The Seraphim
Isaiah 6:2-3
Above it stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet…


are not angels; they are rather the expressions of the forces of the universe waiting there beside the throne of God. They are titanic beings, in whom is embodied everything of strength and obedience which anywhere, in any of the worlds of God, is doing His will. Since man is the noblest type of obedient power, these majestic seraphim seem to be human in their shape; but, as if further to express their meaning, there are added to each of them three pairs of wings, whose use and disposition are with particularity described. If the highest attitude of any man's life is stand waiting for what use God will choose to make of him, then we have a right to seek for something in the fullest life of consecrated manhood — of manhood standing by the throne of God — correspondent to each indication of temper and feeling which Isaiah shows us in the seraphim. How shall man stand, then, in a world where God sits in the centre on His throne? We gather so many of our impressions of humanity from poor stunted human creatures — poor wingless things who strut or grovel in their insignificance — that it will surely be good if we can turn for once and see the noblest image of consecrated power, and say to ourselves, "This is what man is meant to be. This it is in me to be if I can use all my powers and let God's presence bring out in me all that it really means to be a man."

(Phillips Brooks, D. D.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: 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.

WEB: Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet. With two he flew.




The Cry of the Seraphim
Top of Page
Top of Page