In The Presence of The Lord; The Change Came

Until Uzziah

We can recant the point in time when we had our first real encounter of being found in the presence of God.

That moment that changed our lives forever either to receive or reject the calling of the Lord

Every born again believer should be able to state the timing of their new birth experience.

When were you saved: When were you filled with the Holy Ghost? When did you accept Jesus as your saviour?

Remember the old quartet songs. When they got into their vamp the song would go something like have you been born again. Do you know your day? Somebody got it on Monday, somebody got it on Tuesday.........etc...

If you can’t remember the day or the month or at least the year, then maybe you need to do your first work over.

I remember when the groups would get on that role, I would stand up on Thursday. I really had not received the Holy Ghost then but I knew I had to stand up on one of those days. To tell the truth half the church was just guessing on a day.

And to be safe as most of the crowd did, you stood up on “I got mine on Sunday”

In chapter 6 Isaiah his revelation came after the death of his king Uzziah.

Isaiah give us 5 chapters of prophesy against Judah and Jerusalem before he backtracks to the beginning of his ministry.

Tell the story of Uzziah:

a. king at 16 and ruled for 52 years. The Assyrians record his ruling for 42.

b. The third most prosperous king in the history of Judah

c. He became so arrogant that one day he attempted to take the priest’s place in burning incense to the Lord and God struck his with leprosy.

12. Isaiah’s Ministry:

The Prophets as Preachers: An Introduction to the Hebrew Prophets The Historical Context

Prosperous time

Uzziah

Syro-Ephramite war Tiglath-pileser strong

Ahaz

Sennacherib’s war

Hezekiah

Essarhaddon strong

Manasseh

Uzziah began as a good king and Jehovah blessed him and his kingdom for many years.

Only in his later reign did he transgress.

Many readers ask why did Isaiah just remain silent as King Uzziah did evil but the transgressions were only very late in his tenure and the punishment from God came instantly and Uzziah’s reign was over.

Now Isaiah is in an emotional mystification.

How could Uzziah transgress so unexpectedly

Why did God strike him so serverly and unrepently

I am the prophet and this occured on my watch, what does this signify about my ministry?

In this year, God reveals himself to Isaiah as he has not before.