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.”
Uzziah, meaning my
strength is Jehovah, is also called Azariah, meaning helped of
Jehovah. His reign of 52 years began when he was just sixteen, and was
marked by obedience to God, see 2 Chronicles 26:3-5, until his attempt to
intrude into the priest’s office, for which he was stricken with leprosy
until his death, 2 Chronicles 26:16-21, his son Jotham reigning as regent in
those intervening years.
In contrast with the
ignominious fall of Uzziah is this vision given Isaiah of the glory of the
exalted Lord, a wonder beyond human comprehension being that of the willing
condescension that led Him to lay aside His glory, and come down to earth in
the guise of a Servant, the exhortation to us being, “Let this mind be in
you, which was also in Christ Jesus; Who, being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and
took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross,” Philippians 2:5-8.
The Father’s recompense of
the Son’s willing obedience is recorded in the verses that follow,
“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is
above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things
in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father,” Philippians 2:9-11.
In the present context
train means the skirts of his robe, its great length signifying
the extent of His power and glory.
6:2. “Above it
stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain (two) he covered his
face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.”
This is the only
scriptural reference to seraphim, who appear to have been guardians of God’s
throne. The name is derived from a word meaning to burn, and
signifying their absolute holiness. Their covering their faces with a pair
of wings is generally understood to be indicative of their reverence in the
Divine presence, an attitude which rebukes the irreverence, not only of the
unconverted, but of many believers also, in the presence of God.
Since the feet speak of
the walk or manner of life, their being covered may be the symbolic
announcement of the truth that the work of the seraphim transcends human
comprehension.
6:3. “And one
cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the
whole earth is full of his glory.”
The announcement of God’s
holiness is seldom heard today even from the lips of believers; and relative
to His glory, the sad truth is that even amongst believers it is seldom even
mentioned, much less proclaimed.
6:4. “And the
posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was
filled with smoke.”
The smoke may have been
the gleaming cloud of God’s glory, but in the present context we can’t
dismiss the fact that it may have been also indicative of His anger. Well
might the Temple foundations tremble at the sound of God’s voice raised in
wrath.
The terror impelled by
that sound may be gauged from what is written in Revelation 6:15-17 relative
to the final judgment of the world, “And the kings of the earth, and the
great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and
every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the
rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and
hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath
of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able
to stand?”
6:5. “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.”
“Woe is me” is also
translated, “Alas, I feel beaten, I am doomed, I am lost”; and “man of
unclean lips” is also rendered, “foul-mouthed.” As compared with others, a
man may seem relatively righteous. It is only in the blazing light of
Divine holiness that the utter filthiness of even the best of unconverted
men is revealed; nor is it difficult to understand the magnitude of their
terror on that day when they will stand before God for judgment, with that
all-revealing beam exposing even their innermost thoughts. Jesus Christ is
the only secure refuge from the awful wrath of an offended God, and the man
who fails to enter that hiding place by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ as
Savior, is of all fools the greatest.
6:6. “Then
flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he
had taken with the tongs from off the altar;”
The seraph lifted the
glowing coal with the tongs, but he carried it in his bare hand, and
suffered no hurt, his inherent holiness rendering him impervious to the pain
that would normally have resulted from such an act. This is a symbolic
picture of the state of every believer. His faith in Christ cleanses him
from all sin, thus exempting him from ever having to suffer the terrible
torment of the unquenchable flame of the lake of fire.
6:7. “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.”
It may seem strange that
the touch of the glowing coal, which purged the prophet’s sin, should have
been upon his lips; but the mystery is removed when we remember what is
written relative to every believer, “That if thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved,” Romans 10:9. Verbal
confession of Christ as Savior is an essential part of salvation; and only
those whose iniquity has been taken away, whose sin has been purged, can
make that confession, and render acceptable service.
This teaches also that God
will not use an unclean vessel. If we would render effective service we
must keep ourselves clean, every sin being confessed, repented of, and
forsaken the moment we become aware of it.
6:8. “And 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.”
The “us” here refers to
the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
God still seeks witnesses
to carry His good news of the gospel to earth’s perishing millions. Dare we
who have been made the recipients of “so great salvation” Hebrews 2:3,
refuse to obey His command, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel
to every creature,” Mark 16:15?
6:9. “And he
said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see
ye indeed, but perceive not.”
This may well be the most
solemn verse in the Bible, for it pronounces the eternal doom of a people
phenomenally privileged. God had revealed Himself to them for centuries, and
in countless ways, but they had stopped their ears, stoned His messengers,
and had virtually bidden Him to depart from them. And He was about to take
them at their word. Their repeated rejection of His appeals had finally
exhausted His sorely-tried patience, and now they who might have made
themselves heirs of eternal blessing, had instead made themselves heirs of
eternal wrath. The warning against such folly is recorded in Proverbs 29:1,
“He, that being often reproved hardens his neck, shall suddenly be
destroyed, and that without remedy,” and again in Job 36:18, “Because there
is wrath, beware lest he take thee away with his stroke: then a great ransom
cannot deliver thee,” and again, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold,
now is the day of salvation,” 2 Corinthians 6:2.
Tomorrow may be too late.
Tomorrow you may have crossed the invisible line that separates God’s mercy
from His wrath, and then though you may live for many more years your
endless doom is sealed: the awful lake of fire with its everlasting torment
will be your eternal dwelling place.
Will any honest man deny
that our modern, sophisticated, wealthy, pleasure-loving, so-called
“Christian” western world has dismissed Him with the very same thinly-veiled
contempt? And His recompense of their wickedness is the same as that
suffered by rebel Judah. They too hear, but understand not; they too read,
but perceive not. The Bible is a book whose meaning is hidden from their
understanding, for the Holy Spirit, grieved and quenched by their rebellion,
refuses to disclose the spiritual message lying beneath the surface of its
literal language. The obedient believer however, is given that
enlightenment, and revels in the enjoyment of the spiritual riches which
accrue from his reading and meditation.
6:10. “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.”
This continues the message
the prophet was to deliver to disobedient Judah. God Himself would now
stupefy them, making their hearts unreceptive, dulling their perception, so
that spiritually they would neither hear, nor see, nor understand. Having
exhausted God’s patience, they had passed for ever beyond the pale of mercy,
and were doomed to perish, i.e., endure eternal torment in the lake of
fire. Multitudes, without knowing it, cross that same invisible line every
day, their descent into that awful lake being just as certain as if they
were already there.
To convert is to turn
around, repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, be healed
spiritually, be saved, be born again.
6:11. “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,”
6:12. “And the
Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst
of the land.”
It was Isaiah who asked
how long it would be before the people would be ready to listen, God’s
fateful answer being as recorded here. They would rebel until appalling
judgment had desolated the land, leaving it without inhabitant, they having
been slain or led away into captivity. This was fulfilled first in the
Assyrian conquest, and then by that of the Babylonians, and in yet another
by the Romans in AD 70, these, terrible as they were, being but precursors
of the yet more dreadful mayhem that will occur during the reign of the
Beast in the now imminent Great
Tribulation.
6:13. “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.”
The tenth refers to the
remnant left in the land by Nebuchadnezzar, see 2 Kings 24:14.
This is generally
understood to mean that even though Israel will be repeatedly invaded, and
the bulk of the people be removed by captivity and death, yet a few will be
left, and be as the stump of a felled tree which sprouts new life again,
that remnant being the seed through which the nation will be preserved to
enjoy millennial blessing.
History attests the
accuracy of the prophecy. The Diaspora of AD 70 scattered Israel amongst
the nations until 1948, when the British mandate gave her Palestine as a
homeland, to which the Jews have been returning ever since. But her testing
is not yet ended. In the now imminent Great Tribulation she will again face
destruction, this time at the hand of the Beast, but will be miraculously
delivered by the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to establish His millennial
kingdom, in which she will be elevated to a place of supremacy over the
nations, fulfilling her long promised destiny, so often thwarted by her
disobedience.
