The Major Prophets

Lesson 4

 

                                         ISAIAH AND THE WORD OF THE LORD

                                                                        Isaiah 6

 

 

1.                  The message of the book of Isaiah is an expansion of the experience of the messenger; the prophet’s mission is but the expression of his commission.

 

2.                  “In the year that King Uzziah died”(v. 1a): c.740 B.C., at the end of a long period of national prosperity when people lifted themselves up, despite the gathering storms on the horizon.

a.                   Uzziah set himself to seek God, who helped him marvelously, so that the king became famous and strong.  He reigned 52 years (2 Chron. 26:1-15).

b.                  When he was strong, Uzziah grew proud and unfaithful (2 Chron. 26:16).  The king was an example of what was going on among the people (cf. 27:2).

c.                   He became angry when he was rebuked for it, so the LORD struck him with leprosy on his forehead, as if to judge his thinking (2 Chron. 26:17-21).  Uzziah lived in a separate house in his last days, while his son was over the king’s household.

 

3.                  “I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up”(v. 1b-4): the point of the book of Isaiah is God himself, and every aspect of this vision emphasizes that he is the only one who is actually lifted up.

a.                   He is sitting upon a throne, which indicates his sovereignty: he is God, there is no other, no one is like him, and he does what he wills (Is. 46:8-10).

b.                  He is high and lifted up, which impresses us with his exalted being, so far greater than our own (Is. 57:15; 52:13).

c.                   He is served and praised by the seraphim, the fiery angels who have great powers themselves (as symbolized by their six wings).

i.                    Note they way they cover themselves with reverence for him.

ii.                  Their repeated declaration of his holiness identifies him as “the Holy One of Israel” (cf. 1:4, etc.).

(1)               His absolute moral purity

(2)               His separateness above all creation

(3)               The sum of his attributes (Rev. 4:8)

iii.                Their reference to him as the LORD of hosts acknowledges his almighty power as commander of the armies of heaven

iv.                Their announcement that the whole earth is full of his glory

(1)               The term for his manifest presence with his covenant people (Ex. 16:7, 10; 40:34-35; 1 Kings 8:11)

(2)               Looks forward to the day when the whole earth will become his sanctuary (Is. 11:9; 35:2; 40:5; 60:1, 2)

 

v.                  The shaking of the foundations and the filling of the house with smoke deepens the sense of awe at the whole scene.

 

4.                  “And I said: ‘Woe is me!”(v. 5): the first words of the prophet himself are the words of a man pronouncing woe upon himself and his people.

a.                   He was lost, wholly undone.

b.                  His eyes had seen the King, the LORD of hosts, whose holiness was so great that looking on him would be fatal to a sinner (Is. 33:14).

c.                   He was a man of unclean lips, not pure like the seraphim, and not permitted in the presence of the Holy One on the throne.

d.                  His dwelled in the midst of a people of unclean lips, lost, separated from the LORD.

e.                   This realization is crucial to the message of the book of Isaiah (Is. 59:2-15).

 

5.                  “Your guilt is taken away”(v. 6-7): the good news of the book is that what God was willing to do for the prophet, he wanted to do for the people.

a.                   A seraph flew to him, meaning that this was a task initiated by the LORD.

b.                  He brought a burning coal from the altar, suggesting that the benefit to be imparted was the result of sacrifice (cf. Lev. 1:4; etc.).

c.                   The seraph touched his mouth with it, which means that the benefit of the sacrifice was applied to what had been unclean.

d.                  He declared that his sin was atoned for, indicating that Isaiah’s guilt could be taken away only through God’s sacrificial purifying work.

e.                   Grace through judgment is another crucial message of this book.

i.                    God will purify his people in a manner consistent with his glory.

ii.                  Sinfulness will be met with justice (1:21-31)

iii.                Forgiveness will be given with grace (2:1-5)

 

6.                  “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” (v. 8a)

a.                   The Lord is involved in history, which will become another of the big themes in this book (Is. 13-23; cf. 1 Kings 22:19, 20).

b.                  Having been cleansed, Isaiah:

i.                    Hears the voice of the Lord

ii.                  Shares his concerns

 

7.                  “Then I said, ‘Here am I!  Send me.”  (v. 8b)

a.                   This is the change grace works:  from “Woe is me!” to “Here I am!”

b.                  This is an attitude Isaiah shared with Samuel and Jesus.

 

8.                  “And he said, ‘Go, and say to this people: Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’” (v. 9-10)

a.                   God does not send on a mission without also giving a message.

b.                  The prophet was to do his work by telling the people what the Lord said.

 

 

c.                   The problem was that the people had not been hearing and seeing the Lord’s way.

i.                    Is. 28:9, 10

ii.                  Is. 30:9-11

iii.                Is. 42:19, 20

d.                  The prophet’s work would have the effect of confirming them in their condition.

i.                    Is. 29:9-10

ii.                  Is. 42:18-25

iii.                Is. 65:1-7

e.                   God would be judging the people by making his word known to them!

i.                    In this sense, his word always accomplishes the purpose for which he sends it; it never returns to him empty (55:9-11).

ii.                  Though he dwells in the high and holy place, he is with those who are of a contrite and lowly spirit–one who trembles at his word (57:15; 66:2).

iii.                Even if people reject what he says, his word will still endure when their flesh has withered and faded like a flower in the field (40:6-8).

 

9.                  “Then I said, ‘How long, O Lord?’” (v. 11a)

a.                   This is a question that has always been by people who see themselves as the objects of the Lord’s judgment, or who are confused by his delay in judgment of his enemies (Ps. 79:5; 89:46; Rev. 6:10).

b.                  In raising it, the prophet implies that he recognizes that hardship will be involved in the fulfilling of his mission.

 

10.              “And he said...” (v. 11b-13)

a.                   Until sin is dealt with completely–until the cities lie waste, houses are without people, and the LORD removes people far away.

b.                  Until, although only a few remain, the land is purged of faithlessness.

c.                   Until the holy seed is a stump that remains.

 

Isaiah 32:1-4 speaks of the dream of this book like this:

“Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice.

Each will be like a hiding place from the wind, a shelter from the storm, like streams in a   dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.

Then they eyes of those who see will not be closed, and the ears of those who hear will       give attention.

The heart of the hasty will understand and know, and the tongue of the stammerers will      hasten to speak distinctly.

The fool will no more be called noble, nor the scoundrel honorable.”