Series: The All-Sufficiency of the Gospel
Message: Isaiah's Vision
Key Text: Isaiah 6:1-7
In our last lesson, we took at look at the pride and arrogance of King Uzziah. We saw how Uzziah's pride led to his ultimate fall from power and seclusion to a separate house because of leprosy that he was stricken with by God for offending His holiness. Today, we'll see a bit more of God's holiness, with "Isaiah's Vision."
Let's begin to look at our text. I'll be using the NASB version:
1 In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.
I originally thought it strange that Isaiah's account of his vision of the Lord was placed in Chapter 6 of Isaiah. The first 5 chapters of this book of prophecy deal with some heavy issues. He starts off the book speaking of the rebellion of God's people and how God had had enough of their disobedience. He spoke of Zion's corruption and how God would redeem her with justice. He also spoke of a day of reckoning and judgment, woes for the wicked, etc.
These were hard sayings to the Jews. I believe the reason Isaiah placed his vision here was to validate his calling as a prophet of God. Describing how the Lord called him would authenticate the prophecies he had previously given. The Jews needed to be awakened. God's holiness was the thing to awaken them.
Isaiah says he saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted. The KJV says the Lord was "high and lifted up." What is the significance of this?
Reformer John Calvin states in his commentary:
"He could not have given a better description of God, in regard to place, than in the person of a Judge, that his majesty might strike greater terror into the Jews; for we shall afterwards see the dreadful judgment which the Lord pronounced from his judgment-seat. But lest we should suppose that the Prophet contrived the manner in which he would paint God, we ought to know that he faithfully describes the very form in which God was represented and exhibited to him."
Another thing to understand here is, at this time, there were many false pagan gods. Those who would worship idol gods would go into the high parts of the land, usually in mountainous areas, to worship their false gods. This lofty position of God upon the throne emphasizes the Most High God, high above all false gods and idols.
But, who was this that Isaiah saw? How could Isaiah see God who is a Spirit (John 5:24)? Since God is Spirit, He cannot be seen with human eyes. In fact, if you remember, God appeared to Moses in a burning bush, and allowed Moses to only see his "hinderparts" as He passed by, and even that was too much for Moses to see without covering his face with a veil. Moses' face glowed from seeing a glimpse of the glory of God.
Man cannot see God as He truly is, so God presented Himself in a capacity that men could receive. John tells us exactly who Isaiah saw.
37 But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: "LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT? AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED?" 39 For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, 40 "HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM." 41 These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him. John 12:37-41
Who was it that Isaiah saw? It was Jesus Christ, high and lifted up, sitting on a throne, the eternal Judge.
Again, John Calvin writes:
"Secondly, it is asked, "Who was that Lord?" John tells us that it was Christ, and justly, for God never revealed himself to the Fathers but in his eternal Word and only begotten Son. Yet it is wrong, I think, to limit this, as some do, to the person of Christ; for it is indefinitely, on the contrary, that the Prophet calls him God. Nor do their views derive any support from the word "adonai", which seems to particularly apply to Christ; for it is often applied to God in an absolute and unrestricted manner. In this passage, therefore, God is mentioned indefinitely, and yet it is correctly said that Isaiah saw the glory of Christ, for at that very time he was the "image of the invisible God" (Col. 1:15)"
It says that the "train of His robe" filled the temple. I think most of us understand what a train is. No, not a choo choo...lol. But, think about the train of a bride's dress that extends far beyond the rest of her garment. While this may speak of the train of God's robe, it may also be understand to refer to the extremities of God's Judgment-seat, understanding that the dimensions of it were so vast that it extended to every part of the temple. There was no part of the temple that was not inhabited by God's holy presence.
There's also much for us to glean from Isaiah's vision of God being in the temple. While Isaiah may have been in the earthly temple himself at this time, this describes a vision which transcends the earthly. The throne of God is in the heavenly temple (Rev. 4:1-6; 5:1-7; 11:19; 15:5-8 ).
God promised that He would meet with His people in the temple, and the people expected His answers from there, as Solomon had expressly stated when he dedicated the temple.
30 Listen to the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place; heat in heaven Your dwelling place; hear and forgive (I Kings 8:30)
So, for them to know that this is come from God, whom they called upon every day, He presented Himself in the heavenly temple to Isaiah. With this, Isaiah claimed that his prophecies were not from a mere mortal man, but by heavenly revelation of God Himself.
I want to move onto the next verse, but for the sake of time and space, I'll hold off until next time. Please take a look at Chapters 1-5 and see these hard prophecies Isaiah was giving and why they might be very hard for the Jews to swallow.
In Christ Alone,
Brother Michael
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