“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” Isaiah 6:5
No, these words of woe are not because we have passed from the holiday season into deep and dreary mid-winter. These are actually the words of the prophet Isaiah after He is confronted with the presence of Yahweh Almighty. What would inspire such a response? Post-Christmas blues? Post-Christmas bills? No! It is seeing the high and exalted God, His robe filling the temple. It is angels calling out the trisagion, holy, holy, holy, so that “the thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.” It is Isaiah’s recognition that he is unclean, among a people who are unclean, and he is in the presence of a holy God. Isaiah is expressing the fear of the Lord! What a contrast between Isaiah, the prophet, in chapter 6, and Ahaz, the king, in chapter 7. Whereas Isaiah trembled before a holy God, Ahaz and the people shook like “trees…in the wind” because of the armies of man (7:2). Whereas Isaiah’s repentance is met with a live coal to the lips which atones for his sin, Ahaz’s refusal to repent for trusting in Assyria rather than Yahweh God for salvation results in a sign, a portent, of coming captivity and destruction. And whereas Isaiah responds with, “Here am I. Send me!” (6:8), Ahaz responds with the repeated refrain, “I will not” (7:12). And so, God tells Isaiah: Go and tell this people: “Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.” Make 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. Isaiah 6:9–10 This message is oozing with irony. If only the people would listen to their God, if only they would trust in Him, they would be healed. There is nothing new under the sun. For even today, people are given the same opportunity to respond to the Lord in repentance, to obey His call to “go” for the sake of His Kingdom purposes, and to experience divine salvation. But we are all too often those who hear, but do not understand, see, but do not perceive. We are so wise in our own eyes, so busied by our own little agendas, and so pitiable for missing out on divine blessings. Of course, this does not mean that God’s work is thwarted. For there are many in the line of Isaiah who repent of sin, obey God’s call, and experience divine blessing. And even as is indicated at the conclusion of chapter 6, God’s plan of salvation cannot be stopped. “But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land” (6:13). Who is this stump? It is the stump of Jesse, the fruitful branch of Isaiah 11:1, upon whom the Spirit of Yahweh will rest. Who is this holy seed? It is the very offspring, or seed, of the woman, who would crush the serpent in Genesis 3:15. God’s plan is not thwarted. Though many reject Him, His ways, His Word…His will will be done. His Kingdom will come! And His provision of daily bread, forgiveness of sin, and deliverance from evil will be experienced by those who repent of sin, obey His call and trust in Him. For the question is not whose side is the Lord on, but who’s on the Lord’s side? Christmas is over. Although, for a significant portion of the population, nothing really changed at Christmas time—still the same tireless pursuit of more stuff, still the same irrepressible desire to be entertained, still the same ceaseless trust in man’s kingdoms and will. But for those who have eyes to see, Christmas is all year long. For Jesus, Messiah, has come, just as He promised. The holy seed, the stump of Jesse, Immanuel, God with us, has appeared. As Paul writes: For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. Titus 2:11–14 May we live increasingly grace-filled lives driven not by the temporary, but the eternal. May we keep our eyes peeled for the glorious second appearing of our great God and Savior—Jesus! And may we, like Isaiah, stand in awe of our holy God, repent of our sin, and daily say to our Lord, “Here am I. Send me!”
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Dan GannonDan has ministered at Renton Bible Church, with his wife Debbie, since 2003. Archives
June 2022
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