Isaiah 6

[alon]

The following is from my conference notes from a lecture by Rob Vanhoff. However it is all paraphrased and relies on a somewhat failing memorey for much of it. Also some of my own musings are added (can't help myself- sorry). So credit him with the outline and the good info; anything you find wrong blame me. I won't remember the insult tomorrow anyhow ... here's my take on a very good lecture:

In Isaiah 6 we are told of the call of a young Isaiah to become a prophet of the Most High God:

Isaiah 6   Isaiah's Vision of the Lord
6 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.

Whenever we see a reference like this we are meant to go and look at the relevant books to get a background, a context for what is going on in the present story:

2 Chronicles 26    Uzziah Reigns in Judah
26 And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. 2 He built Eloth and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers. 3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 4 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. 5 He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.
6 He went out and made war against the Philistines and broke through the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod, and he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. 7 God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabians who lived in Gurbaal and against the Meunites. 8 The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong. 9 Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate and at the Angle, and fortified them. 10 And he built towers in the wilderness and cut out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shephelah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil. 11 Moreover, Uzziah had an army of soldiers, fit for war, in divisions according to the numbers in the muster made by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king's commanders. 12 The whole number of the heads of fathers' houses of mighty men of valor was 2,600. 13 Under their command was an army of 307,500, who could make war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy. 14 And Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging. 15 In Jerusalem he made machines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.
Uzziah's Pride and Punishment
16 But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 But Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor, 18 and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God.” 19 Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense. 20 And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they rushed him out quickly, and he himself hurried to go out, because the Lord had struck him. 21 And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. And Jotham his son was over the king's household, governing the people of the land.
22 Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz wrote. 23 And Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field that belonged to the kings, for they said, “He is a leper.” And Jotham his son reigned in his place.

Note in vs. 5 that as long as he was getting wise counsel from Zecharaih Uzziah did good in God’s sight. But apparently as soon as this strong man of God was gone so was the restraint on Uzziah’s character. He became proud, full of himself, and took on the duties of an office before the Lord that he was neither called to nor qualified for. And when corrected rather than repent he became angry and so was judged by God.

Now back to Isaiah:

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. 3 And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” [may his glory fill the whole earth]

Was God any more holy each time the seraphim called this out? No, they were very forcefully drawing our attention to a fact: GOD IS HOLY; kadosh, set apart from all creation by His own might, and the small detail that He created everything else in the first place! He is All Powerful God over all who exist in His universe. Quite the “hello!”


Isaiah 6:4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for 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!”

Isaiah, realizing his sinful state did not compare himself to Uzzaih and say “at least I didn’t do that!” If anything he didn’t hold himself any higher (or better) than Uzzaih. When confronted by a Holy God we tend to see ourselves in the sinful, fallen state in which we exist. The fact is my sins, if unrepented make me no better than the vilest terrorist or dictator. At least I didn’t invade the Ukraine! But if I condemn all Russians out of hand, which is neither my office nor a thing I am qualified to do, then the penalty is the same as for Putin’s murderous rampage through a country at peace. I would die the second death.

Isaiah 6:6 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.”

What we do not see here is a “Yeah, but” or a question about God’s willingness to forgive even those things we as humans tend to think to bad. Instead what we hear is:

Isaiah's Commission from the Lord
Isaiah 6:8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

Now we come to an interesting passage:

Isaiah 6:9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
“‘Keep on hearing, [Hear indeed] but do not understand;
keep on seeing, [see indeed] but do not perceive.’
10 Make the heart of this people dull, [fat]
    and their ears heavy,
    and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
    and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
    and turn and be healed.”

This is followed by a clear Messianic prophecy:

11 Then I said, “How long, O Lord?”
And he said:
“Until cities lie waste
    without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
    and the land is a desolate waste,
12 and the Lord removes people far away,
    and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13 And though a tenth remain in it,
    it will be burned [purged] again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
    whose stump remains
    when it is felled.”
The holy seed [offspring] is its stump.

And of course Babylon and Assyria did leave the land a waste, most of the people carried into captivity. But God returned the remnant, after which the Stump of Jesse brought forth Yeshua Ha’Moshiach. Isaiah himself later uses this metaphor to foretell of a Messiah:

Isaiah 11:1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

[alon]

Now fast forward a few hundred years to the time of Yeshua:

Matthew 13:1-23 The Parable of the Sower
13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow.

Most people can probably give a fair recitation of this famous parable. But few know the link to its Old Testament roots. Again we should go back and read where it is talked about in the TNK (as we just did). We’ll see the link shortly:

Matthew 13:4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.”
10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:
“‘“You will indeed hear but never understand,
    and you will indeed see but never perceive.”

Sound familiar? However this raises a question; does Yeshua not want people to understand and be healed? let’s read on:

Matthew 13:15 For this people's heart has grown dull,
    and with their ears they can barely hear,
    and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
    and hear with their ears 
and understand with their heart
    and turn, and I would heal them.’

It is their own heart condition that keeps them from understanding. Most people would want healing and salvation; but sadly most of them want it only if they can keep on as they are, happy li’l ole’ sinners. However I never heard Yochanon say “Sin, make straight the path of the Lord!” No, he said “repent!” Turn away from your sins, back to the state Adam enjoyed with God in the Garden. However God cannot abide with sin.

Matthew 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

All that was required was they had to care enough to ask. Yeshua then goes on to explain the parable, which talks about of all things, peoples heart condition:

The Parable of the Sower Explained
18 “Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. [stumbles] 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

This all in turn is linked back to the Avrahamic covenant:

Genesis 12:3 KJV And I will bless  H1288  them that bless  H1288  thee, and curse  H779  him that curseth  H7043  thee: and in thee shall all   families   of the earth   be blessed.  H1288 [by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves]

H1288   בָּרַךְ bârak to kneel; by implication to bless God (as an act of adoration), and (vice-versa) man (as a benefit); also (by euphemism) to curse (God or the king, as treason): abundantly, altogether, at all, blaspheme, bless, congratulate, curse, greatly,indeed, kneel (down), praise, salute, still, thank.

The link between blessing and cursing is that often when ancients made a covenant or promised to bless another they would add a curse on themselves if they did not fulfill all that was promised.

H779  אָרַר 'ârar  to execrate: - bitterly curse; utterly destroy.

H7043  קָלַל qâlal  to be (make) light, literally (swift, small, sharp, etc.) or figuratively (easy, trifling, vile, etc.): - abate, make bright, bring into contempt, dishonor, (ac-) curse, despise, (be) ease (-y, -ier), (be a, make, make somewhat, move, seem a, set) light (-en, -er, ly, -ly afflict, -ly esteem, thing), X slight [-ly], be swift (-er), (be, be more, make, re-) vile, whet.

So this verse might better read: “I will בָּרַךְ bârak bless those who בָּרַךְ bârak bless you, and him who קָלַל qâlal dishonors or treats you [your message] lightly I will curse, and [by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves.”]

I added “your message” as the way all would bless themselves would be to hear with a good heart, understand, and receive fully the salvation message of the One who would become the blessing; He who the prophecies were about, Yeshua Ha’Moshiach.

There was much more to this lecture, but this is what stood out to me. The Bible is often likened to a tapestry, where everything is interwoven and connected, all to make one message: God's salvation history for mankind.