Isaiah 6:8-10

Isaiah 6:8–10 KJV 1900

8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. 9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; And see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10 Make the heart of this people fat, And make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

Introduction

Last week’s vision of God on the throne was incredible.

The majesty and holiness of the God of the universe is incomparable.

God seeks a messenger. 8

These are the first words that God has uttered in the vision.

If the voice of the seraphim caused the posts to shake, what do you imagine the voice of God sounded like?

Only this time, Isaiah stands boldly before the Lord having his sins purged.

God proposes a question.

Whom shall I send and who will go for us?

When God says this, who is He talking to?

Is He asking for counsel from the seraphim behind Him?

Or, is He indicating that in Himself there is a plurality of persons?

Well, we know that God does not seek counsel from anyone else but Himself.

It must be an indication that within the one true God there is a plurality of persons.

Notice the open-ended nature of God’s question.

Whom shall I send?

Send where?

Who will go for us?

Go do what for you?

Isaiah doesn’t wait for an answer to these questions before answering.

Isaiah speaks up and says to God, “Here am I, send me!”

Isaiah agrees to do God’s bidding before he knows what that bidding is.

How could he do this?

Well, he has just gotten a full picture of god’s holiness and goodness.

If you trust the character of a person, then you can follow them even if you don’t know what they will ask or where they will lead.

Most sermons end with Isaiah’s response to the vision.

Verses 9 & 10, though are more details direct from God.

We want to consider these tonight.

God gives Isaiah direction on what He is to go do.

God tells Isaiah to go.

This is an indication of the activity that Isaiah is to employ.

He is not to be still, or stagnant.

Isaiah is to be energetic in his service to the Lord.

God tells Isaiah to communicate.

God is going to give Isaiah a message and he will be tasked with relaying that message.

It has always pleased God to commit the declaration of His truth to the mouths of men rather than angels.

This is still the case today.

We get to share God’s message with the world.

God warns Isaiah about the results of his ministry.

Isaiah’s message will not produce revival.

We’ve already had a sampling of Isaiah’s preaching in the first 5 chapters of the book.

He is calling them to repentance and he is warning them of judgment.

God says that he is essentially trying to get people to hear something they won’t understand.

He is trying to show them something that cannot perceive.

God is prepping Isaiah, because, though the word preached would seem to have no effect than to harden the hearts of his hearers.

The more he confronted their sins, the more it would seem that they rebelled.

That didn’t change Isaiah’s responsibility to preach the truth.

Isaiah was to proclaim the message faithfully, regardless of the result.

God reveals that the hardening of their hearts was actually the reason God was sending Isaiah to the people.

What was the central focus of Isaiah’s vision in the last passage we looked at?

The holiness of God.

As a part of God’s holiness, we see that He is just in His actions.

God sends Isaiah to preach a message of repentance and judgment even though God, in His omniscience, knows it will result in their rejection and eventual judgment.

What does their rejection look like?

As Isaiah preaches, the hearts of the people are made fat.

They grow heavy and sluggish.

It gets harder and harder for them to respond.

As he preaches, their ears are made heavy.

They get stopped up.

They are clogged and nothing can get through.

As he preaches, their eyes are shut.

I know how this one feels.

You can’t see when your eyes are shut.

What’s incredible about this is who God credits for making this all happen.

It’s Isaiah.

How does Isaiah make their hearts fat, ears heavy, and eyes shut?

Just by proclaiming the truth.

Isaiah’s lifetime of labor and eventual likely martyrdom will bring about a hardening of heart and sensibility on the part of the nation.

They will reject God’s pleas for reconciliation until He has no choice but to judge them.

God is still calling people that are willing to go.

He is still seeking consecrated men and women to carry the offer or salvation and the warning of judgment to the world.

God is honored when His truth is preached no matter what attitude the hearers take towards it.