So are you enjoying Isaiah ? Have you had a read this week?
Graeme gave us an insight into the prelude chapters 1-5
last week. Now we move on from God's diagnosis into the 'Book of the King' and
in particular the 'Triumph of grace'.chapters 6-12.
As I am likely to go on too long, the plan is to précis these chapters, then we will look in detail at just one part of it, Isaiah's call in chapter 6.
In Chapter 6 Isaiah is called, accepts his destiny and in commissioned. God reveals himself and sin is dealt with.
Ch 7-9 are prophecies to Judah and ch 9-11 are prophecies for Israel. Remember Israel was divided in two at this time. Israel in the North was soon to be overrun, Judah still had opportunity to turn away from sin.
Then the section finishes with a song of praise. Ch 12.
In the prophecies for Judah we read about Ahaz dithering as an invader threatens Judah. He refuses a sign from God and God gives him a sign that indicates Judgement in in the lifetime of a new born child, prophetically called Immanuel. Isaiah has a Son who he calls Maher Shalal Hash Baz which means something like ‘quick to loot, swift to plunder’. He is named to indicate that God is sending the Assyrians to overrun the land. God is with us is bad news for Isreal.
Then there is a prophecy about fearing God. In it horoscopes, witchcraft, mediums and the like are set as direct opposites of seeking God. Let us read a bit
8:17-22 God does not want you reading horoscopes, pursuing yoga, transendental meditation and all the other new age religion. They are dead ends without light and hope. God's word is full of light and hope and grace.
Suddenly the sun breaks out of the book and we have that famous passage telling of the king who is to come.
The prophecies of Israel are darker as God will not restrain judgement. In ch 9-10 notice a repeated refrain “Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.” We too often trifle with God thinking he is not going to punish. That’s an old fashioned concept we know better. This maybe old fashioned but if you do not turn to God in repentance and faith, your death will be the commencement of similar judgement, hopeless and unending. Hell is as bad as it gets. Don’t go there!
Then Assyria the rod of God’s punishment gets its come uppance for imagining it got to being a world power by its own efforts. And a new element appears, that of a remnant that will survive and recover.
Judah is told that Assyria will not destroy Jerusalem. The remnant of Israel are the survivors in Judah.
The sun breaks out of the clouds again as the king that is to come is described as the root of Jesse. Jesse was David’s father and this prophecy is about Jesus but the kingdom of peace is still to come. The problem with prophecy is that time gets telescoped. From Isaiah’s perspective Jesus’ coming leads straight into us all being in heaven.
We finish as Isaiah speaks of a praise song for ‘that day.’
So lets start at the start.
Read Isaiah 6:1-13 page 690
In the year that King Uzziah died, dates this as 740BC. A long and prosperous reign had entered troubled waters with the accession of Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria who was an aggressive imperialist, threatening Israel and Judah.
In 2Chronicles 26 we read that King Uzziah was a godly man but he thought that being both godly and king he was entitled to burn incense as a priest. Every other king was a priest so why couldn’t he. But God had forbidden it and Uzziah paid the price. He was a leper to the day he died. Isolated from court, his son reigning in his place. A sad end to a godly man.
Don't concentrate on the details, they are a combination of revelation by God through symbols that Isaiah would understand and Isaiah's ability to describe and interpret. God reveals himself as filling the temple and is surrounded by messengers declaring him as 'holy'. The rest of the description is awesome because it was meant to be.
In an age when God was seen as one of a number of possibilities, Isaiah gets message one: 'God is Holy' Remember 1Peter1:15
The essence of holiness is separateness and being different. God is separate and different from us. He is not one of the pack. Like in the bookshop in Swindon where the Bible was put next to the Tarot card 'starter' pack and the meditation book with CD. He is not like Allah or Krishna or Buddha. He is not like us with our endless excuses and blaming others. He is God. He is holy and we are called to be like him.
What do we learn from Isaiah's reaction?
.Meeting God means recognizing we are lost; undone; unclean. The word translated lost, here is actually ‘silent’. Isaiah was unable to participate in the praise and worship and maybe sensing that he , like Uzziah, would be silent in death. Maybe we don't see the point here, god's were all over the place in Isaiah's day, in the home, on street corners, even in the temple. But when the one true God reveals himself, Isaiah knows that God is not familiar, comfortable or controllable. He is holy. Isaiah and his people are unclean, sinners or in our language, messed up. Isaiah has nothing he can say. He is silent. Well nearly
And God says, go and give this message to the people and I will let you off. Does he ? NO!
God deals with the sin, himself. Isaiah’s silence and his unclean lips are met with live coals on the lips. This is not torture. It is symbolic of purification. Sterilisation by searing is well known, even in Isaiah's day. But this cleansing is twofold. Guilt is taken away and sin is atoned for. In Isaiah's religion, Judaism, guilt and atonement required animal sacrifice. But here only the coal is needed. Hints of Isaac saying to Abraham Ge 22:7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"
"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.
"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
8Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.
You have to read on in Isaiah to find out how God is planning salvation without animal sacrifice.
First guilt is taken away.
This is healing for Isaiah’s inner man. He is aware of his sin, his selfishness, his alienation from God. He can never get away from his faults, his conscience is never quiet. But When God steps into your life, guilt is taken away. The load and burden of the past is removed. How? Because you can face the past and recognise the sin and know that it has been dealt with. You can actually be released from your past experiences in Christ. When it comes into your mind you have the promises of God to say, I have released from the past and it no longer has to dictate the present. Past failures do not have to be present failures because God not only saved you but he put his Holy Spirit in you to empower you to be free from the past and able to live as he wants you in the present.
Secondly, sin is atoned for.
Modern man rejects the idea of atonement because he likes to belittle sin. Atonement is the process by which God receives satisfaction for the offence of sin. We do not like God to be interfering in our lives. We make ourselves God and think that as long as I am happy, what I do I think is OK, I don’t harm anybody else, why should God get involved. I am the master of my own fate. You are not. Thankfully he is still God. Humanism which places us in God’s place, makes fools of us as we have to make up rules to solve our consciences. Don’t kill, except when it is compassionate to do so. Who says it is compassionate to kill an unborn child? An elderly person who is unable to communicate with their family or the doctors? And I could go on to every area of morality. If there is no God, we are all at sea with no compass or stars to guide us. But God is here and he is holy and just and loving. He has commands, which are right and safe for society and individuals. And when we break the rules, we pay the consequences. Isaiah knew this, so he knew he was undone. But God atones for his sin. Isaiah can’t do it but God does. He did it 700 years later by sending Jesus to die on a cross for your sin and mine. We may not like the idea of God punishing his own son so that we could free but this is God’s solution . The alterative is described in the Bible as hell for you. God however, in Jesus, receives satisfaction for sin and you are atoned for. Like Isaiah you therefore have the guilt removed from you as you feel the warmth of his love permeate your being saying ‘I have forgiven your sins, I will give you new life, I will pour my spirit out on you that you might live as I want you to live. So it is atonement that leads to "guilt free".
Faced with this overwhelming experience of God His holiness and his love, Isaiah is presented with a third part of this vision. Until now he was silent and he could not hear God. Now the ears are open and he can hear. His mouth is purified so he can speak.
God is seeking a messenger, a prophet. He has millions of angels who are his messengers but he say “whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” Father , Son and Holy Spirit are seeking a messenger. Isaiah has just received so much he is literally falling over himself to volunteer. "Here I am , I’m here, I’ll go". Where or what or how is not important. It is to be part of God’s great plan that captivates Isaiah’s imagination. And that is true for you and me. You can measure your relationship with God by your willingness to respond to his call. He still is calling for people to go for him. But first you have to experience his holiness and his love. You have to receive the same purification that Isaiah did. Guilt has to be taken away and sin atoned for. You have to ask God and receive salvation in Christ Jesus. If you have never done that, here is how you can. You pray, quite simply, Jesus said "Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you". Here are some words that you could use. Remember it is not the form of words but the attitude of the mind and heart that matter.
Lord
Jesus Christ,
I
am sorry for the things that I have done in my life that displease you and are
wrong.
Thank
you that you died on the cross for me so that I could be forgiven and set free.
I
accept your gift of salvation and I accept your rule in my life.
Please
come into my life by your Holy Spirit to be with me forever.
Thank
you, Jesus
Amen.
If you have prayed that prayer, speak to me after and I will pray with you and give you some guidance in what to do next. You see becoming a Christian is to discover your destiny.
Isaiah did that because God sends him on a lifelong mission. But it is a little confusing at first.
v 9-10
Isa 6:9He said, "Go and tell this people:
"'Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.'
10Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed."
Note that in verse 10 a classic Hebrew poetic form Heart ,ears, eyes, followed by eyes, ears, heart. There are many examples of this form of poetry in Isaiah alone.
The three are all blocked and as a result the people cannot turn and be healed. These are repeated in respect of Jesus’ mission in Matthew , for example, ch 13:11-17
So understanding it is important. It is both a matter of choice and God’s intervention. You have to be an honest seeker and God has to unblock the ears, eyes and heart. The message was plain . Immanuel was to come but in the meantime Mahal shalal hasbaz warns of immediate danger. Assyria is God’s instrument of punishment but beyond that there is a coming kingdom of the son that is born . Israel will be wiped out because of sin but a remnant will survive. For Jerusalem there is to be a stay of judgment, Assyria will be destroyed. There is a future kingdom of peace and tranquillity where a Davidic king will rule. These and the rest of the prophecy were told to the people. Isaiah was one of the political insiders and was prophesying to the kings of the day. But they would never comprehend the message because it was beyond normal political activities. It required trusting an invisible God to overcome a very visible Assyrian army. It also dealt so much beyond the immediate crisis and there direct experience. As a result, Isaiah was talking to the proverbial brick wall. But that was his commission. Our commission is to go and make disciples of all people, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19 It does not tell us that they wouldn’t listen, in fact it implies that there will be a great spiritual harvest. But even in South Ruislip in 2007, we need to be telling the good news, whether or not our friends, relations or work mates are bothered or interested.
Review In Isaiah, there are two contrasting kingdoms. The present with all its judgement because of sin. No kingdom like this has any perminancy. Even unassailable Assyria would soon fall. Just as every empire, Roman, British or American has or will collapse. But there is a coming king who has an eternal kingdom of peace. What Isaiah 6 teaches us is that the step between involves understanding that God is holy, that we are undone, a people of unclean lips, and hearts and minds. Then we have to receive God's clean-up guilt is taken away and sin is atoned for by the death of Jesus on the cross. Then we have peace with God and peace in our hearts. God's kingdom is not in the future it is here and now in Jesus Christ. Immanuel when we deserve Mahal shalal hasbaz. That is the triumph of grace.
Freely freely