The Seraphim: Part 3: His Train Fills the Temple
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with twain he covered his face, with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he flew. Isaiah 6:1, 2, (KJV)
In Part 3 we will look at the fact that “his train filled the temple.” Here we will see something exciting and wonderful that God has planned for his people in these end times.
Literal Vs Spiritual Interpretation
There are some Christians who believe the Bible may only be interpreted literally which is really sad because they are not able to understand the rich truths God has for us in his more allegorical passages such as the one here in Isaiah’s vision. If we were to take the literal approach to Isaiah 6:1, we would have to say that Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on a throne in a building called a temple. And the Lord was wearing some sort of a robe with a train behind it that went down the steps from his throne, all around the room and into the next room, all over that room, and into the next, etc. until the tail end of this article of clothing he was wearing filled the entire building.
That literal interpretation is not going to help me when I’m seeing my nation crumbling around me and people I know and love suffering in desperate situations. However, a spiritual and allegorical explanation to this passage that can be supported by other biblical passages gives me great hope and encourages me that things can get better. Not necessarily by putting a bandage on the old but by boldly entering into the new with God within me, beside me and leading me.
The Kingdom of God Draws Nigh
In Parts 1 and 2 of this series, we saw that Isaiah represents a believer in the end times. The pride in him (Uzziah) has died and now that that spiritual blockage is gone, he is able to experience the presence of God resting upon his own body. He understands that the spiritual side of himself is a throne that God rests upon. He actually feels God’s presence resting upon him at all times. This has been my experience since 1997 so this is not just conjecture. I am able to see this many places in Scripture because it has happened to me.
Once we have had this spiritual experience with God, we are ready for the next step of entering the kingdom of God—and the kingdom of God is what I am describing here. (This next step has to do with his train.) The kingdom of God is the experiential and tangible presence of God with us at all times. And this is just the beginning of many blessings. Can my readers see that the world around us may be falling apart and going insane, but at the same time we can be in the kingdom of God while here on earth? This is coming soon to all believers who are totally committed to Jesus Christ and live their lives accordingly.
We will see here that entering into the kingdom of God is a process. When our lives demonstrate our commitment to Christ and the pride of our sin nature (Uzziah) has died, then his presence comes to us in a tangible way.
There is more to this presence being with us than just basking in his love. There is communication coming to us from his presence. This communication comes via our ability to feel his touch. Our mind is newly awakened to understand what he is communicating. We don’t actually hear his audible voice (yet), but we know what he is “saying” to us. This new communication functions in two categorical ways. The first he continually lets us know and feel his deep love for us. The second is in a refinement of the judging he needs to do in our life in order for us to come into full maturity in him. This may call for many and varied responses of obedience which demonstrate our utter surrender to Christ in all things. Our faithful responses to what God is calling for in our lives help us deny our flesh that it may be more thoroughly crucified furthering our advancement in the Kingdom of God.
Jesus spoke many times about the kingdom of God. Raising the dead, healing sick bodies and demented minds were signs of the kingdom of God being present with him and coming on earth. This leads us to….
His Train Filled the Temple
First of all we need to understand that the temple spoken of here is a spiritual reality. It is not some building men are supposed to be constructing in Jerusalem so that when Jesus returns he can sit on a throne in that building and rule the world from that one location. Think of how limiting that would be! Jesus right now is with me and with you wherever you happen to be. He will always be with us and when he is here in the fullness of his second coming it will be happening in you and in me because we are his temple (1 Cor 6:19). We will see him with our spiritual eyes but those who have not come to this place in him will only see him in us. We will be the representation of his glory. In this way all eyes will see him, and he will be seen all over the world at one time to all people in all walks of life.
When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. (Col 3:4, NKJV)
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1 John 3:2, 3, NKJV)
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. (Rom 8:16, 17, NKJV)
So what is this train that is in these people who are filled with the Holy Spirit? A quick look at Old Testament Hebrew reveals this word for “train” means the hem of a garment. It is mostly found in Exodus regarding the making of the high priest’s robe which had pomegranates and bells interspersed around the hem. Jesus, our high priest, wore a robe, a very common looking robe that no one would really notice, and his robe had a hem.
There was something very special about the hem of Jesus’ garment. People who touched it were healed of their physical malady. There was the woman who had had the issue of blood for twelve years and had spent all her money on physicians who were unable to help her, who, when she touched the hem of his garment, was miraculously healed. This poor woman, who had been isolated and ostracized from all human contact because of the uncleanness of her ailment, was suddenly healed and once again permitted to feel human touch and acceptance. And not only that, but Jesus, when he knew she had touched his garment, called her daughter in front of the whole crowd. “Daughter, your faith has made you well.” (Matt 9:22) In an instant that woman went from being an outcast to being a woman people wanted to be with, a woman who had been favored by God for a miracle, and who had been praised by Almighty God for her faith. She went from being a social outcast to being a member of the family of God.
In Matthew 14, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee and came to a place called Gennesaret. As soon as the people of that region heard that Jesus was there, all the sick people came to him begging to touch the hem of his garment knowing that if they did so, they would be healed. “And as many as touched it were made perfectly well.” (Matt 14:36)
Isaiah saw that the train of his garment filled the temple. We have seen that this train, also meaning a hem, is symbolic of healing. When this train fills our whole temple, that is, when it fills our entire body, there will be no sickness or impairment of any kind in our body. This is a picture of the redemption of the body to come in the end times at the return of Jesus.
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:18-23)
There is another place in Scripture where we read about the hem of a robe and that is in Exodus regarding the high priest’s robe:
They made on the hem of the robe pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, and of fine woven linen. And they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates on the hem of the robe all around between the pomegranates: a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, all around the hem of the robe to minister in, as the Lord had commanded Moses. (Exo 39:24, 25)
The pomegranates in their four colors are representative of the four gospels. Each gospel presents knowledge about Jesus coming from the Holy Spirit-inspired memory experiences of each writer. You can think of each little seed of the fruit as being a memory about something they saw or experienced while with Jesus. Taking this a step further—we should all have pomegranates, places in our heart and mind that contain our knowledge of God based on our understanding of the Word and our experiences with Jesus. These pomegranates are on the hem, the place of healing—healing for spirit, soul and body.
Interspersed between the pomegranates were little gold bells. These signify the sweet sound of each testimony concerning the truths about God from those who have “heard and seen” (1 John1) him in their own, individual experiences with Jesus.
The hem also speaks of the end of time as we know it. Aaron is a type of Jesus our Savior who carries us through the veil into heaven and the presence of God. The gems on his ephod were symbolic of the twelve tribes of Israel and also of all believers down through the ages. The ephod was over his heart and that is where Jesus carries us, close to his heart as he takes us into the presence of the Father.
All the above brings to a close my spiritual interpretation of Isaiah 6:1 and lays a foundation for our understanding of the seraphim in the next verse.
A Brief Summary of Isaiah 6:1:
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Isaiah represents a believer living in the end times whose ability to experience and know God has been hindered by his own pride (Uzziah). That pride has now died because this believer has chosen to take up his cross daily to follow Jesus and partake of the sufferings of Christ to the point his pride has finally died. (In the year that King Uzziah died.)
Once the pride in his life has died, he experiences the presence of God gently resting upon him. God is resting (sitting) upon a throne, the throne being the believer’s body. This body is a spiritual body because it is high and lifted up. This spiritual body has always been with the believer but behind the veil where his natural mind and body could not comprehend it. With the pride gone (Uzziah died), he is now able to experience God in a new way that will bring healing (train/hem/healing) throughout his entire spirit, soul and body (his train filled the temple).
