Isaiah’s Log, 14th Day Sivan, 747 B.C.

I realized that I was an unclean person; especially when in the presence of the Divine and Holy One of Israel.  Unclean as the leper who must go among the people crying “Unclean, unclean, unclean” and with their lips covered so no spittal will fall on anyone else.

O, the glory of the presence of the Holy One. When you are in His presence there is such a view of Him as to see Him in His beauty, power, glory, and the heart is to praise and glorify Him; and realize that in His presence no one can stand.

“Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand  a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.  And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

As I was in the presence of this holiness I knew there was something special and more than special about it.  I was being prepared for service to God; unlike anything I had ever seen or experienced before.  God was getting ready to use me in a special way, and yet I was awed by His presence – the presence of His glory.

This preparation was painful.  Fire from the altar touched my lips, and yet it did not mar the physical appearance, but cleansed the “unclean lips”, and the Word of God came in clearer than ever before.  By this burning coal, all my iniquity was taken away, and all my sin has been atoned.  I now have a view of God I had never seen before.

God, the LORD of hosts, the King of Glory has purged every sin, cleansed every stain, and now He can use me.   Blessed  be the name of the LORD.

Verses 8-10 will come soon.

Isaiah’s Log, 4th Day Sivan, 747 B.C.

The king Uzziah had died I had gone to the temple to pray and seek the Holy One of  Israel.  My heart was broken, and I grieved over my kings death.  I must have needed to know that this was not the end.  I needed to know there was my God who was holy, sovereign, and had everything under control.

My, what a sight to behold.  The temple lit up in the most glorious light.  That is what God’s presence will do.  Seraphims; servants of the most Highs presence; had appeared and announced the thrice holy GOD.  “Holy, holy, holy”, they had declared “is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory”.  The most wondrous and powerful decree any servant of GOD could ever declare.  I was awed by this Presence.

“And the posts of the door was shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.’  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 see the King, the LORD of hosts.”  Isaiah 6:4-5 (NKJV).

I am learning that when God shows up things can and are often shaken up a bit.  The shaking really begins in our own hearts.  My heart and life has definitely been shaken a bit.  I must say that I needed to see that the true King is the LORD of hosts.  My how much more assurance does a man need than that.

This presence of the LORD was much needed.  I learned by this that when you are in the presence of genuine holiness, that of GOD, that you see yourself as you truly are.  There are woes that need to be announced against an ungodly people, but I see that I am ungodly; I am undone;  I am a man of unclean lips; I am dwelling with people of unclean lips.  We are a unclean people.

The best part of this is that though I am undone and unclean the most High revealed Himself to me.  What a wonderful, holy, holy, holy LORD.

“And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain” Hebrews 12:27 (KJV).

Verses 6-7 next time.

The Prophet’s Vision

Sometimes kings and presidents are loved and admired by many and hated and despised by many more.  As a matter of fact that is the way it is most of the time.  When you have a political leader who does not push for moral issues and what is right, but is rather loose on these things, then you have many who believe these things do not matter; being flamboyantly for him.  The man who stands for right and what he believes in will have the support and backing of those who believe courage stands for something, they believe the leader is going as his heart for God, righteousness, justice, and love leads him.

That is the way Isaiah seems to have viewe king Uzziah.  Uzziah was a godly king who had grieved God by going into the temple and burning “incense on the altar of incense” (2 Chronicles 26:16b).  Because of this grievous sin, God placed the judgment of leprosy upon him for the rest of his life (2 Chronicles 26:21).  You can see that the Scriptures says, “…He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD…” (26:4).  Though, he had sinned in this one thing of offering the incense, when it was not his place to do so; Isaiah still mourns his death. 

Whether Isaiah’s call is before or after the first five chapters could be important.  I personally believe that having seen, and having wrote what is written in those first five chapters, he hears the voice of God ever so clearly, and knows without a doubt that he has God’s call to go to God’s people with God’s Word.  It comes at a time of tragedy for the Nation.  The king has died.  Any time the chief leader of a nation dies, or is sick or wounded, the nation grieves; at least in most cases.  On March 31, 1981 (I think this is the correct day and year) President Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded by John Hinckley.  I can remember thinking, “That’s terrible.  How could someone do anything like that?”  The Nation was on its knees, and I believe we were mourning.  It should have been an eye-opening experience.

Here are the words of Isaiah:

“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.  Above Him stood seraphim.  Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.  And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” Isaiah 6:1-3 (ESV).

Isaiah had a burden for his people.  He had a burden for God’s people to get back to God, get right with God and then live in the glory of God.

Many of us can see the problems of our nation and the world, but we have not yet caught a vision of God that drives us to our knees, and helps us see God for who He is.  He is the exalted One, the Holy One – thrice holy One;  He is the Glorious One, and without Him we have no glory.  We need to see that it is God who is on the throne.  It is He who rules, and has everything under control – His control for His plan, not yours and mine.  He is the one who sees the BIG PICTURE.  Since the angels, seraphim recognize Him as holy,  holy, holy we need to do so as well.

Bow on your knees and cry HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.

Next time we will look at verses 4-5.