316. Covering the Face

Narrator: Chris Genthree
1 Kings 19:1818Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. (1 Kings 19:18). It was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave.
Covering the face was a sign of reverence in the presence of God. Thus Moses, when the Lord appeared to him in the burning bush, “hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God” (Ex. 3:66Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. (Exodus 3:6)). So the seraphim seen by Isaiah in his temple-vision covered their faces with two of their wings (Isa. 6:22Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. (Isaiah 6:2)).