Proclaim

Have you ever thought about why angels proclaim God’s glory?  I understand why we proclaim His glory, it is because we are separated from the heavenly realm by this fallen world.  We proclaim that which we do not see, that is putting our faith in action, which in turn makes us aware of the glory of God and His holiness.

Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV)

¹ Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

However, angels do live in the heavenly realms, and are surrounded by God’s glory continually; they are enveloped by His holiness.  If that is the case then why do they need to proclaim it?

Isaiah 6:1-3 (NKJV)

¹ In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 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!”

I do believe that the ‘Seraphim’ here are declaring the Holiness of the Lord and His glory not because they needed to hear it, but because we needed to hear it!  That was the message they were given to proclaim.

The word Seraphim in Strong’s concordance states that “the Seraphim are an order of angels attending to God, each having six wings.  The word connotes bright and shining angels, but with the verb  שָׂרַף  it has a sense of burning, not of shining, and is better to be understood as the princes or nobles of heaven.” Angels or Seraphim are also messengers; they deliver messages from the throne of God.  Their purpose is to herald or proclaim what they have been given.  

The message above in Isaiah 6:3 is to us is an example of how to proclaim our deepest praise to the Lord.

We proclaim things we do not see, but we by faith believe that God will intercede when we ask Him to.  We put our trust in a spiritual world which is separate from our world, and see that God has placed great value and importance upon humankind to draw us into relationship with Him and His hidden spiritual world.

Why do we do it?  Why do we continue to proclaim faith in this God and His Kingdom which we cannot see?

The answer is simple, it is because of the depth of His love for us, that is the only reason!

1 John 4:10 (NKJV)

¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

There is a very good illustration of this truth in 2^nd Kings chapter 6. Elisha, the prophet of God, was revealing the Syrian's battle plans to the king of Israel. Every time the king of Syria tried to ambush the king of Israel, Elisha would warn the king of Israel, and he would counter the Syrian's ambush. This happened so often that the king of Syria finally asked his servants to reveal who the traitor was. He knew that the king of Israel could not be maneuvering like he was without inside information.

When one of the king of Syria's servants said that Elisha, the prophet of God, was revealing the words that the king of Syria said in his bed chamber to the king of Israel, the king of Syria sent his armies to capture Elisha.

2 Kings 6:15 (NKJV)

¹⁵ And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”

When Gehazi, Elisha's servant saw the Syrian troops, he panicked. He knew why they were there. They had discovered Elisha was the one telling the king of Syria's secret battle plans to the king of Israel. They were in big trouble. Look at the response of Elisha to this situation:

2 Kings 6:16 (NKJV)

¹⁶ So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

People who don't believe anything exists beyond their five senses would say Elisha was lying through his teeth. He was proclaiming something was so when it really wasn't, hoping that it would become so. But that's not the way it was at all. Elisha did speak the truth. There were more with him than was with the Syrian army. It's just that Elisha's forces were in the unseen reality.

The key to understanding this is to recognize there is another realm or dimension of reality beyond this physical world. Those who are limited to only their five senses will always struggle with this. They think Elisha was lying, and indeed, he would have been lying if all that exists is only this physical world. You could count the Syrian troops by the thousands, and there was only Elisha and his servant Gehazi. But Elisha wasn't lying because there was another world of reality. If you looked at the bigger picture, the physical and spiritual world, then Elisha was right on the money. In the spiritual realm, there were many more horses and chariots of fire around Elisha than there were Syrian troops.

2 Kings 6:17 (NKJV)

¹⁷ And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Gehazi's physical eyes were already wide open. God was opening his spiritual eyes. He was able to see with his heart into the spiritual world. And when the spiritual world was taken into consideration, then Elisha's statement was perfectly true.

Those who see faith as an attempt to make something real which isn't real will always struggle with those who see faith as simply making what is spiritually true a physical truth. Those who limit truth to only the physical realm would have called Elisha one of those "name it, claim it," kind of guys. But in saying such things, they condemn themselves. They show they only consider what they can see, taste, hear, smell, and feel to be the only reality. They are what the Bible calls "carnal."

When Gehazi's eyes were opened, the Syrians didn't disappear. They were still there. The physical truth was still true, but there was a greater spiritual truth that had emerged. True faith doesn't deny physical truth; it just refuses to let physical truth dominate spiritual truth. True faith subdues physical truth to the reality of spiritual truth.

Because Elisha believed in the realities of the spiritual world, he raised his hand and struck all the Syrians with blindness. Then he led the whole Syrian army captive to the king of Israel. Praise the Lord!  Wow!  That's not bad for an old bald prophet whom carnal people would say was all by himself.

Elisha was not just speaking some wishful statement, hoping that it would become a reality. He knew what was real in the spiritual world, and he controlled his emotions and actions accordingly. There is no indication that Elisha saw the horses and chariots of fire around him. He didn't need to. He believed it. Those who operate in true faith don't need to see with their physical eyes. Their faith is evidence enough.

I am not believing for something that isn't real to become real. I can see by faith into the spiritual realm by what has already been revealed in God’s word, and I'm simply proclaiming what I've seen in the spiritual world to become manifest in the physical world. All of the things I'm seeing with my physical eyes now, I have already seen in my heart. I’ve seen it on the inside before I see it on the outside.

Romans 8:16-17a (NKJV)

¹⁶ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ^17a and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ…

With all of the promises of God which confirm that we are heirs of salvation and Joint heirs with Christ and His promises, how much more should we proclaim these truths of God's love and mercy, and as the people of God to proclaim who we have become by faith and stand in those truths.

This is a wonderful way to live. This is the normal Christian life.

2 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJV)

⁷ For we walk by faith, not by sight.

Stephen Barnett

God is good all the time—all the time God is good!

The Victory Is the Lord’s

(Kevin Prosch)

The victory is the Lord’s

The victory is the Lord’s

We’ve just begun to fight, ooh ooh

We’ve just begun to fight, ooh ooh

(Repeat)

And when I get discouraged

Having done all then I stand

He gave us weapons to fight

And the Spirit of might

I feel the power, the Word of the Lord

Where is the Lord God of Elijah

Elohim, my redeemer and my friend

Any weapon formed against me will not prosper

And His eyes are a flame of fire

And His will is my desire

Copyright © 1987 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing. All rights reserved. International copyright secured.
The above lyrics are copyrighted by the respective artists and are presented here for educational purposes only and not for profit