Isaiah 6 - the Throne of God

intro

So tonight we enter the Holy of Holies so to speak. A vision of the throne of God. Do ever wonder what you will see when you pass over to eternity? Well the Word gives a few indications as to what it will be and is like.

Along with this passage, we have the book of Revelation Chapter 4 and & 10. Also Daniel gives us some insight as well.

So let’s take a quick look at and then we will get look at .

1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”

2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. 3 And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. 5 And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices.Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

6 Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. 8 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:

​​“Holy, holy, holy,

​​Lord God Almighty,

​​Who was and is and is to come!”

9 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:

11 ​​“You are worthy, O Lord,

​​To receive glory and honor and power;

​​For You created all things,

​​And by Your will they exist and were created.”

Chuck Smith was fond of saying, It’s important that you know ahead of time so that you won’t look like some hick with your mouth open.

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.

This vision happened after King Uzziah died. King Uzziah was a good king for the most part. Uzziah began his reign when he was only 16 years old, and he reigned 52 years. Overall, he was a good king, and says, he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. says, He sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God; and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper.

Uzziah also led Israel in military victories over the Philistines and other neighboring nations, and he was a strong king. Uzziah was a energetic builder, planner, and general. says, His fame spread as far as the entrance of Egypt, for he strengthened himself exceedingly.

But Uzziah's life ended tragically. says, But when he was strong his heart was lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the LORD his God by entering the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. In response, God struck Uzziah with leprosy, and he was an isolated leper until his death.

So you can imagine the question of the people of Israel, who will lead us? Our great and strong King is dead who is now on the throne?

Aside, we have similar question today regarding our national leadership. If Trump loses what will be next?

But God sends an awesome vision to a disillusioned people, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.

No matter what God is on the throne!

Isaiah was not alone in seeing God's throne. Almost everyone in the Bible who had a vision of heaven, was taken to heaven, or wrote about heaven spoke of God's throne. The prophet Michaiah saw God's throne (), Job saw God's throne (), David saw God's throne ( and 7, 11:4), the Sons of Korah saw God's throne (, ), Ethan the Ezrahite saw God's throne (), Jeremiah saw God's throne (), Ezekiel saw God's throne (, ), Daniel saw God's throne (), and the Apostle John saw God's throne (). In fact, the book of Revelation may as well be called "the book of God's throne," because God's throne is specifically mentioned more than 35 times in that book!

Notice, the LORD is sitting on His Throne. He is not alarmed or afraid. He is perfectly in control. If you are an Atheist or unbeliever you have to worry. You have to rule from a throne of you own making. You would never be able to sit because you are always out of control!

Notice, He is High and lifted up. He will be awesome to see. God is so honored, so important, so dignified, that the train of His robe filled the temple. That's a long train!

The long train of a Rulers Robe means others serve Him kind of like a Brides gown where she has attendants to serve her.

Verse 2

Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

Above it stood seraphim: Surrounding the throne of God are angels known here as seraphim. In many other passages, these angels are known as cherubim (; ; ) or as the living creatures of . This is the only chapter in the Bible where these creatures are named seraphim.

Some believe that cherubim and seraphim refer to the same beings. But the name seraphim means, "burning ones." describes cherubim (see also ) this way: their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and out of the fire went lightning. That certainly seems to describe burning ones!

They may well be different life forms or the same, we will have to wait to get there to find out.

They are describes as having 6 wings; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

Various commentators have opinions as to what this means.

"The two wings with which the angels fly mean nothing else than their ready and cheerful performance of the commandments of God … The two wings with which they cover their face show plainly enough that even angels cannot endure God's brightness, and that they are dazzled by it in the same manner as when we attempt to gaze upon the radiance of the sun." (Calvin)

It appears that humility in God’s presence among His angels is the operative word.

Verse 3 - 4

And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!" And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.

Here we see a similar detail to that of John in the Revelation.

 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:

​​“Holy, holy, holy,

​​Lord God Almighty,

​​Who was and is and is to come!”

The seraphim are not even directly addressing the LORD God here. They are proclaiming His glorious nature and character to one another, in the presence of the LORD.

Why do they repeat "holy" three times? Wasn't it enough to simply say that the LORD was "holy" once? It wasn't enough. They say it three times because there are Three Persons in the One God.

In the Hebrew language, intensity is communicated by repetition. To say the LORD is holy says something. To say the LORD is holy, holy, says far more. To say, holy, holy, holy is the LORD is to declare His holiness in the highest possible degree.

What does it mean to be Holy? And what does it mean that God is holy, and holy in the highest possible sense? Holiness, at its root, has the idea of apartness. It describes someone, or something, which is set apart from other people or things. An object can be holy if it is set apart for sacred service. A person is holy if they are set apart for God's will and purpose.

What does it mean that God is holy, and holy in the highest possible sense? Holiness, at its root, has the idea of apartness. It describes someone, or something, which is set apart from other people or things. An object can be holy if it is set apart for sacred service. A person is holy if they are set apart for God's will and purpose.

So, What is the LORD set apart from? He is set apart from creation, in that the Lord GOD is not a creature, and He exists outside of all creation. If all creation were to dissolve, the Lord GOD would remain. He is set apart from humanity, in that His "nature" or "essence" is Divine, not human. God is not a super-man or the ultimate man. God is not merely smarter than any man, stronger than any man, older than any man, or better than any man. You can't measure God on man's chart at all. He is Divine, and we are human.

The Seraphim say The whole earth is full of His glory: as believers we have an appreciation for this fact that the unbelieving world can have.

Do you ever ponder the wonderful diversity of life on earth. The Colors, the smells, the shapes, and textures. What a wonderful God we serve!

The vision continues, And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.

You can just imagine a chill up your spine and the hair on your neck standing up. Some see Isaiah as being near the door in the vision he feels the voice resonate through the temple.

The house was filled with smoke: This smoke reminds us of the pillar of cloud that represented the presence of God (), the smoke on Mount Sinai (), and the cloud of God's Shekinah glory that filled the temple (). A cloud of glory often marks the presence of the LORD.

Now we change gears and Isaiah can’t take it and says verse 5:

So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."

When one gets in the presence of God all our flaws become evident. Here we can hide our flaws in the shadows of life. But there nothing is hidden.

And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

Jesus said in, “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.

Isaiah seems to be keenly aware of all that he and his people have said. The Word has so much to say about what comes out of our mouth. Why do you think it does?

Because what we say represents whats really in heart. Jesus said, “Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.” Mat 15:11

James says, And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.

When Isaiah saw the LORD, he knew what kind of man he was. As poorly as he compared to the seraphim, that was nothing in relation to how he compared to the LORD. This vision (or actual experience) of the throne of God did not immediately make Isaiah feel good. The more clearly he saw the LORD, the more clearly he saw how bad his state was.

The foolishness of man says when he gets before God he will tell Him something. That’s not the case at all.

Isaiah's deep sense of depravity is consistent with the experience of other godly men in the presence of the LORD. Job (), Daniel (), Peter () and John () each had similar experiences.

Isaiah says: I am undone is not a bad place to be. "God will never do anything with us till he has first of all undone us." (Spurgeon)

Undone is defined as daw-mam'; to be dumb or silent; hence, to fail or perish; trans. to destroy:—cease, be cut down (off), destroy, be brought to silence, be undone, × utterly. The LXX translators used a word that means to prick, pierce, metaph. to pain the mind sharply, agitate it vehemently, esp. of the emotion of sorrow.

metaph. to pain the mind sharply, agitate it vehemently

Its a “thou art the man” moment.

For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts: Isaiah was a righteous, godly man by all outward appearance. Yet when he saw the enthroned King, the LORD of hosts, he saw how sinful he was in comparison.

esp. of the emotion of sorrow

Now we see God’s response to Isaiah.

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar.

A live coal indicates it was a hot burning coal, The angel took it with tongs. The altar: This must be heaven's version of the altar of incense that was set before the holy of holies in the tabernacle of God (). We know that the earthly tabernacle God instructed Moses to build was made after the pattern of a heavenly reality ().

Verses 6 - 7

And he touched my mouth with it, and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged."

Isaiah knew he did not serve the LORD like these seraphim, the burning ones. So God said, "I will light a fire in you, also!" That is why a burning coal was used to purify Isaiah. "Jehovah, who is a consuming fire, can only fitly be served by those who are on fire, whether they be angels or men." (Spurgeon)

Have you noticed that dealing with your Sin hurts. Isaiah sin has to be burned away, the fire of judgement was applied to his place of sin.

Even simple confession of our sin burns. It burns our flesh.

if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Now that God has purged Isaiah He then commissions him.

Verse 8

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me."

How strange it is for God to ask a question at all! What does God wonder about? What questions would He have? What does God not know? But God was asking for a person, because God wants to reach the world, and He wants to reach it through willing people. It isn't that God doesn't know who these people are. It is that God is waiting for ready hearts to reveal themselves.

What does God mean by Us here? Here we see another subtle reference to the Trinity. Who is sending? I or Us? It seems to be the same Person speaking in both the singular and the plural. It is the same Person! "The change of the number, I and us, is very remarkable; and both being meant of one and the same Lord, do sufficiently intimate a plurality of the persons in the Godhead." (Poole)

It’s important to understand that we must deal with our sin but also that in order to serve we must be sent. Sometimes we must wait for that call because without His commissioning we will be working in our own strength.

Now God gives Isaiah the message.

Verse 9 -10

And He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed."

This passage is quoted once each by the four gospel writers—; ; ; —and once by Paul in . He is saying go and tell them but they won’t hear or repent. That seems to be the message of many of the OT prophets. Few if any will respond. The message must received in the heart.

Finally now, Isaiah asks, how should he give this message.

Verse 6 - 11

Then I said, "Lord, how long?" And He answered: "Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, the houses are without a man, the land is utterly desolate, the LORD has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. But yet a tenth will be in it, and will return and be for consuming, as a terebinth tree or as an oak, whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be its stump."

Ultimately until Babylon comes to destroy Jerusalem and the go into captivity in Babylon, and notice they return, but only a tenth of the population that go into captivity would return.

Here he make reference to the terebinth tree again that though it may appear dead, just a stump, it will again come back to life.