Why did the Seraphim cover their faces and feet?
When God called Isaiah to become a prophet, angels called Seraphim were with him. The word Seraphim means “fiery ones” and chapter six of Isaiah is the only place in the Bible where they are mentioned. I was interested in the Seraphim because of the way they chose to use their six wings. Isaiah 6:2b, “Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.” I was surprised to read that these angels had six wings but I was even more surprised to read that they did not use all six of their wings to fly. This story of the Bible is an example of how God chooses to way to come to people by bringing angels with him. Also, this story tells of a type of angel that might not have been mentioned if this part of the Bible had been left out.
My thoughts trying to answer my question were to think that the Seraphim covered their faces and feet out of humility. The Seraphim could have chosen this way to show their respect in the presence of God. An article in my research, bibleq.net, also came to this conclusion. Two other articles, whyangels.com and opusangelorum.org, explained that the angels had to cover their faces because they were unable to face God. The light of God is too great and the angels could have been blinded if they had not had their faces covered. The article on whyangels.com also pointed out that the feet are considered to be unclean. Hiding the unclean, unworthy part of their bodies is could have been done out of respect to God. A third answer I found on israelect.com is that the angels hid their faces to hide their identity and hid their feet to cover their tracts. Even though the Seraphim are capable of using all six of their wings to fly, they chose to use four of their wings to glorify God.
http://bibleq.net/answer/4799/
http://www.opusangelorum.org/priest_association/documents2/2006_01_seraphim_with_six_wings.html
http://www.whyangels.com/seraphim_cherubim_creatures.html#.UKCMXIYx7IU
http://www.israelect.com/ChildrenOfYahweh/Other%2520Reading/seraphims.htm
My thoughts trying to answer my question were to think that the Seraphim covered their faces and feet out of humility. The Seraphim could have chosen this way to show their respect in the presence of God. An article in my research, bibleq.net, also came to this conclusion. Two other articles, whyangels.com and opusangelorum.org, explained that the angels had to cover their faces because they were unable to face God. The light of God is too great and the angels could have been blinded if they had not had their faces covered. The article on whyangels.com also pointed out that the feet are considered to be unclean. Hiding the unclean, unworthy part of their bodies is could have been done out of respect to God. A third answer I found on israelect.com is that the angels hid their faces to hide their identity and hid their feet to cover their tracts. Even though the Seraphim are capable of using all six of their wings to fly, they chose to use four of their wings to glorify God.
http://bibleq.net/answer/4799/
http://www.opusangelorum.org/priest_association/documents2/2006_01_seraphim_with_six_wings.html
http://www.whyangels.com/seraphim_cherubim_creatures.html#.UKCMXIYx7IU
http://www.israelect.com/ChildrenOfYahweh/Other%2520Reading/seraphims.htm