#5. Isaiah’s transforming Vision (Isa. vi.).


The historical setting of this vision is full of teaching. In II Chron. xxvi. 16-21 we get the sad story of King Uzziah—the story of a presumptuous man who dared to unite the offices of King and Priest. The uniting of these two offices will be the culminating sin of the Antichrist (II Thess. ii. 4), for the true Priest-King is the Messiah Himself (Psa. cx. 4). In the same year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah saw his vision of the One Who was rightly Priest and King, the Lord Jesus Himself (John xii. 41).

Verse 2.—The Seraphim are fully conscious of the holiness of Him Who sits on the throne. Their six wings are not used for flying in His service. Only two are needed for this, the remaining four being used to acknowledge the Holiness of the Lord: “With twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet.” Prayer and worship precede true service.

Verse 3.—The message of Heaven is the Holiness of the Lord. To understand this, is to penetrate the mystery of the Great White Throne, the Lake of Fire, the Work of Calvary, and the Nature of Sin.

Verse 5.—As the believer nearer to the Lord, so will he feel more intensely his own depravity and the sin of others. Salvation does not in any way improve or eradicate the old nature.

Verse 6.—Those who speak of the Holiness of God, who use their wings in reverence and worship, are ready to apply the atonement for the cleansing of sin. The live coal speaks of a sacrifice consumed, and because of the sacrifice there is cleansing.

Verse 7.—The believer’s sins are still called “iniquity” and “sin”. There is no sanctification apart from the altar. The Spirit of God works along the line of Redemption.

Verse 8: “”Also I heard.”—Unforgiven, unconfessed sin prevents hearing. Isaiah was about to be sent to those who neither saw nor heard (verse 10). He himself, by contrast, had both seen (verse 5) and heard (verse 8). Note also in this verse the Divine hint of the plurality of the Godhead: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”

Verse 9: “Go, and tell this people.”—Isaiah had confessed that he was a “man of unclean lips”, but the live coal had touched them and they are now to be used in the Lord’s service.

Isaiah uses the expression: “Then said I” three times:

(1) “Then said I, woe is me.”
(2) “Then said I, Here am I: send me.”
(3) “Then said I, Lord, how long?”

We have here (1) a recognition of failure (2) a willingness for service, after cleansing and sanctification, and (3) a tender concern for the blinded, sinful, and doomed people.

In verses 12 and 13 the words: “But ye in it shall be a tenth” should be placed in brackets, the passage reading straight on from “land” to “and it shall return”. In these verses we have the majority of Israel perishing, but Jehovah’s portion—the tenth—brought safely through, and finally filling the face of the earth.

Dear fellow-believer, the Holiest of All is accessible to all the redeemed, by virtue of the blood of Christ. Draw near with a true heart, seek to keep a clear conscience, definitely confess your sins, and seek to hear the will of the Lord from above the Mercy Seat. If unsaved, have you ever thought of the holiness of God? His eyes cannot look upon sin. His holiness and wrath are alike a devouring fire to all that is sinful. By nature, we are all unclean, but the soul that seeks pardon through the precious blood is washed whiter than snow.

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(From The Berean Expositor, Vol. 30, pp. 120).

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