Isaiah's great vision described in chapter vi is so outstanding
Vision
revelation, was as well assured of it, as fully apprized of it, and as much affected with it as if he had seen it with his bodily eyes.
God's prophets saw what they spoke of, knew what they said, and ask our belief for nothing but what they themselves believed and were sure of (John vi. 69). They could not but speak what they saw, because they saw how much all about them were concerned in it (Acts iv. 20).
4. A GREAT PROPHET's GLORIOUS VISION
Isaiah's great vision described in chapter vi is so outstanding an example of the prophets' medium that it deserves close and careful study. It was intended:
(a) To confirm Isatah's faith. It was given that he himself might be abundantly satisfied of the truth of those things which should afterwards be made known to him. Such visions needed not to be repeated upon each subsequent revelation.
(6) To work upon his affections, that he might be possessed with such a reverence of God as would both quicken him and fix him to his service. They who are to teach others the knowledge of God ought to be well acquainted with Him themselves.
This vision is dated for the greater certainty of it. It was "in the year that King Uzziah died'. He had reigned for the most part as prosperously and as well as any of the kings of Judah, and reigned very long, about fifty years. About the time that he died Isaiah saw the vision of God upon a throne. For when the breath of princes goes out, and they return to the earth, this is our comfort, that the Lord shall reign for ever (Ps. cxlvi. 3, 4, 10). Israel's king dies, but Israel's God still lives. From the mortality of great and good men we should take occasion to look up, with an eye of faith to the King eternal, immortal.
King Uzziah died under a cloud, for he was shut up as a leper till the day of his death. As the lives of princes have their periods, so their glory is often eclipsed. But as God is everliving, so His glory is everlasting. King Uzziah dies in an hospital, but the King of kings still sits upon His throne. What the prophet here saw is revealed to us, that we, mixing faith with that revelation, may in it, as in a glass, behold the glory of the Lord.
Let us turn aside, therefore, and see this great sight with humble reverence.
(i) See God "upon his throne', and that throne "high and lifted up", not only above other thrones, as it transcends them, but over other thrones, as it rules and commands them. Isaiah saw not Jehovah the essence of God. No man has seen that, or can see it. He saw Adonai—''his dominion'"'. He saw the Lord Jesus. So this vision is explained (John xii. 41), that Esaias now saw Christ's glory and spake of Him. He saw a throne of glory before which we must worship; a throne of government before which we must be subject; and a throne of grace to which we may come boldly. This throne is high and lifted up above all competition and contradiction.
(ii) See His temple, His church on earth, filled with the manifestations of His glory. His throne being erected at the door of the temple (as princes sat in judgment in the gates), "'His train'', the skirts of His robes, "'filled the temple"', the whole world; for it is all God's temple. As "the heaven is his throne'', so ''the earth is his footstool''. Or rather, the Church, which is filled, enriched, and beautified with the tokens of God's special presence.
(iii) See the bright and blessed attendants on His throne, in and by whom His glory is celebrated and His government served. "'Above the throne', as it were hovering about it, or nigh to the throne, bowing before it, with an eye to it, the seraphim stood. The seraphim, the '"'burners'', those who burn in love to God and zeal for His glory against sin. He makes use of them as instruments of His wrath, when He is a consuming fire to His enemies. Whether there were only two or four, or, I rather think, '"'an innumerable company of angels" that Isaiah saw, is uncertain.
It is the glory of the angels that they are seraphim, have heat proportionable to their light, have not only abundance of divine knowledge but also of holy love. Special notice is taken of their wings, and of no other part of their appearance, because of the use they made of them. This is designed for instruction to us.
Four were made use of for covering, as the wings of a fowl sitting are. With the two upper wings, next to the head, they covered their faces, and with the two lowest wings they covered their feet or lower parts. This speaks of their great humility and reverence in their attendance upon God, for He is greatly feared in the assembly of those saints (Ps. Ixxxix. 7). They not only cover their feet, those members of the body which are less honourable (1 Cor. xii. 23), but even their faces. Though angels' faces are doubtless much fairer than those of the children of men (Acts vi. 15), yet in the presence of God they cover them, because they cannot bear the dazzling lustre of the divine glory, and because, being conscious of an infinite distance from the divine perfection, they are ashamed to show their faces before the holy God, who chargeth even His angels with folly, if they should offer to vie with Him (Job vi. 11). If angels be thus reverent in their attendance on God, with what godly fear should we approach His throne!
Two were used for flight. When they are sent on God's errands they fly swiftly (Dan. ix. 21). They fly more swiftly with their own wings than if they flew on the wings of the wind. This teaches us to do the work of God with cheerfulness and expedition. Do angels come upon the wing from heaven to earth to minister to our good, and shall not we soar upon the wing from earth to heaven to share with them in their glory?
(iv) Hear the anthem, or the song of praise, which the angels sing to the honour of Him that sits upon the throne. This song was sung with zeal and fervency. They cried aloud. It was sung with unanimity. They cried one to another or, one with another. They sang alternately, but in concert, and without the least jarring voice to interrupt the harmony. The song they sang is the same which is sung by the four living creatures (Rev. iv. 8).
Praising God always was, and will be to eternity, the work of heaven, and the constant employment of the blessed saints above (Ps. Ixxxiv. 4). The Church above is the same in its praises. There is no change of time or notes there. The two things the seraphim give God the praise for are: His infinite perfection in himself—He ''is the Lord of hosts'', thrice holy, infinitely holy, originally, perfectly and eternally so. And then, again, the manifestations of these to the sons of men, "the earth is full of his glory', of the glory of His power and purity, for He is holy in all his works (Ps. cxlv. 17).
(v) There were tokens of terror filling the temple when this vision of the divine glory happened. The house was shaken, not only the door, but the "' posts of the door"' which were firmly fixed '"'moved at the voice of him that cried". There are voices in heaven sufficient to drown all the noises of many waters in the lower world (Ps. xciii. 3, 4). This violent concussion of the