Yahweh's Presence
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Who wants to experience the presence of Yahweh?
We all do. We sing songs about it. Song lyrics like, “This is the air I breathe—your holy presence living in me.”
How do you see Yahweh?
Isaiah 6:1.
1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
In a time of uncertainty, Isaiah sees the Lord enthroned, in charge of it all, with his splendor and majesty filling the temple, for Psalms 104:1-2 says,
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
covering yourself with light as with a garment,
stretching out the heavens like a tent.
Is this your vision of Yahweh in uncertain times?
Yahweh, who is in control.
We need to enter into the presence of our Great God, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, resting in the work of his transforming presence.
We enter his presence by fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).
In his presence, he sanctifies us day by day as we wait for the day when we will all see Jesus and be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 John 3:2 informs us of this.
Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
Oh, what a day that will be when we all see Jesus. Come, Lord Jesus, Come!
Isaiah 6:2.
Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
We have a description of part of the heavenly hosts presenting themselves as throne guardians, not because Yahweh needs protection, but because he is relational and surrounds himself with his creation to display his glory.
This is what these winged, fiery beings do. They call out in Isaiah 6:3-4.
3 And the one called to the other and said, “Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh of hosts! The whole earth is full of his glory.”
4 And the pivots of the thresholds shook from the sound of those who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
Now that is some good bass. The declaration of Yahweh’s holiness reaches into our very bones. It shakes us to our very core, for he is totally other, the first mover.
Gary Smith writes, “Holiness is the essence of God’s nature and God himself is the supreme revelation of holiness. God’s absolute holiness reveals how separate, different, or totally other he is in comparison to all other aspects of the created world.” (Gary V. Smith, Isaiah 1–39, ed. E. Ray Clendenen, The New American Commentary (Nashville: B & H Publishing Group, 2007), 190.)
The smoke represents the presence of God’s glory; it reminds the reader of Exodus 40:34-35 and 1 Kings 8:10-11.
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
How do we respond to the holy presence of Yahweh?
We respond with humility and repentance. Look at Isaiah 6:5 with me.
5 And I said, “Woe to me! For I am destroyed! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I am living among a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the king, Yahweh of hosts!”
In Yahweh’s presence, we see our sin and our need for a saviour. We see others’ sin and their need for a saviour. Praise the Lord for his provision of Jesus, who is the atoning sacrifice for all who believe in him. This is symbolically shown in Isaiah 6:6-7.
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
Verses 6 and 7 remind me of Jesus, the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29).
The altar could easily symbolize the sacrificial altar upon which the atoning lamb was sacrificed (Leviticus 17:11). Jesus, our atoning Lamb, was sacrificed on the cross for us (Hebrews 10:10-14). He who knew no sin became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21).
This coal of purifying fire touches his lips. Why his lips? Because from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34-35). In purifying his mouth, his heart is changed.
This foreshadows Christ's work on the cross, which brought us the New Covenant that changes our hearts and brings us into communion with God.
Today is Communion Sunday, a time when we remember Jesus’ atoning sacrifice for us, bringing us into communion with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. By his blood we come clean into the very presence of God.
And lest we forget, we remember his body given for us. Take and eat.
And lest we forget, we remember his blood shed for us. Take and drink.
In remembering these, we declare the Lord's death until he comes.
Come, Lord Jesus, Come! May we see you high and lifted up.
