 |  |
This burning judgment, echoed in Isa. 4: 4, where the cleansing of Jerusalem is in
view, gives point to Isaiah's selection in his opening vision of the name of "Seraphim".
The very last words of his prophecy end in the same strain: "Neither shall their fire be
quenched" (Isa. 56: 24).
The cry of the Seraphim, "Holy, holy, holy", is associated with a prophetic statement;
"The whole earth is full of His glory" (Isa. 6: 6). Let us read once more the parallel
passage in Revelation:
"And the four living creatures 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 . . . . . 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" (Rev. 4: 8-11).
In Isaiah the Hebrew word eretz is translated "earth", "land" and "country" and it is
consequently necessary to examine the context before drawing conclusions. There are
seven undoubted references to "the whole earth" in Isaiah which will illuminate the
prophecy of the Seraphim. Let us observe both the references and their correspondence.
"The Whole Earth" In Isaiah.
A | 6: 3. The whole earth is full of His glory. A great forsaking (12).
B | 12: 5. Excellent things (Heb. Geuth).
Water. Salvation (3).
C | 14: 7. Rest (blessing). The grave for king of Babylon (9, 11)
D | 14: 26. The purpose upon the whole earth. Assyrian broken (24, 25).
C | 25: 8. Rest (judgment, 10). Death swallowed up in victory (8).
B | 28: 22. Crown of Pride [Heb. Geuth (1, 3)].
Waters (17). Consumption (22).
A | 54: 5. Husband, Redeemer, God of the whole earth. Forsaken for a moment (7).
The purpose of the ages, set forth in prophetic type by the Cherubim, and
foreshadowed by the utterance of the Seraphim, is expressed in this sevenfold reference
to the whole earth. The reader is urged to examine the context of each reference and to
see the way in which all opposition is broken down; death swallowed up in victory, pride
overthrown, and the Lord alone exalted in that day, and how, just as the Assyrian
invasion occupies the centre of the whole prophecy, so the Assyrian occupies the centre
of this sevenfold reference.
We observe that the A.V. gives in the margin of Isa. 6: 3, the note: "Heb. His glory
is the fullness of the whole earth", while Rotherham translates the passage: "The fulness
of the whole earth is His glory." Isaiah observed that the train of the Lord's garment
filled the temple (Isa. 6: 1), and that the house was filled with smoke (Isa. 6: 4).
The first occurrence of this phrase in Isa.6: 3 is found in Numb. 14: where Israel
so signally failed to follow the Lord and triumph over the Canaanites.