. . .Above it stood seraphim. . .And one cried to another and said, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts. . .” (Isa. 6:2-3a)
There is something different about God’s throne compared to any other throne in the world. All other kings may have servants serving them at the base of their thrones. They may have attendants answering to their beckoned call. But the throne that is above every throne is different in one regard: seraphim. Earthly seats of power are served by human servants, but the heavenly seat of power is sustained by invisible attendants. They are fiery angels on patrol for God, doing His bidding. They have six wings—two to cover their faces, two wings to cover their feet, and two wings to fly to do God’s work. These angels are created beings, invisible to the human eye but visible to the eye of God. Although they are invisible seraphs burning for God, they have to cover their faces. That is, no created creature can look upon God and live. As God’s attendants, even they must serve Him the right way.
At the earthly seat of power, there are congressmen and senators. There will be different bills that need to be passed and signed. And the best that these public servants can do is speak from their party’s knowledge or a historical knowledge. This is the only thing that they have—the human, horizontal viewpoint. But that is not so with seraphim; they are not trying to push their agendas. They just have one message: “And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty.’ ” It’s called the tris haggion—three times holy.
Lord God, Your holy presence is so overpowering that even the seraphim cannot look at Your face. At times, we lose this sense of reverence and treat You with flippant familiarity—in church and during our quiet times. We humbly ask that You clear our vision so that we’ll see You as You truly are the eternal Lord God Almighty. Amen.
