God's Call and the Will of God from Isaiah 6
Isaiah 6:1-13 (NIV)
1. The Call of God comes in the Circumstances of Life
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.
God gave Isaiah a show for a purpose. God setup a show that Isaiah would appreciate and understand….notice how he waited until Uzziah died, the familiar king, the family friend…..He knew that Isaiah would be in a position to receive the vision that would not have been meaningful before.
God knows everything about you and I. Joshua 1 declares “before I formed you in the womb, I knew you”…….God understands our temperament and our abilities: Psalm 139 states that “my frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place…all the days ordained for me were written before one of them came to be.
2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
2. God’s Call Illustrates Our Inadequacy and His Empowerment
Notice the concern of Isaiah about his sinful condition in light of God’s holiness! Woe is me! I’m undone….I’m not adequate.
5 “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.” 6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” 8
3. When God Calls….He speaks CLEARLY and with DEFINITION…..
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
Notice that Isaiah was the only one in the AUDIENCE!!!! HE’S LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS!!!!
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
9 He said, “Go and tell this people: “ ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ 10 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.” 11 Then I said, “For how long, O Lord?” And he answered: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, 12 until the Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken. 13 And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”
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[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984.
You can read it in your study Bible!!! Isaiah Chapter 6 is a turning point in the book from the reflection on the coming devestation to the hope for Judah and the future……God’s grace overcomes his justice! The Holy Seed will be the stump in the land……Hallelujah
Isaiah was commissioned by God to be THE SPOKESMAN for many of the prophecies of Jesus. Strategically placed in the southern kingdom of Judah in 700 BC….Isaiah had a perspective on all of Israel that he was positioned to listen to God and understand the times around him…..
Some scholars want to see a difference between Isaiah 1-39 and 40 through 66 because the latter part of the book talks about events well outside of 700s…..but the power of predictive prophecy shows details that the prophet cannot have observed.
Wasn’t it Isaiah who said the virgin will be with child and will bring forth a son in you will call his name Immanuel?
Wasn’t it Isaiah 53 that said He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed?
I think it was Isaiah who said in Chapter 9……His Name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace….
OH YES! the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”
God wants to speak to you……God wants to speak into your life and tell you things like Jeremiah said Call unto me and I will answer you and show you great and unsearchable things that you do not know.
God intends to use YOU. God intends to equip YOU
Look at the words of Jesus on the Mt. of Olives.
Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
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[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984. (NIV)