FOREWORD TO ISAIAH 6
(by John David)
Chronologically this chapter describes what occurred before the book was written by the prophet. He had responded to God’s directions to write this encounter and his prophecies to Judah in a book. Thus we have the glorious record by the evangelist of the Old Testament.
Isaiah describes in detail his first encounter with the Holy Spirit. He was probably already a god-fearing, or even a godly man faithful to the religion of Jehovah, but filled with his own self righteousness. God the Father suddenly arrested Isaiah in his tracks and showed him his sinful nature that universally bedevilled God’s chosen people: Israel. The endemic and unbridled sin of Adam (with its curse) had been the undoing of Israel since Jacob’s name was changed at Peniel. This had been particularly true since the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt until Isaiah’s time.
Sinful Isaiah was suddenly convicted of his own unworthiness and abhorrent self conceit before God’s very holy presence. The apostle Paul depicts what happens at conversion of any religious worshipper into a ‘son’ or ‘daughter’ of God.
“And (I) will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:18
The Lord Jesus had earlier described the change in the gospels.
“And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” (John 16:8-11)
After Isaiah had been translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light he was ready to serve his master and could have fully reiterated the apostle Paul’s words: “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” (Colossians 1:13)
Isaiah’s ensuing response to God the Father adopting him was typical of any new creature in Christ: ‘here am I Lord, send me’. But he was sent to the tribe of Judah, with whom the Messianic promise had been irrevocably covenanted. Jesus was born of the virgin Mary whom, with Joseph (the step father), belonged to the tribe of Judah. Both had been descendants of David the king as listed in the genealogical record early in the gospels.
Yet Isaiah would not be received well and though he lived through the reign of four kings, he was sawed in half by the fifth king: Manasseh. “He came unto his own and they received him not.”
Preaching to a rebellious people, (the most stiff-necked) was nevertheless his commission in this seraphic encounter. Only a tenth, or a remnant, would be at all responsive. But the preservation and continued restoration of that remnant is echoed by the preservation and perseverance of the saints in the New Testament era.
Only a small fraction of Jerusalem’s (& Judah’s) citizenry will finally remain after its wars with Egypt, Syria, Assyria, Samaria, Ammon, Edom, and finally Babylonian Chaldea. To understand this central theme is to grasp the essence of the most difficult, but the most glorious book of the three Major Prophets.
We do not know whether this visionary encounter occurred after he had been nominated as prophet or if it was the cause of his appointment before the people of Judah. In the temple he was reminded of Uzziah’s blasphemous offering of false fire, comparable to Nadab & Abihu, whose lives were suddenly slain by God for their false fire, despite being the priestly sons of Aaron and Kohathites. The three chose to act as a High Priest. Uzziah, though not slain, was smitten with leprosy as he remonstrated with the priesthood in the temple.
While it is best not to concentrate upon the hyperbole and dramatic imagery of the vision presented in poetic lucidity, the encounter is nonetheless very real though many readers will not accept his account as credible. This is not mystical imagination of Isaiah’s mind, but a dramatic spiritual meeting with God’s angel. However, natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
ISAIAH 6
KJV Bible:
Public Domain:
Isaiah’s encounter with God, his conversion and call as a prophet.
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.
2 Above 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.
3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Isaiah is convicted, repents, and answers God’s call.
5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
God warns Isaiah he will be a rejected prophet of doom.
9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,
12 And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.
13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.
FOOTNOTE by John David
Isaiah 6:13.
‘It shall be a tenth, and it shall return’. The godly remnant still faithful to Jehovah and his prophets will be preserved. Though only a small percentage, its members (saints) will alone be receptive and responsive to Isaiah’s prophetic preaching. This theme of the preserved remnant who in the end will return to Jerusalem is intermittently constant in the Book of Isaiah.
‘As a teil tree, and as an oak,’ are similes typical of Isaiah’s rather obtuse style in the book for his analogies. To many readers they can be a distraction from understanding the essence of Isaiah’s overall message.
Credits: KJV from biblegateway.com
