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God Commissions Isaiah Isaiah 6:1-8
The description of what Isa- iah saw was as a throne room of God that Isaiah was allowed to see was lofty, impressive, angelic, distinct, and loud. It was lofty in that God was pic- tured as seated on a throne— high and exalted. This King of Heaven (later called the Lord Almighty) had a train that filled the temple, indicative of his power and royalty. Seraphim (the only time they are mentioned in the Bible) had six wings, indicative that they are shy of God’s perfect number seven. Four of their six wings are indicative of wor- ship (humbly covering their faces and feet). The other two wings are indicative of service (flying).
The angels worshipped by calling out God’s holiness to the third power. Holy, holy, holy is the only quality of God that is mentioned as a triad in the Bible. God is other and unique and set apart from hu- mans. The angels saw some things that the people had a hard time seeing—that the whole earth is filled with God’s glory. With King Uzziah gone, that is not what the people
saw. They saw gloom and de- spair. Isaiah and his people needed to know that no matter what it looked like, God had it all in his hands. The temple shook and was filled with smoke, indicative of God’s power and glory.
The most important aspect of Isaiah’s call was the one who called him.
Seeing Ourselves Isaiah 6:5-7
The reaction of Isaiah to this majestic scene was the only approach of an honest person. All Isaiah did was see God, yet that was enough to make his head spin. Once he saw God, he also saw himself in light of God, and he did not like what he saw.
Isaiah saw himself, warts and all. He was undone (ru- ined). He recognized his sin and the sin of his community of faith. Before Isaiah could be used for service, he had to have his sins forgiven. This forgive- ness was symbolically pictured by one of the angels taking a coal from the altar and touch- ing it to Isaiah’s mouth. The angel announced Isaiah’s for- giveness (your sin atoned for).
Then Isaiah was ready to sign up for his service.
Before we accept God’s call to speak for him to those around us, we must be cleansed as Isaiah was. Letting God purify us may be painful, but we must be purified so we can truly represent God, who is pure and holy.
Signing Up Isaiah 6:8
The famous commission of Isaiah was prompted by two questions from the Lord—they somewhat interrogate, but they also invite. It is hard to know the level of Isaiah’s bold- ness in volunteering, when he heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Isaiah accepted by saying, ‘Here am I; send me, and signed up for service only to find out that this may be tougher and longer than he thought (Isaiah 6:11).
Rarely do we know ALL at the point of the call. But that is why it is called faith. In this lesson, God compared his peo- ple to a tree that would have to be cut down so that a new tree could grow from the old roots (Isaiah 6:13).
Isaiah, considered the great- est Old Testament prophet had a message of both judgment and hope. He was an active prophet during the reigns of 5 kings. Isaiah had a respectable career as a scribe in Jerusalem (before King Uzziah died) when he was called by God.
He was not encouraged by God with predictions of great success, and was told in ad- vance that the people would not listen. However he was told to speak and write his messages anyway, because eventually some would listen. During those times, like these, moral and spiritual laxity had reached its peak.
King Uzziah (a fairly good king) reigned for a long time, died in 740 BC of leprosy, for trying to take over the high priests role (2 Chronicles
26: 18-21). For those who put their faith in kings and horses (Isaiah 31:1), this created a crisis. Isaiah’s vision and call had the power to reassure the people of God that the real King of Israel was not undone by the death of a human king. Seeing God
Isaiah 6:1-4
Moses was told that no per- son could see God and live (Exodus 33:20). But occa- sionally people were allowed to see some kind of manifestation of God’s glory (Exodus 19:10, 11; 24:9, 10). This of course changed with the com- ing of Christ (John 1:14, 18; 14:9). But to help underline the assurance of Isaiah’s min- istry, God did allow Isaiah to see a visionary experience of the throne room/heavenly temple.
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