Isaiah 6 - Seeing the Lord and Saying "YES"
This vision occurred sometime during the calendar year 740-739 B.C. when King Uzziah (called Azariah in 2 Kings 14:21) died, Isaiah had a vision of the LORD in the temple. Many commentators believe that the “temple” Isaiah is referring to is the heavenly one.
In this temple, Isaiah SEES God in all His holiness; high and exalted with His glory filling the temple. Isn't that AWESOME! Pause to think about this.
As a result, he is convicted of his own sinfulness in light of a holy God. Aiding the Lord in this vision were the seraphim. This is the only time they are referenced as “seraphim” in Scripture, but some believe that the living creatures mentioned in Revelation 4:6-9 refer to them. The Hebrew word for seraphim means “to burn,” and these angelic creatures functioned as purifiers as the coal was brought to Isaiah’s lips to burn away the guilt of his sin.
God’s holiness is mentioned three times: "Holy, holy, holy." Repeating is common in the Old Testament (Jeremiah 22:29; Ezekiel 21:27) and suggests God’s supreme or complete holiness.
Once cleansed, Isaiah is given the call to preach a message of repentance until God’s judgment came, even though the people would be unresponsive (oh joy). Note that God says “. . . who will go for Us?” The word “Us” hints at the Trinity (much like Genesis 1:26; 11:7).
In spite of knowing that the people would be unresponsive (How many of you would do a ministry that had little to no results?), First, Isaiah responds willingly. Then, God gives a message of hope: there will be a believing remnant who would be preserved in the land.
Isaiah 7 – The Promise of Immanuel (God with us)
In 734 B.C., Ahaz, king of Judah in Jerusalem (and one of Judah’s worst kings), is about to be attacked by the northern kingdom of Israel and Aram. He is frightened by the possibility of invading armies, but as Isaiah predicts, the kingdom of Judah did not come to an end. Ahaz refuses God’s help and tries to buy aid from the Assyrians (2 Kings 16:8), but the Assyrians bring more trouble than help. n 722 B.C., Samaria, the capital of Ephraim (another word for Israel, the northern kingdom) fell to the Assyrian armies, and the northern kingdom came to an end.
The prophecy of Immanuel in 7:13-16 is a scarlet thread of redemption passage. The immediate fulfillment will be that a young woman will conceive and bear a son named Immanuel; and before three years passed, the two invading kings would be destroyed. The ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy is in the Lord Jesus Christ, born of a virgin and “God with us” (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:31-35)!
REFLECTION
This post is late because, in the midst of meditating on this passage, we had a phone call discussing procedures and protocols in a ministry in which we are currently involved. I had Isaiah’s vision right in front of me; and as my brain got really tired hearing about all the mechanics and “hoops” of this ministry, I just wanted to get off the phone and “see the Lord exalted on His throne" and get my marching orders from Him!
Sometimes, we lose sight of “seeing” God in the midst of busy activity in “Kingdom” work. Isaiah did not have to enter his encounter with the Lord in an “online reporting data base” in order to make sure everyone in his organization could track his progress. I don’t mean to be sarcastic in this, but I think we make ministry so much more complicated than it needs to be. It makes my head hurt and my eyes glaze over. I don’t want to lose sight of the whole reason why we “do” ministry in the first place.
So the point of this reflection is simple:
Don’t let your mission get in the way of your Master.
Now, I am off to behold Him.
APPLICATION
Behold the Lord today. He is "with" you in all your activity and busy-ness. Isn't that awesome?
PRAYER
Holy, holy, holy are You Lord! The whole earth is full of Your glory. We worship You in the beauty of Your holiness, and we know that we fall short of your holiness and ask that You search our hearts and bring before us those things that are not holy in our lives. Thank You that the blood of Jesus purifies us. Bring us into right relationship with You. Open our eyes that we might see You in all Your fullness and glory. We want to be caught up in the wonder of You so that we might go where You would have us go and do what You would have us do for Your glory. We ask all this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
1 comment:
Great post, Carol! It is so easy to get our focus off kilter and look at what we're doing "for the Lord" and how we're doing it rather fixing our eyes on Him and "beholding" Him, as you say. So great that you had these chapters in your mind and heart for that phone call!
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