We are still continuing on with our study of the incident where God commanded Moses to make a “serpent” and mount it up on a pole so those who had been bitten by poisonous snakes could be healed by looking up at it.
The Hebrew word used for serpent in these passages from Numbers Chapter 21 is SARAPH and the plural form is SERAPHIM.
What makes this whole study so fascinating is that SARAPH does NOT normally mean “serpent” or “snake“.
The Hebrew word usually used for “serpent” or “snake” is NACHASH.
What I want to do today is go back to those verses from the Book of Isaiah that talk about SERAPHIM and see if I can’t draw some interesting connections.
I think you’ll be quite fascinated with what I come up with.
First, let’s one more time read that section dealing with SERAPHIM from Isaiah as follows:
“In the year that King Uzziah died,
I saw the Lord, high and exalted,
seated on a throne;
and the train of his robe filled the temple.
Above him were seraphim,
each with six wings:
With two wings they covered their faces,
with two they covered their feet,
and with two they were flying.
And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”
At the sound of their voices
the doorposts and thresholds shook
and the temple was filled with smoke.
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined!
For I am a man of unclean lips,
and I live among a people of unclean lips,
and my eyes have seen the King, the LordAlmighty.”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me
with a live coal in his hand,
which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
With it he touched my mouth and said,
“See, this has touched your lips;
your guilt is taken away
and your sin atoned for.”
-Isaiah 6:1-7
Based on these verses, here’s what we learn about the SERAPHIM.
-The SERAPHIM are heavenly spirit beings who have several wings.
-They are positioned above the Lord who sits on His throne.
-They are so HOLY and PURE they are permitted to take the purifying coals from the Heavenly Altar which takes away iniquity and forgives sins.
-They are capable of flying back and forth through the air between the heavens and the earth.
There are also a few interesting points the ancient sages have brought to light.
One of the meanings of the word SARAPH is “burning” or “fiery“.
We can see this connection with the fiery coals from the Heavenly Altar.
So, by definition, the SERAPHIM are considered to be fiery creatures of sorts.
Furthermore, when the characteristics of CHERUBIM and SERAPHIM are compared in Scripture, we find them to be almost identical.
Some scholars have actually suggested that CHERUBIM is a proper categorical name for a specific type of heavenly being while SARAPH is a word used to describe only one characteristic of the CHERUBIM, namely that they are “fiery” or associated with “fire“.
Other scholars have suggested that both the CHERUBIM and SARAPH are two different spiritual beings but of equally high order.
In other words, in terms of ranking although they are at the same level, the tasks they are assigned to perform are different.
Having said all that, there are two things that seem pretty crystal clear in Scripture.
First, the SERAPHIM serve as heavenly guardians of God’s throne and His HOLINESS.
Second, they are DIFFERENT and at a higher ranking than what are called “angels” (MALACH in Hebrew) in Scripture.
Next, let’s see what Scripture has to say about one of the most beautiful and most powerful of the SERAPHIM.
Do you know who I’m talking about?
This being is super famous.
Of course, I’m talking about SATAN (or “adversary” in Hebrew)
Let’s take a look at an interesting excerpt from the Apocrypha.
“And there was a great battle in heaven,
Michael and his angels fought with the dragon,
and the dragon fought and his angels:
and they prevailed not,
neither was their place found any more in heaven.
And that great dragon was cast out,
that old serpent,
who is called the devil and Satan,
who seduceth the whole world;
and he was cast unto the earth,
and his angels were thrown down with him.”
-Apocalypse 12:7-9
Now compare and contrast the above excerpt from the following verses from the Book of Revelations in the New Testament.
“Then war broke out in heaven.
Michael and his angels fought
against the dragon,
and the dragon and
his angels fought back.“
-Revelations 12:7
Practically an identical description with what we find in the excerpt from the Apocrypha.
Finally, let’s go back to the Book of Isaiah where we find the description of the Seraphim.
“How you have fallen from heaven,
morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”
-Isaiah 14:12-14
So in these passages we’re told of a powerful heavenly being who most consider to be Satan (and for the purposes of this discussion I’m going to assume these verses are talking about Satan) was thrown down to earth because he rebelled against the Almighty.
And we’re also told that Satan didn’t just meekly accept being tossed out of God’s heaven,.
He put up a good strong fight before his descent into our earthly plane.
This discussion will be continued in the next post.
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