Audio from various Bible readings on Isaiah
INDEX
- I. What is the Government of God?
- II. The Glory Cloud and a Covering
- III. Self-Indulgence Precedes the Perversion of Moral Judgement
- IV. The Temple Aspect
- V. The Seraphim above, and the Cherubim below – and a Note on the Four Living Creatures of Revelation *NEW*
I. What is the Government of God? – (Isaiah 3:10-11, Romans 13:3-4)
- “Say ye of the righteous that it shall be well [with him], for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him, because the desert of his hands shall be rendered unto him” (Isaiah 3:10-11).
- “…Practise [what is] good, and thou shalt have praise from it; for it is God’s minister to thee for good. But if thou practisest evil, fear…” (Romans 13:3-4).
II. The Glory Cloud and a Covering – (Isaiah 4:5-6)
“And Jehovah will create over every dwelling-place of mount Zion, and over its convocations, a cloud by day and a smoke, and the brightness of a flame of fire by night: for over all the glory shall be a covering. And there shall be a tabernacle for shade by day from the heat, and for a shelter and for a covert from storm and from rain.”
- The glory shall be a defense/covering/canopy.
- The glory cloud (shekinah) marked the presence in the midst of the God of Israel.
- There is the responsibility to keep clean that place where the glory of God is in the midst of His people, and which bears His name.
- A covering/defense: “And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, shall be unclean” (Numbers 19:15).
III. Self-Indulgence Precedes the Perversion of Moral Judgement – (Isaiah 5:11)
Self-Indulgence: “Woe unto them that, rising early in the morning, run after strong drink; that linger till twilight, till wine inflameth them!” (Isa. 5:11).
Lack of Righteous Judgment: “Woe unto them who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness” (Isa. 5:20).
IV. The Temple Aspect (Isaiah 6:1)
“…His train filled the temple” (Isaiah 6:1)
- The Temple aspect brings out the thought of holiness — the holiness that is due to God.
- Assembly = makes us think about the gathered out people
- Body = makes us think about its union with the Head
- House = makes us think of God’s order there.
The Temple is applied to God’s people in a corporate sense in 1 Corinthians 3, but the Spirit also applies the temple to our bodies in 1 Corinthians 6:19.
“Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”
God’s thought is that we should be filled with the Holy Spirit. That is the thought of the Temple. God would have the Holy Spirit so in control within us, that it fills us.
The same is true with the assembly as a temple — it should be viewed as filled with that which is divine, and exclude what is of the flesh.
V. The Seraphim above, and the Cherubim below – and a Note on the Four Living Creatures of Revelation
The Seraphim Above:
“In the year of the death of king Uzziah, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. Seraphim were standing above him: each had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he flew. And one called to the other and said, Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isaiah 6:1-3).
The Cherubim Below (Ezekiel 10):
“And the glory of Jehovah departed from over the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight, when they went out; and the wheels were beside them; and they stood at the door of the east gate of Jehovah’s house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above” (Ezekiel 10:18-19).
Seraphim are connected with mercy and purification/holiness). Cherubim are connected with judgment.
The 4 living creatures of Revelation also have 6 wings.
- Lion (the King, Matthew‘s gospel)
- Ox (the Servant, Mark‘s gospel)
- Face of a man (the perfection of the Lord in manhood, Luke‘s gospel)
- Flying Eagle (the One from heaven, His deity, John‘s gospel)
“The living creatures are symbols of the judicial power of God.”
John N. Darby
What does this quote mean? There is such a thing as judgment that proceeds from God according to His position as moral governor and judge. There is such a thing as judicial power, and the four living creatures are symbols of God’s judicial power. And, yet, where are those things found? They are found in Christ. And, hence, in the four gospels, we see how each brings out a character of Christ which is in accordance with one of the four living creatures and exactly in the same order in which they are presented.