God's Mission
ISAIAH 6:8-13
- ISAIAH’S CALLING
The application of the benefits procured by sacrifice has brought Isaiah into a right relationship with Yahweh, and he volunteers for service.
1. The King’s Task
Isaiah is no longer a spectator, but one whose presence is accepted and whose voice is heard
a. The Voice of God
Isaiah hears the King speaking to the members of his retinue: “I heard the voice of the Lord…” [6:8].
§ וָאֶשְׁמַ֞ע - “heard” [6:8], ‘perception of hearing with the ears to process information’;
§ ק֤וֹל - “voice” [6:8], ‘any type of noise which breaks the sound waves and so penetrates the hearing’;
§ אֲדֹנָי֙ - “Lord” [6:8], ‘Adonai’; ‘focus on authority and mastery of a ruler’;
b. The Question
There is a task to be carried out and a message to be conveyed: “whom shall I send…” [6:8].
§ מִ֥י - “whom” [6:8], interrogative, ‘enquires after the character or quality of things’;
§ אֶשְׁלַ֖ח - “send” [6:8], ‘despatch’; ‘have an object leave an area with linear motion’; a prophetic assignment: “Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh…” [Exo.3:10].
§ יֵֽלֶךְ - “go” [6:8], ‘travel, walk’;
§ לָ֑נוּ - “for us” [6:8],
§ The New Testament, however, relates this passage both to the Lord Jesus (Jn. 12:41) and to the Holy Spirit (Acts 28:25), finding here that which will accommodate the full revelation of the triune God.
2. Isaiah’s Response
Isaiah offers himself as a volunteer with unique eagerness:
a. The Examination
Isaiah presents himself for further examination: “here am I…” [6:8].
§ הִנְנִ֥י - “here” [6:8], particle of interjection, ‘here’; ‘behold’; ‘call attention to detail’;
§ It is the cry of one who stands open and exposed in the presence of God.
§ He was asking that he be examined as a forgiven and cleansed sinner who now wishes to be of service to the God who had done this.
b. The Volunteer
Isaiah presents himself as a volunteer: “send me” [6:18].
§ שְׁלָחֵֽנִי - “send me” [6:8], qal imperative, ‘despatch’; ‘have an object leave an area with linear motion’;
§ Isaiah discovered that God’s holiness and God’s cleansing were not there just for their own benefit. They were to be shared.
Application
Isaiah is indirectly challenged as to his willingness to serve the King who has conveyed spiritual blessing to him.
- This is not a presumptuous, ‘I will go’, but a submissive request indicating that he is prepared to carry out whatever commission the King assigns him.
- The willingness springs from the assurance of his God-given deliverance and acceptance conveyed by the seraph’s action and speech.
- Once the prophet has been purified, he is no longer overwhelmed by awareness of his personal inadequacy.
- He accepts and rests in the provision which Yahweh had made for his spiritual needs
- And so he is ready to offer himself for service.
- THE MINISTRY
In 6:9-10 the prophet is informed of the spiritual impact of his ministry.
1. Isaiah & Judah
a. The Acceptance
Isaiah is accepted by Yahweh to be his servant: “go, and tell this people…” [6:9].
§ לֵ֥ךְ - “go” [6:9], qal imperative, ‘travel, walk’;
§ וְאָמַרְתָּ֖ - “tell” [6:9], qal perfect, ‘speak or talk usually with a focus on what is to follow’;
b. The People
Yahweh’s message was for the people: “go an tell this people…” [6:9].
§ לָעָ֣ם - “people” [6:9], ‘large kinship group related biologically as well as by language and culture’;
§ The people of God: “the vision of Isaiah which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem…” [1:1].
i. This People
There already seems to be a distance between Yahweh and his people: “this people…” [6:9].
§ לָעָ֣ם הַזֶּ֑ה - “this people” [6:9], adjective, ‘used in a way that points to an object or individual’;
§ They were called to be Yahweh’s people: “And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God…” [Exo.6:7].
§ The promise beyond the exile: “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, says your God…” [40:1].
ii. The Character of This People
This people have forsaken Yahweh their covenant Saviour: “the ox knows his owner…my people do not consider” [1:3].
§ The people have already wandered away from Yahweh: “For the LORD spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people…” [8:11].
§ The summary: “Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward” [1:4].
Application
2. The Spiritual Expectation [9-10]
a. The People & The Message
i. The Message
The people were commanded to hear the message: “hear ye indeed but understand not…” [6:9].
§ שִׁמְע֤וּ - “hear” [6:9], qal imperative, ‘perception of hearing with the ears to process information’;
§ וּרְא֥וּ - “see” [6:9], qal imperative, ‘use perception of sight to view objects’; ‘seeing the works of God’: “Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians…” [Exo.14:31].
ii. The Judgement
At the same time, the people were forbidden to understand: “understand not…” [6:9].
§ אַל־תָּבִ֔ינוּ - “understand not” [6:9], qal imperfect, ‘comprehend information and be able to make proper decisions, judgments, and actions based on the information’; background idea is ‘to discern’;
§ אַל־תֵּדָֽעוּ - “perceive not” [6:9], qal imperfect, ‘to know’; ‘to possess information about’;
b. The People & The Hardening
i. The Work
Isaiah is charged to work in such a manner as to bring about this hardening: “make the heart of this people…” [6:10].
§ לֵב־הָעָ֣ם הַזֶּ֔ה - “heart” [6:10], ‘centre of being’; ‘mind, will, affections’;
§ הַשְׁמֵן֙ - “fat” [6:10], hiphil imperative, ‘put on weight’; ‘be unresponsive’; ‘lack of capacity for understanding’;
§ וְאָזְנָ֥יו - “ears” [6:10], ‘hearing’; ‘listening’;
§ הַכְבֵּ֖ד - “heavy” [6:10], hiphil imperative, ‘to be heavy’;
§ הָשַׁ֑ע - “shut” [6:10], hiphil imperative, ‘to have closed eyes’;
§ וְעֵינָ֣יו - “eyes” [6:10],
ii. The Divine Hardening
The divinely ordered proclamation of the way of salvation becomes an instrument of judgement against them: “lest they see with their eyes…” [6:10].
§ פֶּן - “lest” [6:10], ‘marker of negative purpose’;
§ יִרְאֶ֨ה - “see” [6:10], qal imperfect, ‘use perception of sight to view objects’;
§ יִשְׁמָ֗ע - “hear” [6:10], qal imperfect, ‘perception of hearing with the ears to process information’;
§ יָבִ֛ין - “understand” [6:10], qal imperfect, ‘comprehend information and be able to make proper decisions, judgments, and actions based on the information’; background idea is ‘to discern’;
§ They will become like the idols they have embraced: “They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not…” [Psa.115:6].
c. The Covenant Salvation
The reminder of the right response to divine warnings: “and convert and be healed” [6:10].
§ וָשָׁ֖ב - “convert” [6:10], qal perfect, ‘to return’; ‘to make linear motion back to a point previously departed from’;
§ וְרָ֥פָא - “healed” [6:10], ‘cause or promote restoration of health or a right state after being sick, diseased, injured, or in a bad state’;
§ Verse 10 arranges these into a rounded structure thus emphasising a total inability to comprehend.
d. The Comment
i. Young
“The doom of the people,” remarks Gray, “is inevitably fixed; there is to be no further healing of their sick state (cp. 1:5ff.);
§ Let them now persist in their insensitivity (cp. 1:3) to the voice and will of God: even the prophet’s preaching is but to render them blinder, deafer, and more insensitive.”
i. Mackay
Isaiah faced the preacher’s dilemma: if hearers are resistant to the truth, the only recourse is to tell them the truth yet again, more clearly than before.
· But to do this is to expose them to the risk of rejecting the truth yet again and, therefore, of increased hardness of heart.
· It could even be that the next rejection will prove to be the point at which the heart is hardened beyond recovery.
· It was just at this point that Isaiah was called into office. His task was to bring the Lord’s word with fresh, even unparalleled clarity, but in their response people would reach the point of no return.
· The imperative of these verses must, therefore, be seen as expressing an inevitable outcome of Isaiah’s ministry.
Application
Hearing the Word of God is never a neutral exercise; To those who reject it, hearing the word will have a hardening effect…
§ The text clearly shows God ordering the prophet to act in such a way that increased unreceptivity and blameworthiness will be the result.
§ Isaiah’s ministry is part of the divine purpose to seal the doom of the people. Rational, volitional, and emotional responses will be lacking.
§ Human assessment: ‘Isaiah’s ministry was a failure’.
§ Those who do not respond to the overtures of grace do not remain where they were, because they have consciously hardened themselves by rejecting the divine invitation.
The situation which they had put themselves in by their rejection was going to become irreversible.
- THE FUTURE
Such an ominous scenario impels the prophet to enquire how long the spiritually depressed condition of the people will last, but the Lord’s answer is far from encouraging, pointing to repeated devastation.
1. Isaiah’s Question
Echoing the entreaties of the lament Psalms, Isaiah plaintively asks: “how long, O Lord…” [6:11].
§ עַד־מָתַ֖י - “how long” [6:11], interrogative, ‘perpetuity’; ‘continuing future’;
§ אֲדֹנָ֑י - “Lord” [6:11], ‘Adonai’; ‘sovereign, powerful God’;
§ The question: ‘How long will divine judgement be poured on them’?
§ The Psalmist: “Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants…” [Psa.90:13].
Application
Isaiah’s question can refer either to the length of time he would have such a fruitless ministry or the length of time Israel would be so unresponsive.
§ Thus he is placed in a twofold position. With eager desire and true faithfulness he must proclaim the message of God, even when that message involves the announcement of the nation’s hardening. On the other hand, in no disloyalty to his message and with the utmost concern that it be declared in its fullness, he must manifest anxiety and love toward those to whom he is called to preach.
§ “These two feelings,” says Calvin, “though they appear to be inconsistent, are in full harmony.” They must supplement one another. On the one hand, natural affection toward those to whom one must preach will prevent a cold and harsh, or even cruel presentation of the truth. On the other, natural feelings and affections must not prevent the minister from declaring the entire truth.
2. The Historico-Political Expectations [11-13a]
a. The Desolation
The prediction of devastation: “until cities be wasted without inhabitant…” [6:11].
§ עַ֣ד - “until” [6:11], ‘perpetuity’; ‘continuing future’;
§ יוֹשֵׁ֗ב – “inhabitant” [6:11], ‘to dwell, rest, inhabit’;
§ שָׁא֨וּ - “wasted” [6:11], ‘be in a state of ruin’;
§ עָרִ֜ים - “cities” [6:11], ‘population centre ranging from small village to walled city’;
§ וּבָתִּים֙ - “houses” [6:11], ‘dwelling place’;
§ מֵאֵ֣ין - “without” [6:11], ‘nothing, none’;
§ אָדָ֔ם - “man” [6:11],
§ וְהָאֲדָמָ֖ה - “land” [6:11], ‘soil, earth, land’;
§ תִּשָּׁאֶ֥ה - “desolate” [6:11], niphal imperfect, ‘lie wasted’; ‘be in a state of ruin’;
§ שְׁמָמָֽה - “utterly” [6:11], ‘utter ruin’; ‘uninhabitable land as scarcely populated’; “And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste” [Lev.26:33].
b. The Deportation
The predicted deportation: “the Lord have removed men far away…” [6:12].
§ יְהוָ֖ה - “Lord” [6:12], ‘Yahweh’;
§ וְרִחַ֥ק - “removed far away” [6:12], piel perfect, ‘to be far off’; ‘to send far away’;
§ הָעֲזוּבָ֖ה - “forsaking” [6:12], qal passive participle, ‘to abandon, reject, desert’;
§ בְּקֶ֥רֶב הָאָֽרֶץ - “midst of the land” [6:12],
§ The Assyrians introduced the policy of deporting subject peoples [2Kgs.17]; and this was continued by the Babylonians [2Kgs.24-25].
c. The Remnant
i. The Tenth
Even though a tenth should survive the exile, it itself will again be subject to a wasting: “but yet in it shall be a tenth…” [6:13a].
§ בָּהּ֙ - “in it” [6:13], particle preposition with third person feminine singular suffix,
§ עֲשִׂ֣רִיָּ֔ה - “tenth” [6:13], ‘tenth part’; ‘ten percent of something’;
§ The holy tithe to the Lord: “And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passes under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD” [Lev.27:32].
ii. The Devastation
The tent shall not be exempt from further devastation: “return and shall be eaten…” [6:13a].
§ וְשָׁ֖בָה - “return” [6:13], qal perfect, ‘make linear motion back to the place departed from’;
§ וְהָיְתָ֣ה – “be” [6:13], ‘to be’;
§ לְבָעֵ֑ר - “eaten” [6:13], piel infinitive, strictly means ‘to burn’; ‘to light a fire’; ‘to set ablaze’;
iii. The Metaphor
The metaphor: “as a teil tree and an oak…” [6:13a].
§ כָּאֵלָ֣ה - “teil tree” [6:13], ‘large tree’; ‘oak and terebinth are two suggested’;
§ וְכָאַלּ֗וֹן - “oak” [6:13], ‘large tree’; ‘a species or variety of oak’;
§ בְּשַׁלֶּ֙כֶת֙ - [6:13], ‘cutting down’; ‘the felling of a tree with only its stump being left’;
§ מַצֶּ֣בֶת – “substance” [6:13], suggests not a ‘stump’ but ‘a bare trunk’;
§ בָּ֔ם - “in them” [6:13], particle preposition with third masculine plural suffix,
Application
Mackay – ‘the proposal being followed here is that בְּשַׁלֶּ֙כֶת֙ refers to the pruning of the branches of the tree’.
§ ‘a picture of a tree pruned of its branches (or having lost them in the fire) and remaining a bleak and forlorn sight’;
§ This is a specific example of the process of purification. The Lord, who chose Israel and gave her the land of promise, will now remove her from that land. Indeed He will remove her far, to a great distance, and thus we have a general description of the exile.
§ Literally: ‘though a tenth is still in it, it will again be for ravaging’ [6:13a].
3. The Messianic Expectation [13b].
a. The Holy Seed
The hope in the midst of judgement: “the holy seed…” [6:13b].
§ זֶ֥רַע – “seed” [6:13], ‘kernel of a plant that propagates the species’; “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself…” [Gen.1:11].
§ קֹ֖דֶשׁ - “holy seed” [6:13], ‘consecrated, set apart’;
i. The Seed & Covenant
Yahweh assures Isaiah that there is still life in the stump – none other than the holy seed.
§ The protoevangelium: “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” [Gen.3:15].
§ The covenant of Abraham – a numerous seed: “Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be” [Gen.15:5]; “I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee” [Gen.17:7].
§ The covenant of Abraham – a single seed: “Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him” [Gen.17:19].
ii. The Seed & Isaiah
The idea of “seed” is used repeatedly by Isaiah in a way which reflects the covenant seed:
§ The Servant and the seed: “when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed…” [53:10].
§ The true people of Yahweh: “But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend” [41:8].
§ The holy seed: “I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there” [Isa.65:9].
Application
The trunk retains a measure of vitality that will lead to new growth.
§ This picks up on the ancient promise of seed: “the seed of the woman…” [Gen.3:15], which would eventually lead to the coming of the Messiah, and which was further reinforced in the covenant with Abraham [Gen.22:18].
§ ‘The oak leaves only a stump in a field when a ravaging fire has swept across a land that had already been devastated.
§ A huge catastrophe will engulf Jerusalem and Judah because of their rebellion…the devastation will appear to be complete; the total annihilation of the covenant will seem evident
§ The few people who remain in the land will appear to offer no hope for a resuscitation of the covenant people as an identifiable ethnic group.
§ Yahweh is not abandoning his purposes and will provide a way forward for his people, here referred to generically as “the holy seed” [6:13].
§ The “seraphim” [6:6], the ‘burning one’, approached with fire but when the fire touched the voice said, ‘Forgiven’. So here too. The tree is felled but the voice says, ‘The Holy Seed’. Typically of Isaiah, hope is the unexpected fringe attached to the garment of doom
§ The way in which verse 13b balances and forms an inclusion with verse 1a suggests that already here the reference is to “a shoot out of the stem of Jesse” [11:1]; the promise of the Messiah is the guarantee of a future people over whom he will reign.