Heb 12:1-8 “Our God is a consuming fire” – Part 1

[Study Aired April 8, 2021]

Heb 12:1   Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 
Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 
Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

The very first verse (Heb 12:1) of our study reveals something reiterated in the last verse of chapter twelve of Hebrews that should help us possess our souls patiently as we “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Heb 12:29, Luk 21:19), and that something is who we are in Christ Jesus as the light of the world (Mat 5:14-16) explained by our Lord in this manner: “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you” (Joh 14:20). That is what it means to have His righteousness, His light, that has been given unto us as His workmanship (Eph 2:10).

That new clothing of righteousness is made possible through fiery judgement “Teaching^G3811 us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Tit 2:12) which is how God destroys the grass of the field (2Pe 3:10-13) that represents all flesh. “But if God doth so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?” (Psa 104:1-7, Eph 2:10). It’s critical we realize right from the start that this process of being clothed is accompanied with God’s mercy that rules over that judgment (Jas 2:13). God will save all men by casting flesh “into the oven” a metaphor for the lake of fire, but for God’s elect today that judgment and clothing is taking place right now via our merciful Father and Christ so we can be among those few first fruits in the blessed and holy first resurrection (Rev 20:6) who will be used to administer God’s judg ments and show mercy in that regard to the rest of humanity (1Co 10:13, Rom 8:18, 1Pe 4:17, Rom 11:25, Rom 11:31-32).

Joh 14:20  In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved^G3089 with fervent heat, [1Pe 4:12] and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up^G2618. [1Co 3:13-15, Jer 23:29]

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it [“the day of the Lord“], because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Jer 23:29  Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

2Pe 3:11  Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved^G3089, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness, (Tit 2:12)
2Pe 3:12  looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved^G3089, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
2Pe 3:13  But, according to his promise, we look [Mat 6:33] for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness [‘the new clothing of Christ’s righteousness‘].

Psa 104:1  Bless Jehovah, O my soul. O Jehovah my God, thou art very great; Thou art clothed with honor and majesty: [Mat 6:28-33]

As this section of the gospel shows us in Matthew 6:28-33, we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ, and this is something that happens as a result of God blessing us with the mind of Christ (1Co 2:16) in which we are growing (2Pe 3:18). That mind of power, love and soundness (2Ti 1:7) makes it possible for us to become more and more like the “lilies of the field” which typify Christ (Son 2:2). Solomon in all his glory that represents our confidence in our flesh was not arrayed as beautifully as one of these little lilies of the field that is used to contrast with Solomon the new creation we have become in Christ (1Co 2:5).

Christ in us gives us the ability to be clothed as one of these with the gift of faith that He gives God’s elect today, which was the subject of Hebrews 11 and is the subject of this parable: “But if God doth so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?” Therefore we are told “Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” [Joh 6:27, Heb 11:6]

Reading the next few verses of Psalm 104, we then learn where God’s honor and majesty are manifest, and we will see that it is in the lives of those who were called to be the light of the world in this age and the temple of God where His glory was to be made manifest (Eph 3:10, 1Co 3:16, Mat 5:14).

Psa 104:2  Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment [Isa 61:10, Rev 19:8]; Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain; [Exo 26:31-33, Eze 1:4, Heb 10:19-22, Eph 5:30]
Psa 104:3  Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters; [Jas 1:17, 1Ti 3:15, Rev 3:12] Who maketh the clouds his chariot; [2Ki 2:11, 2Ki 6:17] Who walketh upon the wings of the wind; [Exo 25:18-21]

Eze 1:4  And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

Heb 10:19  Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus,
Heb 10:20  by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

Heb 10:21  and having a great priest over the house of God;
Heb 10:22  let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience [1Jn 3:20, Gal 6:1-2, 1Pe 4:8, Jas 5:20]: and having our body washed with pure water, [“Is not my word like as a fire?”]

Eph 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.[“We enter into that holiest place through His flesh which is the church where the manifest knowledge of God is being made known“]

1Jn 3:20  For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.

Gal 6:1  Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
Gal 6:2  Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

1Pe 4:8  And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

Jas 5:19  Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
Jas 5:20  Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

God is working all this workmanship in our heavens for a reason, and that reason is eluded to in the next few verses of this Psalm that show the fruit that is produced as a result of Christ clothing us with His righteousness: we become “flames of fire“(Psa 104:4), a consuming fire because God has placed his words in our mouth, words that have the ability to “devour them” (Jer 5:14) meaning we can now judge righteous judgement in the earth so men can learn righteousness (Isa 26:9, 1Pe 4:17). God’s family will be the ministers and are today the ministers who are laying “the foundations of the earth (‘the church, the temple of God we are’ Mat 7:24, Mat 13:11, Mat 13:16, Psa 127:1, 1Ti 3:15), that it should not be moved for ever” (Mal 3:6).

Psa 104:4  Who maketh winds his messengers; Flames of fire his ministers;
Psa 104:5  Who laid the foundations of the earth, That it should not be moved for ever.
Psa 104:6  Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a vesture; The waters stood above the mountains.
Psa 104:7  At thy rebuke they fled; At the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.

Luk 12:49  I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?

Isa 50:11  Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that gird yourselves about with firebrands; walk ye in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of my hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow [Isa 53:3-4, 1Jn 4:17]. Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek Jehovah: look unto the rock whence ye were hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye were digged.

1Jn 3:3  And every man that hath this hope in him [Col 1:27] purifieth himself, [“look unto the rock whence ye were hewn“] even as he is pure.

1Jn 1:7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light [1Jn 4:17], we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin [1Co 10:16].

Heb 12:1   Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

God’s elect are that great “cloud of witnesses” and the singleness of the body of Christ is represented with these verses, (Eze 1:4-28, Rev 6:4-9), that are accompanied with the word ‘fire’ which represents the much tribulation (Act 14:22) we will have to go through in order to have that unity in the body of Christ. We can now look through the ages with the mind of Christ and be given hope of what has happened to others who, being just like us, were easily beset by sin and had to learn to “lay aside every weight” and overcome the accuser of the brethren by “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Eze 1:4  And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

Eze 1:27  And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.

We look to Christ’s example in each other, and when we see what others are able to endure through Christ, we are learning of “him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself” (Act 26:15). That is the powerful witness God creates in each of our lives for one another so that we don’t become “wearied and faint in your minds“. Stephen was the first recorded martyr in the church (Act 7:59, Act 22:20), and we learn from his example that where there is no vision people will perish (Pro 29:18), but God will always be faithful to provide us the vision we need in our time of need making a way for His little flock in whom it is His good pleasure to give us the kingdom (Luk 12:32) to bear the trial and see the gates of hell not prevail against us (Mat 16:18). In Stephen’s case it was a supernatural event of having a vision to help him cross that finish line called enduring until the end (Mat 24:13), resisting sin unto the shedding of blood as he did, God making “a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear” through the vision of “Jesus standing on the right hand [power] of God” whom we reflect (Joh 17:3) as Christ did our Father. This example of Stephen was written for our sakes to give us comfort that God will never leave or forsake us (Act 7:55-56, Joh 20:21, 1Co 10:13, Joh 14:9).

Act 7:55  But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, [‘power of God‘]
Act 7:56  And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

If we are as Christ was in this world, we are going to be accused by the accuser who works in the children of darkness that we all were at one point (1Th 5:5, Eph 5:8). When we consider Christ  who “endured such contradiction of sinners against himself“, we are being reassured that we can drink the cup by the same power that was given to our Lord to endure all that he had to endure (Php 4:13, Mat 20:23). God held Christ in His hand just as Christ holds us in His hand today, and so when we truly are dragged to Christ we need to know that He can give us the power to overcome so that we don’t become “wearied and faint in your minds“. We are being dragged to Christ for that very reason (Joh 6:44), to come to learn that nothing can separate us from the love of God and that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Rom 8:36-37).

In order to continue to look to the joy that was set before him, Christ needed to be strengthened by an angel in the garden (Luk 22:43), which resulted in him enduring the cross as well as despising the shame. This was all being made possible because of the power that God was giving him, and so in earnest he was “set down at the right hand of the throne of God” and knew that the fullness of the relationship He had with God would return to Him after He was resurrected, and He would be more than a conqueror through the strength that would be given Him of God to lay down His life (Joh 10:18, Joh 5:30). For Christ, “the joy that was set before him” was the vision to which God gave him to hold fast so He could endure the cross, and endure “such contradiction of sinners against himself“, just as Stephen was given hope with the vision that was given to him. We are called to consider what He endured, looking to that joy set before us, and so we cry out to God and He hears us because we fear Him and keep His commandments, just as Christ did (Heb 5:7, 1Jn 4:17). Then we are delivered, otherwise we would “be wearied and faint in your minds“. We are that angel in the garden for each other that strengthens each other so that we can endure to the end through Christ and His body through whom He works, strengthened in our time of need and given the vision we need so that we don’t perish spiritually (Luk 21:17-19).

Joh 10:18  No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

Joh 5:30  I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

Luk 21:17  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.
Luk 21:18  But there shall not an hair of your head perish.
Luk 21:19  In your patience possess ye your souls.

So when we consider him who “endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds“, let’s consider what we are covering and understand that what Christ went through was for our sakes to give us the absolute assurance that nothing can separate us from the love of God (Rom 5:10).

Our last study with Hebrews chapter 11 brought this point out in a very telling way via the life of all those who died in various ways, demonstrating the typical patience and faith of the saints in which we are growing day-by-day (Jas 5:10). Now in chapter 12 we see who all those people who were martyred were typical of – Christ and His Christ (Act 4:26-29).

Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
Act 4:29  And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,

Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. 
Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:

God loves us with a perfect love that does not falter in any way (Joh 16:27, 2Co 13:11). Christ’s wounds (1Co 10:16) are faithful toward us because God loves us (Pro 27:6). Nobody naturally wants to resist “unto blood, striving against sin“, including Christ who is our example of how this can be done (Luk 22:40-46).

Pro 27:6  Faithful are the wounds of a friend [Joh 15:15-20]; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

Joh 15:15  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
Joh 15:16  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: [Jas 1:18] that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you [Rev 12:11].
Joh 15:17  These things I command you, that ye love one another.
Joh 15:18  If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
Joh 15:19  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Joh 15:20  Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also [Luk 21:17-19].

Luk 22:40  And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation.
Luk 22:41  And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,
Luk 22:42  Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
Luk 22:43  And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
Luk 22:44  And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Luk 22:45  And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow,
Luk 22:46  And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

This is a very familiar section of scripture to God’s people, to the sons of God (1Jn 3:1), that explains what it is to have true sonship with Him, and it explains what it means to be received of our Father and to be loved of God stated this way: “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth“.

Initially we want to be accepted of God, or received of him, on our own terms and conditions (Isa 4:1), but God loves His sons with whom He is working in this age and burns up those idols of our hearts so that we go from thinking we are rich and increased with goods like the rich young ruler (Rev 3:17, Mat 19:21). By the grace of God He destroys those filthy garments and defiled bread which represent our own righteousness, bringing us to acknowledge that we are “miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked”. It is because we say we see that our sins remain, and the only solution to overcoming that blindness is to have our Father cleanse us of these powers and principalities in our heavens via fiery trials (1Pe 4:12). So, we are told: “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.”(Rev 3:18)

We don’t of ourselves by our own might or power endure the chastening (Zec 4:6) whereof all are partakers, but rather we endure all things through Christ who strengthens us (Php 4:13) so that we are not sifted like wheat as Christ told Peter of Satan’s desire of him, but alas Christ prayed for Peter that his faith fail not (Luk 22:31-32).

Zec 4:6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Luk 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Flesh has to learn obedience by the things that it suffers, and this includes Christ’s flesh (Heb 5:8-9, 1Jn 4:17, Psa 73:26, 2Co 12:9-11). The difference between Christ and ourselves is that our own iniquities chasten or correct us (Jer 2:19, Pro 24:16) whereas Christ was spotless and never had a self-righteous attitude, which would be sinful (1Pe 1:19). Christ’s mind was without fault “as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” so we could become the righteousness of God through him “which is of God by faith” (2Co 5:21, Php 3:9).

2Co 5:21  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

We see how Christ was made sin being “made of a woman, made under the law”, shapened in iniquity, which is what self-righteous flesh is by nature (Gal 5:17, Heb 4:15, Jas 1:14), yet always did what was pleasing and obedient to our Father (Gal 4:4, Psa 51:5) to the end that He would “redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Gal 4:5-6).

Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Gal 4:4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Gal 4:5  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Gal 4:6  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Both goats of (Lev 16:8) were beasts [representing sinful flesh] of the field, but one represented the perfect sacrifice of Christ’s life, and the other represented what Christ’s spirit could do within the scapegoat that was taken by the hands of a fit man into the wilderness (Lev 16:10). Our sonship is explained by the story of that scapegoat that, in type, must fill up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ through the power of God’s holy spirit, that gives us the ability to endure to the end through the much tribulation, which must accompany us throughout our journey in the wilderness (Col 1:24, Act 14:22, 2Co 1:5-7, 2Co 4:10, Gal 6:2).

To be dealt with as a son means we must wrestle with our flesh all through this life and endure until the end to be saved (Mat 24:13), and that is what this verse means: “If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?” The scapegoat that represents the beasts we are must be dragged through the wilderness by the hand of a fit man (Jesus Christ) and be made to err or stumble (Isa 63:17, Pro 24:16) as we bow down to our flesh as Jacob did with Esau seven times (Gen 33:3). When we’re granted to acknowledge our need for the blood of the dove that will be used to sanctify the live bird being sent into the field (the world), that bird typifies our being alive in Christ and dead to sin (Lev 14:7, Gal 2:20). It will be because of God’s goodness that has led us to repentance (Rom 2:4) that we will overcome in this life.

We need to acknowledge our sins and our need for the seven last plagues to purify our heavens through chastening and scourging so that we can enter into the temple of God. We know we could never endure this process without Christ having prayed for us that our faith fail not (Luk 22:32). The fervent prayers of the body will avail much (Jas 5:16) and help us bear about in our bodies the dying of the Lord Jesus, witnessing to the world our discipleship that is in Christ (Joh 13:35, Rev 15:8, 2Co 4:10).

Jas 5:16  Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Joh 13:35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

2Co 4:10  Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

Our God is a consuming fire, and He is using the body to minister today in each of our lives those red hot coals that are around the altar (Isa 6:6-7). We are being purified so that we can properly discern good and evil by experiencing the plagues that must be poured out upon our heavens in this age if we are going to rule in the next, otherwise this verse would apply to us if we did not go through this sanctification process: “But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.” (Rev 15:6-7, 2Ti 2:12)

Isa 6:6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

Rev 15:6  And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
Rev 15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.

2Ti 2:12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

Audio Links

Awesome Hands – part 131

Fiery Serpent

March 30, 2018

Our study today finds us looking in the mirror. When the Lord called the children of Israel to be His people, they had a hard time adjusting to the requirements which “being God’s people” required of them.

As with the Israelites and a beast that doesn’t want to go the direction the master says to go, we too, buck and pull at the bit the Lord places in our mouths.

Psa 32:8  I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
Psa 32:9  Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.
Psa 32:10  Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.
Psa 32:11  Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.

The bronze serpent

In our previous study, we went over how Moses was led to lead the Israelites to the king of Edom to ask for passage through his land. Moses was denied passage no matter how he presented the solution to the king.

I stated in that study, “You and I will be rejected, just as the people of God were, because we 1) claim to be God’s people, His sons, and 2) claim to be as He is in this world.”

I also attempted to convey that this rejection is ALSO WITHIN us. The old man in us will DENY that we are the sons of God, and that old serpent will do everything he can to convince that we are not what God has revealed to us that we are.

In our study today, we will see this same attitude in the Israelites, and we will see how the Lord reacts to this mindset.

Before we get to those verses, and because of the time lapse since having that previous study, I want to cover some verses to connect the studies together.

Here is where we left off in our last study.

Num 20:21  Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.

As a recap, even Moses referred to Edom as the brothers of the Israelites.

Num 20:14  And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us:

Edom refuses to give passage to the Israelites, and as if that weren’t going to be hard enough, the head priest dies.

Num 20:22  And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came unto mount Hor.
Num 20:23  And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying,
Num 20:24  Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah.
Num 20:25  Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor:
Num 20:26  And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there.
Num 20:27  And Moses did as the LORD commanded: and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.
Num 20:28  And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount.
Num 20:29  And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.

The way the Lord works is that He takes things from us so that He can give things to us. He takes away the old man so that the new man can take his place. He takes away our sin so that righteousness can be given. We are stripped of unrighteousness so that Godliness can prevail.

The Lord is a giver and a taker all at the same time.

Job 1:21  And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
Job 1:22  In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

In type, we have our brother deny and reject us, and the “old man” Aaron has died. This sets the stage for what the Lord does in our lives. He leads us into temptation, and we usually give in to that temptation.

In the case of the study today, the Israelites should be repenting of everything they’ve been doing in doubting and mocking the Lord, especially since the Lord has just executed His judgment on Aaron for disobedience (Num 20:24), but that isn’t what any of us do initially.

Let us now look in the mirror held up to the people of God’s face.

Num 21:1  And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners.
Num 21:2  And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.
Num 21:3  And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.

Interestingly, Hormah means “devoted”. This is due to the Israelites doing what they wanted in making a vow to the Lord to destroy the cities of the people of Arad. Arad has taken some prisoners and Israel wanted to avenge themselves.

However, after this revenge is executed, doing what the Lord says doesn’t have the same appeal. Sure, they need the Lord’s help when they have something in mind, but when the Lord is calling the shots, their hearts just aren’t as encouraged.

Num 21:4  And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
Num 21:5  And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.

So the Lord delivered the Canaanites into the hand of the Israelites, but they became discouraged still. Instead of petitioning the Lord to help them, instead they speak against the Lord and the Lord’s servant, Moses.

Ask yourself if this is something you have done? Because if it is something you have done, then you need to understand how the Lord reacts to such things. Yes, this is a history lesson for the physical Jews, but history is there for us to LEARN from, and the Lord changes not!

Num 21:5  And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
Num 21:6  And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

Given that the Lord doesn’t change, and the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people to bite them, what can we learn from this situation as it pertains to murmuring against the Lord and reaping the results of that action?

It’s not as bad as it sounds when considering that we want the new man to increase in us daily, but our cup must be cleansed and emptied in order to make room for something else.

First, let’s look at what happens after the Lord pours His wrath out.

Num 21:7  Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

Notice, it is Moses that is spoken against as the servant of the Lord, and it is Moses who prays for the people when they sin against God and Moses.

Num 21:8  And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
Num 21:9  And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

Typically, it is not understood that when the Lord sends a trial our way, it is meant to heal us, not ONLY to destroy the old man in us. By that I mean through death comes life.

It’s a fiery serpent that is used to bite the people, and it is a fiery serpent Moses is told to make in order to save the lives of the people.

What is hidden in this familiar story and very familiar verses is who the serpent here is.

This will not be news to some of us, but the serpent is, was and will be Jesus the Christ.

What?! “Blasphemy!”, you say? Let us look at the fiery serpent again in a “spiritual words” kind of way. Let us compare spiritual things with spiritual.

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Num 21:6  And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

Num 21:6  And the LORD sent fiery^H8314 serpents^H5175) among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

The “fiery” serpents, as opposed to just simple serpents, are VERY FIERY indeed!

H8314
śârâph
Total KJV Occurrences: 11
fiery, 5
Num_21:6 (2), Num_21:8, Deu_8:15, Isa_14:29, Isa_30:6
serpent, 3
Num_21:8, Isa_14:29, Isa_30:6
seraphims, 2
Isa_6:2, Isa_6:6
burned, 1
Isa_44:19

Wait, what? Seraphims?

Isa 6:1  In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Isa 6:2  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.

This story is happening to Isaiah, who goes on to be a very important prophet to the Lord as it pertains to prophecy.

Isa 6:3  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Isa 6:4  And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Isa 6:5  Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Isa 6:6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

See, seraphims can approach and use the altar. This is very important to know and acknowledge because it lets us understand some of the spiritual significance of the Lord sending fiery serpents AMONG the people.

These fiery serpents, or fiery SERVANTS, as I like to think, are used to bring both death and life. They are the fiery serpents that are DWELL in the fire, but serpents are beasts, and like all beasts they have their place in God’s kingdom.

Isa 33:14  The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Isa 33:15  He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

These just happen to be six winged beasts.

H8314
śârâph
BDB Definition:
1) serpent, fiery serpent
1a) poisonous serpent (fiery from burning effect of poison)
2) seraph, seraphim
2a) majestic beings with 6 wings, human hands or voices in attendance upon God
Part of Speech: noun masculine
A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: from H8313

This word is rooted in BURNING or KINDLING.

H8313
śâraph
saw-raf’
A primitive root; to be (causatively set) on fire: – (cause to, make a) burn ([-ing], up), kindle, X utterly.
Total KJV occurrences: 117

H8313
śâraph
BDB Definition:
1) to burn
1a) (Qal) to burn
1b) (Niphal) to be burned
1c) (Piel) burner, burning (participle)
1d) (Pual) to be burnt up, be burned
Part of Speech: verb
A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: a primitive root.

Yes, the fiery serpents, spiritually speaking, are God’s people who dwell in the fire and speak fire from their mouths. Whatsoever is not burned up is left over, and those left overs are saved.

2Sa 22:7  In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears.
2Sa 22:8  Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth.
2Sa 22:9  There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Rev 11:4  These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
Rev 11:5  And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
Rev 11:6  These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

One of the main attributes of fire, aside from being very hot, is that is bright, and it is light. Of course, fire can take on differing levels of brightness, but it is overall bright as compared to darkness.

In recent news, the pope has been recorded in an interview as saying there is no hell. As can be expected, there has been much conversation about this and much backlash from Christians over these recorded statements.

Of course, the pope has released some Truth that is not going to go over well with the darkness that the doctrine of hell causes. The Catholic church knows there is no hell since they are the entity used on this earth as the source of such doctrine.

Hell, as a doctrine, was incorporated from pagan religions so that it could be welcomed into the church doctrine and pull in more pagans into Christianity.

I know I am preaching to the choir on this topic, but I find it interesting, given this topic of fiery serpents who both kill and heal.

I was listening to the radio at lunch today, and I heard a radio commentator address this topic. He simply mentioned that this statement by the pope was going to be trouble for the Catholic church, and it leads into a lot of questions. The way it was stated gave the impression that this host assumed these questions are not going to be good.

What he then used and read aloud on air, as a quote from Billy Graham, was Matthew 10:28.

Mat 10:26  Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
Mat 10:27  What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
Mat 10:28  And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to DESTROY both SOUL and BODY in HELL.

Does anyone notice anything particular about verses 28?

This radio host, quoting Billy Graham, says that Billy Graham was making the point that the person who talks the most about hell in all the bible is Jesus, and “Jesus spoke about hell a lot.”

Is that true?

Let us look at verses 28 again as it pertains to the doctrine of ETERNAL HELL or ETERNITY in HELL.

According to mainstream Christianity, hell is forever and always. This is what we MUST be saved from. We do not want to go to the fire forever.

But Matthew 10:28 tells us, from Jesus’ mouth to our ears, “FEAR HIM which IS ABLE to DESTROY both SOUL and BODY in HELL!

Which is it then? Is hell forever or is hell able to end? Can a soul and body be destroyed by SOMEONE in hell? Some say it is the devil doing the destroying, and some say it is God, depending on various doctrines.

But there is an apparent conflict no matter who you think the destroyer is. Indeed, this verse makes it apparent that the soul and body CAN be destroyed in HELL.

So, what do we do with this? Yes, this should make many Christians wonder.

Both eternity and destruction can’t happen in hell, so something else must be being said here.

This is where fiery serpents/servants come in. Since we are able to dwell in the fire comfortably and breath fire from our mouths, maybe we can be considered a source of information on this topic?

We know that the word used here is not hell but Gehenna, as in Gehenna fire. This Gehenna fire is fire, but fire is meant to destroy what can be destroyed, and whatever remains is SAVED… YET SO AS BY FIRE!

I will end this study with these familiar verses in order to show that the Lord does indeed use His fiery serpents to heal and kill/destroy. This happens within us and without us.

1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
1Co 3:18  Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
1Co 3:19  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
1Co 3:20  And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

Our reward will come as a result of the fire REVEALING what remains and burning away the rest.

All trials are meant to produce this same result, so while trials are not joyous themselves, we can have joy KNOWING we are loved and good will come of all trials. This was proven with the purging that good did with His own people as shown with the fiery serpent.

​Mike,

If the serpent in John 3:14 signifies the second Adam, does the serpent in the garden signify (the self nature) of the fir​st Adam?

Thank you for your reply,
S____

Hi, S​____,

Thank you for your question.

You asked:

If the serpent in John 3:14 signifies the second Adam, does the serpent in the garden signify (the self nature) of the fir​st Adam?

Here is John 3:14 so we can see what it is we are discussing:

Joh 3:14  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
Joh 3:15  That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

This is what happened there when “Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness”:

Num 21:4  And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. 
Num 21:5  And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. 
Num 21:6  And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
Num 21:7  Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
Num 21:8  And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery [Hebrew:​ saraph] serpent; [Hebrew​ nachash], and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
Num 21:9 And Moses made a serpent [Hebrew:​ nachash – serpent] of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

The Lord told Moses to make a ‘saraph nachash‘ and “Moses made a serpent (a nachash) of copper and put it on a pole so all could see it and live.

Num 21:9  And Moses made a serpent [Hebrew:​ nachash -​ serpent] of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

That is what Christ spoke of when He said:

Joh 3:15  That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

As we can now see in the light of Joh 3:15, the serpent in this verse gives life to those who look upon it. There is but one life giver and that is Christ Himself and those to whom He gives the power to give life to others through His life-giving spirit. Here is how life is given to us:

Joh 6:33  For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 

2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

Now we need to ask, “What is this “spirit that gives life”?”

This is the answer to that question;​ this IS “the spirit [which] gives life”:

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 

Christ’s words are life,​ and if we have those words,​ we have the words of life, and like that seraphim in Isaiah 6, we too, can given life to others:

In type and shadow that seraphim gave life to Isaiah when:

Isa 6:6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

Those who are given that gift are His elect who are symbolized as “seraphims”, the Hebrew word for serpents, as we see here in Isaiah 6:

Isa 6:1  In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Isa 6:2 Above it stood the seraphims [Hebrew:​ śârâph – fiery serpents]: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
Isa 6:3  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Isa 6:4  And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Isa 6:5  Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Isa 6:6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

Here is Strong’s definition of this Hebrew word ‘seraphims’:

H8314
שׂרף
śârâph
saw-rawf’
From H8313; burning, that is, (figuratively) poisonous (serpent); specifically a saraph or symbolical creature (from their copper color): – fiery (serpent), seraph.

You asked: “does the serpent in the garden signify (the self nature) of the fir​st Adam?” Here are the verses which answer that question directly:

Rev 12:7  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Rev 12:8  And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
Rev 12:9  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Eph 6:12  For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against authorities and powers, against the world-rulers of this dark night, against the spirits of evil in the heavens. (BBE)

So there it is: “o​ur fight”, our war, is against evil spirits. It is far more than just “the self nature of the first Adam.” Anyone who fails to acknowledge that we are actually warring against “spiritual wickedness in the heavens” is totally unaware of the power of his enemy in the heavens of our hearts and minds. Satan has entered into our heavens,​ and he must be cast out because that is also where the kingdom of God is located.

Luk 17:20  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

It was the heart and mind of Adam and Eve which Satan, signified by the serpent in the garden, wanted for his own. Satan was indeed given our flesh as his dusty diet, but i​t is not just our flesh he gets by eating dust;​ it is his spiritual wickedness in the heavens of our hearts and minds which comes with him devouring us. Those heavens should be the throne of Christ in these “earthen vessels”. By birth we are first the sons of our father the devil, who in time is “cast out of heaven” and replaced by Christ coming into our hearts and minds.

2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

This is a very deep subject,​ and I encourage you to read this link to help you understand the spiritual Word of God. Rightly Dividing The Word

1Co 2:6  Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
1Co 2:7  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
1Co 2:8  Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1Co 2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1Co 2:10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
1Co 2:11  For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
1Co 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1Co 2:15  But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Your brother in Christ,

Mike

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 29 Discussion

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Isa 6:11-13 Until The Cities Be Wasted Without Inhabitant... and There Be A Great Forsaking In The Midst of The Land

Isa 6:11  Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,
Isa 6:12  And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.
Isa 6:13  But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.

We have learned that the seraphims are just another symbol of God's elect who are "in the midst of and round about the throne of God in heaven":

Rev 4:6  And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.

The book of Revelation adds the "four and twenty elders" to the various Biblical types and figures of God's elect who will rule with Him through the millennium and then be used by God as the saviors of all mankind in and through the lake of fire, which is merely one more type and figure of our Lord's elect, whose words will devour the kingdom of our old man:

Isa 33:14  The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Isa 33:15  He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Rev 4:4  And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

"My Words in your mouth fire", for those who  can receive it, is the Biblical definition of "the lake of fire", which will be used by God to judge the whole world, which will be raised up into the realm of the spirit:

1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

The "four and twenty elders", the "four beasts", tell us plainly who they symbolize:

Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Rev 5:9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

So the seraphims of Isaiah six are the "kings and priests "redeemed unto God out of all nations [who] shall reign [with Christ] on the earth... for a thousand years".

The "one hundred forty and four thousand" of Revelation 7 and Revelation 14 are also "redeemed from among men", and are just another symbol of Christ's firstfruits, who will reign with Him on this earth and will then become the 'fire' of "the lake of fire".

1Co 6:2  Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3  Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

Rev 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

Rev 14:4  These [144.000] are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Rev 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

This brings us to the judgment of 'angels', of resurrected spiritual bodies (1Co 15:44), before the great white throne:

Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

These seraphims and cherubims fly, wing touching wing, as a single-minded body "proclaiming the everlasting gospel, and crying one to another", affirming the wonderful works of God to the children of men. This is the message of the seraphims, and this is also our message "one to another":

Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. 
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

These destructive judgments against the kingdom of our old man are "His wonderful works to the children of men". Our rebellious old man thinks God's ways are wicked ways, and that we, His marred creation, are much more righteous than our Creator. Being brought "to [our] wits' end", to our old man, is simply nothing less than sadistic torment from an unjust God, and like Job, we all come to our wits' end and reprove, contend with, and condemn God, to make ourselves appear righteous in our own minds (Job 40:1-8).

1Kg 6:27 And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house.

Isa 6:3  And one [seraph] cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Isa 6:4  And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

Rev 14:6  And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

As these seraphim, cherubims, twenty four elders and 144,000, what is it we are to proclaim as "the everlasting gospel"?

We need not guess. It is no coincidence that immediately after seeing the seraphims around the throne of God, having "a live coal from the altar" placed upon his lips, Isaiah is sent as a witness to preach the gospel, and to proclaim the Lord's judgments upon the Lord's rebellious people. It is no coincidence that Ezekiel had the exact same experience, immediately after having a very similar vision. Immediately after being shown the Lord's throne and the cherubims around God's throne, Ezekiel is also sent to proclaim the gospel and to declare the Lord's judgments upon the Lord's people, the people of Israel:

Isa 6:8  Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

Notice that Ezekiel's experience is exactly the same as Isaiah's. Immediately after being shown the Lord's throne and the cherubims around His throne, Ezekiel was given this commission:

Eze 3:1  Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest;eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.
Eze 3:2  So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.
Eze 3:3  And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.

This commission to us actually appears three times in scripture. Here is where John was also shown the the throne of God in heaven and was given the exact same commission:

Rev 4:1  After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
Rev 4:2  And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. 
Rev 4:3  And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
Rev 4:4  And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. 
Rev 4:5  And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
Rev 4:6  And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. 
Rev 4:7  And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
Rev 4:8  And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

In Revelation 10 John gives us the exact same commission given to us in Isaiah and Ezekiel. It is worded slightly differently, but the variations in the description of the throne of God and of what takes place around the throne of God simply adds to our understanding of why we are shown His throne and the living creatures, which symbolize those saints who are seated round about God's throne, with Christ in the heavens.  We are given the same commission the third time here in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. This is what we are commanded to proclaim as His gospel:

Rev 10:7  But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
Rev 10:8  And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.
Rev 10:9  And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. 
Rev 10:10  And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.

Why does the devouring of this "little book" make our belly bitter? It is because this is the same book we are commanded to eat in the book of Ezekiel, and we are given the same commission:

Rev 10:11  And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

In all three prophets we are given the same commission to give His words to His people and to leave nothing out nor add anything to it.

Rev 22:18  For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

We are given to be seated with Christ in His Father's throne in the heavens (Eph 2:6), and this is how John describes part of our experience while being seated with Christ in the heavens:

Rev 10:1  And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:
Rev 10:2  And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,
Rev 10:3  And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
Rev 10:4  And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.

There is only one thing concerning what is written of the things we are to keep, as verse 3 of chapter one tells us, which we are not given to know:

Jas 4:13  Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Jas 4:14  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Jas 4:15  For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

God has given us the revelation of His Christ and the things which must shortly come to pass within our own lives, but He has done so in signs and symbols, and in very definite, yet very general terms. We have been plainly told that as the disciples of Christ we will "be hated of all men", and that "it is through much tribulation that we must enter into the kingdom of God". We are plainly told that "if we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him", and that we are not to "think it strange concerning the fiery trials which [are] to try [us]:

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

2Ti 2:12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

We are also plainly told we are to "present our bodies as a living sacrifice [and to be] crucified with Christ":

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

So much for the damnable false doctrine of "the substitutionary death of Christ" which the Lord Himself has given to the adversary for so many long years to rob so many of their salvation in this age. God is honest with His creatures, and He wants us know up front that while the rewards for our obedience far outweigh the price we must pay, nevertheless we are bought with a price and that we, too, are expected to be crucified with Christ and to fill up in our lives what is behind of the afflictions of the Christ, "for His body's sake, which is the church":

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:

But this is all presented to us in these general terms, and we only see them if we are "caused... to eat" the words of God by being given eyes to see the things of the spirit and ears to hear the things of the spirit:

Eze 3:2  So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.

This is how we will be received by those who are not given to receive our witness:

1Co 2:4  And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
1Co 2:6  Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are [being] perfect[ed]: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
1Co 2:7  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 
1Co 2:8  Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1Co 2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1Co 2:10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

1Co 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

We are granted to see all these spiritual things and to understand the spiritual significance of all the spiritual symbols only because we are "saved by grace", and through that saving grace we are given the spirit which gives us the eyes that see and the ears which hear "the things of the spirit":

Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved
Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in [the] heavens[...] in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

We are granted to be shown in Christ and with Him as the finished product of His chastening grace. We are given spiritual eyes and ears only through God's saving grace. And this is what God's favor and His grace does to us. This, again is why the digesting and devouring of "the little book" which is "open[ed]" to us is sweet in our mouths, but is bitter in our bellies.

Here is what God's grace does to us and accomplishes within us:

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

"By grace ye are saved" is not thrown in just to fill up space or to make God appear to be gracious. "By grace YOU are saved" has everything to do with what is involved in coming to see an open door in the heavens, and seeing and understanding what it means to have our lips touched with a live coal from the altar of God in the temple of God, to eat a scroll written within and without, and to "receive the things of the spirit".

Those who value the flesh and who have been given to hate their own Creator, "cannot receive the things of the spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him [and he] can[not] know them, because they are spiritually discerned".

"But God has revealed them unto us by His spirit: for the spirit searches out all things, yes, the deep things of God", and nothing is any "deeper than what we, as the seraphims around the throne of God are given to understand and are commissioned and to proclaim to the Lord's people.

It is not a popular message to our old man, and it is completely rejected by a world to which it also applies at the appointed time. Isaiah speaks for us all when he inquires of the Lord:

Isa 6:11  Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,
Isa 6:12  And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.
Isa 6:13  But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.

A tenth will return, and even that tenth will be eaten "as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them when they cast their leaves.

What specifically must we  proclaim and prophesy is not a popular message. It is revealed to be the same in the words given to Ezekiel, and to John in the book of Revelation:

Rev 14:6  And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 
Rev 14:7  Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

This message is repeated in the next chapter:

Rev 15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

And what does the holy spirit say of this message? The next verse tells us who it is who must "keep the sayings of the prophesy of this book" (Rev 1:3), who must "fulfill the seven plagues of the seven angels" before they can enter into the temple of God in heaven:

Rev 14:12  Here [verses 6-11] is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

"Every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God... is the patience and faith of the saints.

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

1Co 3:21  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

Isaiah's lips being touch by a live coal from the altar, Ezekiel's eating of the book and John eating of the roll are one and all types and figures of Christ's commandment He has given us to "eat [His] flesh and drink [His] blood." We do so first to let those words do their fiery work within us and then so we can be used of Christ to give His words to others just as He used others to bring His words to us.

But just as we at first hated and ridiculed His words, Ezekiel informs us that our words will also not at first be received by God's own people:

Eze 3:4  And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.
Eze 3:5  For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel;
Eze 3:6  Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee.
Eze 3:7  But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted. 
Eze 3:8  Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.
Eze 3:9  As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.
Eze 3:10  Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears.
Eze 3:11  And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.

Christ required that His disciples "eat My flesh", which He equates with "the bread of life". He also equates His blood with the water of life:

Joh 6:53  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Joh 6:54  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:55  For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
Joh 6:56  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 
Joh 6:57  As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
Joh 6:58  This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

Christ is the bread of life, the tree of life, the water and river of life, and He is also the book of life, simply because He is the Truth and the life, and because having eternal life is a matter of knowing Him and His Father:

Joh 14:3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Joh 14:4  And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
Joh 14:5  Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 
Joh 14:7  If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

Isa 6:1  In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Isa 6:2  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.
Isa 6:3  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Isa 6:4  And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Isa 6:5  Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Isa 6:6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 
Isa 6:8  Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
Isa 6:9  And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Isa 6:10  Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. 

As the verses we are discussing today will demonstrate, Isaiah himself is a type of those who are sent as “His messengers spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire”.

Heb 1:7  and unto the messengers, indeed, He saith, `Who is making His messengers spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire;’ (YLT)

Before I learned what were the ‘spirits’ we were to try and how a spirit is placed on trial, I was at that time mystified by this admonition to all who claim to know Jesus Christ:

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

What is it that necessitates that we “try the spirits whether they are of God”? Why should we concern ourselves with whether a spirit is of God? The reason we should concern ourselves with whether a spirit is of God is “because many false prophets [proclaiming many false doctrines] are gone out into the world”. That is the very thing against which Christ so solemnly and so often warned His disciples:

Mat 16:11  How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?
Mat 16:12  Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

Mar 8:15  And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.

Luk 12:1  In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

This was the first thing Christ mentioned when He was asked about the signs of the end of the age:

Mat 24:3  And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Mat 24:4  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 
Mat 24:5  For many [“false prophets”, 1Jo 4:10] shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

The Greek word translated as ‘many’ in Mat 24:5 is the same word translated as ‘many’ in:

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

It is also the same Greek word ‘polos‘, translated ‘many’ in this verse:

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

This harlot “sits upon many waters [because] the great dragon… the devil and satan [has, through this great harlot] deceived the whole world”:

Rev 12:9  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

The world was also deceived “in the year Uzziah died”, when Isaiah had this vision of the throne of God with the seraphims around the throne, crying to each other with words which caused the posts of the door of the temple in heaven to be moved with their words. It was only after one of the seraphims had spoken to Isaiah that we begin to see the function of, and the purpose for having these creatures around the throne of God in heaven. The fact Isaiah was there at the Lord’s throne demonstrates that Isaiah himself, just as all the Old and New Testament prophets are types of all those who are seated with Christ on His Father’s throne as we learn from a later prophet:

Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

I did not embolden the word ‘places’ simply because it is not in the Greek. We are all seated with Christ in the heavens just as Isaiah and later Ezekiel were in type privileged to be placed there in the heavens, and to tell us what takes place in the heavens and around the throne of God.

So let’s read about what Isaiah experienced and see what we can learn about the purpose and function of these seraphims around the throne of the Lord. In the first seven verses we have already covered, we learned that the seraphims have six wings each, and we saw that they have a message about the holiness of God which they confirm to each other in a way which causes the doorposts of the temple in heaven to be moved. This is what we learned they do as they are flying through the heavens:

Rev 14:6  And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 
Rev 14:7  Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

The message of the gospel is received only by those who, like Isaiah, have been granted to be brought to the Lord’s throne in heaven through the same fiery experience Isaiah experience when He told us this about the function of the seraphims:

Isa 6:6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

That is the message which caused the posts of the door of the Lord’s house to be moved. It is a great earthquake indeed which is so ‘fiery’ an experience as to affect our lives to the extent that it can be said: “Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.”

Applying the Biblical key to the Lord’s kingdom of “Line upon line and precept upon precept” we were given spiritual eyes to see that these seraphims are but another symbol of the four creatures and the four and twenty elders we see around the Lord’s throne in Ezekiel 1 and 10 and in Revelation 4 and 5, where they themselves tell us who these creatures symbolize:

Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Rev 5:9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
Rev 5:11  And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;
Rev 5:12  Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
Rev 5:13  And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
Rev 5:14  And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.

Now that we know that these seraphims are one of the heavenly symbols of those who are ‘redeemed to God out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation”, and that these seraphims are those who will “reign on the earth”, for a symbolic thousand years, we should now understand that when that seraphim got the live coal of fire from the altar he was, in spiritual language, carefully handling the Word of God in a way which would cause God’s fiery Word to affect Isaiah’s life, as another symbol of the Lord’s elect, in such a way as to symbolically ‘take away his iniquity and purge his sins’.

It is essential that we note this cleansing is accomplished with fire and not with the blood of calves and goats or by the washing with literal water:

Luk 3:16  John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:

Heb 9:11  But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
Heb 9:12  Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

Where does the fiery baptism take place? Where is “the holy place” into which Christ entered to obtain our redemption?

Heb 9:18  Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.
Heb 9:19  For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, 

Heb 9:22  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 
Heb 9:24  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: 

What an incredible revelation! “The heavens themselves” are the hearts and minds of God’s elect into whom He comes to dwell with His seraphims, or four cherubims or four beasts and four and twenty elders, “which are [one and all] figures of the true”. They are all symbols which “signify by His angel unto his servant[s] things which must shortly come to pass” within the lives of all of Christ’s Christ, His “very elect” (Rev 1:1).

We are twice told in no uncertain terms who this “angel” of Rev 1:1 is who was sent to show all these things to John and to us. Those who have been given eyes that see and ears that hear will see and hear who this angel tells us he is:

Rev 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
Rev 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Rev 22:6  And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. 
Rev 22:7  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Rev 22:8  And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9  Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

There it is twice: 1) “I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: 2) I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book.

How is it possible to make it any clearer than that as to who are these seraphims, cherubims and beasts and elders and angels who show us these things? They are the symbols of my fellowservants, and of my brothers the prophets who have the testimony of Jesus, and who keep the sayings of the Word of God. They are those who believe Christ when He said “Mankind shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Mat 4:4).

So what are the various functions of the messengers and ministers of Christ and His heavenly Father? Let’s read about in the context of our sinful dying state in which they are given to us:

Isa 6:1  In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Isa 6:2  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.
Isa 6:3  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Isa 6:4  And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Isa 6:5  Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. 
Isa 6:6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 
Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 

Isaiah’s Commission from the Lord

Isa 6:8  Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
Isa 6:9  And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Isa 6:10  Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

Isaiah is a type “of [our] fellow servants and of [our] brothers the prophets, which keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book” (Rev 22:9). It is we, His “fellowservants” who have come to “see God”. What does that tell us of what we have been through to bring us to “see God”? The answer to that question has everything to do with the purpose and function of those who are in the midst of and round about the throne of God”.

Here is what must be taking place within all those who are about the throne of God in the heavens, and in His house:

Exo 33:20  And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

Christ repeats Himself with another way of saying the same thing in:

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 
Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

That is the same as saying, “For there shall no man see me and live”, and the apostle repeats this same message in:

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

And again:

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

In Christ’s own mind He had already died to this world long before he was literally crucified upon the cross, and that is the same mind set we must have before we will be granted to “see [Christ] and live”. We, too, must count ourselves as already dead to this world. “Present[ing our] lives as a living sacrifice” is what is symbolized by what Isaiah experienced in vision when trembling he proclaimed:

Isa 6:5  Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Isa 6:6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 

There is only one way this seraphim could “have a live coal in his hand [and] touch [our] lips” and take away our iniquity and purge our sins. Such a function is not at all difficult for a seraphim if he himself is “like burning coals of fire [with fire in [his] mouth”:

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Eze 1:13  As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.

The cherubims “appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the apearance of lamps” because those are words describing the words of God and the work of His words upon the ways and the kingdom of our carnal-minded, rebellious old man. It is living by and speaking the Words of God which causes the posts of the door of the Lord’s house to move and to fill the house with smoke, as all the wood, hay, and stubble are burned out of our lives.

Isa 6:3  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Isa 6:4  And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Isa 6:5  Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Isa 6:6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

When we have our iniquity taken away and our sin is purged, we are now in a position to be of service to our Creator, and if indeed our iniquity is taken away and our sin is purged, we will be more than willing to present our lives a living sacrifice as the Lord reveals He wants us to humbly present ourselves to Him:

Isa 6:8  Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

As the experience and the words of the captain of our salvation demonstrate for us, the “baptism with fire” (Luk 3:16), which is His words in our mouths (Jer 5:14), is not well received by our godless, rebellious, carnal-minded, old man. As “the man of sin” he is (2Th 2:3) he thinks he is God sitting in the temple of God and he is loath to lose his kingdom or relinquish his throne, and the power he holds over us. So we, as Christ’s messengers, His angels, His ministering spirits who are flames of fire (Heb 1:7), we, too, will be hated of all men, just as we hated those who first brought the words of Christ to us. This is why that is so:

Isa 6:9  And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Isa 6:10  Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

So we all first reject Christ and His Words, and it is only by the sovereign work of His chastening grace, and its miraculous work in the lives of the few who are chosen to be given that calling, that God through His seraphims, cherubims and four beasts and four and twenty elders, that we are dragged to our Lord and into His service. Until that time His words are parables which serve to keep Him and His mind hidden from us right there in plain view, just as He Himself, quoting these words of Isaiah six, told us when He was asked by His apostles why He spoke to the multitudes in parables:

Mat 13:9  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

These words describe every one of us before we are, through God’s chastening grace, humbled to the point of being able to see and hear the words of life.

In our next study we will begin to see the judgment we must all endure to be brought to have the state of mind which is able to be in heaven, in the temple of God, speaking His words and moving the posts of His house, and filling His house with smoke from the fiery coals from His altar with which we are given to minister to those who are to be the heirs of salvation:

Heb 1:14  Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

It is a very messy and bloody experience from the perspective of our old man. He is repulsed by what those around the throne of God must endure, but any suffering we endure in this life is not even worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed in us:

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 27 Discussion

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Isa 6: What Is A Seraph?

Before we continue our studies here in Isaiah, we need to go back and define with the scriptures exactly what is a 'seraph'. So that is what we will do before we continue to discuss the function and work God has for the seraphims around His throne "in the holy place... [of] the heavens themselves" (Heb 9:23).

We have just learned that the seraphims, the four living creature, the four cherubims, the four beasts and four and twenty elders are one and all types of God's elect who were "redeemed... to God out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation":

Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Rev 5:9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

We have learned that the seraphims have a message to bring to those who make up the house of God, which message causes the posts of the door of the house of God to be moved and to fill His house with smoke:

Isa 6:3  And one [seraphims, vs 2] cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Isa 6:4  And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

I have written on this subject earlier, but for this study I want to make clear here in this sixth chapter of Isaiah exactly what these seraphim are before we continue with what we are told their purpose and function is in the holy place of the temple of God in "the heavens themselves".

'Seraphim' is the Hebrew plural of the Hebrew word 'seraph', so:

What is a 'seraph'?

We have discussed the Biblical description of the four living creatures, the cherubims and the four beasts of Ezekiel 1 and 10 and Revelation 4 and 5. In all four of those chapters these four living creatures around the throne of God, in His temple in heaven, are described as 1) a man, 2) a lion, 3) an ox, and 4) an eagle.

Eze 1:10  As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.

These are the exact same faces on the four creatures "in the midst of and round about the throne" of God in the holy place in His temple in the heavens, in the book of Revelation:

Rev 4:6  And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
Rev 4:7  And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

It is very interesting, when we take notice, that three of these four beasts are unclean wild beasts. The man, the lion, and the eagle are all unclean wild beasts. The only beast of the four which is not unclean, according to the requirements of Leviticus 11, is the ox.

Lev 11:2  Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth.
Lev 11:3  Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat.

Lev 11:13  And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,

With that in mind, we will now examine what the scriptures reveal is a 'seraph', which we are told is also a winged beast right there with "the Lord sitting upon a throne".

Isa 6:1  In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Isa 6:2  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.

Here is Strong's definition of this Hebrew word 'seraph' translated as 'seraphims' only here in Isaiah six.

H8314
שָׂרָף
śârâph
saw-rawf'
From H8313; burning, that is, (figuratively) poisonous (serpent); specifically a saraph or symbolical creature (from their copper color): - fiery (serpent), seraph.

And here are all the entries for this word in the Old Testament:

H8314
שׂרף
śârâph
Total KJV Occurrences: 7
fiery serpent, 5
Num_21:6 (2), Num_21:8, Deu_8:15, Isa_14:29, Isa_30:6
seraphims, 2
Isa_6:2, Isa_6:6

If this Hebrew word 'saraph' is five times translated as 'fiery serpent', then why is it translated as 'seraphims' here in Isaiah 6:2 and 6?

Let's look at the verses where this word 'saraf' first appears:

Num 21:4  And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
Num 21:5  And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
Num 21:6  And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

The word 'fiery' here in verse 6 is the word 'saraph'. It is the same word translated as 'seraphims' in Isa 6. Israel is once again complaining against God for bringing them out of Egypt, and consequently God sent fiery serpents to bite and devour rebellious Israel. Immediately after the Hebrew word 'seraph' is the Hebrew word 'nachash', which is consistently, without exception translated as 'serpent' or 'serpents', throughout the Old Testament.

Here is Strong's definition for the Hebrew word 'nachash'

H5175
נָחָשׁ
nâchâsh
naw-khawsh'
From H5172; a snake (from its hiss): - serpent.
Total KJV occurrences: 31

After the Lord sent the "fiery serpents [the 'seraph nachash'] among the people, and [after] they bit the people; and much people of Israel died":

Num 21:7  Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
Num 21:8  And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 
Num 21:9  And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

The words 'fiery serpent' in verse 8 have only the Hebrew word 'seraph' behind them, unlike the words 'fiery serpent' in verse 6, where they have both words 'seraph', and 'nachash' behind the phrase 'fiery serpent'. Nevertheless 'fiery serpent' is a good translation of the word 'seraph' because the very next verse tells us that in obedience to the Lord's commandment in verse 8 to "Make you a fiery serpent", "Moses made a serpent [a nachash] of brass, and put it upon a pole."

So the beasts biting Israel were serpents, but they were not just any serpent as they were poisonous, 'fiery' serpents, 'seraph nachash', because "they bit the people; and much people of Israel died."

A 'seraph' is clearly not just a serpent. A 'seraph' is a poisonous serpent whose bite kills us. We have always been conditioned to believe that dying is not good, and dying of a snake bite is certainly never considered to an experience anyone in his right mind would ever want to endure.

But what does Christ tell us we must endure before we can find our life?:

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

The story of what happened to Israel proves the truth of this counterintuitive principle given to us by Christ:

Num 14:22  Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;
Num 14:23  Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:

"Those men... have not listened to my voice... shall not see the land..." But why did they "not hear [Christ's] voice"? Christ Himself answers that question:

Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw [Greek: drag] him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

The death of the generation that saw all the miracles Christ performed in Egypt, who came up out of Egypt and still tempted God, had to die and could not enter into the land. That is still true, and the Lord sends serpents to destroy us because we, at that point in our spiritual journey, are "of our father the devil", and we must be destroyed at the hand of "that old serpent the devil":

Joh 8:44  Ye [who believe on Christ, verses 30-32, who witnessed Christ's miracles, who ate Christ's loaves and fishes, You] are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Rev 12:9  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. [Here is another Biblical example of four differents symbols for the same one evil spirit "the Devil, and Satan"]

The serpent is not a free agent. He is nothing more than a very necessary tool in the Lord's hand. This is nowhere any more clearly demonstrated than in the events surrounding the death and crucifixion of our Lord Himself. Those who are given to see must acknowledge:

Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. 

Christ Himself is prefigured by both a lamb and a lion, two very different beasts:

Joh 1:29  The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God,which taketh away the sin of the world.

Joh 1:36  And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

Hos 11:10  They shall walk after the LORD: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west.

Rev 5:5  And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

In Numbers 21 the seraph, the poisonous serpent, was the instrument of Christ to kill rebellious Israel, and a likeness of the seraph was also the instrument of Christ to give life to those who had been bitten by the serpents when they looked upon the saraph, the brazen serpent. Christ knew what all of this meant when He made this statement concerning Himself:

Joh 3:14  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
Joh 3:15  That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 
Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Those who looked on the serpent did not perish but lived, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."

It is Christ who likens Himself, and the life He brings to us, to a serpent being lifted up in the wilderness to give life to those who had rebelled against Him. It should be coming clearer to us what Christ means when He tells us:

Rev 21:6  And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

Christ wants us to know that He is the beginning and the end of all His works. But He also wants us to know that He starts out with marred vessels of corruptible clay:

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

"The vessel that He made of clay was marred in the hand of The Potter", and the crooked serpent was also made as a crooked serpent in that same hand:

Job 26:13  By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent. 
Job 26:14  Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?

We 'hear such little portion of Him' that we wonder why He has four unclean beasts, including a seraph, a venomous serpent, around His throne, with only one clean beast there.

Yet both "the four beasts and the four and twenty elders" tell us that they are symbols of those who "Christ has redeemed... to God... out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation [to be] made... unto their God kings and priest [to] reign on the earth."

What a wonderful part of this "revelation of Jesus Christ" which is what the book of revelation is all about!

Rev 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

What this means is that these seraphims and the four beast of Revelation 4 and 5 are all a part of the revelation of Jesus Christ, whose revelation is built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, including both of the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel.

Eph 2:19  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God ["in the heavens", Heb 9:23];
Eph 2:20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
Eph 2:21  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple ["in heaven", Rev 9:11] in the Lord:
Eph 2:22  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

The single message of all these symbols

We are God's habitation "in heaven". In the book of Ezekiel the four faces of the cherubims are shared by each of the four cherubims. This demonstrates that when we see each creature as an individual creature in the revelation of Jesus Christ, we must remember the truth revealed here in Ezekiel, that we all share all the four faces, and that when we fly, we all fly together because:

1Ki 6:27  And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house.

Eze 1:9  Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.
Eze 1:10  As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.
Eze 1:11  Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.
Eze 1:12  And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went.

Putting all that is revealed to us concerning these seraphims, cherubims, four beasts, and four and twenty elders together, we now know they are all the symbols of those who have been "redeemed... to God by [Christ's] blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; [and will be] made... unto [their] God kings and priests: and [will all] reign on the earth" (Rev 5:8-9).

The fact these creatures, in Ezekiel and in Revelation, are 'four' tells us they represent the whole body of Christ: The Number Four

Having wings which are joined together, tells us they represent the "one body [of Christ with] many members". For their wings to be touching each other as they fly tells us they must be of the same one mind, the mind of Christ.

1Co 12:12  For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of the body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ. (ACV)

1Co 1:10  Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

That the four beasts are all of one mind is confirmed in Ezekiel one where we are told these "four living creatures" without hesitation all go "whither the spirit was to go". (Eze 1:12)

Summary and Conclusion

The seraphs, are venomous serpents. Only in Isaiah 6 is this Hebrew word translated as 'seraphims'. The fact these venomous seraphims are located at the throne of God, that they each have six wings, and that they cry 'Holy, holy, holy' one to another, demonstrates that these 'seraphims' are just different symbols of the same thing prefigured by the four living creatures, the four cherubims, of Ezekiel 1 and 10, and the four beasts and the four and twenty elders of Revelation 4 and 5.

Just as the cows and the ears of corn both symbolized the same thing in Pharaoh's dream, so also all these symbols are one and all figures of those who have been redeemed to God by Christ out of every nation of mankind:

Gen 41:25  And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.
Gen 41:26  The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.

Rev 5:9  And they [The four beast and the 24 elders, Rev 5:7-8] sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 
Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

The only reason why these 'seraphs' are not translated as 'fiery serpents' in Isaiah six, while they are called "fiery serpents" everywhere else that Hebrew word 'seraph' appears, is apparently simply because the translators could not bring themselves to tell us that the scriptures teach that venomous serpents are symbols of those who surround the throne of God.

The use of the symbolism of three unclean wild beasts and venomous serpents with only one clean beast, around the throne of God, is given to make us mindful of what we are without the favor and the work of the grace of Christ within the lives of all who are the elect of God. God's elect are, in and of themselves, no better or any more worthy of the Lord's favor than Satan himself. All of God's creatures are just what He has made them to be, and this, in the final analysis, is the Truth of the Word of God:

Heb 2:11  For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.

Even though we were first the offspring of venomous serpents and wild beasts, we are all of the same heavenly Father as Christ, and through Christ and His Christ, all men, "each in his own order", "all... in Adam" will be made alive in Christ, who "is not ashamed to call [all men] his brothers".

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

1Jn 2:2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

If the Lord wills, we are "they that are Christ's [who are to be] made alive... at His coming". Being made to know this should make us proclaim with the apostle:

1Jn 3:1  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

It doesn't get any better than that!

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 25 Discussion

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Isa 6:1  In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Isa 6:2  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.
Isa 6:3  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory

What are "the seraphims"?

We spent our entire last study discussing why it was "in the year Uzziah died", that Isaiah was given to see the Lord's high and lifted up throne within His temple, which was filled with His train. We saw in our study that we are the Lord's temple and that Isaiah as a type of us, was given to see the Lord's throne in the year Uzziah died because Uzziah was a presumptuous king whose way produced a leprous king. As such Uzziah typifies our own leprous condition as the presumptuous, proud, self-righteous, rejected anointed of the Lord who we all are before we die to that old man of sin.

King David signifies God's "very elect", but he is preceded by King Saul who symbolizes the Lord's rejected anointed. This is what David said to King Saul while David, God 'very elect' was fleeing for his life from King Saul, God's rejected anointed:

1Sa 26:23  The LORD render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness: for the LORD delivered thee [King Saul] into my hand to day, but I would not stretch forth mine hand against the LORD'S anointed.

King Saul had been told that God had rejected him and would replace him because of presumptuously disobeying the Lord's commandment to destroy all that pertained to the enemy of Israel. King Saul did not want to give up his kingdom just because he had presumptuously rebelled against the Lords commandment. Our old man within us does not want give up his kingdom and die. He really does not want to lose his kingdom, and he will not willingly die.

1Sa 15:22  And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
1Sa 15:23  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. 

We saw in the story of presumptuous King Uzziah another example of the Lord's rejected anointed. King Uzziah was stricken with leprosy and was cast out of the temple by the Lord's faithful priests. The message we are being given here is that those who see the Lord's throne within His temple are only those 'priests' who do not tolerate the presumptuous false doctrines of all who do not "tremble at the word" of God. Those few 'priests' who are granted to oversee the Lord's temple must be able and willing to "try the spirits" and to say boldly with Christ and with His Christ, "We are of God, he that knows God hears us: he that is not of God hears not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error":

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1Jn 4:2  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1Jn 4:3  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
1Jn 4:4  Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
1Jn 4:5  They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
1Jn 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

The message in those verses is the same as the doctrine of Christ when He told the established apostate church leaders of His day:

Joh 8:55  Yet ye have not known [the Father]; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.

Those in whom the Lord dwells are His temple, and they are also those who make up His train, because His train is who He is, and this is who He tells us He is:

Mat 25:40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Act 22:7  And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 22:8  And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. 

Christ knows God. It is He Himself who tells us that He is living His life in us. Therefore the 'Jesus of Nazareth' who Saul of Tarsus was persecuting can boldly say with Christ: "We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error." Those who know God also know and recognize who are those who are not speaking the words of God, because they "try the spirits to see whether they are of God", and if they find any who are not speaking the words of  Christ, then they flee from that prophet who is spreading that false spirit, that false doctrine.

Joh 10:5  And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

Those who are the temple of God, those who make up His train, know His voice, and the verses about these 'seraphims' we are examining today typify those who know how to distinguish the spirit of truth from the spirit of error, and like Christ and John, they do not hesitate to say "We are of God: he that knows God hears us; he that is not of God hears not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error."

The different symbols of God's elect

Those who "know God" are symbolized by the temple in which God dwells, they are symbolized by His train, and they are also symbolized by the seraphims, the cherubims and the four and twenty elders which are within His temple and are around His throne.

Isa 6:1  In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Isa 6:2  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.
Isa 6:3  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

The books of Ezekiel and the book of Revelation speak of ' four living creatures' and 'four beasts' being around the throne of God:

Eze 1:4  And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.
Eze 1:5  Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. 
Eze 1:6  And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. 

These 'four faces' are the same 'four faces' of the same 'four living creatures' which are also called 'cherubims', both here in Ezekiel and in Revelation:

Eze 1:10  As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.

In Ezekiel 10 these same "four living creatures" are called "cherubims":

Eze 10:1  Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.

Eze 1:10  As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.

Just as in Isaiah's vision of the seraphims, the visions of Ezekiel in Ezekiel chapters one and ten and in the book of Revelation, all concern what is on and about "the throne" of God.

Eze 1:26  And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.

Eze 10:1  Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.

Rev 4:6  And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. 

It is in Revelation 5 that these "four beasts", as well as "the four and twenty elders", inform us whom they symbolize:

Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Rev 5:9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

That is both an inward and an outward promise:

1Co 6:2  Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the [inward and outward] world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3  Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

I remember as a child hearing of these 'seraphims' in the sermons which were preached in the church, and I asked my father, who at that time seemed to me to know so much about the Bible, "What is the difference between the cherubims and the seraphims? Both are said to be located in the presence of God. Both are in or near the throne of God, both have six wings, and both say "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts." Why", I asked my father, "is one called 'seraphims', and the other is called 'cherubims'???"

Let's notice what we read here in Isaiah six about these 'seraphims' which we are told are "Above... the throne". "Above it stood the seraphims..." This is not to be taken as the seraphims themselves being more prominent or being superior to the Lord's throne. The Hebrew word translated here as the English word 'above' is 'maal', H4605, and it is the same word translated as "on high" in this verse:

Exo 25:20  And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.

So it is with these 'seraphims'. It is "the throne... the mercy seat" which is the center of the attention of these seraphims, and their entire existence centers "around the throne" just as do the 'cherubims' of Revelation 5.

Now let's notice how similar these words describing "the seraphims" here in Isaiah 6 are to what we are told about the "four beasts" in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ:

Rev 4:7  And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
Rev 4:8  And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come 

Both are "around the throne, [both have] six wings, [and both] say, Holy, holy, holy."

In seeking to know "the sum of [God's] word" (Psa 119:160) on this subject, going back to Ezekiel one, this is what we read of these exact same four beasts round about the throne of God in the book of Ezekiel:

Eze 1:5  Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.
Eze 1:6 And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.
Eze 1:7  And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet [was] like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass.
Eze 1:8  And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.
Eze 1:9  Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.
Eze 1:10  As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.

Each beast has with him an accompanying wheel, with which we are told:

Eze 1:14  And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. 
Eze 1:15  Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold, one wheel [was] upon the earth beside the living creatures, for each of the four faces of it.
Eze 1:16  The appearance of the wheels and their work was like a beryl. And those four had one likeness, and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel within a wheel. 
Eze 1:17  When they went, they went in their four directions. They did not turn when they went. 
Eze 1:18  As for their rims, they were high and fearful. And those four had their rims full of eyes round about. 
Eze 1:19  And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them. And when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.
Eze 1:20  Wherever the spirit was to go, they went; there the spirit was to go. And the wheels were lifted up beside them, for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

All of that: "Wherever the spirit was to go, they went... for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels... a wheel within a wheel... running and returning as the appearance of a flash of lightning", has been interpreted so many different ways down through the years. Some who are not given spiritual eyes that see and spiritual ears that hear interpret "a wheel within a wheel [moving] as the appearance of a flash of lightning" to be some kind of a heavenly UFO operating as a gyroscope. Such speculations are as numerous as the individual imaginations of those who express their own interpretive speculation. A much more Biblical understanding of what we are being told here is this simple spiritual Truth:

Joh 14:20  In that day ye will know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

Ezekiel one tells us of these four living creatures, "they had the likness of a man".

Eze 1:5  Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.

But we are also told they each had four faces: "...they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle." Chapter ten reiterates that each cherubim had "four wings", but instead of the word "ox" we are told one of the faces was the face of a cherub:

Eze 10:14  And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

What this tells us is that the face of a 'cherub' of chapter ten, is the same as the face of the 'ox' of chapter one. 'Wealth', we are told, ' is by the strength of the ox', and the ox was the ultimate sacrifice one could offer to God. That is very likely why Israel made a golden calf in the wilderness and why Jereboam made two golden calves, one in Dan, in the north of his kingdom, and one at Samaria, in the south of his kingdom, to entice Israel into idolatry and to keep them from returning to Jerusalem and the temple there.

In Ezekiel chapter ten we are also told that both the wheels which were by the cherubims as well as the cherubims themselves were "full of eyes..." and the cherubims having "the form of a man's hand under their wings" is reiterated in both chapters:

Eze 10:8  And there appeared in the cherubims the form of a man's hand under their wings. 
Eze 10:9  And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the cherubims, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: and the appearance of the wheels was as the colour of a beryl stone.
Eze 10:10  And as for their appearances, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel. 
Eze 10:11  When they went, they went upon their four sides; they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked they followed it; they turned not as they went.
Eze 10:12  And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had.

These creatures are capable of looking all around in every direction within as well as looking all around in every direction without.  Here is the spirit full of eyes which is within these four creatures and their four wheels. Here is also the meaning of "a wheel within a wheel":

Rev 5:6  And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

Christ in us is the mystery of  "a wheel within a wheel... full of eyes" within us. It is Christ who tells us so:

Joh 14:20  In that day ye will know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

When Christ is in us we are "full of eyes... [within and without], seven eyes... the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth."

Eze 10:12  And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had.

Eze 10:20  This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims.
Eze 10:21  Every one had four faces apiece, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.
Eze 10:22  And the likeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw by the river of Chebar, their appearances and themselves: they went every one straight forward.

Christ and all in whom He dwells are single-minded in their obedience to His and our Father. "They [go] every one straight forward... [they] turn not to the right hand nor to the left":

Deu 5:32  Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

2Ch 34:2  And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left. 

Pro 4:27  Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

If these "four creatures" are Christ in us, then we will "remove [our] feet from evil... in this present evil world", and in time we will be given spiritual bodies as "the redemption of the purchased possession" at the resurrection, then we will be capable of 'running and returning as the appearance of a flash of lightning':

Eze 1:14  And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.

Even now, through His Father's spirit, Christ is within His people the world over. "As He is, so are we in this world" (1Jo 4:17). In Him we, too, are where we are needed, and we are there, and we return "as the appearance of a flash of lightning".

1Co 5:3  For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,
1Co 5:4  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Co 5:5  To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 

Why do the seraphims call to each other, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord?

Isa 6:3  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

This is the spiritual meaning and the spiritual benefit of us telling each other that our holy Father is sovereign over all His creation, and that He is a loving heavenly Father who is working all things together for good after the counsel of His own will (Rom 8:28 and Eph 1:11). This is what that does for us.

Mal 3:16  Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.
Mal 3:17  And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
Mal 3:18  Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

A Discussion That “here a little, there a little” builds the answer to this spiritual question.

Hello,

I have a question about Isaiah 65 and could use your help in answering it.

Isa 65:25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.

What does it mean spiritually that dust shall be the serpent’s meat?

Eph 3:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

S____

Hi S____,

Everything will indeed be accomplished when God is all in all. But “My holy mountain” is God’s kingdom, and that ‘mountain’ or ‘kingdom’ is within us even now.

Luk 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come [when Isa 65 would be fulfilled], he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Therefore when we read of the New Heavens and New Earth in Isaiah 3 or Isaiah 65, they also have a very present application in down payment form.

I hope this is of some help.
Your brother in Christ.
Mike

Mike, thank you for what you’ve added to my understanding on Isaiah 65. I really see more clearly the present “is” application of what I believe this prophecy is showing us today.

Seated with Christ now in the heavens, we are able, through Christ who strengthens us, to have all of our tears and many tribulations understood (1Pe 4:12) and not thought of as strange as He increases and we decrease.

The “is” part of the ‘is, was and will be’ nature of God’s word in each joint supplies an effectual work which makes increase of Christ’s body as we edify each other with Godly love now.

Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

That suffering I perceive to be nothing compared to the glory that is going to be revealed as God continues to heal us and wipe away all our tears which He causes as we grow in our realization of His goodness which leads us to repentance.

Rom 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

Your grateful brother in Christ,
Tony

Hi S____,

I believe the serpent in this situation of Isaiah 65 is the elect during the millennium prior to the great white throne judgement, and they are ruling with a rod of iron over the dust, which is a symbol of the yet unconverted first Adam. (ie: no one is converted during the millennium, there can be no overcoming without an adversary, who is bound at this time.) These symbols can be both negative and positive, and in this case we can easily think that a serpent is Satan when in fact the serpent represents the elect seraphim of Isaiah 6, and the lion is the Lion of the tribe of Judah within us as He rules as the King of kings and Lord of lords during the millennium.

Speaking of Moses and Aaron: Exo 7:12 For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.

Gen 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

Consider the rod (rod of iron) as being a serpent for a moment. The magician’s rod which was turned to a serpent was swallowed up by Moses’ (Aaron’s) rod. This tells us that the law (Moses represents the law) will overtake the camp (The magicians of Egypt, the world – Exo 7:12).

Exo 7:12 For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.

The next stage is for the rod of Moses to be engulfed by Christ (Christ is the end of the law… Rom 10:4), and this is symbolically shown in the wilderness where the new rod (Christ and His Christ) is raised in the wilderness to symbolize the dominion that God will give the world one day over sin (where is your sting… 1Co 15:55-57) The raised Christ (seraphim – Elect) in the wilderness do not convert the people who are being stung by serpents, that ultimate victory will only come later. Notice he is in the wilderness, and this is a type of where mankind will be during the millennium. Man’s heart is not converted during this time, and therefore he is in the wilderness, or the kingdoms of this world (Rev 11:15) as God’s seraphim ruling with a rod of iron over the nations of this world (Rev 2:27).

Rom 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

1Co 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
1Co 15:56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Rev 2:27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

The lamb (Christ in us) and the wolf of Isaiah 65 will dwell together in harmony as long as the devil is bound (Rev 20:2), but as soon as God allows Satan to be released (Rev 20:3) from the pit or abussos, the wolf in sheep’s clothing will be revealed for what its true nature is. Gog and Magog symbolize this time as well (Rev 20:8-9).

Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

The resurrected elect are represented by the lion who have the lion of the tribe of Judah within them, and they have dominion over the straw just like Pharoah had dominion over Israel when they were using straw to make their bricks, only later to have the straw taken away (Exo 5:18). This is a time of prosperity physically, and spiritually the world is as the Laodicean church (Rev 3:17) increased with spiritual riches which have not been tried in the fire. There is no adversary effecting humanity (humanity is being fattened for slaughter, ie: lake of fire), and there is ease in the sense that there is straw to make bricks, or a world that does not have the influence of Satan who has been bound for a symbolic thousand years (Rev 20:3). When the straw is taken away in type and shadow then Israel’s greater judgment, ie: the great white throne judgment will occur (lake of fire).

Exo 5:18 Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.

Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

So the lamb co-exists with the wolf = (elect and unconverted world during millennium) just as in Christ’s walk on this earth with the unconverted which He did not convert, and as He is so are we. 1Jn 4:17)

Serpent (Elect – seraphim of Isaiah 6) has dominion over dust (humanity – Gen 3:19, 14) as stated in Isaiah 65, which shows us the positive use of this concept, seeing we know that Satan once had all of humanity for his meal of dust, which is the negative use of this concept.

Isa 6:2 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.

Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Gen 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

Finally, the lion will be nourished (Caleb and Joshua – Num 14:9) by the unbelief of those who are yet unconverted during this time prior to the great white throne judgment which is why they are straw. This straw which the lion eats of Isaiah 65 is a good training ground for God’s elect, as it gets eaten by the elect in preparation of the great white throne judgment. This great white throne experience is when the symbolic straw is taken away (burned up) from Israel, the fiery trial of the lake of fire will consume everything that can be burned until all the world is comfortable in that fire (1Co 3:12-13, Isa 33:14, 1Co 15:22, 28).

Num 14:9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.

1Co 3:12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

Isa 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Isa 33:15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

1Co 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

I pray this helps answer this question about Isaiah 65, as I try to be a helper of your joy as you are of mine.

Your brother in Christ,
Tony

Hi Tony,

Thank you both for this opportunity to discuss this subject of the fulfilling of Isaiah 3 and Isaiah 65 relating to the kingdom of God, and its progressive, “like unto leaven” spread throughout each of us first, and then “through [our] mercy”, all of mankind.

Mat 13:33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

Rom 11:30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

As Isaiah 33:14-15 demonstrates, God’s elect will, via the fire of the lake of fire, which is of course, God’s word within them, judge the devil’s angels and messengers “till the whole is leavened” or until the kingdom of God ‘becomes a mountain that fills the whole earth’:

Isa 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Isa 33:15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

Dan 2:35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

When Christ, the king of that kingdom, is in all men, then He will submit himself to His Father and God will be all in all.

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:24 Then cometh the [harvest at the] end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
1Co 15:27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
1Co 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

Your fellow laborer to that end,

Mike

Hi S____,

I think Mike helped me see a fuller view of God’s word with the email he sent to you. If we consider the ‘is, was and will’ be nature of God’s word, then it is true that this prophecy in Isaiah 65 does apply to the time after the great white throne judgment as well as to the life of the elect in this age or generation that Christ is within (in earnest), as well as the millennium period (in shadow).

God’s word is eternal and is fulfilled in each generation, but not always in earnest as it is within the elect. If we break this into two groups, those who have God’s spirit now and are living out these prophecies in earnest (Eph 1:14) and those who don’t have God’s spirit within them and are living out the shadows which serve us who now believe with the holy spirit within us (1Pe 1:12), it remains true that the time frame when those tears are wiped away permanently is in the lake of fire, and until then we are either experiencing these prophetic words in earnest (spirit within) or in shadow like ancient Israel, and the world during the millennium.

Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

The tears we wipe away during the millennium are worldly sorrow and not godly sorrow (2Co 7:10). We know that the nature of man has not changed, and there never really was godly sorrow because when Satan is loosed for a season, then the world turns into Judas over night and needs to go and encompass the camp of the saints to destroy them.

2Co 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

Just like the manna which was a shadow of the true bread of life Jesus Christ (Joh 6:32), sorrow of the world which the elect are dealing with during the millennium is only a shadow of the Godly repentance that will lead to eternal life in the lake of fire.

Joh 6:32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

The same thing could be said of Jerusalem, because we know that for us today Jerusalem is above, and we rejoice in the Lord, and again I say rejoice because of this, but that does not mean that we have the fullness of that rejoicing either, seeing we still have tears and much tribulation.

The fullness of our rejoicing will be when we see Him face to face, and the shadow of that rejoicing will be experienced during the millennium for the world, just like the manna providing temporary sustenance or the woman at the well that Christ says if she had asked Him for she would never thirst again because He would have given her living waters.

I love the question, and I hope it does help get us closer to the sum of His word on the matter.

ybic,
Tony

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Isaiah 6 and The Four Beasts in Revelation 4

Rev 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
Rev 4:9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,

Isa 6:2 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.

Introduction

Last week we finished our studies in Ezekiel 1 and 10. Those two chapters are the very foundation for this fourth chapter of Revelation. At that time I had said we would start studying the fifth chapter of Revelation this week, but I cannot move on to the fifth chapter without commenting on why the four cherubims and four living creatures have only four wings in Ezekiel chapters 1 and 10 and why they are said to have six wings here in Revelation 4.

Eze 1:5 Also out of the midst thereof [came] the likeness of four living creatures. And this [was] their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.
Eze 1:6 And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.

Eze 10:20 This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims.
Eze 10:21 Every one had four faces apiece, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man [was] under their wings.

These cherubims are “patterns of the true” around the throne of God in heaven. These cherubims were first mentioned in Genesis 3 where we are told that they “keep the way of the tree of life.” The next time they appear is in the book of Exodus as overshadowing the mercy seat above the ark of the covenant which is in the holy of holies. It is here that we first learn that they have wings, but they are seen with merely two wings here in Exodus:

Exo 25:20 And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.

How many wings?

1Ki 8:7 For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.

In the final revelation of these creatures, we find them with six wings:

Rev 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

Why are these creatures revealed to us in such a piecemeal manner? The answer is that God’s Word is gradually revealing to us “the things of the heavens themselves… line upon line and precept upon precept.” He has made known to us the whole of mankind’s experience “here a little and there a little…”

Isa 28:9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
Isa 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
Isa 28:11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
Isa 28:12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
Isa 28:13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

We are all “snared and taken” by failing to acknowledge the truths of these verses as long as we insist that meat is milk, and as long as we fail to see that each revelation adds to the rest of God’s Word. It takes the book of Revelation to give us the whole overview of the predestinated plan of God for all mankind and for “the things in the heavens” called in scripture ‘the whole creation.” Never forget that ‘the heavens’ are part of God’s creation.

Exo 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

The revelation was not all given in the Garden of Eden. The “seed of the woman” was promised there in the garden, but the meaning of the “seed of the woman” has been kept secret over the lifetimes and generations of mankind. This secret is referred to and gradually revealed “line upon line” all along, and finally “Now made manifest” and revealed to be “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Col 1:26 Even the mystery [Greek: musterion, secret] which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

That is “the mystery” which has been hidden from age/aions and from generations. It will not be done until “the whole creation” and “every man” has been presented “perfect in Christ.”

Why Six Wings?

God gave wings only to those creatures which were to fly “above the earth in the… heavens,” so the wings on these creatures typify their heavenly existence:

Gen 1:20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

Why are these pattern beasts ‘around and in the middle of the throne’ of God in the first place? Why are they given six wings? Is not the symbol of a ‘beast’ the very symbol of all that withstands the spirit? Is not the number six the very symbol of man’s rebellion against his Creator?

2Pe 2:12 But these, as natural brute beasts [Greek: zoon, animal] made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

Jdg 1:10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.

That Greek word for ‘beast’ in these two verses of 2 Peter and Jude, is the exact same word we find in this verse of Revelation 4:

Rev 4:6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.

Here we have four beasts in the middle of and round about the very throne of God. Add to that the fact that these four beasts each have six wings, and in scriptural terms, we have an undeniable connection to the man of sin, who must be destroyed:

Gen 1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
Gen 1:25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

What other beast was created on that day?

Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

What day was this?

Gen 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Man was created on the sixth day, along with all the other “beasts of the earth.” The four beasts, who are patterns of the true heavens, are called ‘beasts’ and we are told that they have ‘six wings.’

Who are the Seraphim?

Now add the following verses to what we have just learned about “the patterns of the things of the heavens themselves.”

Isa 6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Isa 6:2 Above it stood the seraphims [Hebrew: fiery serpent]: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
Isa 6:3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Isa 6:4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Isa 6:5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Isa 6:6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isa 6:7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
Isa 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

It is of utmost importance we come to see that this word ‘seraphims’ is the same word translated “fiery serpent” in Numbers 21, to which serpent Christ referred when He made this statement concerning the salvation of all mankind:

Joh 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
Joh 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

That’s right, the most popular verse in the entire Bible is actually a reference to the fiery serpents of Numbers 21, and the salvation of all. Let’s see what role these serpents played in Israel’s history and in the patterns of the things of the heavens:

Num 21:4 And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
Num 21:5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
Num 21:6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
Num 21:7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
Num 21:8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, [Hebrew: seraph] and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
Num 21:9 And Moses made a serpent [Hebrew: nachash, serpent] of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

The Lord sent seraph nachash among the people, and they died of the bites of this seraph nachash. A seraph is what Moses was told to make, and he made a nachash, a serpent. This is a repetition of Romans 5:14, where Adam is referred to as “a figure of Him that was to come.” Here it is a serpent instead of the ‘son of the serpent’, the first Adam.

Rom 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

In this case it is the poisonous or “fiery serpent” upon which Israel had to look to be saved. A serpent, in this instance, “is the figure of Him that was to come”, and John 3:16 is a reference to that fact. “Looking on the serpent” and living, is likened to believing on Christ and receiving “everlasting life.”

Has man yet become the image of God? Has he yet been given dominion over the fish of the sea, the fowl of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth and every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth? Obviously not! If mankind were already conformed to the image of Christ, and in control of the beasts of the earth, and if that were an accomplished fact, then why do we see these verses in Ecclesiastes 3?

Ecc 3:18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
Ecc 3:19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
Ecc 3:20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

Here we  have the one ‘beast’ which man has not yet overcome. It is ‘the seed of the serpent’ (Gen 3:15), that beast we confront in the mirror every morning:

Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

If Genesis 1:26 meant that God had completed His work, and mankind was already in God’s image and was already given power over all of God’s creation, then mankind would have great preeminence above a beast. However, the truth is that “a man has no preeminence above a beast.” Now we find that the pattern of the things in the heavens includes fiery serpents with six wings doing all the things that the six-winged beast does. Like the four beasts, they “take coals of fire from the altar” and cleanse Isaiah’s lips. Like the four beasts, these seraphims also cry ‘Holy, holy, holy.’ It is plain that we are again being given one more view of the same creatures, and this view is that of a fiery serpent. Why a beast? Why six wings? Why a serpent?
The answer is that as long as we are “in the midst of and round about that throne,’ we will never be unaware that we were created “out of the ground”, and that we were originally “had no preeminence above a beast” and that we were originally ‘the seed of the serpent’.

Gen 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed [our old man] and her seed [our new man]; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Ecc 3:18  I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
Ecc 3:19  For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.

That is why there are “seraphims… above the temple” (Isa 6:1-2) crying, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts”.

We will always be aware that from our origins we were merely beasts, the seed of the serpent, and “out of the earth”:

Ecc 3:18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

Also, we will forever remember that we, too, were first “of our father the devil… that old serpent the Devil…”

Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

This is all of us “… even as others.” We are all “of our father the devil” before we become “the seed of the woman… sons of God.”

Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Col 3:6 For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
Col 3:7 In the which [wrath] ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
Col 3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
Col 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

In their final appearance these beasts tell us who they are.

Rev 5:8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Rev 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

We now know that these four beasts here in Revelation 4 and 5, and throughout this book, are the patterns in the heavens of the overcomers, the elect of God, to whom it is granted to sit with Him on His throne.

Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Our salvation comes through our death and destruction. Death leads to life, the destruction of the flesh leads to a new spiritual body. The natural man cannot accept this truth. The things of the spirit are worthless and are foolishness to the natural man.

Mat 16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

It is through losing our life that we find life. It is through dying that we live. It is through the destruction of the old Adam that the new Adam is born, and it is through the destruction of “him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;” that our father the devil is also given life, when “then cometh the end.” The destruction of “him that has the power of death,” and the destruction of death itself, is a simultaneous event. It is for this reason that Christ came in our sinful flesh “that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;” That is why we are told that the last enemy to be destroyed is death:

1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

The lake of fire is actually “prepared for the devil and his angels.”

Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

We are that lake of fire which will purify all who are placed in our charge:

Isa 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Isa 33:15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

Satan, the Devil, is cast into that ‘lake of fire,’ along with the beast and the false prophet. What that lake of fire does to the beast and to the false prophet is what it will do to the Devil and his angels:

Rev 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever [the eons of the eons, the lives of all men of all time].

This all explains and agrees with Paul’s declaration that “the whole creation… waits for… the manifestation of the sons of God.”

Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

For what does the whole creation wait, and groan and travail? It waits, groans and travails for this:

Rom 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

It is that spiritual “conforming to the image of His Son” of those who will be “the firstborn among many brothers;” It is that blessed and holy first resurrection… the manifestation of the Sons of God” for which the whole creation waits, groans and travails. It is not waiting for something that was only begun in Eden. That was a “vessel of clay” which was, by design, “marred in the Potter’s hand.” Eden is where the entire predestinated plan all began. That word ‘predestinated’ is such a despised and unfamiliar word to the ears of the natural man that my spell check underlined it in red in both of these last two sentences. Yet it is the truth of God’s Word:

Eph 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery [Greek: musterion, secret] of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

The Concordant Version has “the Christ;”

Eph 1:9 making known to us the secret of His will (in accord with His delight, which He purposed in Him)
Eph 1:10 to have an administration of the complement of the eras, to head up all in the Christ – both that in the heavens and that on the earth
Eph 1:11 in Him in Whom our lot was cast also, being designated beforehand according to the purpose of the One Who is operating all in accord with the counsel of His will,
Eph 1:12 that we should be for the laud of His glory, who are pre- expectant in the Christ.

This “vessel of clay” we call a physical body, was deliberately “marred in the hand of the Potter” by the predestination which only the Potter can effect.

Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it [Conformed to the image of His Son].

The Potter is God, who through Christ created Adam on the sixth day along with all the other “beasts of the earth.” Satan is not “the Potter.” Satan did not mar the earthen vessel of clay. The “mystery” or secret of God’s will was not revealed in Eden in a “vessel of clay.” How absurd to suggest such a thing! Eden was not “the dispensation of the fullness of times.” Eden, and all that happened in Eden; Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel and all that all these principals did, was what the scriptures call “the foundation of the world.” It is not what the scriptures reveal to be “the secret of God’s Will… revealed in the dispensation of the fullness of times.” Adam and Eve were not free to choose to do good and obey God. Adam and Eve were just as “predestinated according to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will” as are you and me.  The events surrounding their lives which have been recorded for our edification, are only the beginning of “the secret of God’s will”, which would be revealed only in “the dispensation of the fullness of times.”

Luk 11:50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;

When was “the foundation of the world?

Luk 11:51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

Abel is the second son of Adam who was killed by his own brother Cain. It is this period of time, from Adam and Abel, that the scriptures refer to as being “from the foundation of the world.” Adam was created on the sixth day, along with all other “beasts of the earth.” It is for this reason that Adam is in scripture a beast, and it is for this reason than mankind’s number is three sixes.

Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has a mind calculate the number of the wild beast, for it is the number of mankind, and its number is six hundred sixty-six.

It is for this reason that there are beasts around the throne of God, and it for this reason that in the final line upon line of these four beasts, we find them with six wings. These four beasts are those of mankind who will be given the great honor of ruling and reigning with Christ in His throne:

Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Summary

We have seen that the single most familiar and most popular verse of God’s Word reveals that the seraphims are just one more aspect of Christ and Christ’s elect who are like Christ in this world:

Joh 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
Joh 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

We have seen that the six wings of the four beasts of Revelation 4 and 5 connect them to the six-winged seraphims of Isaiah 6. We saw that both are given the task of handling the coals of fire from the heavenly altar, that both cry holy, holy, holy, and both are one and the same thing, present in different ways to tell us different things about who we are in Christ.

We have seen that it is Christ’s willingness to identify with His creation that leads Him to call the first Adam a figure of Him that was to come and to call the serpent that was raised in the wilderness a type of Christ being raised up on the cross so that all who “look upon” or “believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Heb 2:11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

We now know that the lake of fire is the channel for the purging of all things, both in the heavens and in the earth.

Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

What we have seen is that Christ will lose no one in heaven or in earth, and that the reason there are so many things around the throne which seem contrary to our way of thinking is that God does not think as we think. One of those ways is that we will never be permitted to forget that we came out of darkness and out of the ground as beasts and as the children of disobedience. Another way men do not think as God thinks is to discover that ‘our father the Devil’ is a part of the creation of the Creator, “Both which are in heaven and which are on earth,” which is to be redeemed in a lake of fire.

Rom 11:16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

Next week, Lord willing, we will finish chapter four of Revelation:

Rev 4:10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
Rev 4:11 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.