HEBREW WORD STUDY – TRAIN – SHUL שול  Shin Vav Lamed

Isaiah 6:1: “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.”

King Uzziah was the tenth king of Judah.  He rose to the throne at the age of 16 and ruled until his death after reigning for 52 years. Although eleven of those years he was a co-regent with his son Jotham.  The nation of Israel saw great prosperity during this time with Judah. But there was a growing threat from the super power of that time Assyria. King Uzziah built strong defenses for Jerusalem, conquered the Philistines, the Arabians and the Ammonites who were forced to pay tribute to him. According to II Chronicles 26 his name was known throughout the Middle East even to the entrance of Egypt. 

Although a Godly man pride crept up on him. He became so great and received such honor that it really puffed him up to the point that he felt he could take the role of a priest and went inside the temple in a room that not even the priest themselves were allowed. He then attempted to perform the sacred duty of the High Priest to offer incense. The record of this act is found in  II Chronicles 26. As a result he was struck with leprosy and forced to live in separation, as was the  fate of a leper, and had to share the rule of the kingdom with his 20 year old son Jotham.  

After King Uzziah died the kingdom of Judah started into decline. His son Jotham rule for another five years for a total of 16 years before he was forcibly removed and King Ahaz took the throne at a time when the Northern Kingdom was facing conquest by Assyria.  Israel asked King Ahaz to form an alliance with other nations to fight off this threat pointing out that Judah was next on Assyria’s agenda. Isaiah convinced him to not seek an alliance but depend upon God.  That was a good move as the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians. 

So, what does this have to do with the Lord sitting on a throne and his train filling the temple?  Does God sit upon a throne?  Well, even a king gets tired of standing.  I am sure with all the work God has to do He needs to sit down for a while and rest. I have to hand it to him that even while resting His weary body he still perform kingly duties.  Did and does He actually wear a robe with a train that filled the entire temple and where does a throne fit in the temple?  This really does not add up unless we consider it to be a metaphor. 

If Isaiah had this vision of God sitting upon a throne in the temple with his train filling the temple right after King Uzziah died in 742 BC, then this vision may make more sense.  20 years later King Shalmanesser V or Assyria conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 BC.  The fall of the Northern Kingdom would be the first time the Hebrew people suffered under a foreign ruler since their Egyptian slavery which spans almost 900 years. Nobody could believe that the nation of God with the Holy Temple would fall under foreign rule.  So God gave Isaiah, the prophet, a vision which would speak to him with a metaphor that would be easily understood in his day. However, to us almost 3,000 years later it would be difficult to understand.  This is where I can put my expensive education and my PhD in Archaeology to some good.  

Records of King Shalmanesser V has been researched by Archaeologist and they discovered something very interesting. The kings of Assyria during this time of great conquest had a little ritual.  Every time an Assyrian king would conquer a nation, he seized the train of the robe of the king of the conquered nation and sewed it to the train of his robe. You know, like a train and he would be the choo choo. When you consider all the nations that Assyria had conquered by the time of Isaiah, the king of Assyria had quite a lengthy train hooked up to his robe.  The word that is used for a train is shul which means the lower hem of a garment and the last leaf to sprout.

What Isaiah saw in his vision was God dressed as a king with a train attached to his robe that filled the temple. Only His train had a caboose and end.  The word fill is mala’ which is more correctly understand as a fulfillment, a completion or the finality, the end. In the end every king of every nation that ever existed will be part of God’s train showing that He has and will conquer them all. 

Isaiah saw the train of all the rulers of the ages, including President Trump and President Biden. Their trains are attached to His as the conqueror.  In the end God is the one who has conquered all the kings of this earth. King Uzziah thought he was really hot stuff, yet God brought him down pretty quickly.  Pride is often the downfall of many a king and presidents.  Some ended in disgrace, some in assassination, some like Nebuchadnezzar go insane, some like King Uzziah struck by leprosy but all eventually had and will have their trains sown to the train of God who will rule for eternity. Yes, even the speaker of the House will have her train sown to the train of God who will be her conqueror. 

Christians can learn from this.  We cannot put our trust in a man or woman to protect our nation. Our trust must be in God alone. Even King David, one of the greatest and most Godly kings to ever live brought disgrace upon his nation with adultery and murder.  God could not even allow him to build His temple because he had so much blood on his hands. 

Some trust in chariots, some in powerful kings or presidents.  But our trust must be in God alone.  

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