[1] God is invisible; yet in that heavenly world in which He
has His special and eternal residence He manifests himself
in ineffable glory, dwelling in what the Scriptures call
"the light which no man can approach unto." Of that
heavenly world, the tabernacle and temple were splendid
emblems; they were "patterns of heavenly things." But why
the astonishing fact, that when sinful creatures created a
tent in the wilderness, and a temple subsequently at
Jerusalem, the visible glory of God descended, taking
possession of the place? God thus came down from heaven to
earth, with all these impressive circumstances of visible
majesty, to teach His creatures that He was awfully
glorious, and fearful even in His praises; that even in His
acts of grace His holiness is solemnly declared; and thus
to show with what reverence and purity man ought to
approach to Him. So when Isaiah was to be appointed to an
office in which he was to fear God, and not the face of
man, and which, to give it weight and authority, required
an entire sanctity, a scene similar to that which had been
displayed in the temple at its consecration, but greatly
heightened and magnified, was disclosed to him in vision.
The space of this visionary temple appears to have been far
more ample than that of the one at Jerusalem; the throne
was greatly elevated, it was "high, and lifted up;" the
"train," the "skirts" (as in the margin) of the cloud of
the Divine presence filled the whole place; instead of the
carved representations of the cherubim of glory fixed on
the mercy-seat, the prophet beholds the cherubim
themselves, living, and all ardour, activity, and
adoration; they are not represented in the vision as the
cherubim in the holiest of all, silently gazing on the
glory of God and the mysteries of His covenant, but as
hymning His praises, proclaiming His spotless purity, and
declaring "the whole earth to be full of His glory." The
prophet, beholding the wondrous scene, sinks oppressed and
self-abhorred, until a coal from the altar touches his
lips, and he is thus sanctified to the service of God, and
put among His ministers.--_Watson._
[2] No rebellions shake the throne of God; though "the heathen
rage and the people imagine a vain thing," yet "he that
sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have
them in derision." The throne of God is a rock in the midst
of the ever-rolling ocean of created existence, that heaves
and swells with ceaseless change; but, in comparison of
Him, its mightiest billows have but their moment of
existence, and sink into the mass at the base of the
immovable throne of the Everlasting One.--_Watson._
[3] An observer on a mountain-cliff may be able to survey the
whole circumference of a lake that lies beneath him, but no
man can see the whole of the ocean, simply because it _is_
the ocean, and not a lake.--_Watson._