Isaiah 6 HOLY

Isaiah 6
My Favorite Chapter in the Bible

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and His robe filled the temple.

The history behind Uzziah has to be as important as the fact that this also dates the book. Do not let the fact that Uzziah was one of the good kings be forgotten. He fought to drive out the Philistines and to rid the land of their presence. He was a great warrior and a good king, but will be remembered for what he did wrong. He was a political/military king and he offered incense to God in the temple, which was forbidden for anyone to do except for a priest. Because of his sin, he was struck with leprosy, sent outside the city and died miserably and lonely.

Ultimately, Uzziah died because he either simply forgot the rules in his desire to praise God or intentionally disregarded the rules about soldiers and politicians coming into the inner part of the temple. He was not allowed to enter in, but he did and paid dearly for it because he never entered the temple again. What should we learn from this example of leprosy and death? Have we allowed the politicians and warriors to inter into the inner part of the sanctuary? Have we not forbid their entrance? Are we not guilty before God as they are?

Now, back to Isaiah. He was a prophet and priest and was allowed into the temple. After Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord. In my imagination, I see him praying in the inner part of the temple and having this vision where he is called into the throne room of God, the Holy of Holies.

Isaiah saw God seated on His throne, high and lofty, high above all others in the throne room. And God’s robe filled up the entire temple. What a majestic scene we are allowed to have a glimpse of here as the prophet describes what he sees. This throne room temple, the very inner part of heaven revealed to us and God’s robe is as big as the entirety of the location. This is where we will be one day, this is where we will bow before the Father and give the crowns that we receive back to His son. This is the place of joy and worship and thanksgiving and praise.

2 Seraphim were standing above Him; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

The seraphim, the keepers of the temple, the angels of the throne room, were standing above God, in positions of respect and honor and protection. These angels are special and they are assigned to be around God. Their wings covered their faces, and feet and flew. Take the symbolism and run if you want, but the magnificence of the scene is enough to elicit worship and praise and glory and honor.

These angels hid their faces and feet from God. In honor, these angels hid their faces from God not in fear of looking at God, but out of total honor and respect. They were not worthy to look upon God and they knew their place in heaven. They were demonstrating worship by hiding their faces. They hid their feet because of their being in the presence of God. God confronted Moses for having shoes on his feet in God’s presence.

3 And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of • Hosts; His glory fills the whole earth.

The Hebrew way of accenting a word is to have it repeated. In English we use exclamation points and sometimes two of them for extra emphasis. In Hebrew, this was accomplished by repeating the word.

The scene is one angel calling to another, with a voice so loud that it is almost destructive. One angel calls “HOLY!! is the LORD of the Hosts of Heaven, His glory fills the whole earth.” Then another angel calls out, “HOLY!! is the LORD of the Hosts of Heaven, His glory fills the whole earth.” Then another calles out, “HOLY!! is the LORD of the Hosts of Heaven, His glory fills the whole earth.” And other calls out, “HOLY!! is the LORD of the Hosts of Heaven, His glory fills the whole earth.” They continue for there is nothing else to say about God.

Of all of attributes of God that these angels can proclaim, they proclaim the most important attribute. Holiness is the attribute of God out of which all other attributes flow. Where does God’s love come from? His holiness. Where does God’s mercy and justice come from? His holiness. There is nothing that anyone or anything can do in the presence of God but to proclaim His holiness.

4The foundations of the doorways shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke.

The strongest and most sturdy place within a building is the doorway. The doorways of the throne room of God is shaken to its foundations by the power of the voices of the angels proclaiming the holiness of God. “HOLY!! is the LORD of the Hosts of Heaven, His glory fills the whole earth.” This throne room is The Throne Room, the great white throne room. This is the epicenter of heaven. This must be an amazingly large and spacious room. All of the peoples of all of the worlds history will be judged in this room. Even with its vastness, the foundations of the doorways in this room will be shaken.

When the angels make this proclaimation, smoke fills the throne room. The incense from the alter fills the room and the glory of God fills the room along with His holiness.

5 Then I said: Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, [and]* The bracketed text has been added for clarity. because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.

In Isaiah 5 Woe is used in verse 8, in verse 11, in verse 18 and in verse 22. The words in Hebrew are alas and touch, strike or to smitten.

Literally, we could read this as, “alas or then strike me or touch me or smite me for I have not spoken or remained silent, because I am a man of unclean speech and lips and I live in al land of people with unclean speech and lips, and because I have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.”

This can be viewed in two different ways. First, it can be interpreted as “strike me for I did not say Holy because I am a man of unclean lips and speech and I live in a land of people with unclean lips and speech. . .” The second interpretation can be, “strike me for I was silent among my people because I am a man of unclean lips and speech and live among a people of unclean lips and speech.”

I think it is appropriate to interpret it both ways at the same time. Both are sins in the presence of a holy God.

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs.

One of the angels charged with guarding the presence of God flew to Isaiah with a burning coal taken from the altar with tongs.

7He touched my mouth [with it]* The bracketed text has been added for clarity. and said: Now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, and your sin is atoned for.

The angel touched Isaiah’s mouth, his whole mouth which was unclean, with the burning coal. Now that the coal had touched Isaiah’s mouth and lips, his wickedness was removed and his sins atoned for.

There are two different things here which are vitally important. They are so easy to overlook and they are so vital to our understanding the role of Jesus’ death. First is having wickedness removed. This is where his guilt and punishment are being removed from his life. Isaiah has had the punishment removed from him by the cleansing. Second and possibly the most important is the propitiation of his sins through atonement.

Atonement or propitiation is a completely different aspect of the concept of forgiveness. Removal of punishment is good, but forgiveness which satisfies the holiness must be a blood sacrifice which not only puts aside punishment but makes righteous.

It is this dual concept which is vitally important to us as believers. Jesus not only puts aside punishment like the “scapegoat” of the Old Testament, but becomes the sacrificial blood offering only capable of being the propitiation or atonement of sin. The atonement or propitiation is the debt owed to make for a clean title for transaction to a new owner.

Those are shouting words. Isaiah could not do anything to have propitiation and neither can we, God brings about our propitiation through the atonement of the

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Who should I send? Who will go for Us? I said: Here I am. Send me. And He replied: Go!

Isaiah finally hears the voice of the Lord, only after he has been forgiven. God would not speak to Isaiah or even acknowledge him until he was clean. He was a prophet and priest, but God would not speak to him. He was preaching for God in the previous chapters but God would not acknowledge him. We must be clean when we come into the holy presence of God. We need both forgivenesses happening in our lives at the same time for God to speak to us.

Then when God speaks, He wants us to go. Here I am, send me. No excuses, no questions. Here I am, send me.

Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

Sometimes a quote from the past is all that is needed:

“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government and to provide new safeguards for their future security. …. Let the facts be submitted to a candid world. …” — Declaration Of Independence, July 4, 1776

“This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it.” — Abraham Lincoln

The tree of liberty must be watered from time to time with the blood of patriots…and tyrants. — Thomas Jefferson

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.”– William Pitt 1783

“If the price that I must pay to obtain my freedom, is to acknowledge that the Governmet was granted the power to infringe on them, then I am not free.” — Paul Anderson

“What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!” – Patrick Henry

“A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.” — THOMAS JEFFERSON 20 December, 1787

“When the government fears the People, that is Liberty. When the People fear the Government, that is tyranny”. Thomas Jefferson

“God grants liberty only to those who love it and are always ready to guard and defend it.” Daniel Webster

“…when all government… in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the centre of all power, it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1821

“Democracy: A government for the masses. Authority derived through mass meeting… results in mobocracy. Attitude toward property is communistic, negating property rights. Attitude toward law is that the will of the majority shall regulate… Results in demagogism, license, agitation, discontent, anarchy. — U.S. Army Training Manual, Nov 1928. –

“I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the rights of the people by the gradual & silent encroachments of those in power than by violent & sudden usurpations.” James Madison, Virginia Conv. 1788.

“We, too, born to freedom, and believing in freedom, are willing to fight to maintain freedom. We, and all others who believe as deeply as we do, would rather die on our feet than live on our knees.” – FDR

“As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air–however slight–lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.” — Justice William O. Douglas

“If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may be even a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than live as slaves.” — Winston Churchill

“Our safety, our liberty depends on preserving the Constitution of the United States as our fathers made it inviolate. The people of the US are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts – Not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution” Abraham Lincoln

“Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.” — Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address

“Corruptisima republica plurimae leges.” Tacitus, Anals III 27(The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.)

“Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.” — George Bernard Shaw

“No greater wrong can ever be done than to put a good man at the mercy of a bad, while telling him not to defend himself or his fellows; in no way can the success of evil be made surer or quicker.” — Theodore Roosevelt

A Republic degrades into a Democracy, and a Democracy degrades into Despotism.

“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.” —Teddy Roosevelt.

“In Germany, they came first for the communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists but I didn’t speak up because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time nobody was left to speak up.” — Martin Niemoeller, Protestant Minister & Holocaust Survivor

“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” –George Washington

“Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country.” — Theodore Roosevelt

[The clergy] believe that any portion of power confided in me, will be exerted in opposition to their schemes. And they believe rightly: for I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. But this is all they have to fear from me: and enough too in their opinion. –Thomas Jefferson

“….it cannot be called ingenuity to kill one’s fellow citizens, to betray friends, to be without faith, without mercy, without religion; by these means one can acquire power but not glory.” — Nicolo Machiavelli