One of the greatest examples of worship inside of the Scriptures is Isaiah 6. It’s not the prophet himself that does the worshipping (at least it’s not recorded that Isaiah worshipped God in the moment of the revelation), rather, it is the seraphim that worship God. The prophet gets a glimpse into heavenly worship.
The seraphim’s worship doesn’t occur in a vacuum. In the vision itself, Isaiah sees Yahweh, “sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple” (Is 6:1b). This is a scene of power. This is a crucial attribute of God. One that the people of Israel and Judah both needed reminded of during this turbulent time of their history.
WORSHIP is being reminded of the attributes of God that speak directly to our current circumstances.
Note that Yahweh is sitting in the passage. He’s not worried, he’s not pacing, he’s relaxed, sitting. This reminds me of Psalm 2 where the nations of the world plot to overthrow the rule of Yahweh. His response: “He who sits in heaven laughs…” (Psalm 2:4). He’s not concerned that their coup will be successful, or that His anointed (Heb. “messiah”) one will be overthrown. There is no overthrowing God because he is God.
Not only is he sitting, but he also is seated on a throne. This is a king’s chair. This is where the king rules from. This is the universe’s CEO’s seat. This is the one with authority and power. While the nations around Israel plot, destroy, conquer other lands through violence and human might, Yahweh maintains his power and uses all of this for his own purposes (somehow).
He’s sitting on a throne and the train of his robe fills the temple. The length of a king’s robe was a symbol of the extent of their power. His robe’s train filled the entire temple! This is Solomon’s temple. It’s enormous. This train is enormous. This King’s power is enormous. He is all powerful.
As a result, the seraphim worship.
We can learn from this. When we worship, we give God the credit that is due to him. Not only this, but we also adore him. We stand in awe of him. We lose ourselves in his presence because his presence is so overwhelming. When we do this, our point of reference for thought and behaviour is not anxiety in the face of the threat of life, but peace and calm in the midst of a powerful storm. This is what Jewish philosopher and theologian Abraham Heschel calls the sublime.
But what kind of beings are these seraphim? They are flames. The Hebrew word “saraph” means “to burn”. Seraphim then is a substantive participle (masculine plural) that means “burning ones”. These are being made of fire. Fire, of course, symbolizes purity. These are pure beings.
They are not only pure beings, but they have wings; enough to fly and cover themselves (their eyes and feet).
Note their words: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty…” Notice something? Notice that these pure beings aren’t pure enough to look upon the holiness of God. HIS HOLINESS and POWER is so much more that they can’t even look upon his, even though they are purely FIRE! This is a superlative (indicated in the three-fold repetition of the word “holy”).
They go on to say that “the earth is filled with his glory”. This is worship, folks. They aren’t calling to Yahweh with this, they are calling to one another. The text reads, “And one called to another and said…” (Is 6:3a). When we worship, it impacts the people around us. Sharing with one another, testifying to the acts and might of God to one another glorifies his name, and therefore, is an act of worship.
The word “glory” is a funny word. It’s a bit elusive. It literally means “heaviness”, “reputation”, or “importance” (Ludwig Koehler, Walter Baumgartner, et al., The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (Leiden; New York: E.J. Brill, 1999), 457).
I love this. “THE WORLD IS FILLED WITH THE REPUTATION OF YAHWEH”.
This is the result of our worship: the world is filled with his importance and reputation. We give God credit the credit that is due to him. This is worship.
Not only this, but often times in the OT “glory” is synonymous with the presence of God. It’s as if he takes up residence in our worship. When we talk about him, give him credit, honor him, adore him, and sacrifice for him, he resides and abides there. His graceful, loving, and powerful presence is with us when we worship.
AH! THIS IS WORSHIP!
More than anything else, we see that at the end of Isaiah getting a glimpse to heavenly worship, he comes away changed.
