have sent His servant on an errand such as this?

Much of the mystery will be relieved, though not altogether removed, if we recognise--what I believe to be the fact--that here we have a statement, not of the messages Isaiah was to deliver (for they were many, and were revealed to him at various times), but of what would be the result of them all. Those to whom he was sent, and whom he desired to bless, would not be made better, but worse, by his ministry.

This is in accordance with a well-known and terrible fact, viz., that the proclamation of truth often leads men to cleave more desperately to error.[1] Why, then, does God send His servants to proclaim it?

_Not because He desires the depravity and destruction of men._ Such a desire would be utterly inconsistent with His _character_ and with His express _declarations_ (Ezek. xviii. 23, 32, &c.). We need not imagine, then, that we have here a confirmation of those schemes of arbitrary election and reprobation which some theologians have attributed to Him.

But 1. _Because it is necessary for the preservation of His character as a God of righteousness and mercy that He should do what_ OUGHT _to result in the salvation of men._ Had He not sent His prophets forth on their sad mission, we should have been confronted by a greater difficulty: God permitting His chosen people to go on to ruin without one word of warning spoken, without one effort put forth to arrest them. But one of the supreme moral necessities of the universe is this, that His character as a God desiring the redemption of sinners should be maintained unimpaired; and therefore He sends forth His messengers to proclaim the truth, although He foresees that to many they will be the "savour of death unto death,"--and not "the savour of life unto life,"--not as that same frosty air which "braces" and invigorates those who are already vigorous. As this quotation reminds you, this is the effect of the Gospel itself. Ought God, therefore, never to have sent its preachers forth? 2. _That stubborn sinners may be left without excuse in the day of their doom._ God will not merely take vengeance on the violators of His laws of righteousness; He will make it manifest that while in Him there is an awful severity, there is no vindictiveness; and He will so act that, even when that severity is most manifested, not only the onlookers, but even those who experience it shall be constrained to confess, "Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints!" He will not leave it possible for them to say, "Hadst Thou warned us, we should not have sinned." They shall be speechless (Matt. xxii. 12; Jer. xliv. 2-5). 3. _That the righteous may be saved._ Did He not send His prophets forth to instruct and warn, even the men in whose hearts are the germs of righteousness and holiness of life would follow the multitude to do evil: _they_ hear, and turn, and live: and this is ample justification of the prophet's mission. Those who perish would have perished without it; but without it those who are saved would have perished also. And in this respect Isaiah's ministry was not in vain: while to the vast majority of the nation it was "the savour of death unto death," it was to a few--"the holy seed" of whom also this chapter speaks to us--"the savour of live unto life." They learned to trust, not in Assyria nor in Egypt, but in the Holy One of Israel, and therefore were "kept in perfect peace" amid all the convulsions and catastrophes of their time.

The passage seemed at the outset full of mystery; our tendency was to shun it as one that would not bear investigation, as one about which the least that could be said the better, as one which we could have wished had never been written. What do we see now? That here we have an illustration of the Psalmist's saying, "Clouds and darkness are round about Him"--so to our purblind vision it seems, the brightness being _so_ bright that it dazzles and blinds us; "but righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His throne." What should we learn from this? 1. _Never to fear to investigate anything in God's Word._ There is nothing here which its friends need wish to hide out of sight; it is all worthy of Him from whom it came (Ps. xix. 9). 2. _Never to distrust God because of anything in either His Word or His Providence._ Things that might cause distrust we shall meet with; some of them we shall never explain here, when we can know only "in part;" yet let us keep fast hold of the glorious and gladdening truth, that "in Him is no darkness at all." God is light; God is love.

FOOTNOTES: