Isa 6:2 Above it stood seraphim; each one
had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and
with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy
is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!"
So what are we to make of the six wings? Let’s start
with the two covering the eyes. Simply put, the eyes are covered because even the
angels are blinded by the glory of God! That’s the easy one!
The significance of the covered lower part of the body
is a little more difficult for us because we are so far removed from the mores
of the society in the days of Isaiah.
In Isaiah’s day this covering of the body was an
acknowledgement of submission. It was a sign of respect for the authority of
one person or office over another. These wings then were a sign of the angel’s
complete submission to God. It is as Ps 89:7 says, “God is greatly to be
feared in the assembly of the saints, And to be held in reverence by all those
around Him”
This same principle comes into play later on in the
New Testament church at Corinth, where we read in 1 Cor 11:10. “For this
reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of
the angels.”
Whoa preacher! What’s that got to do with these
Seraphim being covered? Again, it is a cultural thing, difficult for us to
grasp because we are so far removed from it today. But in the day this was
written women typically covered their heads to demonstrate submission to their
husband. It was a cultural thing!
Paul was dealing with a little rebellion in the church
where some women were refusing to wear the covering. This was not a fashion
statement by the women but an outward sign of rebellion against God’s created
order. It wasn’t so much the clothing, but rather the attitude!
The Holy Spirit speaking through the Apostle Paul
emphasized the created order in 1Co 11:3, “But I want you to know that the
head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ
is God.”
Putting it as simple as possible, in heaven, covered angels
are an acknowledgement of their
submission to the authority of God, and (please
note the emphasis here) on earth, women likewise should acknowledge their submission
to the authority of man in accordance
with God’s created order.
That’s why Paul adds the phrase, “because of the
angels.” They set the standard for submission! Because these angels exhibit submission in
heaven, women are to do likewise on earth.
Now, having said that, this head covering thing is no
longer a statement of rebellion in our culture. Women do not need to wear hats
in church! We have other ways in our culture to show disdain for God’s created
order and unfortunately, we do.
Please note too, that this created order does not
allow for maltreatment of women, or in your face rebellion by women. Both sides
of the coin come into play in this relationship.
Read the rest of this portion of Corinthians and you
will see that Paul was not lessening the importance of women, he was merely
making sure that the created order is never thrown under the bus.
Indeed, he pointed out how much we need each other! 1Co
11:11 Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent
of man, in the Lord. 12 For as woman
came from man, even so man also comes through woman; but all things are from
God.
And then there’s the great portion of Ephesians
dealing with the relationship between husband and wife, where the wife is
called to submission and the husband is called to sacrificial love for his
wife, loving her as Christ loved the church! (Eph 5:25)
Let’s be honest both men and women have work to do in
this area. The angels have set the standard for us way back in Isa 6:2, and we
need to get back to it. Quite frankly I believe that the whole transgender issue
that we are currently dealing with is God just showing us what happens when His
created order is confused.
The remedy starts with each one of us, repenting of
our abuses in this area and then seeking to take on our God-appointed roles as
male and female.
This abuse of God’s created order is spoken of in Jude 1:6-8, when angels led by Satan decided
to step out of their role of submission to God. “And the angels who did not
keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in
everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; 7 as Sodom
and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having
given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are
set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. 8 Likewise
also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of
dignitaries.
Food for thought from the Word of God.
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