SERAPHIM

SERAPHIM ; is the title applied, and in the Scriptures specified only, by Isaiah,in his overpowering vision recorded in the sixth chapter of his prophecy, as denominating the highest order of the celestial hierarchy, and as their name indicates, from the Hebrew epithet, burners or burning ones, “ glowing with a pure and serene, intense and immortal flame of divine love ; returning, without ceasing, the light and warmth which they have received from the great central Sun of the universe ; reflecting with supreme beauty the image of that divine Luminary.” In the entranced visions of the prophet Ezekiel, and St. John the Divine, the living creatures mentioned, if not precisely identical, present a most striking and very close resemblance. As the symbolical figures in the Holy of Holies were called cherubim, from their proximity to the Divine Presence, so Isaiah appropriates to these glorious beings which he beheld in the spirit, the term of Seraphim, to denote their flaming, dazzling appearance ; the idea being naturally suggested by the splendid effulgence of the golden cherubs, when they reflected the glory of God in the tabernacle of Israel ; arid in which belief the Jewish commentators agree : “ This is Mercavah, which is the name they give to Ezekiel's vision of the living creatures and the wheels ; and this appears by the name Seraphim, which signifies burning. So Ezekie's living creatures are said to be like burning coals of fire.”

Dr. Owen regards the seraphim as a distinct order of angelic beings. The generally received opinion of the Jews maintain, that those visions of the glory of God granted to Isaiah and Ezekiel were the same, and that Ezekiel saw nothing but what Isaiah saw also ; only they say, that Ezekiel saw the glory of God and his majesty, as a countryman, who admires all the splendor of the court of a king; Isaiah, as a courtier, who took notice only of the person of the king himself. Isaiah calling the glorious ministers of God, seraphim, from their nature compared to fire and light ; Ezekiel, cherubim, from their speed in the accomplishment of their duties. Isaiah saw his vision as in the temple. “I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.” Aben Ezra and Kimchi, suppose that he saw the throne of God in heaven, and only his train of glory descending into the temple ; yet it is more probable that he saw the throne itself in the temple, his train spreading abroad to the filling of the whole house ; for the temple is called “ The throne of his glory,” Jer. xiv. 21 ; and, “ A glorious high throne,” chap. xvii. 12 ; that is, a throne high and lifted up, as in this place. Ezekiel saw his vision abroad in the open field, by the river Chebar ; chap. i. 3. Isaiah saw first the Lord himself, and then his glorious attendants. Ezekiel saw first the chariot of his glory and then God above it. Isaiah's seraphims had six wings, with two thereof they covered their faces, which Ezekiel's cherubim had not ; and that because Isaiah's vision represented Christ, referred to by the Evangelist John : These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him, involving the mystery of the calling of the Gentiles and the rejection of the Jews, and which the angels were not able to look into, — Eph. iii. 9,10; and were therefore said to cover their faces with their wings, as not being able to look into the depths of those mysteries ; but in Ezekiel's vision, when they attended the will of God in the works of his providence, they looked upon them with open face."

Though their name and title are not declared by the apostle John, it seems clear that the mysterious beings, who in vision were beheld by him when in exile in the isle of Patmos, were seraphim. His description corresponding to that of Isaiah's, " In the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four living creatures, full of eyes before and behind. Jind the four living creatures had each of them six wings about him ; and they were full of eyes within ; and they rest not day or night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. — Rev. iv. 6-8. " The Lord sitting upon a throne," as in human form, is declared by the apostle to have been Christ in his glory. He alone has manifested the Godhead to men ; for, No man hath seen God at any time ; the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. — John i. 18. This august emblematical scene relates, therefore, to the pre-existent glory of the Son of God, as our Redeemer.

The " throne high and lifted up," the Rev. Mr. Scott, in his Commentary, observes, " seems to have been the place of the mercy-seat, over which the glory of the Lord used to appear, and where he reigned as the God of Israel over the whole earth ; and as an exterior symbol of his majesty," his train or the skirts of his robes filled the whole temple. " Above," or rather over against, this throne stood the seraphim, the burning ones, the most glorious of the angelic order. They stood as employed in celebrating his praises, and preparing to execute his mandates. Each of them had six wings ; " with twain he covered his face ;"an emblem of his inability steadfastly to behold, or fully to comprehend, all the glory of the Lord, and of profound reverence and adoring awe. " With twain he covered his feet," denoting humility, as conscious that he and his services were unworthy the notice of the Lord, or even of the other seraphim in the presence of the Lord. And with twain he did fly," representing their prompt celerity and alacrity in executing the will of God ; at the same time, they sang aloud, responsive to each other, " Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts." This three-fold repetition has generally and justly been supposed to refer to the three Divine Persons in the Trinity, and to the holiness displayed in the great work of redemption.* For the seraphim seem to celebrate to the Lord's holy hatred of sin, as displayed both in the salvation of the gospel, and in the punishment of its opposers; in which respect the whole earth, " as well as the heavens has been or will be filled with his glory. While this solemn hymn of praise was echoed from one to another of the angelic worshippers, the post or pillars of the porch of the temple shook at every response, and the whole house was filled with smoke, or thick darkness, as when it was dedicated by Solomon." — 1 Kings viii. 10-14.

The Jews say that this treble ascription of praise refers to the three worlds, as if it were, Holy, is Jehovah in the world of spirits ; holy, in the middle world of the stars and other heavenly bodies ; and holy, upon earth which we inhabit.But leaving this fanciful interpretation, every * Christian will readily acknowledge that the mystery of the Trinity of the sacred persons in the adorable Godhead, is the evident mystery contained in this triple celebration of the glory and holiness of Jehovah.

In the book of Numbers, xxi. 6, 8, the fiery serpents there mentioned are called seraphim, either from their color, or from their rage, or the effects of their venomous bite, which produced the most painful inflammation attended with insatiable thirst. Their luminous appearance, when flying, in the air, presented a shining form like fire ; and as beings of the highest order in the celestial hierarchy, are styled " angels of the presence," from Isaiah vi. 2, 6 ; the prominency which has been given to the serpent in ancient worship and idolatry is doubtless founded on their symbolical character. The brazen serpent raised by Moses in the wilderness, was typical of the expected Messiah, the Saviour of mankind, and so recognized by those of the Israelites whose faith realized the saving remedy for all sin in the redemption of Christ. For proof of which they adduce that passage in John iii. 14 : " And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up." Some writers having indulged the conceit that the brazen serpent exhibited the shape of the cross, formed by the appearance of its wings, which resembled, however, more those of the web-like texture of the bat, than the feathers of a bird. Some of the Christian fathers and early commentators, suggest the idea, that the success of the arch-fiend over Eve, in the temptation of the garden of Eden, was mainly attributable to his assumption of the similitude of this splendid and illustrious figure, which she had observed always attended the majesty and manifestation of the divine glory or shechinah, mistaking the voice of the serpent which addressed her as one of the Sons of God. Istum fuisse serpentem cui Eva ut filio del crediderat.

Author: George Clayton Jr. 1854