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![God represented as an Eastern monarch, attended by seraphim as His ministers of state
(1Ki_22:19), and with a robe and flowing train (a badge of dignity in the East), which filled the
temple. This assertion that he had seen God was, according to tradition (not sanctioned by
Isa_1:1; see on Introduction), the pretext for sawing him asunder in Manasseh’s reign
(Heb_11:37). Visions often occur in the other prophets: in Isaiah there is only this one, and it is
marked by characteristic clearness and simplicity.
In ... year ... Uzziah died — Either literal death, or civil when he ceased as a leper to
exercise his functions as king [Chaldee], (2Ch_26:19-21). 754 b.c. [Calmet] 758 (Common
Chronology). This is not the first beginning of Isaiah’s prophecies, but his inauguration to a
higher degree of the prophetic office: Isa_6:9, etc., implies the tone of one who had already
experience of the people’s obstinacy.
Lord — here Adonai, Jehovah in Isa_6:5; Jesus Christ is meant as speaking in Isa_6:10,
according to Joh_12:41. Isaiah could only have “seen” the Son, not the divine essence
(Joh_1:18). The words in Isa_6:10 are attributed by Paul (Act_28:25, Act_28:26) to the Holy
Ghost. Thus the Trinity in unity is implied; as also by the thrice “Holy” (Isa_6:3). Isaiah
mentions the robes, temple, and seraphim, but not the form of God Himself. Whatever it was, it
was different from the usual Shekinah: that was on the mercy seat, this on a throne; that a cloud
and fire, of this no form is specified: over that were the cherubim, over this the seraphim; that
had no clothing, this had a flowing robe and train.
6. K&D, “The time of the occurrence here described, viz., “the year that king Uzziah (Uzı̄yahu)
died,” was of importance to the prophet. The statement itself, in the naked form in which it is
here introduced, is much more emphatic than if it commenced with “it came to pass” (vay'hi; cf.,
Exo_16:6; Pro_24:17). It was the year of Uzziah's death, not the first year of Jotham's reign; that
is to say, Uzziah was still reigning, although his death was near at hand. If this is the sense in
which the words are to be understood, then, even if the chapter before us contains an account of
Isaiah's first call, the heading to chapter 1, which dates the ministry of the prophet from the time
of Uzziah, is quite correct, inasmuch as, although his public ministry under Uzziah was very
short, this is properly to be included, not only on account of its own importance, but as
inaugurating a new ear (lit. “an epoch-making beginning”). But is it not stated in 2Ch_26:22,
that Isaiah wrote a historical work embracing the whole of Uzziah's reign? Unquestionably; but
it by no means follows from this, that he commenced his ministry long before the death of
Uzziah. If Isaiah received his call in the year that Uzziah died, this historical work contained a
retrospective view of the life and times of Uzziah, the close of which coincided with the call of
the prophetic author, which made a deep incision into the history of Israel. Uzziah reigned fifty-
two years (809-758 b.c.). This lengthened period was just the same to the kingdom of Judah as
the shorter age of Solomon to that of all Israel, viz., a time of vigorous and prosperous peace, in
which the nation was completely overwhelmed with manifestations of divine love. But the riches
of divine goodness had no more influence upon it, than the troubles through which it had passed
before. And now the eventful change took place in the relation between Israel and Jehovah, of
which Isaiah was chosen to be the instrument before and above all other prophets. The year in
which all this occurred was the year of Uzziah's death. It was in this year that Israel as a people
was given up to hardness of heart, and as a kingdom and country to devastation and
annihilation by the imperial power of the world. How significant a fact, as Jerome observes in
connection with this passage, that the year of Uzziah's death should be the year in which
Romulus was born; and that it was only a short time after the death of Uzziah (viz., 754 b.c.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-5-320.jpg)
![And his remotest parts filled the temple. (92) Almost all the commentators understand by this the fringes of
his robe, though it may be understood to refer to the extremities of the judgment-seat, giving us to
understand that its dimensions were so vast as to extend to every part of the temple. He intends to
ascribe to God a venerable aspect, and far beyond any human form. There is great weight in the
circumstance that he appeared in the temple; for he had promised that he would meet with his people
there, and the people expected his answers from that place, as Solomon had expressly stated at the
dedication of it. (1Kg_8:30.) In order, therefore, that the people might understand that those things came
from God, on whom they called every day, and on whom they relied with a vain confidence which puffed
them up, this vision was exhibited to the Prophet in the temple. To the certainty of what was said it
contributed not a little, that he openly proclaimed that the discourse was not pronounced to him by any
mortal man, but was a heavenly oracle, uttered by that God whose name they were accustomed
disdainfully to hold out as a pretense, whenever they wished to make any extravagant claims; for
otherwise this prophecy would have been harsh and repulsive, and needed great confirmation. It was also
not uncommon with the Prophets to say that the Lord spake to them from his temple, or from
his sanctuary
(92) And his train filled the temple. [Or, the skirts thereof. ] — Eng. Ver.
And the train of his robe filled the temple. — Lowth.
8. BI, “The story of the prophet’s call—why inserted here
Why the narrative of the prophet’s call was not, as in the cases of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, allowed
to occupy the first place in the book, is a question which cannot be certainly answered.
One conjecture is that chaps. 1-5 were placed first for the purpose of preparing the reader of the
book for the severity of tone which marks the end of chap. 6, and of acquainting him with the
condition of things in Judah which led to such a tone being adopted. Or, again, it is possible that
chap. 6 may have been placed so as to follow chaps. 1-5, because, though describing what
occurred earlier, it may not have been actually committed to writing till afterwards—perhaps as
an introduction Isa_7:1-25; Isa_8:1-22; Isa_9:1-7. (Prof. S. R. Driver, D. D.)
Why did Isaiah publish this account of his call?
Why was it needful to publish a private transaction between God and Isaiah? The only reason we
can conceive of is that the prophet needed to give a justification of his public assumption of
prophetic work. And that implies in the community a suspicion of prophetic men, and in the
young prophet’s mind struggles and hesitation such as we can easily conceive. This picture of his](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-10-320.jpg)
![office. We have not an actual account of this in the case of all of them, but its preciseness in the case of
five justifies our assuming that from the time of Amos onwards a similar call was experienced by all true
prophets of Jehovah. The call to be a prophet surprised Amos in the midst of occupations of a wholly
different kind—Jehovah took him from the herd. According to Hos_1:2 the commencement of Hosea’s
prophetic ministry was contemporaneous with his recognition that Jehovah intended even the prophet’s
unhappy experiences in his married life to be a reflection of Israel’s relation to Himself. Isaiah records a
vision that he had in the year King Uzziah died, when the Divine commission was given him to drive the
people by his message into ever-increasing obduracy. Attempts have been made to explain this vision—
the only one in Isaiah—as simply the literary garb invented for inward reflections and conflicts, so that the
prophet’s own determination would take the place of an express Divine call. But all such attempts are
shattered by the earnest terms of the narrative, which will not permit us to think but of a real occurrence.
The very same is the impression we receive from Jeremiah’s record of his call in the thirteenth year of
Josiah. Quite remarkable there is the emphasis laid (Isa_1:5) on the choice and consecration of Jeremiah
to the prophetic office even before his birth. How could anyone invent a thing of this kind and proclaim it
as a word addressed to him by God? But as little could he have added the supplementary invention that
he tried to evade the Divine commission (v. 7) by pleading want of skill in speaking, and youth. On the
contrary, we must see here an experience the prophet once had which left an ineffaceable impression
upon his memory. In the case of Ezekiel, his exact dating of his first vision (Isa_1:1-2) by year, month,
and day is the pledge that he, too, is conscious that his call to be a prophet (Isa_2:3 ff.) was a definite
occurrence.
1 [Note: E. Kautzsch, in Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible, v. p. 672b.]
The normal mode, says Whitehouse, by which Christian ministers and statesmen have been led to realise
their vocation constitutes the most interesting point in their life-story, because it is the turning-point.
Among Christian statesmen we would instance the Englishman John Bright and the American Senator
Sumner. The case of John Bright is not without its partial parallel to that of Hosea. That of Senator
Sumner has been portrayed in Whittier’s immortal verses, beginning—
No trumpet sounded in his ear,
He saw not Sinai’s cloud and flame;
But never yet to Hebrew seer
A clearer voice of duty came.
i. The Occasion of the Vision
“In the year that King Uzziah died.”
There is more than a date given here; there is a great contrast suggested. Prophecy does not chronicle
by time, but by experiences, and we have here, as it seems, the cardinal experience of a prophet’s life.
1. Uzziah.—Of all the kings of Israel none had done so much for the nation as King Uzziah, save only
David. Solomon’s greatness was largely inherited. He certainly stands a figure more splendid than
Uzziah, but not of as great service. Coming to the throne when a lad of sixteen, for more than fifty years
Uzziah reigned in Jerusalem wisely and well. Under the guidance of one Zechariah, of whom all we know
is this, that he “had understanding in the vision of God,” the youth Uzziah sought the Lord, and as long as
he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper. He drove back the Philistines and many another tribe that
had encroached upon Israel’s domain, so that his name was spread abroad even to Egypt. At home he
was always busy seeing after the welfare of his people. He strengthened Jerusalem with fortified towers,
and set up towers for the protection of those in the pastures and plains. Careful about the water supply,
he digged many wells. He had husbandmen busied with cattle; and planted vines on the mountain slopes.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-61-320.jpg)
![a place among the forces of society, bridling them with so firm a hand, a hand now relaxed, leaving the
unquiet humours of the land to assert themselves, and draw the State on to its destruction.
We might even fancy, without unduly stretching fancy, that Isaiah, who, though not yet a prophet, appears
to have been a citizen of high rank, and perhaps familiar at the court, had this vision presented to him a
little after he had come out of the royal chamber where the deceased monarch lay in state. Perhaps he
had been permitted to enter along with the common crowd of subjects, who pressed in to render their last
act of homage; and though he had seemed to walk round the bier, and linger a moment to look upon the
still face, as mechanically as any of them, it was with very different thoughts in his heart. It was a dead
king that lay before him. And though the presence of death in any form might have suggested the first half
of the vision—the unseen world within this world—only the sight of a dead king could have led Isaiah’s
mind to draw that comprehensive sketch of the history and the destiny of his nation with which the
chapter ends. Those eternal, changeless sights are reflected in the face, rapt but unmoved; the grandeur,
the unchanging flow of eternity, the awful face of God, holding the mind in an absorbed stillness, so that
emotion ebbs and flows no more in the heart, and no more plays upon the countenance, but all is still.
Now when the prophet came out from the presence of the dead, musing on all things as he must have
mused, and probably entering the Temple where the service of God was going on—for the vision is just
the reflection of the service of God in His house upon earth, it is only this service translated into its real
meaning—it is not unnatural that such a vision as this should have presented itself before him. Such a
sight is well fitted to bring before our minds the same great scene. For there is such an eternal scene
behind the changing forms of the present life; a scene not future but present, though the perfect realising
of it be, to most of us, future; a world within this world, or behind it, of which we only catch glimpses
sometimes through the occurrences of this life—a world such as the prophet saw, God the King on His
throne, surrounded by beings all alive to His glory, serving Him continually in the greatness of their might.
There is such a world within this world, of which this world is but the veil and covering; and we begin to
understand this world, and see any order and meaning in it, only when this other, which is the inner side
of it, is revealed to our sight.
A king must die! There seems to be something almost incongruous in the very phrase. The very word
“king” means power. The king is the man who can, the man who is possessed of ability, dominion,
sovereignty; and the shock is almost violent when we are told that the range of the kingship is shaped
and determined by death. We could all understand how death might limit the years and conquests of
Lazarus, shivering outside the palace gates, weary, hungry, and “full of sores,” but it is more difficult to
understand how death can enter the palace, and set a barrier to the life of Dives, “clothed in purple and
fine linen, and faring sumptuously every day”; but “it came to pass that the beggar died,” and “the rich
man also died, and was buried.” A little while ago I took up the death-roll at a workhouse, and glanced
through the chronological lists of paupers: Elizabeth So-and-so, died so-and-so. Then I took up a volume
of English history, looked at the death-roll of monarchs, the chronological list of kings and queens: Queen
Elizabeth, died so-and-so. I found that the one word described the end of both pauper and king—“the
beggar died,” “William the Conqueror died,” “King Uzziah died.” How the one word suffices for all sorts
and conditions of men!
1 [Note: J. H. Jowett.]
4. God never empties places in our homes and hearts, or in the nation or the Church, without being ready
to fill them. He sometimes empties them that He may fill them. Sorrow and loss are meant to prepare us
for the vision of God, and their effect should be to purge the inward eye, that it may see Him. When the
leaves drop from the forest trees we can see the blue sky which their dense abundance hid. Well for us if
the passing of all that can pass drives us to Him who cannot pass, if the unchanging God stands out more
clear, more near, more dear, because of change.
This accounts for a great many of the dark experiences in life. God puts out our little light that we may see
Him the better. When you are looking out of the window at night, gazing towards the sky, you will see the
stars more clearly if you put out your gaslight. That is what God has to do for us. He has to put out the
secondary lights in order that we may see the eternal light. Uzziah has to die, in order that we may see it
is God who lives. God has continually to take away our little kings, the weak repositories of our trust, in
order to show that we have given a false emphasis to life. He takes away that which we regarded as the](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-63-320.jpg)
![keystone, in order to reveal to us the real binding-force in life. I have known Him come to a nation and
take away the King of Commercial Prosperity, because when commercial prosperity reigns men are too
prone to forget the Lord. It is not in the seven fat years that we pray. It is in the seven years of famine,
when the wheat is “blasted with the east wind.” It is then that men see the Lord and pray.
I know a little cottage which is surrounded by great and stately trees, clothed with dense and massy
foliage. In the summer days and through all the sunny season, it just nestles in this circle of green, and
has no vision of the world beyond. But the winter comes, so cold and keen. It brings its sharp knife of
frost, cuts off the leaves, until they fall trembling to the ground. There is nothing left but the bare
framework on which summer hung her beauteous growths. Poor little cottage, with the foliage all gone!
But is there no compensation? Yes, yes. Standing in the cottage in the winter time and looking out of the
window, you can see a mansion, which has come into view through the openings left by the fallen leaves.
The winter brought the vision of the mansion!
1 [Note: J. H. Jowett.]
5. Human purpose never has so definite and intelligible an aspect as when it flashes first in sudden
intuition on the mind. The main end fills the vision; the essential significance absorbs the attention; all the
thousand contingencies which will obscure that end and compromise that significance are as yet
unsuspected. Everything is clear, clear-cut, and coercive. But with the years comes also a cleansing of
the spiritual vision; and the intuitions of youth, seen in the retrospect, are seen more justly. The
correspondence of the earlier and the later visions brings the verification of their quality. If the man, wise
with the bitter wisdom of failure and conflict, hears still the Voice which thrilled the unshadowed heart of
the boy, that Voice needs no better authentication of origin. For inspiration or for the “great refusal” then,
for acquittal or for condemnation now, it was, and is, the Voice of God. All the years are bound by it into a
single experience.
I hear a voice, perchance I heard
Long ago, but all too low,
So that scarce a care it stirred
If the voice were real or no;
I heard it in my youth when first
The waters of my life outburst;
But, now their stream ebbs faint, I hear
That voice, still low, but fatal clear.
The definiteness of the prophet’s memory is startling,—in the death-year of King Uzziah. Happy the man
who keeps a journal and records the date of this and that event. I know one who is able to say, “It was on
the 19th of March, 1886, I began to be led by the Spirit.” But others there are who must say, “I do not
know just when I entered the new life. I think it was some time between sixteen and twenty years of age.
The change came so gradually that I glided into the consciousness of a definite relationship to God as a
ship glides out of a region of ice into a warmer zone.”
1 [Note: C. C. Albertson.]
6. It is in hours like this that men get real glimpses of God. It is always when some Uzziah has piled up his
successes until in their very definiteness men wake up to their shortcoming in the presence of the needs
of the hour, that we feel the Infinite near, and at last see His skirts filling all the vacancies of life. Never
until we know how much, do we know how little, man can do. Never until we see the best that humanity
achieves do we know how grave are the problems which are born beneath our very success, which
demand an infinite factor for their solution. In the death-hour of Uzziah, when under the mighty hands of
the Medici, Florence had been growing luxurious and beautiful, when gems flashed from her proud neck](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-64-320.jpg)
![and marble palaces were her play-things, when copious rivers of revenue poured in upon the Duke and
the throne, and literature and art were in sight of their long-delayed laurels, yea—in the death-hour of
their Uzziah when Lorenzo had fallen, Girolamo Savonarola, the Isaiah of that Jerusalem, saw amidst and
above the terrible problems which his reign had made, and which surrounded him, the vision of the
Almighty God. In the death-hour of Uzziah, when the arms of freedom had begun to shine with glorious
victory, when the hand of rebellion had been pushed away from the white throat of liberty, when the whole
race was ready to drown the dreadful clanking of eighty years of chains in one glad song of freedom,
when a restored Union lifted up her head above the heat and dust of war, in the death-year of Uzziah,
when Lincoln fell, yonder at New York another whose sword was like the tongue of Isaiah, seeing the
problem which survived the assassin’s bullet, saw midst and above them the vision of God; “Fellow-
citizens,” said Garfield on that occasion, “God reigns, and the Government at Washington still lives.”
1 [Note:
F. W. Gunsaulus.]
ii. The Vision
“I saw the Lord.”
1. The prophet had lost a hero and found his Lord. “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord.” He
had anticipated that when the good King Uzziah died the linch-pin would be removed, and the car of the
nation’s life would topple over into confusion and disaster. All Isaiah’s hopes were centred in this radical
and aggressively righteous monarch, and he feared for the State when its monarch should be taken. He
anticipated chaos, and lo! in place of chaos there emerged the Lord of Order! He found that in the days of
his hero-worship he had been living in comparative twilight, the real Luminary had been partially
obscured, there had been an eclipse of the Sun: and now, with the passing of Uzziah the eclipse had
ended, and the Presence of the Lord blazed out in unexpected glory! “In the year that King Uzziah died I
saw the Lord.” It had seemed to the foreboding fears of the depressed youth as though the very existence
of the kingdom were involved in the continued reign of the king. If he goes—what then? A crisis was
assured! And yet in place of the crisis came God, and the effulgent glory was bewildering. Succeeding
generations of men have shared these pessimistic fears. We have riveted our gaze upon the incidental
until the incidental has become the essential, and we have feared the withering blast of death. “What will
Israel do when Uzziah is taken?” “What will Methodism do when John Wesley is removed?” “What will the
Salvation Army do when anything happens to its General?” “What will this or that church do when bereft
of its minister?” And the long-feared crisis has come, but instead of being left to the hopeless, clammy
darkness of the grave, we have gazed upon the dazzling glories of a forgotten heaven! The transient
pomp and splendour died, and their passing removed the veil from the face of the eternal, and we saw
the Lord. “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord.” He anticipated an end, he found a new
beginning.
Last autumn I spent a little time in the old castle at Stirling, and in one of the rooms of the tower were two
curiosities which riveted my attention. In one corner of the room was an old time-worn pulpit. It was John
Knox’s pulpit, the pulpit from which he used to proclaim so faithfully the message of the King. In the
opposite corner were a few long spears, much corrupted by rust, found on the field of Bannockburn,
which lies just beyond the castle walls. John Knox’s pulpit on the one hand, the spears of Bannockburn
on the other! One the type of material forces, forces of earth and time; the other the type of spiritual
forces, forces of eternity and heaven. The spears, representative of King Uzziah; the pulpit,
representative of the Lord. Which symbolises the eternal? The force and influence which radiated from
that pulpit will enrich and fashion Scottish character when Bannockburn has become an uninfluential
memory, standing vague and indefinite, on the horizon of a far-distant time. When King Uzziah is dead,
the Lord will still live, high and lifted up.
1 [Note: J. H. Jowett.]
2. The great characteristic of Isaiah’s age was religious indifference. That which the prophet was enabled
to see—that great Divine world within this outer world—was the very thing which the nation could not be
made to perceive. Men could not be impressed with the idea of a living God, a Sovereign high and lifted
up, ruling over the world and life and men’s consciences. They were insensible to this, and would have](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-65-320.jpg)
![none of it. “The heart of the people was fat, and their ears heavy, and their eyes closed.” They were
incapable of being touched with the feeling of the reality of God. And this insensibility led to disobedience,
to formalism, to distrust of Jehovah, and to schemes of worldly policy; and, when danger threatened, to
the calling in of foreign help: “they stayed themselves on Egypt, they trusted in Assyria”; and when these
great world-powers once planted their foot on the little country the end of it was not far distant—as
described in the closing verses of the chapter.
Perhaps the death of Uzziah suggested some of this to the prophet, and made him think of it, and follow it
out in his mind to its conclusion. But it was the sight of Jehovah that made him understand it on its deeper
side. It was the revelation to him of a great Ruler behind all things, and a hidden glory—the real power
within all things,—a fire in contact with the sin and impurity of mankind, that must consume them or
cleanse it. It was this that made him feel the real meaning of the circumstances of his time in their relation
to this Ruler and made him, when he himself had been brought into right relation to Him, take a stand in
regard to the world, and assume his right place in it.
It is singular how little place we take in the world, how little we feel it needful to take any place; how we
are like mere grains of sand, the sport of the wind, each one of us without inherent force, not taking a
place, but rolled into a place by the forces about us, or by the mere dead weight of gravity—pushed into a
profession by the example of our companions, or the advice of friends, or, it may be, because we think we
should like something in it, but without taking a broad view of it, especially without taking a moral estimate
of it as a force which we might wield for higher ends, and setting it clearly before us as one of other great
forces that should all combine, and realising it in its relation to the world and the state of society as a
whole,—how slow we are to feel that we have any responsibilities in regard to the condition of
things.
1 [Note: A. B. Davidson.]
3. I saw.—In a very deep and true sense it is what a man sees that either makes or unmakes him. The
effect of vision upon character and service is transforming. It elevates or debases, according to its quality.
Whether a man grovels or soars, whether he slimes his way with the worm or walks upon the hill-tops,
whether he remains in the realm of animalism or rises into the spiritual, and lives in the high places of the
sons of God, is determined by his seeing. The men who shape history and direct the destinies of nations
are the men who have eyes.
Moses saw the invisible, and endured, struggled, conquered, lifted himself and his people into
prominence for evermore. Saul of Tarsus, on the Damascus road, saw Jesus Christ, and out of that vision
came a power of manhood that has thrown itself beneficently across twenty centuries. Luther, in his
monk’s cell, had a vision of the spiritual, and out of it came the Protestant Reformation, with all its forces
of liberty and progress and enterprise. General Booth’s tremendous success with the Salvation Army, an
organisation which in less than a generation has belted the globe, is simply the realisation of what he
saw. Because David Livingstone had eyes to see, Africa to-day is zoned with light, and that matchless
career of his stands out before the world, and will ever stand, as an inspiration to the noblest efforts for
human uplifting. Because Jesus saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven, He was thrilled by a sublime
optimism, because He saw, as no one else has ever seen, His kingdom is coming, and will yet cover the
earth as the waters cover the sea.
2 [Note: R. F. Coyle.]
Isaiah says, “I saw.” Is it, then, given to a man to be so sure of spiritual phenomena? So it seems from
this Book. The basis of this confidence is in the spiritual consciousness out of which Moses spoke when
he said, “I saw the passing pageant of the goodness of the Lord”; out of which Paul spoke when he said,
“I saw a light above the brightness of the sun, and heard a voice out of the radiance calling me by name”;
out of which John spoke when he said, “In the midst of the golden candlesticks I saw One like unto the
Son of Man, girt with a golden girdle, and holding the seven stars in his hand.” Not more real was the
mountain whereon Moses stood, or the splendid highway over which Paul was travelling, or the rocks of
Patmos whereon the waves broke into spray,—not more real were these than the visions unfolded to
human spirits there.
All men who do really great work for the world have some touch of this Divine faculty and vision. Even the](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-66-320.jpg)
![man of science, is, at his best, a seer and a poet; for it is not only observation and reflection, but
imagination also, which enable him to see the real behind the phenomenal, to look quite through the
shows of things, and to gaze on an universe utterly unlike this visible universe, a world in which a few
great forces, in obedience to a few great laws, robe themselves in an infinite variety of forms. Under the
drifting and confused play of events the historian, again, if he be worthy of his name, discerns an
increasing purpose, a secret law, a Divine order, a growing harmony. Even the statesman is great only as
he too can look through the welter of passing events, and see what are the ruling forces and principles at
work beneath the surface of national life, and how he may avail himself of these for the general
good.
1 [Note: S. Cox, in The Expositor, 2nd Ser., ii. p. 25.]
4. The Lord.—Let me remind you of that apparently audacious commentary upon this great vision which
the Evangelist John gives us: “These things said Esaias, when he had beheld his glory and spake of him.”
Then the Christ is the manifest Jehovah; is the King of Glory. Then the vision which was but a transitory
revelation is the revelation of an eternal reality, and “the vision splendid” does not “fade but brightens, into
the light of common day”; when instead of being flashed only on the inward eye of a prophet, it is made
flesh and walks amongst us, and lives our lives, and dies our death. Our eyes have seen the King in as
true a reality, and in better fashion, than ever Isaiah did amid the sanctities of the Temple. And the eyes
that have seen only the near foreground, the cultivated valleys, and the homes of men, are raised, and lo!
the long line of glittering peaks, calm, silent, pure. Who will look at the valleys when the Himalayas stand
out, and the veil is drawn aside?
To see “also the Lord” is alike the secret of steadfastness, and the guarantee of that knowledge in the
midst of perplexity which alone liberates from fretful anxiety and unbelief, and leads to right choice and
wise action. And to those who seek Him, He is always so revealing Himself, in character varying
according to their present need, and always as their entire sufficiency. Some men can see only “the
things which are temporal,” and are hence distracted; but others have learned to look at “the things which
are eternal,” and are in consequence being continually attracted to Him in whom they find the perfection
of wisdom and strength and love.
Two men looked through prison bars,
The one saw mud—the other stars.
iii. The Throne
“Sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up.”
1. The scene which Isaiah beholds is the heavenly palace of Jehovah’s sovereignty, modelled upon, but
not a copy of, His earthly Temple at Jerusalem: “I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up,
and his train filled the temple.” The comparatively small adyton of the Temple on Zion is indefinitely
expanded, the lofty throne takes the place of the mercy-seat, the skirts of the royal mantle, falling in
ample folds, fill the space about and below the throne, and conceal from the beholder, standing beneath,
the unapproachable Form seated upon it. The two colossal cherubim, whose extended wings
overshadowed the ark in the Holy of holies, are absent, and there appears instead a choir of living
creatures, encircling the throne: “Seraphim stood above Him: each had six wings; with twain He covered
His face, and with twain He covered His feet, and with twain He did fly.”
Some of you may have been watching a near and beautiful landscape in the land of mountains and
eternal snows, till you have been exhausted by its very richness, and till the distant hills which bounded it
have seemed, you knew not why, to limit and contract the view, and then a veil has been withdrawn, and
new hills not looking as if they belonged to this earth, yet giving another character to all that does belong
to it, have unfolded themselves before you. This is an imperfect, very imperfect, likeness (yet it is one) of](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-67-320.jpg)
![that revelation which must have been made to the inner eye of the prophet, when he saw another throne
than the throne of the house of David, another king than Uzziah or Jotham, another train than that of
priests or minstrels in the Temple, other winged forms than those golden ones which over-shadowed the
mercy-seat. Each object was the counterpart of one that was then or had been at some time before his
bodily eyes; yet it did not borrow its shape or colour from those visible things. They evidently derived their
substance and radiance from those which were invisible. Separated from them they could impart no
lustre; for they had none. The kings of the house of David reigned because that king was reigning whom
God had set upon His holy hill of Zion; because He lived on, when they dropped one and another into
their graves; because in Him dwelt the light and the power by which each might illumine his own
darkness, sustain his own weakness. The symbols and services of the Temple were not, as priests and
people often thought, an earthly machinery for scaring a distant Heaven; they were witnesses of a
Heaven nigh at hand, of a God dwelling in the midst of His people, of His being surrounded by spirits
which do His pleasure hearkening to the voice of His words.
1 [Note: F. D. Maurice, Prophets and Kings, p. 221.]
What was Uzziah in all his greatness now as the Lord sat upon His throne high and lifted up? Here were
the shifting scenes of human life—the shadows that come and go, the pageants that move to the silence
and rest of the grave.There high and lifted up—above all time, above all change—was the Eternal. Uzziah
the king, Uzziah the leper, Uzziah the corpse—to set the heart upon him was to be disappointed,
deserted, desolate. The Lord is king—that is the centre of all things, the true home and refuge of the soul.
Here is some ground for our trust; here all the adoration of the soul finds fitting room and sphere, and
worthy rank for its service and worship.
The Lord is always upon a throne, even when He is nailed to the Cross; this Lord and His throne are
inseparable. There are dignitaries that have to study how to keep their thrones, but the Lord and His
throne are one.
2 [Note: J. Parker, The People’s Bible, xiv. p. 283.]
2. But what shall we say when we recall Him of whom the evangelist asserts “Isaiah saw his glory, and
spoke of him”? High and lifted up, verily! But how all unlike that which Isaiah saw. Bound and beaten and
buffeted, scourged and mocked, amidst a band of ribald soldiers and ruffians who smite Him and pluck
the hairs off His cheek. Condemned alike by Jewish priest and Roman judge He goes forth to be
crucified. There in all shame and agony He hangs stricken and smitten. Surely, “He was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with
his stripes we are healed.”
iv. The Train
“And his train filled the temple.”
1. It was not only that Isaiah had an unexpected vision of God, it was the unique character of the vision
which impressed and empowered him. Where does the wonder of the prophet culminate? “I saw the
Lord, sitting upon a throne!” That was not the unfamiliar sight, and not there did the prophet’s wonder
gather. “High and lifted up!” A terrible sublimity, like some towering and awe-inspiring Alpine height! Yet
not there was concentrated the supreme surprise. “And his train filled the temple!” That was the marvel
which made the prophet’s heart stand still. He was not a stranger to the conception of the throne, or of the
lonely and snow-white exaltation, but this vision of the train that “filled the temple” was altogether foreign
to his thought. You will remember that in all these Temple arrangements of the olden days there were
different grades and varying degrees of sanctity. Even in the time of our Lord there were divisions,
separating the holy and the profane, beginning at the outer courts, where the foot of the Gentile might
tread, but beyond which he was not permitted to pass, on penalty of death, on to the veiled and silent
chamber where the awful Presence dwelt between the cherubim. And there was the same gradient in the
thought of the young Isaiah. There were divisions in his temple, separating the different degrees of
sanctity, ranging from the much-diluted holiness of the remote circumference to the clear and quenchless
flame of the sacred Presence. And now comes this strange and all-convulsing vision: “His train filled the
temple,” filled it, every section of it, every corner of it, to the furthest and outermost wall. “The posts of the](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-68-320.jpg)
![thresholds,” not merely the curtains of the inner shrine, “the posts of the thresholds moved at the voice of
him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.” That is the word which expresses the supreme
wonder of this great inaugural vision. “His train filled the temple!” “The house was filled with smoke.” The
garments of the Almighty swept an unsuspected area, His robe impartially carpeted the entire pile, there
was not a single inch that was exempt from the touch of His enveloping Presence. “His train filled the
temple.” What, then, had the crisis brought to the young hero-worshipper who had been so fearful of the
passing of his noble king? It had brought to him a larger conception of God, a filling-out conception of
God, a full-tide conception, filling every nook and creek and bay in the manifold and far-stretching shore
of human life.
1 [Note: J. H. Jowett, in The Examiner, March 15, 1906.]
No face: only the sight
Of a sweepy garment, vast and white,
With a hem that I could recognise.
2 [Note: Browning, Christmas Eve.]
2. The most important crises in a man’s life are related to the growth or impoverishment of his conception
of God. It is momentous when some area in the wide circle of his life is unexpectedly discovered to be the
dwelling-place of God. Robinson Crusoe begins to track his desolate and presumably uninhabited island,
and one day, on the sandy shore, comes upon the print of a human foot. That footprint revolutionises his
entire conception of the island, and all his plans and expedients are transfigured. And so the soul, moving
over some area of its activities which has never been related to God, and over which God has never been
assumed to exercise a living and immediate authority, one day unexpectedly discovers His footprints
upon this particular tract of the sands of time, and the whole of the spiritual outlook is transformed.
“Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.”
If thus His train fills the temple, the great temple in which He ever dwells, then how easy for us to touch
the hem of His garment and be made whole of whatever plague of soreness we may suffer from.
God’s children cannot wander beyond reach
Of the sweep of His white raiment. Touch and hold!
And if you weep, still weep where John was laid
While Jesus loved him.
3. There is a division which is made, not merely by the thoughtless and flippant, but even by many grave
and serious minds. On one side the barrier they move softly and reverently, as though feeling the very
breathings of the Almighty Presence: on the other side they step loudly and thoughtlessly, as though the
Almighty were absent. And then one day there comes one of the great crises of life, and on the secular
side of the barrier they see the trailing garments of the Lord, and they are filled with a surprise which ends
in resurrection. For it is a birthday for the soul when we discover that the Lord occupies the whole of this
divided house, and that His train fills the temple.
(1) I have frequently heard reference to my own vocation as a “sacred calling,” says Mr. Jowett, but I have
rarely, if ever, heard the same sober phrase applied to the work of the baker or tent-maker, or even to the
work of the city councillor or the members of the House of Commons. But the seamless robe of the Lord
is on both sides the artificial barrier, and all things on either side can be equally sacred and sanctified.
(2) Another temple which our modern thought frequently divides into sections of different degrees of
sanctity is the temple of the entire personality. One side of the barrier is called body, and the other is
called spirit. It is a great day for a man when the wonderful revelation breaks upon his eyes, that these
two entities possess a common sanctity, that our division is unwise and impoverishing, and that His train
fills the whole temple. In the olden days there was a school of thinkers who regarded matter as essentially](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-69-320.jpg)
![evil, the very sphere and dwelling-place of evil, and, therefore, the body itself was esteemed as the very
province of the devil. It was therefore further reasoned that to despise the body was to heap shame and
contumely upon the devil, and that one of the holiest exercises was thus to treat the flesh with disdain and
contempt. The body was a thing of the gutter,—gutter-born, and destined to a gutter death! Therefore
they neglected it, they bruised it, they refused to cleanse it, and they utterly deprived it of any attention
and adornment. So far as the body part of the temple was concerned, the Lord was not in it! Now we can
see the force and relevancy of the Apostle’s firm and vigorous teaching: “Know ye not that your body is
the temple of the Holy Ghost?” That word would come as a bewildering surprise! The Lord’s temple does
not end where the spirit ends; it includes the body too: and His train fills the temple! “I beseech you,
therefore, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service.” That veil in the temple has been rent in twain!
(3) There is still another temple which we divide into discriminating sections much as the Temple of old
was divided. One side of the barrier is described as home, the other side as foreign, the one side as Jew,
the other side as Gentile. And so the temple itself, rather than the partitioning veil, is too frequently rent in
twain. It is a season of wonderful regeneration when first the train of the Almighty is seen to fill the entire
temple, and the whole of the unworthily divided area is seen to be the familiar walking-ground of the
Eternal God. To go out, I say, into the section regarded as foreign, and to behold the footprints of the
Lord, to see that, even where home ends, the trailing garment of the Lord sweeps on, is a great birthday
for the soul, a day of fertilising knowledge and of energising grace! To gaze upon other sects, foreign to
our own, and to see common footprints in the varying roads; to gaze upon other nations, foreign to our
own, and to see the mystic garment in their unfamiliar ways, to discover that the train fills the entire
temple, is to enter an experience only less momentous than our conversion, for it is a second conversion
into the larger thought and love of God. “In Christ Jesus there is neither circumcision nor uncircumcision,
neither Jew nor Gentile, neither bond nor free.” “His train filled the temple.”
You need imagination for the missionary impulse, especially for foreign missions. You need the sense of
the glory of the Lord, of the fulness of the whole earth, and of the voice that, crying, shakes the pillars of
the house. It is not easy to conceive of a man of no imagination becoming a great missionary. It is the
imagination of boyhood that leads many a man to the mission field, as it leads many a man to the sea. It
is the romance of missions, the call of the deep and the wild. It is the same thing, with a consecration of
faith added, that seals the resolve, and finally sends him abroad. To his vision of foreign lands he adds
visions of redeemed peoples. His eye has seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. He dreams a dream
of good. He has visions of an earth full of the knowledge and glory of God. He has the imagination of the
adventurer with the consecration of the prophet. Every missionary must be an idealist. The man who has
no sympathy with missions is devoid of imagination, and sometimes he seems even a little proud of his
defect.
1 [Note: P. T. Forsyth, Missions in State and Church, p. 224.]
After telling the story of the martyrdom of Perpetua the Roman matron, and the slaves Revocatus and
Felicitas, in the beginning of the third century, Professor Gwatkin says:
2 [Note: Early Church History to A. D. 313, ii. p.
127.]
“There is something here even more significant than the lofty courage of Perpetua, which forms the
front of the story. From first to last she never dreams that Revocatus and Felicitas are less than her
equals and companions in Christ. Enthusiasm might have nerved the matron and the slave apart; but no
mere enthusiasm could have joined their hands in death. The mischievous eccentricities of Montanism
are as dust in the balance while we watch the mighty working of the power of another world in which not
only the vulgar fear of death is overcome, but the deepest social division of the ancient world is entirely
forgotten.”
v. The Seraphim
“Above him stood the seraphim.”
1. The seraphim are not mentioned elsewhere, and the origin and meaning of the name can only be
supplied by conjecture. It must suffice to say that they appear here as the most exalted ministers of the](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-70-320.jpg)
![Divine Being, in immediate proximity to Himself, and give expression to the adoration and reverence
unceasingly due from the highest of created intelligences to the Creator. Possessed apparently of human
form, and in an erect posture, they form a circle—or perhaps rather a double choir, about the throne, each
with two of his wings seeming to support himself upon the air, with two covering his face, in reverence,
that he might not gaze directly upon the Divine glory, and with two his own person, in humility, not
deigning to meet directly the Divine glance. Can the scene be more aptly or more worthily reproduced
than in our own poet’s noble lines?—
Fountain of light, thyself invisible
Amidst the glorious brightness where thou sitt’st,
Throned inaccessible, but when thou shadest
The full blaze of thy beams, and through a cloud
Drawn round about thee like a radiant shrine
Dark with excessive bright thy skirts appear,
Yet dazzle Heaven, that brightest Seraphim
Approach not, but with both wings veil their eyes.
1 [Note: Paradise Lost, iii. 375.]
2. The seraphim, says Kautzsch (Dictionary of the Bible, v. 643), belong undoubtedly to the realm of
angels. Although mentioned only in the vision of Isaiah (Isa_6:2), they appear there as well-known
beings, so that the belief in them may certainly be assumed for the pre-Prophetic period. Furnished with
six wings, they offer around God’s throne antiphonal praise in the Trisagion; one of them purges the lips
of the prophet, and announces to him the forgiveness of his sins. They are thus, in fact, intelligent beings,
angels. Of the numerous explanations of the name, the only one that can be taken in earnest is that
which traces it back to the singular sârâph. This word means properly “serpent” (Num_21:8, Deu_8:15),
and the seraphim must accordingly have been originally serpent-formed creatures—embodiments,
indeed, of the serpent-like lightning flashes that play around Jehovah. But, in the case of the seraphim of
Isaiah, the six wings may be regarded as all that has survived of this somewhat mythological form.
Moreover (probably long before the time of Isaiah), they have assumed human form, as is evident not
only from the song of praise (Isa_6:3), which would be inconceivable in a serpent’s mouth, but from the
hand (Isa_6:6) and the speech of the sârâph (Isa_6:7).
3. The first thing that strikes us about the seraphim is their redundance of wings. They had each six, only
two of which were used for flying; the others, with which they shrouded their faces and their feet, were,
apparently, quite superfluous. Why should they have had them when there was no fit employment for
them? Was it not sheer waste to be possessing wings that were merely employed as covering, and never
spread for flight? And yet, perhaps, without this shrouding of their faces and feet—an office which, at
least, the wings performed—they might not have answered so well high heaven’s purposes, might not
have swept abroad with such undivided intentness and such entire abandonment on their Divine errands.
Perhaps their upper and lower parts needed to be swathed thus to make them the singly bent, the wholly
absorbed ministers that they were. With unveiled faces and naked feet they might have been less prompt
and alert, less concentrated and surrendered for the Lord.
We meet sometimes with these seemingly wasted wings in men, in the form of powers or capabilities,
knowledges or skills, for the exercise of which there is no scope or opportunity in their lot, which they are
not called on or able to apply. There they lie, unutilised; nothing is done with them, no demand for them
exists. To what end, we ask, have they been acquired? or what a pity, we say, that the men could not be
placed in circumstances in which a field would be offered them, in which they would be wanted and drawn
out! And yet, a knowledge or skill gained, may not be really wasted, though it be left without due scope
and opportunity. The best, the finest use of it does not lie always in what it accomplishes, in the open](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-71-320.jpg)
![product of its activity, but often in what has been secretly added to us or wrought into us, through gaining
it, in the contribution which the gaining of it has been to our charactor or moral growth, in some nobler
shaping of ourselves by means of it.
1 [Note: S. A. Tipple.]
(1) “With twain he covered his face.” The first pair of wings suggest the need of the lowliest reverence in
the worship of God. What does that lofty chorus of “Holy! holy! holy!” that burst from those immortal lips
mean but the declaration that God is high above, and separate from, all limitations and imperfections of
creatures? And we Christians, who hear it re-echoed in the very last Book of Scripture by the four and
twenty elders who represent redeemed humanity, have need to take heed that we do not lose our
reverence in our confidence, and that we do not part with godly fear in our filial love.
The eldest daughter of Faith is Reverence. We remember how Moses acted at the Burning Bush: he went
up to it at first merely from curiosity, but as soon as he heard the voice of God calling to him out of the
fire, “Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.” Without reverence of heart there can be no
true worship; and the soul-reverence ought to be accompanied by reverence of posture and demeanour.
It is not reverential to stand during praise with one’s hand buried in one’s trousers pocket, or to sit straight
during prayer, and stare all over the church, or to go to or from public worship with a cigarette in one’s
mouth. These things ought not so to be.
A friend of mine, a clergyman, told me that he was once showing some one over his church. This person
omitted to take his hat off on entering the church. “I hope you don‘t mind my keeping my hat on?” he said
to my friend. “I mind? not at all!” was my friend’s reply. “It isn’t my house!”
1 [Note: W. J. Foxell.]
(2) The next pair of wings suggest the need of self-forget-fulness. “With twain he covered his feet.” The
wings made no screen that hid the seraph’s feet from the eye of God, but it was the instinctive lowly
sense of unworthiness that folded them across the feet, even though they, too, burned as a furnace. The
nearer we get to God, the more we shall be aware of our limitations and unworthiness, and it is because
that vision of the Lord sitting on “His throne, high and lifted up,” with the thrilling sense of His glory filling
the holy temple of the universe, does not burn before us that we can conceit ourselves to have anything
worth pluming ourselves upon.
Once lift the curtain, once let my eye be flooded with the sight of God, and away goes all my self-conceit,
and all my fancied superiority over others. One little molehill is pretty nearly the same height as another, if
you measure them both against the top of the Himalayas, that lie in the background, with their glittering
peaks of snow. “Star differeth from star in glory” in a winter’s night, but when the great sun swims into the
sky they all vanish together. If you and I saw God burning before us, as Isaiah saw Him, we should veil
ourselves, and lose all that which so often veils Him from us—the fancy that we are anything when we are
nothing. And the nearer we get to God, and the purer we are, the more keenly conscious shall we be of
our imperfections and our sins. “If I say I am perfect,” said Job in his wise way, “this also should prove me
perverse.” Consciousness of sin is the continual accompaniment of growth in holiness. “The heavens are
not pure in His sight, and He chargeth His angels with folly.” Everything looks black beside that sovereign
whiteness. Get God into your lives, and you will see that the feet need to be washed, and you will cry,
“Lord! not my feet only, but my hands and my head!”
He covered his feet in order, I suppose, that his very form and motion might not be seen; and therefore it
is mentioned before “the flight.” He did not set out until, as far as possible, himself was concealed. There
shall be simply the fact of a mission, and the method: so that, if an “angel” were to bring God’s embassy
to you, you would not see “the angel.” That is true embassy! In like manner, it was commanded of the
high priest, that his garments should “go down to his feet,” that the minister should not be seen.
1 [Note: J.
Vaughan, Sermons, iv. p. 5.]
(3) “And with twain he did fly.” The third pair of wings suggest Service. Whosoever, beholding God, has
found need to hide his face from the Light, even whilst he comes into the Light, and to veil his feet from
the all-seeing Eye, will also feel impulses to go forth in His service. For the perfection of worship is neither
the consciousness of my own insufficiency, nor the humble recognition of His glory, nor the great voice of](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-72-320.jpg)
![praise that thrilled from those immortal lips, but it is the doing of His will in daily life.
Some people say the service of man is the service of God. Yes, when it is service of man, done for God’s
sake, it is so, and only then. The old motto, “Work is worship,” may preach a great truth or a most
dangerous error. But there is no possibility of error or danger in maintaining this: that the climax and
crown of all worship, whether for us footsore servants upon earth, or for those winged attendants on the
throne of the King in the heavens, is activity in obedience.
The souls of modern men need all their wings to enable them to fly as quickly as their fellows, and they
have none left wherewith to cover their faces and their feet.
2 [Note: Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler, in Concerning Isabel
Carnaby.]
We can have little difficulty in discovering the motive from which the seraphim act. We see at once that it
is love—the love of God which ever moves them. They fly away on swift wing to do God’s will, but they
ever return to the throne. That is the place of their rest; there they desire to dwell; and they dwell there
adoring God, forgetting themselves and hiding all their own, that God may be all in all. Now nothing but
love, the most intense love, can account for this. Only love can draw the creature to God, and make him
desire to abide in His presence and to behold His glory. And thus we see that the great motive power in
heaven is just that which ought to be the great motive power on earth—the love of God. And that indeed
must move every intelligent being who will serve God, in whatever world he may dwell or to whatever race
he may belong. When you go into some of the world’s great workshops you see a vast variety of
machinery, all, it may be, in motion, and engaged in a variety of operations; yet throughout that great
manufactory there is just one motive power, so that what keeps going the gigantic hammer crushing in its
descent the cold iron, also keeps in motion machinery which for delicacy of touch and operation the very
spider might not excel. Even so, throughout His wide Kingdom God has many servants, and, we cannot
doubt, many races of intelligent beings doing His will, and these engaged in an endless variety of labours,
but the power which moves them all is the same—the sovereign power of love.
These then are the three—reverence and self-forgetfulness and active obedience,—“With twain he
covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.” It is because of
irreverence and self-conceit and idleness that our lives are weak. Go stand in the sight of God, and these
wings of salvation shall come and clothe your life. They perfectly clothed the life of Jesus. Reverence and
self-sacrifice and obedience were perfect in Him. In the most overwhelmed moments of His life,—crushed
in the garden, agonised upon the cross,—he was really standing, like the strong seraphim, at the right
hand of God.
The seraphim were winged for service even while they stood above the throne and pealed forth their
thunderous praise which shook the Temple. May we not discern in that a hint of the blessed blending of
two modes of worship which will be perfectly united in heaven, and which we should aim at harmonising
even on earth? “His servants serve Him and see His face.” There is possible, even on earth, some
foretaste of the perfection of that heavenly state in which no worship in service shall interfere with the
worship in contemplation. Mary, sitting at Christ’s feet, and Martha, busy in providing for His comfort, may
be, to a large extent, united in us even here, and will be perfectly so hereafter, when the practical and the
contemplative, the worship of noble aspiration, of heart-filling gazing, and that of active service shall be
indissolubly blended.
1 [Note: A. Maclaren.]
vi. The Song of the Seraphim
“And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his
glory.” It was an antiphonal song, proceeding without interruption. Some of them commenced and others
responded.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-73-320.jpg)
![I like to think of that. It was as if one of them cried, “Your strains are not lifted high enough; higher,
brothers, higher!” And he cried across the intervening space to the seraphim opposite, and bade them
rise to a higher note, till the chorus swelled and rose and broke. I have heard a bird in the spring morning
cry to all the songsters of the glade till the whole woodland has rung again. Sometimes in our prayer-
meeting an earnest man has shaken the very gates of heaven and has stirred the whole meeting. That is
what we want. And as I tell you of a richer, fuller life, a life more abundant than many of you know, may
you be convicted of the need of a new anointing, of a fresh application to the Son of God for the touch of
fire. May ours be the seraph’s reverence, with the veiled face; ours his modesty, with the veiled form; ours
his balance of one-third obedience to two-thirds of contemplation. Then perhaps our cry may awaken
similar results to his, and others shall cry, “Undone.”
1 [Note: F. B. Meyer.]
Two of the Divine attributes form the theme of the seraphs
2
Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With
two wings they covered their faces, with two they
covered their feet, and with two they were flying.
1.BARNES, “Above it - Either above the throne, or above him. The Septuagint renders it,
‘Round about him’ - κύκλሩ αᆒτοሞ kuklo autou. The Chaldee, ‘The holy ministers stood on high in
his presence.’
The seraphims - The verb שׂרף s'araph, from which this word is derived, is uniformly
translated “to burn,” and is used frequently; see “Taylor.” The noun שׂרף s'araph denotes,
according to Bochart, the “chersydros,” a serpent that lives in lakes and moist places; but when
those places are dried up, it becomes a land serpent, and then its bite is very fierce, and is
attended with a most dreadful inflammation all over the body. Rabbi Solomon says, that
‘serpents are called seraphim because they burn people with the poison of their teeth,’ perhaps
because the idea of “heat and poison” were connected. The word is applied to the fiery flying
serpents which bit the children of Israel, and in imitation of which a brass serpent was erected
on a pole by Moses. It is translated ‘a fiery serpent’ in Num_21:8; Isa_14:29; Isa_30:6. In Deut;
Deu_8:15; Num_21:6, it is rendered ‘fiery,’ and in the passage before us, “seraphims.”
The word שׂרפה s'e
rephah often occurs in the sense of “burning;” Deu_29:23; 2Ch_16:14;
2Ch_21:19, ... The Septuagint renders it “seraphim,” σεραφᆳµ serafim; so the Vulgate and the](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-74-320.jpg)
![5. JAMISON, “stood — not necessarily the posture of standing; rather, were in attendance
on Him [Maurer], hovering on expanded wings.
the — not in the Hebrew.
seraphim — nowhere else applied to God’s attendant angels; but to the fiery flying (not
winged, but rapidly moving) serpents, which bit the Israelites (Num_21:6), called so from the
poisonous inflammation caused by their bites. Seraph is to burn; implying the burning zeal,
dazzling brightness (2Ki_2:11; 2Ki_6:17; Eze_1:13; Mat_28:3) and serpent-like rapidity of the
seraphim in God’s service. Perhaps Satan’s form as a serpent (nachash) in his appearance to man
has some connection with his original form as a seraph of light. The head of the serpent was the
symbol of wisdom in Egypt (compare Num_21:8; 2Ki_18:4). The seraphim, with six wings and
one face, can hardly be identified with the cherubim, which had four wings (in the temple only
two) and four faces (Eze_1:5-12). (But compare Rev_4:8). The “face” and “feet” imply a human
form; something of a serpentine form (perhaps a basilisk’s head, as in the temples of Thebes)
may have been mixed with it: so the cherub was compounded of various animal forms. However,
seraph may come from a root meaning “princely,” applied in Dan_10:13 to Michael [Maurer];
just as cherub comes from a root (changing m into b), meaning “noble.”
twain — Two wings alone of the six were kept ready for instant flight in God’s service; two
veiled their faces as unworthy to look on the holy God, or pry into His secret counsels which they
fulfilled (Exo_3:6; Job_4:18; Job_15:15); two covered their feet, or rather the whole of the
lower parts of their persons - a practice usual in the presence of Eastern monarchs, in token of
reverence (compare Eze_1:11, their bodies). Man’s service a fortiori consists in reverent waiting
on, still more than in active service for, God.
6. K&D, ““Above it stood seraphim: each one had six wings; with two he covered his face,
and with two he covered his feet, and with two he did fly.” We must not render לוֹ ל ַע ַ ִמ “near
him;” for although ל ַע or ל ַמע is applied to a person standing near or over against another who is
sitting down (Exo_18:13; Jer_36:21; compared 2Ch_26:19, where the latter is used to signify
“over against” the altar of incense), and is used in this sense to denote the attitude of spirits
(Job_1:16; 1Ki_22:19; Zec_6:5), and even of men (Zec_4:14), in relation to God when seated on
His throne, in which case it cannot possibly be employed in the sense of “towering above;” yet לוֹ
ל ַע ַ ִ,מ the strongest expression for supra, cannot be employed in any other than a literal sense
here; for which reason Rashi and the Targums understand it as signifying “above in the attitude
of service,” and the accentuation apparently, though erroneously, implies this (Luzzatto). What
Isaiah meant by this standing above, may be inferred from the use which the seraphim are said
to have made of their wings. The imperfects do not describe what they were accustomed to do
(Böttcher and others), but what the seer saw them do: with two of their six wings he saw them
fly. Thus they stood flying, i.e., they hovered or soared (cf., Num_14:14), as both the earth and
stars are said to stand, although suspended in space (Job_26:7). The seraphim would not indeed
tower above the head of Him that sat upon the throne, but they hovered above the robe
belonging to Him with which the hall was filled, sustained by two extended wings, and covering
their faces with two other wings in their awe at the divine glory (Targ. ne videant), and their feet
with two others, in their consciousness of the depth at which the creature stands below the
Holiest of all (Targ. ne videantur), just as the cherubim are described as veiling their bodies in
Eze_1:11. This is the only passage in the Scriptures in which the seraphim are mentioned.
According to the orthodox view, which originated with Dionysius the Areopagite, they stand at](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-78-320.jpg)
![without being altogether overpowered, how could we gaze upon that unspeakably bright and glorious
majesty which lays prostrate all our faculties? Let men learn, therefore, that they are far distant from a
perfect knowledge of God, since they cannot even reach to the angels. The latter appears to me to be the
more correct exposition, but I do not disapprove of the former.
9. PULPIT, “A sermon from the seraphim.
Taking the seraphim of this prophetic vision as symbols of the "highest creaturely intelligences," we
gather from the text—
I. THAT THE LOWLIEST REVERENCE BECOMES THE HIGHEST CREATED BEINGS. "With twain [of
his wings] he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feel." Of the six wings each
seraph possessed, four were used to indicate their sense of unworthiness in the near presence of
God; two only were in readiness for active service. May we not fairly infer that, as we go upward in the
order of intelligence, we become more impressed with the majesty and greatness of the Divine, and
consequently with our own littleness? Elevation in rank does not mean diminution, but increase in
reverence of spirit and in homage of worship. The higher the intelligence, the deeper the sense of
lowliness, and the fuller the devotion of power in the attitude and act of adoration.
II. THAT THE HEAVENLY LIFE IS LARGELY SPENT IN ACTIVE SERVICE. "With twain he did fly." The
seraphim are represented as so equipped as to be ready for the most prompt and speedy service. The
heavenly life may be one of sacred song and peaceful rest; but it certainly is also one of joyous, holy
activity. It will be the very crown of our blessedness that, unclothed of all that hampers and impedes, and
clothed upon with those celestial organs which fit for fleetest and strongest service, we shall do the King's
behests with untiring wing, with unflagging energy, with unfading love and joy.
III. THAT THE CELESTIAL INTELLIGENCES HAVE A KEEN APPRECIATION OF THE DIVINE. HOLIN
ESS. "Holy, holy, holy," etc. It is significant enough that, in this ascriptive utterance, only one of the
attributes of God finds a place. The repetition of the epithet marks the fullness and clearness of the
thought, as also the intensity of the feeling. In Jesus Christ we rightly magnify the grace and mercy, the
gentleness and considerateness, of the heavenly Father to whom we are reconciled through him; but we
must see to it that we do not so dwell on the more gracious aspects of the Divine character as to lose
sight of, or even dwarf his other and opposite attributes. As we draw near to the heavenly world we must
take the celestial view, which is one of a deep and strong conviction of his perfect purity, of his stainless
holiness, of his utter and eternal hostility to every shade and taint of sin.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-81-320.jpg)
![in scripture as this is. God's power was spoken twice (Psa_62:11), but his holiness thrice, Holy,
holy, holy. This bespeaks, [1.] The zeal and fervency of the angels in praising God; they even
want words to express themselves, and therefore repeat the same again. [2.] The particular
pleasure they take in contemplating the holiness of God; this is a subject they love to dwell upon,
to harp upon, and are loth to leave. [3.] The superlative excellency of God's holiness, above that
of the purest creatures. He is holy, thrice holy, infinitely holy, originally, perfectly, and eternally
so. [4.] It may refer to the three person in the Godhead, Holy Father, Holy Son, and Holy Spirit
(for it follows, Isa_6:8, Who will go for us?) or perhaps to that which was, and is, and is to
come; for that title of God's honour is added to this song, Rev_4:8. Some make the angels here
to applaud the equity of that sentence which God was now about to pronounce upon the Jewish
nation. Herein he was, and is, and will be, holy; his ways are equal.
(2.) The manifestation of these to the children of men: The earth is full of his glory, the glory
of his power and purity; for he is holy in all his works, Psa_145:17. The Jews thought the glory of
God should be confined to their land; but it is here intimated that in the gospel times (which are
pointed to in this chapter) the glory of God should fill all the earth, the glory of his holiness,
which is indeed the glory of all his other attributes; this then filled the temple (Isa_6:1), but, in
the latter days, the earth shall be full of it.
5. JAMISON, “(Rev_4:8). The Trinity is implied (on “Lord,” see on Isa_6:1). God’s holiness
is the keynote of Isaiah’s whole prophecies.
whole earth — the Hebrew more emphatically, the fulness of the whole earth is His glory
(Psa_24:1; Psa_72:19).
6. K&D, ““And one cried to the other, and said, Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of hosts: filling
the whole earth is His glory.” The meaning is not that they all lifted up their voice in concert at
one and the same time (just as in Psa_42:8 el is not used in this sense, viz., as equivalent to
C'neged), but that there was a continuous and unbroken antiphonal song. One set commenced,
and the others responded, either repeating the “Holy, holy, holy,” or following with “filling the
whole earth is His glory.” Isaiah heard this antiphonal or “hypophonal” song of the seraphim,
not merely that he might know that the uninterrupted worship of God was their blessed
employment, but because it was with this doxology as with the doxologies of the Apocalypse, it
had a certain historical significance in common with the whole scene. God is in Himself the Holy
One (kadosh), i.e., the separate One, beyond or above the world, true light, spotless purity, the
perfect One. His glory (Cabod) is His manifested holiness, as Oetinger and Bengel express it,
just as, on the other hand, His holiness is His veiled or hidden glory. The design of all the work
of God is that His holiness should become universally manifest, or, what is the same thing, that
His glory should become the fulness of the whole earth (Isa_11:9; Num_14:21; Hab_2:14). This
design of the work of God stands before God as eternally present; and the seraphim also have it
ever before them in its ultimate completion, as the theme of their song of praise. But Isaiah was
a man living in the very midst of the history that was moving on towards this goal; and the cry of
the seraphim, in the precise form in which it reached him, showed him to what it would
eventually come on earth, whilst the heavenly shapes that were made visible to him helped him
to understand the nature of that divine glory with which the earth was to be filled. The whole of
the book of Isaiah contains traces of the impression made by this ecstatic vision. The favourite
name of God in the mouth of the prophet viz., “the Holy One of Israel” (kedosh Yisrael), is the
echo of this seraphic sanctus; and the fact that this name already occurs with such marked](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-85-320.jpg)
![veil which separated it from the sanctuary being drawn aside, he beheld jehovah seated on his throne,
and his train, like that of eastern monarchs, filling the temple. Had no additional light been cast on this
vision in the New Testament, we should not have thought of inquiring more minutely about the glorious
object whom he saw, and who is here so repeatedly designated by titles peculiar to the one supreme
God; but we are authorized to declare, that the person whom he saw, was the Lord Jesus Christ, even
our “Immanuel, God with us [Note: Joh_12:41.].”
Around the throne were “the seraphim,” the holy angels, like flames of file [Note: Psa_104:4.], in a posture
of devout adoration. Each of them had six wings; with two of which he covered his face, as unworthy to
behold the Deity; and with other two, his feet, as unworthy to serve him: whilst with the remaining two he
flew with all possible activity to fulfil his will. In themselves they were perfect and spotless creatures: yet,
conscious of being as nothing in the sight of a pure and holy God, they were filled with profoundest awe,
and served him with reverential fear.
In their worship of him they celebrated, in alternate and responsive songs, the holiness of his nature,
and the wonders of his grace. Whether, in the repetition of the word “holy,” there be any reference, as
some have thought, to the Three Persons of the Godhead, we undertake not to determine: but they
evidently regarded the holiness of the Deity as that attribute, which constitutes the glory and perfection of
all the rest: and indeed it is that attribute in which he is more especially glorious [Note: Exo_15:11.], and
at the remembrance of which the whole universe should give thanks [Note: Psa_30:4.]. Together with this
glorious subject they evidently combined the wonders of redeeming love. It is in that view alone that
“the earth” can be said to be “full of his glory.” In the whole creation indeed there is a marvellous display
of wisdom and power; but in redemption alone are seen the mercy, and truth, and faithfulness of our God.
And though the seraphims are not interested in that work as we are, yet, as exhibiting the full radiance of
all the divine perfections in united splendour, they admire it, they sing of it, they, glorify the Lord Jesus on
account of it [Note: Compare Psa_72:17-19. where the same person is spoken of, and the some subject
pursued.].
At the sound of their voices the doors of the temple were shaken, and the house was filled with smoke. It
is possible that this was designed to express the approbation of the Deity, and his delight in that work
which was the subject of their praise [Note: 2Ch_5:13-14; 2Ch_6:1.]. But we rather suppose, that it was
intended to intimate the future abolition of the temple worship, when the time should have arrived for the
complete establishment of the Christian dispensation [Note: Amo_9:1. with Heb_12:27.].]
2. The fear excited—](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-101-320.jpg)
![[In all the manifestations of God to men, the sight of his majesty has excited alarm and terror
[Note: Jdg_13:22. Dan_10:6-8. Rev_1:17.]. A measure of this feeling we behold in the prophet on this
occasion. But together with this, there was also a deep sense of humiliation and contrition. As Job, on a
similar occasion, was led to exclaim, “I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes [Note: Job_42:6.],” so
the prophet, viewing himself, and all around him, in the light of God’s holiness, accounted himself a leper
in the midst of a leprous world. Whatever he might have judged of himself before, he now was dumb; as
indeed every human being must be in the presence of a holy God [Note:Rom_3:19.]; since “we are all as
an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags [Note: Isa_64:6.].” From the apprehension
and terror we are freed by the Gospel: but the humiliation and self-abasement should rather increase in
proportion to the more exalted privileges we enjoy [Note: Eze_16:63.].]
3. The consolation administered—
[Instantly did one of the seraphim fly to him, to declare, that his iniquities were all blotted out as a morning
cloud, through the atoning blood of Christ. This was emblematically represented to him by a coal taken
from off the altar of burnt-offering, and applied to his lips. Doubtless the performance of this office was a
delightful service to the Seraph, who would willingly forego for a season the more immediate vision of the
Deity himself, for the honour of executing his will as a messenger of mercy to sinful man.]
But we hasten from this more restricted view of the subject, to consider it,
II. As an instructive lesson to us—
Whilst we acknowledge that such visions are not to be expected by us, we may contemplate this with
great advantage to our souls.
We may learn from it,
1. That a sight of Christ is the highest privilege we can enjoy—
[What is it that constitutes the felicity of heaven? What is it that is the great source of happiness to the
seraphim around the throne? It is a sight of Christ enthroned in his glory. Yet was that sight afforded to
the prophet in a vision: and afterwards to St. Paul, by an immediate admission to it in heaven. And is
there no such vision to be enjoyed by us? To our bodily eyes indeed there is not; nor to our imaginations
will any such view of him be presented: but to the eye of faith the Lord Jesus is clearly visible; and the
eyes of every believer may even now “behold the King in his beauty [Note: Isa_33:17.].” In the Gospel he](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-102-320.jpg)
![is fully revealed to us: there he appears as “the brightness of his Father’s glory, and the express image of
his person:” and we may “behold his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth.” We need not envy the prophet himself; for we may have even brighter views of Jesus than he
ever enjoyed. We are told that John was greater than all the prophets; and yet that “the least in the
Kingdom of heaven,” that is under the Gospel dispensation, “is greater than he [Note: Luk_7:26-28.].”
How did he excel all others?. Others prophesied of Christ; but he pointed him out: “Behold the Lamb of
God which taketh away the sins of the world!” And wherein do we excel him? He beheld Jesus when he
came to accomplish our redemption: and we behold him after its accomplishment, seated on his throne of
glory, and actually applying to millions of his people the full benefits of that redemption. Let those who
embrace the Gospel know their high privilege. Let the poor especially rejoice and be glad. It is not to
human learning or to strength of intellect that this discovery of Christ is made, but to faith: and if we
search the sacred records with a believing eye, then will “God shine into our hearts, to give us the light of
the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”]
2. That the more lowly we are in our own eyes, the richer communications we shall receive from
him—
[Behold how speedily the angel was sent to comfort the mind of the dejected prophet! This was a faithful
representation of the care which Jesus takes of all his afflicted people, especially when humbled in the
dust before him. “He will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax, till he bring forth
judgment unto victory.” Though he is “The High and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is
Holy, yet will he dwell with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the Spirit of the humble,
and to revive the heart of the contrite ones [Note: Isa_57:15; Isa_66:2.].” Does not his word universally
attest this blessed truth, that “whilst he who exalteth himself shall be abased, the man that humbleth
himself shall be exalted?” Be not afraid then, ye who feel your own unworthiness: give not way to
despondency; say not, “Woe is me! I am undone:” follow not the unbelieving example of Peter, saying,
“Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord [Note: Luk_5:8.].” But know that, if you feel yourselves lost,
it was precisely such persons that he came to seek and save [Note: Luk_19:10.]; and that, “where sin has
abounded, his grace shall much more abound [Note: Rom_5:20-21.]:” and if, like Mary, you are enabled
to go behind him, and wash his feet with your tears, he will ere long say to you, “Thy sins, which are
many, are forgiven thee.” Indeed it is in this way that he is daily acting by the ministry of his word: he
sends his servant to take his promises, and apply them to the hearts and consciences of his people
[Note: 1Th_1:5.], and thus to fill them with “a peace that passeth understanding,” and with “joy that is
unspeakable and glorified.”]
3. That a sense of his pardoning love should animate us to an unreserved surrender of ourselves to](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-103-320.jpg)
![him—
[See the effect which was instantly produced on the prophet’s mind. God designed to send his messages
of love and mercy to the Jews, notwithstanding he knew beforehand that they would prove ineffectual for
their conversion. To carry such messages was a painful task; but yet, when God asked, “Who will go for
us?” the prophet hesitated not one moment to offer his services, saying, “Here am I, send me [Note: ver.
8.].” Thus should we also manifest our gratitude to God for all the mercies vouchsafed unto us through
the Son of his love. We should not inquire whether the office be pleasant; or, whether it will advance our
credit in the world. It should be sufficient for us to know what the will of the Lord is; and then we should
account it our honour to do, or suffer it. Especially does this observation apply to those who minister in
holy things: if God say, Who will go for me, to carry my Gospel to the heathen? we should not stand to
inquire, Whether the office be lucrative or not; or, whether the climate to which we are to go be more or
less salubrious. No: we should stand forth and say, “Here am I;, send me.” O that we all felt this holy zeal,
and that we did not so lamentably “confer with flesh and blood,” when, if called to it, we should leave even
the vision of God himself, to execute his will towards sinful man! [Note: This is a fit subject for Missions.]
But, in whatever line of life we move, we should be actuated by the same spirit; and so feel the
constraining influence of Christ’s love, as to live no longer to ourselves, but altogether unto Him who died
for us, and rose again [Note: 2Co_5:14-15.].]
6
Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live
coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from
the altar.
1.BARNES, “Then flew - Isaiah is represented as standing out of the temple; the seraphim
as in it.
Having a live coal - The Vulgate renders this, ‘A stone.’ This is, probably, the original
meaning of the word; see 1Ki_19:6. It at first denoted a hot stone which was used to roast meat
upon. It may also mean a coal, from its resemblance to such a stone.
From off the altar - The altar of burnt-offering. This stood in the court of the priests, in
front of the temple; see the notes at Mat_21:12. The fire on this altar was at first kindled by the
Lord, Lev_9:24, and was kept continually burning; Lev_6:12-13.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-104-320.jpg)
![said when Isaiah saw the glory of Christ, and spake of him, Joh_12:41 and they are expressly
attributed to the Holy Ghost in Act_28:25 the Septuagint and Arabic versions, instead of "for
us", read "unto this people"; and the Targum is,
"whom shall I send to prophesy? and who will go to teach?''
then said I, here am I, send me: for he who before thought himself undone, and unworthy
to be employed in the service of God, now having a discovery and application of pardoning
grace, freely offers himself to God: this shows the true nature and effect of an application of
pardon; it gives a man freedom and boldness in the presence of God, and stimulates to a ready
and cheerful obedience to his will, and engages him with the utmost alacrity in his service; so far
is the doctrine of free and full pardon by the blood of Christ from being a licentious doctrine.
4. HENRY, “The renewing of the prophet's mission, Isa_6:8. Here is a communication
between God and Isaiah about this matter. Those that would assist others in their
correspondence with God must not themselves be strangers to it; for how can we expect that
God should speak by us if we never heard him speaking to us, or that we should be accepted as
the mouth of others to God if we never spoke to him heartily for ourselves? Observe here,
1. The counsel of God concerning Isaiah's mission. God is here brought in, after the manner of
men, deliberating and advising with himself: Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? God
needs not either to be counselled by others or to consult with himself; he knows what he will do,
but thus he would show us that there is a counsel in his whole will, and teach us to consider our
ways, and particularly that the sending forth of ministers is a work not to be done but upon
mature deliberation. Observe, (1.) Who it is that is consulting. It is the Lord God in his glory,
whom he saw upon the throne high and lifted up. It puts an honour upon the ministry that,
when God would send a prophet to speak in his name, he appeared in all the glories of the upper
world. Ministers are the ambassadors of the King of kings; how mean soever they are, he who
sends them is great; it is God in three persons (Who will go for us? as Gen_1:26, Let us make
man), Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. They all concur, as in the creating, so in the redeeming and
governing of man. Ministers are ordained in the same name into which all Christians are
baptized. (2.) What the consultation is: Whom shall I send? And who will go? Some think this
refers to the particular message of wrath against Israel, Isa_6:9, Isa_6:10. “Who will be willing
to go on such a melancholy errand, on which they will go in the bitterness of their souls?”
Eze_3:14. But I rather take it more largely for all those messages which the prophet was
entrusted to deliver, in God's name, to that people, in which that hardening work was by no
means the primary intention, but a secondary effect of them, 2Co_2:16. Whom shall I send?
intimating that the business was such as required a choice and well-accomplished messenger,
Jer_49:19. God now appeared, attended with holy angels, and yet asks, Whom shall I send? For
he would send them a prophet from among their brethren, Heb_2:17. Note, [1.] It is the
unspeakable favour of God to us that he is pleased to send us his mind by men like ourselves,
whose terror shall not make us afraid, and who are themselves concerned in the messages they
bring. Those who are workers together with God are sinners and sufferers together with us. [2.]
It is a rare thing to find one who is fit to go for God, and carry his messages to the children of
men: Whom shall I send? Who is sufficient? Such a degree of courage for God and concern for
the souls of men as is necessary to make a man faithful, and withal such an insight into the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven as is necessary to make a man skilful, are seldom to be met
with. Such an interpreter of the mind of God is one of a thousand, Job_33:23. [3.] None are
allowed to go for God but those who are sent by him; he will own none but those whom he
appoints, Rom_10:15. It is Christ's work to put men into the ministry, 1Ti_1:12.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-115-320.jpg)
![Isa_6:8. I heard the nice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send? and who will go for us? Then said I,
Here am I; send me.
IN former ages, God was well pleased to reveal his will to men, sometimes in dreams, and sometimes in
visions, and sometimes by an audible voice, like that of a man conversing with his friend: and these
methods were more especially vouchsafed when he was about to devolve on them any particular office,
or to employ them on any extraordinary service. It was God’s intention to send the Prophet Isaiah on a
painful errand; such as, if he consulted his own feelings only, he would be very averse to execute. But to
prepare him for it, God vouchsafed to him a vision of the glory and felicity of the heavenly world. The
scene of the vision was, the temple, in which Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, was worshipped. An
assurance, at the same time, was given him of qualification for his work, and of acceptance in it: and by
this he was brought to such a state, that, at the very first proposal from God to send a messenger to his
people, he offered himself for the service, willing and desirous to undertake any thing whereby his God
might be honoured, and his Saviour glorified.
Respecting the vision itself, I forbear to speak. The points to which I shall call your attention, are,
I. The proposal made
[In the first instance, the proposal referred solely to a mission which God intended to send to his people.
And, in this view, it may justly be applied to any call which may be given to undertake the ministry of the
Gospel, either in our own country or in foreign parts [Note: Here somewhat of a parallel may be drawn
between that particular occasion and any other which presents itself for more especial consideration.]—
— —
But we may consider the call as given to every one of us, not to undertake the office of the ministry, but to
serve God in a way of general obedience: “Who is willing to fulfil my will, and to consecrate himself to
me?” — — — This honour God is ready to confer on all who are willing to accept it: and, if we be really
desirous to engage in His service, he will make us lights in the world, and monitors to all around us — —
—
Such offers as these are common in the Holy Scriptures — — — and we may suppose it as now made to
us, in the name, and by the command, of God himself — — —]
To the proposal so made, let us consider,](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-119-320.jpg)
![II. The answer given—
This also we may regard, in the first instance, as an acceptance of the prophetic office. And we cannot
but admire the conduct of Isaiah in relation to it, when he offered himself to God without
hesitation and without reserve. Here were no inquiries made, what the particular office was, or what
would be the difficulties attending the execution of it. It was sufficient for this holy man that he should be
employed in doing the will of God; and he was willing to devote to that service all his faculties and all his
powers [Note: Here, if the subject of Missions be treated of, it would be proper to shew, that every
Candidate for the office of such a Ministry ought to possess the very disposition which was here evinced.]
— — —
But, taking the proposal as made to us in general to serve our God, we may here see what a spirit we
should cultivate. We should offer ourselves to God to serve him,
1. Instantly—
[There should be no delay; no looking for a more convenient season. We should not be questioning,
whether we shall be able to do all that is required of us; but should expect assuredly, that God will enable
us to perform whatever we undertake for him, and will give a successful issue to our endeavours — — —]
2. Without reserve—
[We should not draw back from any labour, nor hesitate to make any sacrifice. The loss of life itself should
be regarded as no loss, yea, rather as a grain, in such a cause — — — To live for God, or die for God,
should be deemed equally desirable, if only God’s will may be done in us, and the Lord Jesus Christ be
magnified [Note: Act_20:24. Php_1:20-21.] — — —]
But the point to which I would move particularly draw your attention, is,
III. The peculiar obligation which lies on us to follow the prophet’s example—
You will find in the vision, that the prophet was favoured with a bright manifestation of the glory of Christ:
for St. John, referring to it, says, “These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake
of him [Note: Joh_12:41.],” that is, of Christ. You will see, also, that assistance in his work was promised
him: for the putting of the live coal upon his mouth seems to have been designed to assure him of it
[Note: Compare Jer_1:9 and Act_2:3.]. In addition to all this, a sense of God’s pardoning love, through the](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-120-320.jpg)
![Redeemer’s sacrifice, was applied to his soul: for the live coal, being taken from the altar of burnt-offering,
marked clearly the connexion between the atonement offered for him, and thepardon vouchsafed
unto him. But in no respect do we full short of the favours conferred on him: yea, rather, we may be
considered as having,
1. More glorious discoveries of Christ—
[Bright as that vision was, it was far inferior to that which is vouchsafed to us in the Gospel. There we
behold Christ as “the brightness of his Father’s glory, and the express image of his person
[Note: Heb_1:3.];” yea, we see all “the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ [Note: 2Co_4:6.]”
— — —]
2. More abundant communications of the Spirit—
[Whatever measures of grace were imparted to some highly-favoured individuals under the Law, as to
David, Isaiah, Daniel, and others, the effusions of the Holy Spirit were very small and partial in
comparison of those which are given to the Christian Church: so that none of us need to draw Sack from
the greatest work; since the weakest of true Believers may say, “I can do all things through Christ, who
strengthened me [Note: Philip. 4:13.].”]
3. More certain assurances of the forgiveness of our sins—
[Doubtless the vision, and that one promise given him in it, were sufficient to satisfy his mind. But in the
New Testament we have promises without number, “exceeding great and precious promises;” so “great,”
that they comprehend every possible state that can be imagined; and so “precious,” that they bring us into
a participation of the divine nature [Note: 2Pe_1:4.], and “fill us with all the fulness of God
[Note: Eph_3:19.].” I can have no hesitation in saying, that were an alternative offered to any true
Christian, to receive for his comfort the personal, and particular promise that was given to the prophet, or
to have given him for his dependence the broad and general promises of the New Testament, he would
do well to rest on those broad promises, which engage that “all manner of sin shall he forgiven unto men,”
and that “all who believe shall be justified from all things.”]
Say, then, whether we be not bound to imitate the prophet, in his surrender of himself to God?
[Doubtless, if mercies vouchsafed are motives to obedience, we, who have received such transcendent
mercies, ought to “present our whole selves as living sacrifices unto God; which, as it is a holy and an](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-121-320.jpg)
![acceptable, is also a most reasonable, service [Note: Rom_12:1.]” — — —]
It may be proper, in conclusion, to reply to a question which will probably be asked, How shall I know
whether any particular call to any special service is really from the Lord?
[I readily grant, that that is a point very difficult to be determined. There is no difficulty et all in determining
that we are every one of us called to devote ourselves to God. The difficulty lies in reference to those
particular acts which are required only of few. And here I must say, that no rules can be given which shall
apply to all cases; nor perhaps any rules that shall be perfectly satisfactory to every mind. And probably,
instead of giving a direct answer to the question, the best answer will be, to suggest a caution against
those workings of mind which render the full solution of the case so difficult. Moses, we know, was called
to go to Pharaoh, and to bring the Lord’s people out of Egypt. Now, in opposition to this call, he urged his
own unworthiness of such an office [Note: Exo_3:11.]; the improbability of succeeding in his
attempt [Note: Exo_4:1.]; his own utter unfitness for the work assigned him [Note: Exo_4:10.];” and his
desire that it should be transferred to some one else [Note: Exo_4:13.].” Nay, he further adduced his own
experience of disappointment in less arduous labours, as a certain ground for apprehending that he must
of necessity fail in a matter of so much greater difficulty [Note: Exo_6:12. N.B. Cite all these passages
from Exodus; because they are, in fact, the very excuses which a false humility invariably suggests.]. But
what were all these objections? They were, in truth, only so many excuses, urged to cover his own
backwardness to undertake the work. Had he been in the frame of mind which the prophet manifested in
my text, all these difficulties would have vanished; and he would have engaged in his work as Paul did,
who was “not disobedient to the heavenly vision,” but “preached at once the faith, which, till that moment,
he had laboured to destroy.” To any one, therefore, who desires an answer to the question that has been
proposed, I say, Get your soul filled with love to Christ: and that will answer ten thousand difficulties, and
constrain you to engage in any thing whereby the kingdom of the Redeemer may be advanced in the
world. You will depend on your Lord and Saviour for “grace sufficient for you [Note: 2Co_12:9.],” and
expect that “strength shall be given you according to your day [Note: Deu_33:25.].”
As to excuses for withholding or delaying a general surrender of ourselves to God, they are lighter than
vanity itself. Think not that they can stand one moment, when you come before your God. To serve God
instantly, and with Our whole hearts, is the duty of every child of man: and therefore, to the proposal
which God at this moment makes by my voice, let every individual amongst you reply, “Here am I: send
me.”]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-122-320.jpg)
![10
Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their eyes.[a]
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
1.BARNES, “Make the heart - The word “heart” here is used in the sense of the “mind” - to
denote all their mental powers. It is commonly used in this sense in the Scriptures.
Fat - Gross, heavy, dull, stupid. That is, go and proclaim such “truth” to them as shall have
this effect - as shall irritate, provoke, enrage them; truth, whose delivery shall be attended, in
their gross and corrupt hearts, with this blinding and infatuating influence the effect would be
produced by the corrupt state of their hearts, not by any native tendency of the truth, and still
less by any direct divine influence. ‘Go, and proclaim truth to a corrupt and sensual people, and
the result will be that they will not hear; they are so wicked that they will not attend to it; they
will become even more hardened; yet go, and though certain of producing this effect, still
proclaim it;’ see this passage explained in the notes at Joh_12:40.
Their ears heavy - Dull, stupid, insensible.
And shut their eyes - The word used here means “to spread over,” and then to close. It
denotes here the state of mind which is more and more indisposed to attend to the truth.
And be healed - Be restored from the malady of sin; be recovered and pardoned. Sin is often
represented as a painful, loathsome malady, and forgiveness as restoration from such a malady;
Isa_30:26; Ps. 103; Psa_41:3-4; 2Ch_7:14; Jer_3:22; Jer_17:14. We may learn here,
(1) That the effect of truth is often to irritate people and make them more wicked.
(2) The truth must, nevertheless, be proclaimed.
This effect is not the fault of the truth; and it is often well that the heart should be known, and
the true effect should be seen.
2. CLARKE, “Make the heart of this people fat “Gross” - The prophet speaks of the
event, the fact as it would actually happen, not of God’s purpose and act by his ministry. The
prophets are in other places said to perform the thing which they only foretell: -
“Lo! I have given thee a charge this day
Over the nations, and over the kingdoms;
To pluck up, and to pull down;
To destroy, and to demolish;](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-127-320.jpg)
![given up to such an insensibility as not to be capable of hearing and understanding what is
delivered in the ministry of the word:
and shut their eyes; they having wilfully shut their own eyes against all evidence of the
Messiah, and the truth of his doctrines, they are given up to a judicial blindness; which still
continues upon them, and will until the fulness of the Gentiles is brought in:
lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understated with their
heart; though only in a notional way, the things relating to the Messiah, the truths of the
Gospel, and the ordinances thereof, and what may belong to their outward peace:
and convert; or turn themselves by external repentance and reformation:
and be healed: or forgiven in such sense as to be preserved from national ruin; which God
willed not; for seeing they went such great lengths in sin, in rejecting the Messiah, and his
Gospel, they were given up to a reprobate mind, to do things that were not convenient, that they
might be destroyed; which destruction is after prophesied of.
4. HENRY, “That, forasmuch as they would not be made better by his ministry, they should
be made worse by it; those that were wilfully blind should be judicially blinded (Isa_6:10):
“They will not understand or perceive thee, and therefore thou shalt be instrumental to make
their heart fat, senseless, and sensual, and so to make their ears yet more heavy, and to shut
their eyes the closer; so that, at length, their recovery and repentance will become utterly
impossible; they shall no more see with their eyes the danger they are in, the ruin they are upon
the brink of, nor the way of escape from it; they shall no more hear with their ears the warnings
and instructions that are given them, nor understand with their heart the things that belong to
their peace, so as to be converted from the error of their ways, and thus be healed.” Note, (1.)
The conversion of sinners is the healing of them. (2.) A right understanding is necessary to
conversion. (3.) God sometimes, in a way of righteous judgment, gives men up to blindness of
mind and strong delusions, because they would not receive the truth in the love of it, 2Th_2:10-
12. He that is filthy let him be filthy still. (4.) Even the word of God oftentimes proves a means
of hardening sinners. The evangelical prophet himself makes the heart of this people fat, not
only as he foretels it, passing this sentence upon them in God's name, and seals them under it,
but as his preaching had a tendency to it, rocking some asleep in security (to whom it was a
lovely song), and making others more outrageous, to whom it was such a reproach that they
were not able to bear it. Some looked upon the word as a privilege, and their convictions were
smothered by it (Jer_7:4); others looked upon it as a provocation, and their corruptions were
exasperated by it.
5. JAMISON, “Make ... fat — (Psa_119:17). “Render them the more hardened by thy
warnings” [Maurer]. This effect is the fruit, not of the truth in itself, but of the corrupt state of
their hearts, to which God here judicially gives them over (Isa_63:17). Gesenius takes the
imperatives as futures. “Proclaim truths, the result of which proclamation will be their
becoming the more hardened” (Rom_1:28; Eph_4:18); but this does not so well as the former
set forth God as designedly giving up sinners to judicial hardening (Rom_11:8; 2Th_2:11). In
the first member of the sentence, the order is, the heart, ears, eyes; in the latter, the reverse
order, the eyes, ears, heart. It is from the heart that corruption flows into the ears and eyes
(Mar_7:21, Mar_7:22); but through the eyes and ears healing reaches the heart (Rom_10:17),
[Bengel]. (Jer_5:21; Eze_12:2; Zec_7:11; Act_7:57; 2Ti_4:4). In Mat_13:15, the words are](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-129-320.jpg)
![quoted in the indicative, “is waxed gross” (so the Septuagint), not the imperative, “make fat”;
God’s word as to the future is as certain as if it were already fulfilled. To see with one’s eyes will
not convince a will that is opposed to the truth (compare Joh_11:45, Joh_11:46; Joh_12:10,
Joh_12:11). “One must love divine things in order to understand them” [Pascal].
be healed — of their spiritual malady, sin (Isa_1:6; Psa_103:3; Jer_17:14).
6. PULPIT, “Make the heart of this people fat. Isaiah is commanded to effect by his preaching that
which his preaching would, in fact, effect. It would not awaken the people out of their apathy, it would not
stir them to repentance; therefore it would only harden and deaden them. The words have a national, not
an individual, application. Shut their eyes; literally, besmear their eyes; or, seal them up. Such sealing
has been employed by Oriental monarchs as a punishment. And convert; i.e. "turn to God." Our
translators have used the word in an intransitive sense.
7.CALVIN, “10.Harden the heart of this people. (96) Here the former statement is more fully expressed;
for God informs Isaiah beforehand, not only that his labor in teaching will be fruitless, but that by his
instruction he will also blind the people, so as to be the occasion of producing greater insensibility and
stubbornness, and to end in their destruction. He declares that the people, bereft of reason and
understanding, will perish, and there will be no means of obtaining relief; and yet he at the same time
affirms that the labors of the Prophet, though they bring death and ruin on the Jews, will be to him an
acceptable sacrifice.
This is a truly remarkable declaration; not only because Isaiah here foretold what was afterwards fulfilled
under the reign of Christ, but also because it contains a most useful doctrine, which will be of perpetual
use in the Church of God; for all who shall labor faithfully in the ministry of the word will be laid under the
necessity of meeting with the same result. We too have experienced it more than we could have wished;
but it has been shared by all the servants of Christ, and therefore we ought to endure it with greater
patience, though it is a very grievous stumbling-block to those who serve God with a pure conscience.
Not only does it give great offense, but Satan powerfully excites his followers to raise a dislike of
instruction on the pretense of its being not merely useless, but even injurious; that it renders men more
obstinate, and leads to their destruction. At the present day, those who have no other reproach to bring
against the doctrine of the gospel maintain that the only effect produced by the preaching of it has been,
that the world has become worse.
But whatever may be the result, still God assures us that our ministrations are acceptable to him,
because we obey his command; and although our labor appear to be fruitless, and men rush forward to](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-130-320.jpg)
!["as the elm and oak, when their leaves fall, and are like to dry "trees", and yet are moist to raise
up seed from them; so the captivities of Israel shall be gathered, and shall return to their land;
for the seed which is holy is their plantation.''
Some, interpreting the passage of the Babylonish captivity, by the "holy seed" understand the
Messiah. See Luk_1:35 (t).
4. HENRY, “That yet a remnant should be reserved to be the monuments of mercy, Isa_6:13.
There was a remnant reserved in the last destruction of the Jewish nation (Rom_11:5, At this
present time there is a remnant); for so it was written here: But in it shall be a tenth, a certain
number, but a very small number in comparison with the multitude that shall perish in their
unbelief. It is that which, under the law, was God's proportion; they shall be consecrated to God
as the tithes were, and shall be for his service and honour. Concerning this tithe, this saved
remnant, we are here told, (1.) That they shall return (Isa_6:13; Isa_10:21), shall return from sin
to God and duty, shall return out of captivity to their own land. God will turn them, and they
shall be turned. (2.) That they shall be eaten, that is, shall be accepted of God as the tithe was,
which was meat in God's house, Mal_3:10. The saving of this remnant shall be meat to the faith
and hope of those that wish well to God's kingdom. (3.) That they shall be like a timber-tree in
winter, which has life, though it has no leaves: As a teil-tree and as an oak, whose substance is
in them even when they cast their leaves, so this remnant, though they may be stripped of their
outward prosperity and share with others in common calamities, shall yet recover themselves, as
a tree in the spring, and flourish again; though they fall, they shall not be utterly cast down.
There is hope of a tree, though it be cut down, that it will sprout again, Job_14:7. (4.) That this
distinguished remnant shall be the stay and support of the public interests. The holy seed in the
soul is the substance of the man; a principle of grace reigning in the heart will keep life there; he
that is born of God has his seed remaining in him, 1Jo_3:9. So the holy seed in the land is the
substance of the land, keeps it from being quite dissolved, and bears up the pillars of it,
Psa_75:3. See Isa_1:9. Some read the foregoing clause with this, thus: As the support at
Shallecheth is in the elms and the oaks, so the holy seed is the substance thereof; as the trees
that grow on either side of the causeway (the raised way, or terrace-walk, that leads from the
king's palace to the temple, 1Ki_10:5, at the gate of Shallecheth, 1Ch_26:16) support the
causeway by keeping up the earth, which would otherwise be crumbling away, so the small
residue of religious, serious, praying people, are the support of the state, and help to keep things
together and save them from going to decay. Some make the holy seed to be Christ. The Jewish
nation was therefore saved from utter ruin because out of it, as concerning the flesh, Christ was
to come, Rom_9:5. Destroy it not, for that blessing is in it (Isa_65:8); and when that blessing
had come, it was soon destroyed. Now the consideration of this is designed for the support of the
prophet in his work. Though far the greater part should perish in their unbelief, yet to some his
word should be a savour of life unto life. Ministers do not wholly lose their labour if they be but
instrumental to save one poor soul.
5. JAMISON, “and it shall return, and ... be eaten — Rather, “but it shall be again
given over to be consumed”: if even a tenth survive the first destruction, it shall be destroyed by
a second (Isa_5:25; Eze_5:1-5, Eze_5:12), [Maurer and Horsley]. In English Version, “return”
refers to the poor remnant left in the land at the Babylonish captivity (2Ki_24:14; 2Ki_25:12),
which afterwards fled to Egypt in fear (2Ki_25:26), and subsequently returned thence along
with others who had fled to Moab and Edom (Jer_40:11, Jer_40:12), and suffered under further
divine judgments.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-146-320.jpg)
![spirit. By a Divine providence the fragment of an Isaiah's, a Jeremiah's, an Ezekiel's autobiography is
preserved through the ages, to remind us that the inner life, the contact of God with the soul, is our real
concern, our deepest interest. Between the two dates on the tombstone that will mark our entrance into
the world, our passage from it, what a record must lie, stored in the archives of eternity—of visions
beheld, of voices heard, whether obeyed or disregarded! "In the year that King Uzziah died."
2. It is a vision of the sublimity of God. Seated on a high, exalted throne, God in this image is conceived
under the analogy of the Ruler. Father and Ruler—such is the Bible view of God; his rule based upon his
fatherhood, his fatherhood imparting benignancy and tenderness to the sterner character of the Lawgiver
of the universe. But here the Father seems for the moment absorbed in the awful Sovereign, whose
throne is in the heights of heaven, his footstool earth. It is only his skirts that are visible to the awe-struck
gaze of the prophet. Amidst the most magnificent scenes of external nature, the Alps or the Andes, we
may gain a passing soul-expanding vision of the Highest—still only part revealed, but much more hidden.
The verdure bejeweled with flowers, the forests glancing with the luster of dazzling birds of plumage,—
these may represent the vesture of the great King, hinting an unutterable beauty on which none can look
and live. And so in the inward or moral world. In the history of a people or of a man there are moments
when God, in the still more impressive might of his holiness, sweeps by, an awakening and a purifying
Spirit. Or in higher moments of devotion we may gain a momentary glimpse of that pure love, so full of
terror yet so full of blessing, which burns at the core of things, and whose light is reflected in the light of
every human conscience. Yet these are partial revelations, like that to the prophet; glimpses of the skirts
of Jehovah's majesty, tastes of a "burning bliss" which in its fullness could not be endured. It is this sense
that there is a beauty all around us, ready at any moment to break into glowing manifestation, were not
our mortal eyes too dim to look upon it; an eternal music from which this "muddy vesture of decay grossly
closing us in" protects us, which otherwise might paralyze by its thunderous tones;—it is this sense which
does, or which should, impress an habitual reverence upon the mind. We should all be able to look back
upon moments of our history when we have seen in the inner chamber of the mind something of what
Isaiah saw, and to cherish the recollection as a lore never to be forgotten. For if we have never known a
time when we were reduced into insignificance in the presence of God, and felt that he was all and we
were naught, and that the best tradition about God must be hushed into silence before what we
personally know of God, we have missed an elementary lesson which, when once obtained, adds weight
and worth to all our after-experience.
3. The seraphs and their song. "Seraphs stood high around [or, 'above'] him." It is impossible to gain a
true notion of the seraphic figures without consulting works of art. Like the cherubim and the griffins and
the sphinxes, their origin is in the remotest fore-time. All these were, in fact, among man's earliest efforts
to represent to himself in visible art the Divine power which he felt to be working in and through nature; in](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/isaiah6commentary-150303113932-conversion-gate01/85/Isaiah-6-commentary-151-320.jpg)
Uploaded byGLENN PEASE
Isaiah 6 commentary
Isaiah receives a vision of God on his throne in the temple after the death of King Uzziah. In the vision, Isaiah sees God seated on a high and exalted throne, with his robe filling the temple. The vision served to confirm Isaiah's faith and calling as a prophet, and to fill him with reverence for God. Commentators discuss various details of the vision, such as whether Isaiah saw God directly or a manifestation of him, the meaning of certain terms, and implications for Christology based on other biblical references. The vision underscored God's eternal sovereignty in contrast to the mortality of earthly kings like Uzziah.
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Isaiah 6 commentary
- 1. ISAIAH 6 COMMENTARY EDITEDBY GLENN PEASE Isaiah’s Commission 1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 1.BARNES, “In the year - This naturally denotes a period after the death of Uzziah, though in the same year. The mention of the time was evidently made when the prophecy was composed, and it is to be presumed that the death of Uzziah had occurred at the time when the prophet saw this vision. If so, it is clear that this was not the first of his prophecies, for he saw his visions ‘in the days of Uzziah;’ Isa_1:1. The Chaldee, however, reads this: ‘in the year when Uzziah was smitten with the leprosy;’ and most of the Jewish commentators so understand it; 2Ch_26:19-20. The rabbis say that the meaning is, that he then became “civilly” dead, by ceasing to exercise his functions as a king, and that he was cut off as a leprous man from all connection with the people, and from all authority; see the Introduction, Section 3. This is, doubtless, true; but still, the more natural signification is, that this occurred in the year in which he actually died. I saw - That is, he saw in a “vision;” see the Introduction, Section 7. (4). A similar vision is described by Micaiah; 1Ki_22:19; see also Amo_7:1; Amo_8:1; Amo_9:1; Dan_7:13, ... The Lord - In the original here the word is not יהוה ye hovah but אדני 'adonay; see the notes at Isa_1:24. Here it is applied to Yahweh; see also Psa_114:7, where it is also so applied; and see Isa_8:7, and Job_28:28, where Yahweh calls himself “Adonai.” The word does not itself denote essential divinity; but it is often applied to God. In some MSS., however, of Kennicott and DeRossi, the word Yahweh is found. We may make two remarks here. (1) That Isaiah evidently meant to say that it was Yahweh who appeared to him. He is expressly so called in Isa_6:5-8, Isa_6:11. (2) It is equally clear, from the New Testament, that Isaiah saw the messiah. John quotes the words in this chapter, Isa_6:10, as applicable to Jesus Christ, and then adds Joh_12:41, ‘these things said Esaias when he saw his glory, and spake of him.’ An inspired man has thus settled this as referring to the Messiah, and thus had established the propriety of applying to him the name Yahweh, that is, has affirmed that the Lord Jesus is divine. Jerome says, that this vision was designed to represent the doctrine of the Trinity. In Joh_1:18, it is said, ‘No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.’ In Exo_33:20, God says, ‘Thou canst not see my
- 2. face, for thereshall no man see me and live;’ see also 1Ti_6:16. These passages may be reconciled with what is here said by Isaiah, in the following manner: (1) Isaiah does not say that he saw the Divine Essence; and all that his words fairly imply, is, that he saw a manifestation, or vision of Yahweh - some striking symbolic representation of him. (2) It was the manifestation of Yahweh in the person of the Messiah, of the ‘only begotten Son who hath revealed or declared him,’ that he saw Such manifestations of God have been made often, and all that the declaration of Isaiah implies, of necessity, is, that he had a vision of God incarnate seated in glory, from whom he now received a new commission to go out and proclaim the truth to that wicked and rebellious generation. Sitting upon a throne - God is thus often represented as a king, sitting on a throne; 1Ki_22:19; Eze_43:7; Jer_17:12. High and lifted up - That is, the “throne;” an indication of state and majesty. “And his train.” The word “train” שׁוּליו shulayv, properly signifies the skirt of a garment, or a robe; Exo_28:33-34. Here it is evidently designed as a representation of a large, flowing robe, that filled all the most holy part of the temple. The Orientals regarded such large robes as indicative of grandeur and state. The Messiah was seen seated on a throne as a king; clothed in a large, loose, flowing robe, in the manner of oriental monarchs, and surrounded by his ministers. The design of this magnificent vision was not only to impress the prophet with a sense of the holiness of God, but also to give additional weight to his commission, as having been derived immediately from the divine majesty; compare Isa_6:9-10. It is remarkable that Isaiah attempts no representation of Yahweh himself. He mentions his robes; the throne; the seraphim; but mentions no form or appearance of God himself. In this there is great sublimity. There is enough mentioned to fill the mind with awe; there is enough concealed to impress as deeply with a sense of the divine majesty. It is remarkable, also, that it is not the “usual” appearance of God in the temple to which he refers. That was the “Shekinah,” or visible symbol of God. That was on the mercy-seat, this was on a throne; that was a cloud, of this no form is mentioned; over that the cherubim stretched forth their wings, over this stood the seraphim; that had no clothing, this was clad in a full flowing robe. Filled the temple - Probably, the most holy place only is intended. The large, full, magnificent robe seemed to fill up the entire holy of holies. Some have supposed that this vision was represented as appearing in the “heavens.” But the expression here evidently implies, that it was seen in the “temple” at Jerusalem. 2. CLARKE, “The Lord - Fifty-one MSS. of Kennicott’s, and fifty-four of De Rossi’s, and one edition; in the 8th verse, (Isa_6:8); forty-four MSS. of Kennicott’s, and forty-six of De Rossi’s, and one edition; and in the 11th verse (Isa_6:11); thirty-three MSS. of Kennicott’s, and many of De Rossi’s, and one edition, for אדני Adonai, “the Lord” read יהוה “Jehovah,” which is probably the true reading; (compare Isa_6:6); as in many other places, in which the superstition of the Jews has substituted אדני Adonai for יהוה Yehovah. One of my own MSS., a very ancient and large folio, to which the points and the masora have been added by a later hand, has יהוה Yehovah in the 1st and 8th verses, in the teeth of the masora, which orders it in both places to be read אדני Adonai.
- 3. 3. GILL, “Inthe year that King Uzziah died,.... Which was the fifty second year of his reign, and in the year 3246 from the creation of the world; and, according to Jerom (l), was the year in which Romulus, the founder of the Roman empire, was born: some understand this not of his proper death, but of his being stricken with leprosy, upon his attempt to burn incense in the temple; upon which he was shut up in a separate house, which was a kind of a civil death: so the Targum, "in the year in which King Uzziah was smitten;'' that is, with leprosy; and so Jarchi and others interpret it, from the ancient writers; but the first sense is the best. Some, as Aben Ezra, would have this to be the beginning of the prophecy of Isaiah, because of the mission of the prophet in it; but others rightly observe, that this mission respects not the prophecy in general, but the particular reproof the prophet was sent to give to the Jews herein mentioned. The title of this chapter, in the Arabic version, is remarkable; according to which, this chapter contains the vision which Isaiah, the son of Amos, saw three years, or, as others affirm, thirty years, after prophecy was taken from him. He had prophesied about ten years before this, in the reign of Uzziah; and only this vision was in the reign of Jotham; the next prophecy was delivered out in the reign of Ahaz, Isa_7:1 and others in the time of Hezekiah; and the date of this vision is only mentioned, to observe the order of the visions, agreeably to Isa_1:1 and moreover it may be observed from hence, that kings must die as well as others; but the King of kings ever lives, he is the living God, and the everlasting King, as follows: I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; not God essentially considered, whose essence is not to be seen; but personally, Father, Son, and Spirit, for all the three Persons appear in this vision, Isa_6:3 particularly Christ, as, is clear from Joh_12:41 who is the "Adonai", or Lord; he is Lord of all, of all men, even of the greatest among them, and of all the angels in heaven, and of the church of God, by his Father's gift, by his own purchase, in right of marriage, and through the conquest of his grace. This sight was not corporeal, but with the eyes of the understanding, in the vision of prophecy; and to have a sight of Christ as the Lord, and especially as our Lord, is very delightful and comfortable; for though he is a sovereign Lord, he is no tyrannical one, is very powerful to protect and defend, and has all fulness for supply; and particularly as "sitting upon a throne" as a king, for he having done his work as a priest, sits down on his throne as a king; and a lovely sight it is to see him enthroned at the right hand of the Majesty on high; and therefore is said to be "high and lifted up"; for this is to be understood not of his throne, as if that was high and lifted up in the highest heavens, as the Targum paraphrases it; but of himself, who is high and exalted above all creatures, as Aben Ezra observes; and this sense the accents determine for: the vision refers to the exaltation of Christ, after his humiliation here on earth; and to behold him crowned with glory and honour is very delightful, since he is exalted as our head and representative in our nature, and acts for us in this his exalted state; and we may be assured of being exalted also. It follows, and his train filled the temple; either the material temple visionally seen, where his feet were, and his throne in heaven, as Jarchi interprets it; or heaven, as Kimchi, which is the Lord's holy temple, where his throne is, Psa_11:4 or rather the human nature of Christ, the temple where the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily, and which the train of divine perfections fill; though it may be best of all to understand it of the church, the temple of the living God; and "his train" may denote the effects of Christ's kingly and priestly offices, with which the Church was filled upon his exaltation; as the gifts and graces of his Spirit in an extraordinary manner on the day of Pentecost, and since in a more ordinary way; whereby men have been made ministers of the New Testament, and churches filled with them, and these made useful in filling the churches with members. The Targum is,
- 4. "and the templewas filled with the splendour of his glory;'' the "train" is the skirts, borders, or lower parts of the garments, in allusion to those of a king, or rather of the high priest, a type of Christ. 4. HENRY, “The vision which Isaiah saw when he was, as is said of Samuel, established to be a prophet of the Lord (1Sa_3:20), was intended, 1. To confirm his faith, that he might himself be abundantly satisfied of the truth of those things which should afterwards be made known to him. This God opened the communications of himself to him; but such visions needed not to be afterwards repeated upon every revelation. Thus God appeared at first as a God of glory to Abraham (Act_7:2), and to Moses, Exo_3:2. Ezekiel's prophecies and St. John's, begin with visions of the divine glory. 2. To work upon his affections, that he might be possessed with such a reverence of God as would both quicken him and fix him to his service. Those who are to teach others the knowledge of God ought to be well acquainted with him themselves. The vision is dated, for the greater certainty of it. It was in the year that king Uzziah died, who had reigned, for the most part, as prosperously and well as any of the kings of Judah, and reigned very long, above fifty years. About the time that he died, Isaiah saw this vision of God upon a throne; for when the breath of princes goes forth, and they return to their earth, this is our comfort, that the Lord shall reign for ever, Psa_146:3, Psa_146:4, Psa_146:10. Israel's king dies, but Israel's God still lives. From the mortality of great and good men we should take occasion to look up with an eye of faith to the King eternal, immortal. King Uzziah died under a cloud, for he was shut up as a leper till the day of his death. As the lives of princes have their periods, so their glory is often eclipsed; but, as God is everliving, so his glory is everlasting. King Uzziah dies in an hospital, but the King of kings still sits upon his throne. What the prophet here saw is revealed to us, that we, mixing faith with that revelation, may in it, as in a glass, behold the glory of the Lord; let us turn aside therefore, and see this great sight with humble reverence. I. See God upon his throne, and that throne high and lifted up, not only above other thrones, as it transcends them, but over other thrones, as it rules and commands them. Isaiah saw not Jehovah - the essence of God (no man has seen that, or can see it), but Adonai - his dominion. He saw the Lord Jesus; so this vision is explained Joh_12:41, that Isaiah now saw Christ's glory and spoke of him, which is an incontestable proof of the divinity of our Saviour. He it is who when, after his resurrection, he sat down on the right hand of God, did but sit down where he was before, Joh_17:5. See the rest of the Eternal Mind: Isaiah saw the Lord sitting, Psa_29:10. See the sovereignty of the Eternal Monarch: he sits upon a throne - a throne of glory, before which we must worship, - a throne of government, under which we must be subject, - and a throne of grace, to which we may come boldly. This throne is high, and lifted up above all competition and contradiction. II. See his temple, his church on earth, filled with the manifestations of his glory. His throne being erected at the door of the temple (as princes sat in judgment at the gates), his train, the skirts of his robes, filled the temple, the whole world (for it is all God's temple, and, as the heaven is his throne, so the earth is his footstool), or rather the church, which is filled enriched, and beautified with the tokens of God's special presence. 5. JAMISON, “Isaiah is outside, near the altar in front of the temple. The doors are supposed to open, and the veil hiding the Holy of Holies to be withdrawn, unfolding to his view a vision of
- 5. God represented asan Eastern monarch, attended by seraphim as His ministers of state (1Ki_22:19), and with a robe and flowing train (a badge of dignity in the East), which filled the temple. This assertion that he had seen God was, according to tradition (not sanctioned by Isa_1:1; see on Introduction), the pretext for sawing him asunder in Manasseh’s reign (Heb_11:37). Visions often occur in the other prophets: in Isaiah there is only this one, and it is marked by characteristic clearness and simplicity. In ... year ... Uzziah died — Either literal death, or civil when he ceased as a leper to exercise his functions as king [Chaldee], (2Ch_26:19-21). 754 b.c. [Calmet] 758 (Common Chronology). This is not the first beginning of Isaiah’s prophecies, but his inauguration to a higher degree of the prophetic office: Isa_6:9, etc., implies the tone of one who had already experience of the people’s obstinacy. Lord — here Adonai, Jehovah in Isa_6:5; Jesus Christ is meant as speaking in Isa_6:10, according to Joh_12:41. Isaiah could only have “seen” the Son, not the divine essence (Joh_1:18). The words in Isa_6:10 are attributed by Paul (Act_28:25, Act_28:26) to the Holy Ghost. Thus the Trinity in unity is implied; as also by the thrice “Holy” (Isa_6:3). Isaiah mentions the robes, temple, and seraphim, but not the form of God Himself. Whatever it was, it was different from the usual Shekinah: that was on the mercy seat, this on a throne; that a cloud and fire, of this no form is specified: over that were the cherubim, over this the seraphim; that had no clothing, this had a flowing robe and train. 6. K&D, “The time of the occurrence here described, viz., “the year that king Uzziah (Uzı̄yahu) died,” was of importance to the prophet. The statement itself, in the naked form in which it is here introduced, is much more emphatic than if it commenced with “it came to pass” (vay'hi; cf., Exo_16:6; Pro_24:17). It was the year of Uzziah's death, not the first year of Jotham's reign; that is to say, Uzziah was still reigning, although his death was near at hand. If this is the sense in which the words are to be understood, then, even if the chapter before us contains an account of Isaiah's first call, the heading to chapter 1, which dates the ministry of the prophet from the time of Uzziah, is quite correct, inasmuch as, although his public ministry under Uzziah was very short, this is properly to be included, not only on account of its own importance, but as inaugurating a new ear (lit. “an epoch-making beginning”). But is it not stated in 2Ch_26:22, that Isaiah wrote a historical work embracing the whole of Uzziah's reign? Unquestionably; but it by no means follows from this, that he commenced his ministry long before the death of Uzziah. If Isaiah received his call in the year that Uzziah died, this historical work contained a retrospective view of the life and times of Uzziah, the close of which coincided with the call of the prophetic author, which made a deep incision into the history of Israel. Uzziah reigned fifty- two years (809-758 b.c.). This lengthened period was just the same to the kingdom of Judah as the shorter age of Solomon to that of all Israel, viz., a time of vigorous and prosperous peace, in which the nation was completely overwhelmed with manifestations of divine love. But the riches of divine goodness had no more influence upon it, than the troubles through which it had passed before. And now the eventful change took place in the relation between Israel and Jehovah, of which Isaiah was chosen to be the instrument before and above all other prophets. The year in which all this occurred was the year of Uzziah's death. It was in this year that Israel as a people was given up to hardness of heart, and as a kingdom and country to devastation and annihilation by the imperial power of the world. How significant a fact, as Jerome observes in connection with this passage, that the year of Uzziah's death should be the year in which Romulus was born; and that it was only a short time after the death of Uzziah (viz., 754 b.c.
- 6. according to Varro'schronology) that Rome itself was founded! The national glory of Israel died out with king Uzziah, and has never revived to this day. In that year, says the prophet, “I saw the Lord of all sitting upon a high and exalted throne, and His borders filling the temple.” Isaiah saw, and that not when asleep and dreaming; but God gave him, when awake, an insight into the invisible world, by opening an inner sense for the supersensuous, whilst the action of the outer senses was suspended, and by condensing the supersensuous into a sensuous form, on account of the composite nature of man and the limits of his present state. This was the mode of revelation peculiar to an ecstatic vision (ᅚν ᅚκστᅊσει, Eng. ver. “in a trance,” or ᅚν πνεᆒµατι, “in the spirit”). Isaiah is here carried up into heaven; for although in other instances it was undoubtedly the earthly temple which was presented to a prophet's view in an ecstatic vision (Amo_9:1; Eze_8:3; Eze_10:4-5; cf., Act_22:17), yet here, as the description which follows clearly proves, the “high and exalted throne” (Note: It is to this, and not to ‛Adonai, as the Targum and apparently the accents imply, that the words “high and exalted” refer.) is the heavenly antitype of the earthly throne which was formed by the ark of the covenant; and the “temple” (hecal: lit., a spacious hall, the name given to the temple as the palace of God the King) is the temple in heaven, as in Psa_11:4; Psa_18:7; Psa_29:9, and many other passages. There the prophet sees the Sovereign Ruler, or, as we prefer to render the noun, which is formed from adan = dun, “the Lord of all” (All-herrn, sovereign or absolute Lord), seated upon the throne, and in human form (Eze_1:26), as is proved by the robe with a train, whose flowing ends or borders (fimibrae: shuilm, as in Exo_28:33-34) filled the hall. The Sept., Targum, Vulgate, etc., have dropped the figure of the robe and train, as too anthropomorphic. But John, in his Gospel, is bold enough to say that it was Jesus whose glory Isaiah saw (Joh_12:41). And truly so, for the incarnation of God is the truth embodied in all the scriptural anthropomorphisms, and the name of Jesus is the manifested mystery of the name Jehovah. The heavenly temple is that super-terrestrial place, which Jehovah transforms into heaven and a temple, by manifesting Himself there to angels and saints. But whilst He manifests His glory there, He is obliged also to veil it, because created beings are unable to bear it. But that which veils His glory is no less splendid, than that portion of it which is revealed. And this was the truth embodied for Isaiah in the long robe and train. He saw the Lord, and what more he saw was the all-filling robe of the indescribable One. As far as the eye of the seer could look at first, the ground was covered by this splendid robe. There was consequently no room for any one to stand. And the vision of the seraphim is in accordance with this. 7. PULPIT, “THE VISION OF GOD SEEN BY ISAIAH. It is thought by some that this vision, and its sequel, constitute the original call of Isaiah to the prophetical office, and in order of time precede all the other contents of the book. But the position of the "vision" in the book is strongly against this view. Prophets who relate their original call naturally place it in the forefront of their narrative (Jer_1:10; Eze_1:1). It is quite possible, as Bishop Lowth says, that this was "a newdesignation, to introduce more solemnly a general declaration of the whole course of God's dispensations in regard to his people, and the fates of the nations." The vision itself may profitably be compared with Ezekiel's first vision, which it much resembles (Eze_1:4-28).
- 7. Isa_6:1 In the yearthat King Uzziah died. The year B.C. 759, probably. We cannot determine from the phrase used whether the vision was seen before or after Uzziah's death. I saw also; rather, then it was that I saw (comp. Exo_16:6). The Lord. Not "Jehovah," as in Isa_6:3 and Isa_6:5, but "Adonay," for greater reverence. Sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up. The imagery is, of course, taken from the practice of earthly kings. Elaborate thrones were affected by the great monarchs of Egypt and Assyria. Solomon's throne was perhaps even grander than any of these (see 1Ki_10:18-20). It was placed at the summit of "six steps," so that its occupant was "high and lifted up" above all his courtiers.His train. Not his train of attendants, but "the skirts of his robe." Flowing robes were commonly worn by great monarchs. Filled the temple; or, the palace. The same word is used in Hebrew for both. Dr. Kay supposes the prophet to be "in vision gazing on the actual temple—to see its veils drawn aside, and instead of the Shechinah enthroned on the cherubim, to behold the King of glory, enthroned on high, the fringes of his royal robe filling the temple, so that no human priest could minister there." But, as Mr. Cheyne observes, "palace is more in harmony with the picture than temple." It is the heavenly palace of the King of kings into which the prophet's gaze is allowed to penetrate. 8. CALVIN, “1.In the year that king Uzziah died. This is usually the beginning of the sixth chapter; but some think that it is the beginning of the book itself, and that in collecting the prophecies of Isaiah an error was committed. The reason which they assign is, that the Prophet here declines the office of a teacher, which he would not have refused if he had hitherto discharged it; that he appears to be a mere novice as yet unacquainted with his calling; and besides, that he declares that he has now seen the Lord, and that he has not seen him, before. But such arguments I consider, as I have already noticed, to be too feeble and unsatisfactory; and I reply that it ought not to be thought strange that he was so completely overpowered by this extraordinary vision as to forget that he was a prophet. For there was no feeling in him which was not overpowered by the presence of God, so that, like one who had lost his senses, he willingly plunged himself in darkness, or rather, like one who despaired of life, he of his own accord chose to die. And it is necessary that the godly should be affected in this manner, when the Lord gives them tokens of his presence, that they may be brought low and utterly confounded. Besides, in the person of his servant God intended to strike his rebellious people with alarm; and therefore we need not wonder if he offers an apology for himself under the overwhelming influence of fear, and likewise because he had not felt the weight of his office, as he now felt it, after having beheld an illustrious display of the majesty of God.
- 8. But why wasnot this vision exhibited to him at the beginning? I answer, it was necessary in regard to the time, that he might be more and more confirmed in the discharge of his office. We have an instance of this in the Apostles themselves; for at first they were sent out with an injunction not to pass beyond the limits of Judea, (Mat_10:5;) but after that Christ had risen, he again set them apart in a new and solemn manner, breathed on them, bidding them receive the Holy Ghost, (Joh_20:21;) and not only so, but sending his Spirit from heaven in the forms of tongues of fire, invested them with extraordinary power. (Act_2:3.) Thus, on account of the various changes of times and of kings, it was necessary that Isaiah should be encouraged and again attested by a new vision; that he might be excited to perseverance, and might afterwards proceed with greater cheerfulness in his course; and also that the Jews might perceive his ministry to be supported by heavenly authority. This appears to me to be a sufficient reason why this vision was not exhibited to him at the very beginning, but after that he had for some time discharged the office of a teacher. That this was not the beginning of the prophecy is evident enough from the consideration that the preface, which we have already examined, is much better adapted for the commencement, and more appropriate than what is contained in this chapter; and every approach having been shut up by the hard-hearted obstinacy of the people, it was proper that he should burst forth in this vehement manner. Besides, it is probable that he had long performed the office of a teacher under King Uzziah, who, I think, was dead before this prediction was published. In short, the Prophet means that it was not till he had commenced his course that God appeared to him. Some think that death here means leprosy, which undoubtedly was a civil death, when the king was compelled to withdraw from the society of men, and to lay down the reins of government, (2Kg_15:5;) but I choose rather to take death in its literal sense. So then, I think that Isaiah uttered the former predictions during the reign of Uzziah, even after he had been struck with leprosy; and that when he had died, and Jotham had succeeded him, this vision was presented to Isaiah. We know what various commotions are produced by a change of kings, so that we need not wonder that Isaiah had his calling again sealed. But the prophecy itself, which follows, will sufficiently show that he had been a public teacher for some time before he saw the Lord; for it relates that the blinding of the people, whose obstinacy he had experienced to such an extent that he might have been induced to cease from his undertaking, for he saw that he was doing no good. The Lord, therefore, confirms him by this vision, that the opposition may not prevent him from boldly discharging his office, and performing what he undertook at the commandment of God. I saw the Lord It is asked, How could Isaiah see God who is a Spirit, (Joh_4:24,) and, therefore, cannot be seen with bodily eyes? Nay, more, since the understandings of men cannot rise to his boundless height, how can he be seen in a visible shape? But we ought to be aware that, when God exhibited
- 9. himself to theview of the Fathers, he never appeared such as he actually is, but such as the capacity of men could receive. Though men may be said to creep on the ground, or at least dwell far below the heavens, there is no absurdity in supposing that God comes down to them in such a manner as to cause some kind of mirror to reflect the rays of his glory. There was, therefore, exhibited to Isaiah such a form as enabled him, according to his capacity, to perceive the inconceivable majesty of God; and thus he attributes to God a throne, a robe, and a bodily appearance. Hence we learn a profitable doctrine, that whenever God grants any token of his presence, he is undoubtedly present with us, for he does not amuse us by unmeaning shapes, as men wickedly disfigure him by their contrivances. since, therefore, that exhibition was no deceitful representation of the presence of God, Isaiah justly declares that he saw him. In like manner, when it is said that John saw the Holy Spirit in the shape of a dove, (Joh_1:32) the name of the Holy Spirit is applied to the outward sign, because in the representation there was no deception; and yet he did not see the essence of the Spirit, but had a clear and undoubted proof, so that he could not doubt that the Spirit of God rested on Christ. Secondly, it is asked, Who was that Lord? John tells us that it was Christ, (Joh_12:41,) and justly, for God never revealed himself to the Fathers but in his eternal Word and only begotten Son. Yet it is wrong, I think, to limit this, as some do, to the person of Christ; for it is indefinitely, on the contrary, that the Prophet calls him God. Nor do their views derive any support from the word ,אדוני (adonai,) which seems particularly to apply to Christ; for it is often applied to God in an absolute and unrestricted manner. In this passage, therefore, God is mentioned indefinitely, and yet it is correctly said that Isaiah saw the glory of Christ, for at that very time he was the image of the invisible God. (Col_1:15.) Sitting upon a throne. He could not have given a better description of God, in regard to place, than in the person of a Judge, that his majesty might strike greater terror into the Jews; for we shall afterwards see the dreadful judgment which the Lord pronounced from his judgment-seat. But lest we should suppose that the Prophet contrived the manner in which he would paint God, we ought to know that he faithfully describes the very form in which God was represented and exhibited to him. It may be questioned whether the Prophet was conducted into the temple, or saw this vision while he was asleep. Though many things are frequently adduced on both sides, which are fitted to leave the matter in doubt, yet it may be conjectured with some probability, that even if he had not been within the temple, this vision might have been presented to him, either in his own house or on a field, in the same manner as to other prophets.
- 10. And his remotestparts filled the temple. (92) Almost all the commentators understand by this the fringes of his robe, though it may be understood to refer to the extremities of the judgment-seat, giving us to understand that its dimensions were so vast as to extend to every part of the temple. He intends to ascribe to God a venerable aspect, and far beyond any human form. There is great weight in the circumstance that he appeared in the temple; for he had promised that he would meet with his people there, and the people expected his answers from that place, as Solomon had expressly stated at the dedication of it. (1Kg_8:30.) In order, therefore, that the people might understand that those things came from God, on whom they called every day, and on whom they relied with a vain confidence which puffed them up, this vision was exhibited to the Prophet in the temple. To the certainty of what was said it contributed not a little, that he openly proclaimed that the discourse was not pronounced to him by any mortal man, but was a heavenly oracle, uttered by that God whose name they were accustomed disdainfully to hold out as a pretense, whenever they wished to make any extravagant claims; for otherwise this prophecy would have been harsh and repulsive, and needed great confirmation. It was also not uncommon with the Prophets to say that the Lord spake to them from his temple, or from his sanctuary (92) And his train filled the temple. [Or, the skirts thereof. ] — Eng. Ver. And the train of his robe filled the temple. — Lowth. 8. BI, “The story of the prophet’s call—why inserted here Why the narrative of the prophet’s call was not, as in the cases of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, allowed to occupy the first place in the book, is a question which cannot be certainly answered. One conjecture is that chaps. 1-5 were placed first for the purpose of preparing the reader of the book for the severity of tone which marks the end of chap. 6, and of acquainting him with the condition of things in Judah which led to such a tone being adopted. Or, again, it is possible that chap. 6 may have been placed so as to follow chaps. 1-5, because, though describing what occurred earlier, it may not have been actually committed to writing till afterwards—perhaps as an introduction Isa_7:1-25; Isa_8:1-22; Isa_9:1-7. (Prof. S. R. Driver, D. D.) Why did Isaiah publish this account of his call? Why was it needful to publish a private transaction between God and Isaiah? The only reason we can conceive of is that the prophet needed to give a justification of his public assumption of prophetic work. And that implies in the community a suspicion of prophetic men, and in the young prophet’s mind struggles and hesitation such as we can easily conceive. This picture of his
- 11. call he holdsup half before himself, as the answer to all the timid fears of his own heart, and half before his countrymen, as his reply to all the objections they might raise against his prophetic commission. This is strongly confirmed when we proceed to look at the message which the prophet is sent to deliver (verses 9, 10). (P. Thomson, M. A.) The circumstances of the vision Let us try, if we can, and present to our imaginations some idea of this extraordinary scene. The shades of evening are closing in, and all is still within the sacred precincts of the temple. The daily ritual has been duly observed, and priests and worshippers have withdrawn from the hallowed fane. The noise and stir of the great city, hard by is subsiding; a solemn hush and stillness pervades the place. One solitary worshipper still lingers within the sacred courts absorbed a reverie of prayer. He is a religions and devout man; probably a member of the school of the prophets, well instructed in the faith of his fathers, and familiar with the sacred ritual of the temple, and the lessons that it inculcated. There he is, looking forward possibly to a prophet’s career, yet feeling keenly the responsibilities which it will involve, and perhaps pleading earnestly to be fitted for his mission. He cannot be blind to the unsatisfactory condition of his people. Amidst much outward profession of religiousness and readiness to comply with the ceremonial demands of the faith, he cannot but discern the presence of barren formalism and hypocrisy, and of a latent superstition that might at any moment, were the restraints of authority removed, blossom out into open idolatry. And who shall say what heart searchings may have occupied his own mind as he knelt there in the temple all alone with God. Was he more spiritual than those around him? Was he sufficiently pure and devout to stand up in protest against a nation’s sins? One moment all is silence and stillness as he kneels in prayer; the next, and lo! a blaze of glory and a burst of song! Startled and awe-stricken, the lonely worshipper raises his head to find himself confronted with a sublime and dazzling spectacle. His bewildered vision travels up through ranks of light till it finds itself resting for a moment, but only for a moment, on an Object “too august for human gaze.” I saw also, the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Around that dread Presence the forms of vast and wondrous intelligences of glory, the attendant ministers of the Majesty Divine, seem bending in adoration, and the voice of their worship falls like the roll of thunder on his ear, shaking the very pillars of the temple porch with its awe-inspiring resonance, as they echo and re-echo with answering acclamations the antiphon of heaven—“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.” (W. Hay Aitken, M. A.) The vision Isaiah might probably have said, as St. Paul did on a like occasion, “Whether I was in the body or out of the body I cannot tell,” but he would undoubtedly have confirmed the plain meaning of his words that the vision was a reality and a fact. (Sir E. Strachey, Bart.) The Symbolism of Isaiah’s vision There is a variety of opinion among the commentators as to the basis of the symbolism of this vision. Some assert that the imagery by which the prophet sets forth the wealth and splendour of the heavenly kingdom is taken entirely from the scenery and ritual of the temple; that when the worshippers had left, and the sacrifices had been offered, and only a few of the most devout remained for prayer and vigil, Isaiah, lingering with the few, unsatisfied and perplexed, beheld
- 12. this vision, andconsecrated himself to his prophetic activity: In this view the picture presented of the celestial world is the inner features and ritual of the temple idealised and expanded. Dr. Cheyne casts doubt upon this interpretation, and leans to the opinion that not the temple but the palace is the point from which the prophet’s inspired imagination takes its departure. The figures, the messengers, and the throne are from the court, not from the temple. It is impossible wholly to accept either of these views. There is no reason why we should not blend both in our exposition of Isaiah’s vision. There are certainly some references to the temple in the altar, the purging away of sin, and the smoke-filled house. In the throne and the train filling the temple there are suggestions of the court. As Isaiah was an attendant on both, it is probable that the ideas under which he sets forth the kingship of Christ, as priestly and yet regal, were drawn from his own observation of the centres of government and worship in his own country. Ideas of righteousness, and sympathy, and sacrifice unite in his conception of the invisible kingdom. (J. Matthews.) Isaiah’s vision of God Some of you may have been watching a near and beautiful landscape in the land of mountains and eternal snows, till you have been exhausted by its very richness, and till the distant hills which bounded it have seemed, you knew not why, to limit and contract the view; and then a veil has been withdrawn, and new hills, not looking as if they belonged to this earth, yet giving another character to all that does belong to it, have unfolded them selves before you. This is a very imperfect likeness of that revelation which must have been made to the inner eye of the prophet, when he saw another throne than the throne of the house of David, another King than Uzziah or Jotham, another train than that of priests or minstrels in the temple, other winged forms than those golden ones which overshadowed the mercy seat. (F. D. Maurice, M. A.) The inaugural vision of Isaiah The inaugural vision of Isaiah contains in brief an outline of his prophetic teaching. The passage besides this has a singular psychological and religious interest of a kind personal to the prophet. It consists of a series of steps, each one of which naturally follows upon the other. I. There is first A VISION OF THE LORD, THE KING, surprising and majestic, with a singular world of beings and activities around Him (cars. 1-4). II. THIS VISION OF JEHOVAH REACTS UPON THE MIND OF THE PROPHET and makes him think of himself in relation to this great King, the Holy One, whom he had seen; and one thought succeeds another, so that in a moment he lives a history (vats. 5-7). III. Having passed through this history, the beginning of which was terror, but the end peace, AN ALTOGETHER NEW SENSATION FILLED HIS MIND, as if the world, which was all disorder and confusion before, and filled with a conflict of tendencies and possibilities, had suddenly, in the light felling on it from the great King whom he had seen, become clear and the meaning of it plain, and also what was his own place in it; and this was accompanied with an irresistible impulse to take his place. This is expressed by saying that he heard the voice of the great Sovereign who had been revealed to him proclaiming that He had need of one to send, to which he replied that he would go. IV. Finally, there comes THE SERVICE WHICH HE HAS TO PERFORM, which is no other than just to take his place in the midst of that world, the meaning of which his vision of the Sovereign Lord had made clear to him, and state this meaning to men, to hold the mirror up to his time and declare to it its condition sad its tendencies, and what in the hand of the great King, God
- 13. over all, itsissue and the issue of all must be (verses 8-13). (A. B.Davidson, D. D.) Isaiah’s vision I. We have to contemplate A REMARKABLE MANIFESTATION OF GOD. II. WHAT WAS ITS EFFECT ON THE PROPHET? III. THE MEANS BY WHICH THE PENITENT PROPHET WAS PURIFIED. IV. THE CALL OF THE PROPHET. V. HIS COMMISSION. (T. Allen, D. D.) Realising God A man’s realisation of the character of God does not depend altogether on his religious experience; it depends also on original capacity, temperament, and on suitable physiological conditions both of body and of mind. (T. Allen, D. D.) An anticipation of the Incarnation This vision was an anticipation of the Incarnation of our Lord. St. John tells us distinctly that the glory which the prophet saw was the glory of the Redeemer. “No man hath seen God at any time.” God is a spiritual being, and therefore He does not appeal to sense. He reveals Himself to faith, to conscience, and to love. But sense is an avenue through which the soul is reached and influenced, and Almighty God, in revealing Himself to man, has not overlooked this constitutional fact. The Incarnation was a tribute of respect paid to our senses. What the prophet saw only in symbol we realise in the form of a glorious historic Presence. (T. Allen, D. D.) Vision and service I. THE PROCESSION OF THE DEAD FROM EARTH BRINGS US FACE TO FACE WITH THE ETERNAL KINGDOM. We cannot look upon any visible forms, and note their changefulness and yet the permanence of the ideas they illustrate, and not infer the existence of the world of thought, and law, and reality from which they proceed. But while all life is based on the unseen, and witnesses to its presence ever, the procession of the generations of men on the earth more powerfully still reveals the higher kingdom. Think of the populations that have lived in this planet, and received their first schooling and drill here. After a brief preparation and teaching in the knowledge of the laws and facts of existence, they depart. The procession into the pale kingdoms is endless and crowded. The majority the other side becomes greater each day. It is impossible to think of that succession and deny the celestial world. The law of continuity suggests a life beyond. The principle which secures the completion of all great work rightly begun, speaks of it. Our sense of the justice at the heart of things assures us of a realm of compensation for unrequited labour and unexplained sorrow. The union with God that begins here must be consummated elsewhere. Such facts as these would be forced upon the thought of Isaiah as all Israel mourned the death of their leader and king.
- 14. II. THE SUPREMEFACT OF THE CELESTIAL KINGDOM IS THE SOVEREIGNTY OF CHRIST. After John’s statement (Joh_12:41) that Isaiah saw His glory, and spake Of Him, there can be no question with any Christian mind as to the Messianic reference of the manifestation. Isaiah may not have known of the sacrifice and resurrection by which that throne was gained, but the general outlines of the mediatorial kingdom are fully recognised here. “I saw the Lord, high and lifted up.” All else in heaven was subordinated to that central fact. 1. The supremacy of our Lord’s rule over heaven and earth, over angels, monarchs, events, the great and the little, the present and the future. 2. The absorbing attraction of that rule. For as prophet, and angels, and men, discern the glory of His love, and mercy, and power, they are constrained to praise. 3. The perfect serenity and sufficiency of His rule are indicated here. Beneath is storm and tumult. He sits above the flood. 4. The universality of His rule is clear. His train fills the temple. Those who went before, and those who came after, cried Hosanna! 5. The design of Christ’s rule on earth is to bestow pardon and purity. 6. The King who confers cleansing and peace demands service. 7. He does not hesitate to discipline His unfaithful servants until their loyalty is assured. III. THE EFFECT OF THE VISION OF CHRIST’S LORDSHIP ON THE BEHOLDER. 1. A deep sense of personal sinfulness. 2. A deep sense of insufficiency for the work of God. 3. The vision that humbles, clothes with power, fills with certitude, directs our steps, inspires with invincible heroism, and makes us partakers of its glory and its resources. (J. Matthews.) The vision of God No truth is more familiar than that God cannot be seen by mortal eye. But God has so manifested Himself that we may say, without impropriety or mistake, that we have seen Him. He did so— I. OCCASIONALLY, BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN ERA. We have illustrations of this in the case of the burning bush (Exo_3:1-22), of Moses on the mount of God (Exo_34:1-35), of Micaiah, the Hebrew prophet (1Ki_22:1-53), and in that before us in the text. In such experiences, each one of which may have been unlike the others, a very special privilege was granted to these men; so special and peculiar that they felt, and had a right to feel, that they stood in the very near presence of the High and Holy One Himself. II. PERMANENTLY, IN THE TEMPLE. The religion of the people of Israel differed from that of the surrounding nations in that there was not to be found in their sacred places any image or statue or visible representation of God. If any such were found it was a marked violation of law, a distinct apostasy. Only one visible indication of the Divine presence was permitted, and that was as immaterial as it could be, and was only beheld by one man once in the year—the Shechinah in the Holy of holies. Once a year the high priest might use the words of our text; for when he entered within the veil, on the great day of atonement, he stood in the presence of manifested Deity.
- 15. III. ONCE FORALL IN THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST. All previous historical manifestations were lost in the presence of the Son of God. He manifested the Divine so that those who saw Him did in truth see God. They saw nothing less than— 1. Divine power, including control over the body and the spirit of man, over the elements of nature, over disease and death. 2. Divine wisdom, reaching to all those truths that concern the nature and will of God, and also the character, life, and destiny of man. 3. Divine purity, shown in an absolutely blameless life. 4. Divine love, shining forth in tender, practical sympathy with men in all their sufferings and sorrows; showing itself in compassion for men in their spiritual destitution (Mar_6:34); culminating in the agony of the garden and the death of the Cross. Well might the Master say that His disciples were privileged beyond kings and prophets, for as they walked with Him they “saw the Lord.” Conclusion—We can see God in nature, in history, in the outworkings of His providence, in the human conscience and human spirit. But the way in which to seek His face is by acquainting ourselves with, and uniting ourselves to, Jesus Christ, His Son. (W. Clarkson B. A.) The empty throne filled I. THE VISION ITSELF. The centre truth is that the Lord of hosts is the King—the King of Israel II. THE MINISTRATION OF LOSS AND SORROW IN PREPARING THE VISION. If the throne of Israel had not been empty, the prophet would not have seen the throned God in the heavens. And so it “is with all our losses, with all our sorrows, with all our disappointments, with all our pains; they have a mission to reveal to us the throned God. III. THE TEXT SUGGESTS THE COMPENSATION THAT IS GIVEN FOR ALL LOSSES. The one God will become everything and anything that every man, and each man, requires. He shapes Himself according to our need. The water of life does not disdain to take the form imposed upon it by the vessel into which it is poured. The Jews used to say that the manna in the wilderness tasted to each man as each man desired, of dainties or of sorrows. And the God who comes to us all, comes to us each in the shape that we need; just as He came to Isaiah in the manifestation of His kingly power, because the throne of Judah was vacated. So when our hearts are sore with loss the New Testament manifestation of the King, even Jesus Christ, comes to us and says, “the same is my mother and sister and brother,” and his sweet love compensates for the love that can die, and that lass died. When losses come to us He draws near, as durable riches and righteousness. In all our pains He is our anodyne, and in an our griefs He brings the comfort; He is all in all, and each withdrawn gift is compensated, or will be compensated, to each in Him. So let us learn God’s purpose in emptying heart and chairs and homes. He empties that He may fill them with Himself. (A. Maclaren, D. D.) The rectal and mediatorial dominion of God I. PECULIARITIES OF THIS DOMINION. 1. The law of belief, or what we may otherwise phrase, the law of intellectual humility. Revelation was never intended to be a revelation to our comprehension or to our reason. The revelation of the Bible is made to faith. 2. The law of evangelical faith.
- 16. 3. The lawof holiness. You will find a great difference between the nature of the obedience which God in the Gospel requires and that which earthly governments require. (1) Earthly governments take cognizance of the outward act, but none at all of the motives, the affections, or the tempers: but God in the Gospel government controls these. (2) Earthly governments are usually backward in interfering with the private arrangements of commercial and domestic life, and with the personal property of their subjects. But Christianity puts everything under law. Its sway is universal, all-pervading, absolute. (3) Earthly governments, earthly systems of ethics, either fail to inculcate, or are at positive variance with, much of the more elevated and spiritual morality of the Bible. The great peculiarity of the government of Jehovah the Saviour in this respect is, that He requires men to be holy and not merely to be moral. 4. The law of disciplinary suffering. II. EXCELLENCIES OF THIS DOMINION. 1. It is a spiritual government. 2. It us a mediatorial government—a government, therefore, of mercy. 3. The supremacy of this dominion might be adverted to. It is a “throne high and lifted up” above all the thrones and dynasties of the earth. Let this comfort the people of God. 4. It is eternal. (W. M. Bunting.) The dead king; the living God Israel’s king dies, but Israel’s God still lives. From the mortality of great and good men we should take occasion, with the eye of faith, to look up to “the King eternal, immortal, invisible.” (M. Henry.) Government human and Divine I. THE CHANGE IN CIVIL SOCIETY TAKE PLACE UNDER THE DIRECTION AND GOVERNMENT OF THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD. II. THE PERMANENCY OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT AFFORDS A STRIKING CONTRAST TO THE FADING CHARACTER OF EARTHLY GOVERNMENTS. III. THE SPIRITUAL KINGDOM IN THE HANDS OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST PROCEEDS WITH MAJESTIC PROGRESS NOTWITHSTANDING, AND EVEN BY MEANS OF, THESE VARIOUS CHANGES. (R. Winter, D. D.) Seeing God Isaiah saw God: do men see Him today? Was He any nearer to Jerusalem than He is to London and New York? Did that old Hebrew possess faculties different from ours? 1. God can be seen and known. He has been seen and known. Moses, Isaiah, Elijah, Paul, John—all saw Him. He has been seen and known in all lands and among all religions.
- 17. 2. What dowe mean by seeing and knowing God? A spirit cannot be seen with physical eyes. We mean that we are so convinced of the nearness and reality of God that our thinking and living are all determined by that conviction—so sure of Him that we live as if we saw Him by physical sight. 3. But have not men seen their own imaginings, and thought that those were God! Is not a perfect God the noblest work of man! It has not been proved that any have actually known God. It would, in the nature of things, be impossible to demonstrate that to anyone who did not himself possess the same knowledge; but it has been proved that these whom the world always heeds when they speak concerning other things have believed that they had this knowledge; and that faith has been the inspiration of dauntless heroism, most patient endurance, and most sacrificing service. 4. How is God known! Many answers are given. Probably all are partially correct. As each individual sees natural objects from his own standpoint, so must he approach the highest knowledge. We are not asking whether men have known about God, but whether they have known Him. We know about Caesar, but we do not know him; we about the Mikado of Japan, but we do not know him. Many know about God who show no signs of knowing Him. I think that no one has been able to tell how this knowledge is attained: Some say, “We are conscious of Him”; others, “We see Him with the inner eye”; others, “Reason leads to Him”; and others still, “He is seen and known in the things which are made.” But after all, the most that any can say is, “I know Him.” Isaiah said, “I saw the Lord,” but all is hazy and indistinct when he comes to detail 5. All who have learned to love man in the spirit of Christ never can fail of coming to the knowledge of God, “for whosoever loveth is born of God and knoweth God.” Love is the new life; and love secures knowledge. 6. When we want to know about God we stand before the majesty of an ocean in a storm, before the terrible splendour of Alpine crests and glaciers, beneath the host of the heavens that in solemn silence thread the mazes of the sky, and say: “Behold the greatness of God!” We study the movement of history, and see how the dispersion of the Jews sent true spiritual ideas into all lands; how the triumphs of Alexander gave a common language to the world; how the supremacy of Rome made nations one; how the carnival of blood called the “French Revolution” overthrew more abuses than it worked; how the American Civil War ended in the proclamation of freedom, and we say, God is revealing Himself in history. We read the story of the life and death of Jesus, and say, if that is a revelation of God, then He is the One for whom our souls long. But all these revelations may be accepted without personal knowledge. The Father, who is a Spirit, comes to us in spirit; speaks in a still voice in the chambers of memory, conscience, aspiration; and we know Him and yet may not be able to explain “that knowledge to those who do not have it. I know my Father; He knows His child.” That is the highest human experience. That is eternal life. 7. If eternal life is not a question of dates, of the succession of months and years, but knowing God, then no question is more imperative than, “Is it possible for me to know Him?” It is a great thing to claim that knowledge. It should never be done irreverently or lightly, but always humbly and with great joy. The mission of the pulpit and the Church is primarily to help men to know God. How, then, may we know Him? However many answers are possible, only one need be given. All who follow Jesus Christ are sure, sooner or later, to realise that, like Him, they, too, are sons of God. (Amory H. Bradford, D. D.) Removing the veil
- 18. 1. A kingmust die! There almost seems to be something incongruous in the very phrase. The very word “king” means power. The king is the man who can—the man who is possessed of ability, dominions, sovereignty; and the shock is almost violent when we are told that the range of kingship is shaped and determined by death. How the one word suffices for all sorts and conditions of men! The registrar deals with us very summarily! We look through his books. His vocabulary is very limited. He has two words, “born” and “died,” and between the two he Can fit in all mankind; there is no exception to disturb his little printed form; we all take our place in it, prince and peasant, emperor and slave. And all this irrespective of character. 2. As kings went in those days, Uzziah had proved himself an admirable king, a wise ruler, a good man. He was distinctly a progressive man, a man of action and enterprise. His energies were not absorbed in merely foreign affairs, nor shaped by the lust of mere dominion. He proceeded upon the principle that a successful foreign policy must be based upon a wise domestic policy; that an efficient and stable rulership must begin at home. I like the way in which the chronicler sums up the king’s motives and gives us the very spirit of his home policy, “he loved husbandry?” “He loved husbandry,” and therefore you find him hedging his people about with security as they go about their daily life. He “digged many wells,” he attended to the requirements of irrigation, he laid the hand of protection and favour upon husbandmen and vine dressers, and in every way he showed that he regarded agriculture as the fundamental and primary pursuit of national life. Upon that home policy he built his foreign policy. If you have peace, security, and contentment at the centre it is easier to extend and widen the bounds of your circumference; and with order and prosperity at home, Uzziah was able to enlarge the borders of his empire. He could raise from his devoted people an army of mighty power. The limits of his kingdom were being continually expanded. “His name spread far abroad. He was marvellously helped, till he was strong.” Such was the nation’s king; loved by all his people, feared by all his foes. Is it, then, any wonder that King Uzziah—skilled organiser in home affairs, subtle strategist in foreign affairs—became the pillar of the nation’s hopes, the repository of her trust, the ultimate security of her prosperity and permanence? 3. Now, there is a strange tendency in human nature to deify any person who gives evidence of possessing any kind of extraordinary power. We place them on the heart’s throne—the throne on which are centred the soul’s hopes and which carries with it the ultimate sovereignty and apportionment of life. Extraordinary power of any kind appeals to the godlike within us, and upon the object evincing the extraordinary power we too often fix our trust. Watch the principle in the narrative before us. Here is Isaiah. Before his call and consecration he had lived on the political plane of life. His thought was ever moving among the forces of diplomacy and statecraft. How intensely absorbed he was in the game of national politics! The national problem was to Isaiah a political problem. The ultimate foundation of national prosperity was stable government. The wise handling of political forces was the one essential for the continuity and grandeur of the nation’s life. That was the plane of thought and life on which Isaiah moved, and on that plane he must find his heroes. He found the hero in Uzziah. What then? He had won Isaiah’s admiration. Next, he won his confidence, next his love, next his devotion; then Uzziah became Isaiah’s god! Uzziah filled the whole of Isaiah’s vision. How now did Isaiah’s reasoning run? Thus—“What will become of the world when Uzziah dies? When the master of statecraft is gone, in whose hands will the rulership rest? When the political nave is removed, will not all the spokes of the national wheel be thrown into the direst confusion?” That was Isaiah’s fear, begotten by his hero worship. Well, Uzziah died. What then! Says Isaiah, “In the year that King Uzziah died”— what?—“All my worst fears were abundantly realised”? No, no! “In the year that King Uzziah died I had my eyes opened; I saw there was a greater, kingdom with a greater King—I saw
- 19. the Lord.” Thehero died to reveal the hero’s God. What, then, did the revelation do for Isaiah? It gave him an enlarged conception of all things. It gave him a new centre for his thoughts and life. It taught him this, that the ultimate security for all national greatness is not kings and crowns but God. It taught him this, that big armies, and walled cities, and quiet husbandry, and subtle diplomacy, and complex civilisations am not the fundamental forces on which mankind rests. The eternal centre of all true life, the centre which time cannot weaken and which death cannot corrupt, is not diplomacy, but holiness—not Uzziah, but the Lord. The earthly king had come between Isaiah and his God, and it was only when the earthly king was taken away that Isaiah saw the King of kings. “I saw the Lord high and lifted up”—a limited interest replaced by a larger one, a low standard supplanted by a loftier one, a loom monarch stepping aside to reveal the universal King. 4. This teaching has a most pertinent application to the life of today. Which is the most prominent in English national life today—King Uzziah or King Jesus, the representative of diplomacy or the representative of holiness? Which are we most concerned about—the science of politics or the science of holy living? What are the forces on which we are chiefly depending for the continuity of our national supremacy? The eternal forces are not material, but spiritual, proceeding not from the earth, but coming down from heaven. Material forces must be kept secondary, because they are transient; spiritual forces must be primary, because they are eternal. What is the conclusion of the whole matter? Don’t let us lay the stress and emphasis of life upon secondary things—not upon Uzziah, but upon the Lord. (J. H. Jowett, M. A.) The “Uzziahs” of history and the Lord History tells us the stories of nations who have looked no further than King Uzziah, and who have been accustomed to use the temporal and earthly forces which Uzziah represents. And how has it fared with them? Ancient Phoenicia looked no further than King Uzziah. She built her national temple upon the foundation of commerce, and the only binding force among her people was the relationships of trade. Ancient Greece looked no further than King Uzziah. She raised a palatial national structure upon the foundation of literature and art, and the structure was exceeding beautiful, the wonder and admiration of all time. Ancient Rome looked no further than King Uzziah. She raised an apparently solid masonry, compact and massive, upon a political foundation, and all the stones in the building were clamped together by a tie of patriotism, such as the world has elsewhere never known. Now what has become of them— Phoenicia, Greece, and Rome! How has it fared with the nations so constituted, the houses so built? This is the record. They stood for a time, proud, august, radiant with imperial splendour, fair with the smile of fortune, and reflecting the sunny light of the prosperous day. But “the rains descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon” those nations, and they fell, and great was the fall of them! Surely that is a lesson for today, that national foundations must not be laid by Uzziah but by the Lord. (J. H. Jowett, M. A.) The material fleeting: the spiritual enduring I spent a little time in the old castle at Stifling, and in one of the rooms of the tower were two curiosities which riveted my attention. In one corner of the room was an old time worn pulpit. It was John Knox’s pulpit, the pulpit from which he used to proclaim so faithfully the message of the King: In the opposite corner were a few long spears, much corrupted by rust, found on the
- 20. field of Banncokburn,which lies just beyond the castle walls. John Knox’s pulpit on the one hand, the spears of Bannockburn on the other! One the type of material forces, forces of earth and time; the other the type of spiritual forces, forces of eternity and heaven. The spears, representative of King Uzziah; the pulpit, representative of the Lord. Which symbolises the eternal? The force and influence which radiated from that pulpit will enrich and fashion Scottish character when Bannockburn has become an uninfluential memory, standing, vague and indefinite, on the horizon of a far distant time. (J. H. Jowett, M. A.) Gain through loss God puts out our little light that we may see Him the better. When you are looking out of the window at night, gazing towards the sky, you will see the stare more clearly if you put out your gaslight. That is what God has to do for us. He has to put out the secondary lights in order that we may see the eternal light. Uzziah has to die, in order that we may see it is God who lives. (J. H. Jowett, M. A.) The compensations of life I know a little cottage which is surrounded by great and stately trees, clothed with dense and massy foliage. In the summer days, and through all the sunny season, it just nestles in the circle of green, and has no vision of the world beyond. But the winter comes, so cold and keen. It brings its sharp knife of frost, cuts off the leaves, until they fall trembling to the ground. There is nothing left but the bare framework on which summer hung her beauteous growths. Poor little cottage, with the foliage all gone! But is there no compensation? Yes, yea Standing in the cottage in the winter time and looking out of the window, you can see a mansion, which has come into view through the openings left by the fallen leaves. The winter brought the vision of the mansion! My brother, you were surrounded by the summer green of prosperity. It had become your king. There your vision ended. But the Lord wished to give your thought a further reach. He wanted your soul to see “the mansion which the Father hath prepared” for them that love Him. So He took away your little king. He sent the winter and stripped your trees; and “in the year that the little king died you saw the Lord.” (J. H. Jowett, M. A.) Isaiah’s call I. THE MEDIUM THROUGH WHICH IT WAS GIVEN A VISION. Why was it recorded? Not to indulge the conceit of the prophet, nor even chiefly to certify him to the Jews; but because of the messages to them which it so vividly conveys, and the representative interest of the experience to all spiritual minds. II. THE STATE OF MIND THE VISION PRODUCED. (verse 5.) Fear, dejection, self- humiliation. Both personally and as representative of the Jewish nation he was convicted of sin is the invariable result of close intercourse with God. Our inborn sin is brought to light and rebuked. And the more Christlike we are the more will our brothers’ sin likewise weigh upon our hearts. It is in this very experience that our preparation for service begins. III. HOW THIS WAS DEALT WITH. The fact of sinfulness is not denied by Him to whom it is confessed. It is tacitly confirmed by what takes place. Yet how tender and considerate is the silence of the Judge of all the earth! At once He institutes and sets in operation a mediatorial agency. Such guilt and impurity no water can cleanse: fire is needed, fire from the Consuming Fire.
- 21. IV. THE CALL. I.Couched first in a universal question,—“Whom shall I send?” etc. 2. After the prophet’s response the call is more direct and personal: “Go, and tell this people,” etc the more general call to us consists, as it did to Isaiah, in the sense of our neighbours’ need and our own duty with regard to supplying it. But if a Christian It in earnest, and willing to surrender himself to the commandment of his Lord, more specific direction will not be wanting. V. THE RESPONSE. (verse 8) “Then said I, Here am I; send me.” A sacrifice and a petition. (Homiletic Magazine.) Isaiah’s vision I. THE INEFFABLE MAJESTY OF GOD. 1. His Supreme authority. “Sitting upon a throne, high and lifted ups” He is the high and lofty One. He ruleth over all, matter and mind, the evil and the Good. 2. His magnificent upset. “His train filled the temple.” This is an allusion to the flowing robes of Oriental monarchs, which signalise their stately grandeur, What is the costume of the Infinite? “Thou clothest Thyself with light as with a garment.” The flowing robes of His majesty filled the temple of immensity. 3. His illustrious attendants. “Above it stood the seraphim.” Eastern monarchs had numerous princes and nobles as their attendants; but these fiery ones are the ministers of the eternal King. 4. His absolute holiness. “One cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.” The repetition indicates the intensity of their conviction. II. THE LOFTY SERVICES OF CELESTIAL INTELLIGENCES. Their services are— 1. Reverential. 2. Alert. They do not move with a tardy reluctance in the service of their Lord; but with wings expanded they stand ever ready to execute His behest. 3. Individual. “One cried unto another.” Each was intensely alive to his own responsibility and duty. 4. Harmonious. After the separate cries there was a blending of all in one grand chorus, “The whole earth is full of His glory.” 5. Enthusiastic. As the peal of a majestic organ sometimes shakes the cathedral, the voice of one worshipper in heaven is represented as moving the posts of the door. The grand solo sends a tremor through the temple. III. THE AMAZING CAPACITY OF THE HUMAN SOUL. Isaiah saw all this, not with the outward eye, but with the eye of his mind. Unlike all other creatures on this earth, man has a capacity to see God. He can see God enthroned in the universe. 1. Sin has injured this capacity. Whilst all men have the power to see God, few men do. 2. The Gospel restores this capacity. It opens the spiritual eye, sweeps away the carnal atmosphere, and shows God filling the temple. (Homilist.)
- 22. The Trinity inunity (for Trinity Sunday):— I. AS TO THE UNIVERSAL PREVALENCE OF BELIEF IN THE DOCTRINE. The doctrine of the Trinity has always been one of those things, to use the language of St. Luke, which have been most surely believed among us. II. THE SCRIPTURAL PROOF OF THE DOCTRINE. It underlies the whole Bible, and is inextricably interwoven with its fabric and its structure. III. THE NATURE OF THIS DOCTRINE. We grant at once that it is mysterious, and that it is inexplicable. We walk by faith, not by sight. This great doctrine in its inner being is hidden from us; but it presents a countenance to us full of beauty and loveliness, the features of which are discerned by the eye of faith. It is a golden casket, containing a most precious jewel; locked, if you like, which we cannot open, but enriching us nevertheless. It is a song in a strange language, the meaning of it in a great degree unintelligible, but the melody most exquisite. Practical application of the doctrine— 1. It is bound up with our duty to God. We have duties to pay to each of the three Persons if we would perfectly know our glorious God, if we would worthily magnify His holy name. 2. It is bound up with our hope of salvation. 3. It is bound up with the fulness of Gospel blessings. Take the apostolic benediction; what more can you conceive of spiritual life and blessing than is contained within that? (R. W. Forrest, M. A.) The command and encouragement to communicate the Gospel The communication of the will of God to others is connected with the manifestation of the excellency of all the perfections of the Deity, but appears in the passage before us in more especial relation to the glory of the Divine holiness. I. THE REVELATION WHICH GOD HAS MADE TO HIS INTELLIGENT CREATURES MANIFESTS HIS SUPREME AND PERFECT HOLINESS. The great lesson which the vision taught was the holiness of Jehovah, and that by the manifestation of this the whole earth was to be filled with His glory. This, if not the source and end, has always formed a part, and has often been preeminent in the manifestations God has made to His intelligent creatures. Although inseparably blended with the infinite benevolence and perfect rectitude, we find this perfection more frequently associated with the name, and employed to qualify the attributes of Jehovah, than any other. The arm of the Lord, the emblem of His power, is called His holy arm; His eyes, emblems of omniscience, the eyes of His holiness; His presence, Holy of holies; His majesty, the throne of His holiness; His name, the holy name; Himself, the Holy One. This is equally applicable to the Father, Holy Father,—the Son, Holy Child,—the Spirit, Holy Ghost. All the manifestations God has ever made of Himself, so far as our limited and imperfect knowledge extends, have been those of His holiness. He is holy in all His works. It was because they beheld a new impress of the moral image of Jehovah that the sons of God shouted together for joy. The Divine holiness was also exhibited, under a new aspect, to all orders intelligent creation, in the contrast between the state of the first human pair and that of fallen spirits. All the manifestations which, since the fall the Divine Being has condescended to make to our race, either of His dominion over the affairs of men, the intimations of His will, or the operations of His grace and Spirit on the soul, have been revelations of the Divine holiness. In the human nature of Christ, the glory of Divine holiness was enshrined in a temple more pure than that in which the Shekinah had appeared; here was an altar that sanctified both the giver and the gift; a
- 23. sacrifice in whichOmniscience saw no imperfection; a Priest who needed not to offer sacrifice for His own sins, for He was holy, harmless, and undefiled. The purity of God had been shown in the creation; in the consequences of the fall: the destruction of the old world; and the giving of the law: but on Calvary, though softened by the veil of humanity through which it was revealed, it beamed forth with an intensity and effulgence which rendered it at once the most stupendous and sublime display of the Divine equity and holiness that ever has, or, we have reason to believe, ever will take place. The design of the sacrifice displays more vividly this glorious perfection. It was not simply to redeem from sin, but to redeem to holiness. The dispensation which terminated with the return of the Redeemer to the bosom of the Father, has been followed by another, less imposing, but equally clear and more extensive, manifestation of the Divine holiness, the descent of the Holy Spirit. The volume of inspiration is a revelation of the Divine holiness; all its precepts and promises are holy. With what superiority in moral excellency does this view of the connection between the diffusion of the Gospel and the glorious holiness of Jehovah invest this sacred cause; what impressive instruction does it impart to all engaged in its varied departments, at home or abroad; and how imperative its requirement, that, on every order of agency in its support, direction, and application, holiness unto the Lord should ever be distinctly inscribed! II. THE COMMUNICATION TO OTHERS OF THE REVELATION WHICH GOD HAS MADE, IS ENJOINED BY DIVINE AUTHORITY. Whatever motives may engage the people of God to communicate to others what He has revealed to them, the Divine command constitutes the foundation, augments the force of every other, and must give vitality and efficiency to all This commission has been either special or ordinary; but the authority has been the same in all, and the obligation equal. III. KNOWLEDGE OF THE DIVINE WILL, AND EXPERIENCE OF THE DIVINE MERCY, DEMAND AND ENCOURAGE PROMPT AND CHEERFUL OBEDIENCE. This is strongly and beautifully shown in the vision of the prophet. Many of the communications of the Divine will appear to have been preceded by peculiar manifestations of the Divine glory. Thus Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel; the disciples, after the resurrection, and on the mountain in Galilee; Saul, on his way to Damascus; and the beloved disciple in Patmos, were favoured. This was probably designed to strengthen their minds with vivid and solemn impressions of the greatness and majesty of that God whose message they were to declare, and to encourage their fidelity. It is a humiliating fact, that, with authority equally distinct, motives more numerous and strong, and facilities greater than at any former time, discouragements and difficulties still keep many at home, who ought to be on the broad plains of moral death, pointing the nations to “the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world.” These difficulties principally arise from the views which are taken of the nature of the work and the qualifications it requires. 1. Physical unfitness. 2. Deficiency of natural or acquired abilities. 3. Moral unfitness. 4. Attachment to home, and the privations and perils of the work. 5. The magnitude and importance of the work. Let us glance at the encouragements to obedience. 1. The dominion and omnipotence of the Redeemer. 2. The grateful import of the message. 3. The measure of success, though not the rule of duty, is cheering.
- 24. 4. The spiritof the times and the aspect of the world. (W. Ellis.) The idea of God I. ISAIAH’S VISION OF GOD. This was, in all probability, the greatest incident in his whole life, and it left an indelible mark on his thinking, lust as the thinking of St. Paul, and, in fact, his whole activity, sprang out of what happened to him on the way to Damascus. That day he saw God. That is his own account of the matter. Now, as he prophesies through three reigns after the death of Uzziah, Jotham’s, Ahaz’s, and Hezekiah’s, and probably lived sixty years after this date, he must at the time have been a very young man, and I am strongly inclined to think that this was not only the commencement of his activity as a prophet, but the beginning of his own religious life. It was what, in modern language, would be called his conversion. He says that he “saw the Lord,” and what better account could anyone give of the crisis by which real religion commences? Before this, Isaiah had heard plenty about God, because he seems to have been the son of a wealthy family living in Jerusalem; but, as another eminent Old Testament writer indicates, there is a vast difference between hearing about God and seeing Him. “I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye sooth Thee.” It is really just the transition from the religion of tradition to the religion of experience. Religion comes to us all first as a tradition. It is the tradition of our home, the tradition of our Church, the tradition of our country, and so on; but as long as it is merely that, it is vague, unreal, and remote. But some day this God of whom we have heard is realised by us to be here; and this Christ, of whom we have heard that He has saved others, comes seeking for entrance into our own soul; and if we let Him in, our religion passes into an entirely new stage. Now, this was what happened to Isaiah. II. THE EFFECT OF THE VISION ON HIS WORK. One of the seraphim cried to another, and said, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.” That is to say, two attributes of God overawed and overwhelmed these supernal beings—His holiness and His omnipotence. The one of these is the inner glory of God; the other is the outer glory. He is holy, holy, holy inwardly—that is perfectly, unspeakably, uncompromisingly holy; and then outwardly, the whole earth is full of His glory; or rather, to put it quite literally, the fulness of the universe—that is to say, all the variety of suns and stars, of heaven and earth, of land and sea— all that is His glory, or the garment by which He is made visible. We are wont in secular things to say that the child is father of the man, and if any man does anything very remarkable in the world it will usually be found that he has seen by the instinct of genius very early what he was intended to do. And this is true of Isaiah in the spiritual sphere. What he saw that day in a moment it took a whole lifetime to write out. Manifold as is the truth in the Book of Isaiah, it may all be deduced from these two things—the holiness of God and the omnipotence of God. The one half of his prophecies may be summed up in this word which I borrow from one part of his writings: “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” The book opens with an extraordinary description of the sins of the nation, and this theme occurs all through. And what is all that but just an echo of holy, holy, holy? If God is what the seraphim said that day He was, then sin must be such as Isaiah represents it to be. Then, the other great note of his writings is that which is expressed in the first verse of the opening of the second part of the book: “Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your God.” Isaiah is among all the prophets the prophet of comfort. He was indeed a prophet of calamity, and perhaps in no other book of the Old Testament do we see so clearly as in his the cruel and the irresistible might of the great world monarchs by which the people of that age were surrounded; but mighty as these were, a Mightier was known to Isaiah; One to whom they were just like the dust; One that could call them like dogs to His feet, and wield them as the woodman in the woods wields his axe; and therefore those people whose God is the Lord do not need to fear these great monarchs; let them only trust and hope. That was the
- 25. Gospel of Isaiah,and who does not see that it is merely an echo of what he heard the seraphim say: “The whole earth is full of His glory.” For these two ideas about God, Isaiah has two names that recur all through his writings. To denote the holiness of God, he calls Him the “Holy One of Israel”; and to denote His omnipotence he calls Him the “Lord of hosts.” III. THE EFFECT OF THE VISION ON HIMSELF. The revelation made to him that day about God, namely, that He is the Holy One, had an immediate and transforming effect on himself. My idea is that up to this time Isaiah was a man of the world, perhaps indulging in the vices which the young nobility of Jerusalem of that day were famous for; but now, in a moment, in the light of God, he sees the error of his ways and the putridity of his heart, and hence there bursts from him the exclamation: “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.” You see he felt his sin chiefly on his lips—i.e., it was sins of speech he became conscious of. I should think that few will doubt that when he says, “I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips,” he means to refer to a prevalence of profanity amongst his companions. Well, is it not the most natural explanation to believe that he had in his previous life given way to that sin, and now that is the sin that burns in on his conscience? But he learned at this point also something very precious about the holy God. As soon as he had confessed his sin, one of the seraphim, doubtless obeying a secret hint from Jehovah, flew to the altar, and, seizing the tongs, lifted from the altar a hot stone, and laid it on the lips of the prophet—on the place where his sin was. The meaning was that his sin was burned away. And this became to Isaiah the cause of one of the greatest features of his work as a prophet in his subsequent life. There is no writer in the Bible that in language more tender and convincing speaks about God’s willingness to forgive. And where did Isaiah learn that! He learnt it that day when the seraph laid the burning stone upon his own lips and burned his sin away. The other half of the revelation, the omnipotence of God, had its immediate practical effect also. But it was the Maker of Isaiah that was playing on his mind on this occasion for His own purpose. He was playing as an artist might play on an exquisite instrument, and in point of fact the mind of Isaiah was one of the most exquisite instruments that have ever existed in this world. There has hardly ever been a mind in this world, in its native structure, so perfect, and the Maker of it was now touching it to splendid issue. He was needing a messenger to that generation, and He had fixed on Isaiah to be His messenger, and He was making him ready. Isaiah had just realised that God was the Omnipotent, to whom all creatures and he himself belonged, and now that the relief and joy of forgiveness were thrilling through him, he realised in a still higher sense he belonged absolutely to the God who had pardoned. (James Stalker, D. D.) Isaiah’s vision in the temple God often prepares His servants for special work by special grace. I. The views with which this vision furnishes us concerning GOD. 1. His sovereignty. 2. His holiness. 3. His mercy. II. The views with which this vision furnishes us concerning ANGELS. 1. Their humility. 2. Their obedience. 3. Their devotion. III. The views with which this vision furnishes us respecting MAN.
- 26. 1. His sinfulcondition. 2. His gracious recovery. 3. His exalted calling. (G. T. Perks, D. D.) Preparation for the Lord’s work I. SPECIAL PREPARATION IS NECESSARY FOR A SPECIAL WORK OF GRACE, WHETHER IT BE IN THE INDIVIDUAL HEART, OR IN THE CHURCH. II. THE BLESSED RESULTS OF THE WORK WILL BE LARGELY PROPORTIONED TO THE CHARACTER AND DEGREE OF THE PREPARATION. (J. Sherwood.) The three-fold vision I. A VISION OF GOD. This can only come to us in our present state indirectly, parabolically, or as here, symbolically. It will include a conception of God’s— 1. Authority: “a throne high and lifted up.” 2. Glory: “His train filled the temple.” 3. Holiness: seraphic action and seraphic tones proclaimed Him as the Thrice Holy. II. A vision OF SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE. Just as the prophet came to understand that there was a vast spiritual universe behind and beyond the material, and of which the material was but the hint and type, so must we. He saw in the seraphim a revelation of the existence of spiritual beings. III. A VISION OF SELF. There is a vision of his— 1. Own individuality. The right use of the pronouns “I” and “me,” is a lesson worth learning, he finds. 2. Relationship to others: “I dwell among a people,” etc. 3. Sinfulness. To this— (1) The vision of God as holy; (2) The vision of spiritual beings as pure; and (3) The consciousness of his own condition, all contributed. 4. Possible purification. Here we have— (1) The supernatural means of this purification. “A seraph.” (2) The connection of these means with sacrifice. “From off the altar,” etc. 5. Life mission. Here we note— (1) God’s care for the world. It is He who cries “Who will go for us?” (2) The godly man’s response. It is for him eagerly, obediently, loyally to cry, “Here am I, send me.”—In Isaiah, in Paul, in every godly man, the vision of God leads to unselfish consecration to the good of others. (U. R. Thomas, B. A.)
- 27. Isaiah’s vision I. THEVISION WHICH THE PROPHET BEHELD (verses 1-4). 1. Of the Divine supremacy. 2. Of the Divine attendants. Their name signifies “fiery ones.” There is a remarkable analogy between what is said here, and what is stated of the mysterious beings in the Book of Revelation—“They rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.” The holiness of God is the great burthen of the celestial songs. 3. The vision connects holiness with the Divine greatness—“The whole earth is full of His glory.” All His creatures speak His praise. 4. A remarkable effect is stated to have been produced by this celebration of the Divine majesty and holiness—“The posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.” This may be intended to show the terrors of the Divine holiness, when it is kindled and brought into exercise by human transgression. Smoke is connected in Scripture with the tokens of rising wrath in the Almighty. Deu_29:20; Psa_18:7-8; Rev_15:8.) And the sequel informs us that He had determined to “waste the cities, and depopulate the habitations, until there should be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.” Observe from the vision here granted to the prophet, how necessary it is that those who go out on the work of the Lord should have a vision of His glory and greatness that they may have a proper sense of the work in which they are engaged. How can he speak of the glory of God, who has not seen it? Or how can he speak of the holiness of God, of the terrors of me Almighty, who has himself no true idea of either? II. THE EFFECT WHICH THIS VISION PRODUCED UPON THE PROPHET’S MIND. “Then said I, Woe is met for I am undone.” etc. The vision of the glory of God which he beheld, became the means of filling him with reverence, humility, and fear. The prophet was filled with an awful sense of his own depravity in two respects— 1. As a man. Why are the lips mentioned! Not because the depravity, is merely superficial, or resting on the surface; but because the depravity of the heart rends and rages without, and finds vent in the tongue. The vision of the Divine holiness is the best way of impressing our minds with a sense of our own defects and vileness. 2. As an intended messenger of God. He saw how unworthy he was to receive messages from God and go out to the people. If private Christians should feel their depravity and unworthiness, how much more should those who are ministers. He who has not been humbled under a sense of his own unworthiness before God has no right at all to go out to speak to others. III. THE SUSTAINING VISITATION WHICH WAS MADE IN CONNECTION WITH THE EFFECT PRODUCED. To prevent the prophet from sinking into despair, Divine consolation was given. Notice— 1. The agent sent. “One of the seraphim.” These are often employed in messages of goodness to man. Observe his celerity—he “flew.” These celestial beings take an especial interest in the fulfilment of the designs of God. 2. The assurance communicated. “Thine iniquity is taken away,” etc. 3. The manner in which the assurance is testified. “Then flew one,” etc. Fire is symbolical of purity. The Spirit’s influence is compared to fire. This transaction signifies— (1) The purity of the ministry.
- 28. (2) The fervourof the ministry. IV. THE COMMISSION WHICH, IN CONNECTION WITH THIS VISITATION, WAS PROPOSED AND ACCEPTED. “Whom shall I send,” etc. Observe— 1. That the messenger who goes out, God sends by His own power. 2. Such messengers are fully devoted to God. They may indeed say “Corban” with respect to all they have. What an honourable work is this! It is also a work of responsibility. 3. The messenger of God must proceed without debate as to the object of his mission. (J. Parsons.) Isaiah’s vision The scene is Messianic. Christ is in it. I. WHAT THE PROPHET SAW AND HEARD. There is no special stress to be laid on the term Lord, as used here. It is not the incommunicable name of essence, Jehovah; but the title of dominion, of mastership and ownership. The awe of His appearance is in the circumstances or surroundings. 1. He is upon a throne, high and lifted up. It is the throne of absolute sovereignty; of resistless, questionless, supremacy over all. 2. He is in the temple, where the throne is the mercy seat, between the cherubim, over the ark of the Covenant, which is the symbol and seal of reconciliation and friendly communion. And He is there in such rich grace and glory that the whole temple is filled with the overflowing robe of His redeeming majesty. 3. Above, or upon, that ample overflowing train of so magnificent a raiment stood the seraphim. These are not, as I take it, angelic or super angelic spirits, but the Divine Spirit Himself, the Holy Ghost; appearing thus in the aspect and attitude of gracious ministry. In that attitude He multiplies Himself, as it were, according to the number and exigencies of the churches and the individuals to whom He has to minister. He takes up, moreover, the position of reverential waiting for His errand, and in an agency manifold, but yet one, readiness to fly to its execution. The cherubim are on almost all hands admitted to be representative emblems of redeemed creation, or of the redeemed Church on earth. And I cannot think it wrong to give to the seraphim in this, the only passage in which the name occurs, a somewhat corresponding character as representative emblems of the active heavenly agency in redemption. Nor is the plural form any objection. I find a similar mode of setting forth the multiform and multifarious agency of the Spirit in the opening salutation of the Apocalypse—“the seven Spirits which are before His throne” Rev_1:4). It is the Holy Ghost, waiting to go forth from the Father, to apply and carry forward the threefold work of the Son, as Prophet, Priest, and King; and to do so as if He were becoming seven Spirits in accommodation to the seven churches; as if each church was to have Him as its own; yes, and each believer, too. 4. With this great sight, voice and movement are joined. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.” It is not necessarily the voice of the seraphim, though that is the ordinary I would rather take the words abstractly and indefinitely. There is an antiphonic cry or song. It is not said among whom. Of course, the readiest reference is come seraphim. But the text does not require that; it is literally “this cried to this.” And the attendance of an angelic choir, of all hosts of heaven, may be assumed. Assuredly Christ is here. He is here as revealing the Father. And He is here,
- 29. not merely outwardly,in outward manifestation; but inwardly, in the deepest inward contact and converse of the soul with God. II. HOW THE PROPHET FELT (verse 5). It is a thorough prostration. III. HOW THE PROPHET’S CASE IS MET. Lo! an altar; the altar of propitiation, on which lies the ever freshly bleeding victim. One of the seraphim—the Holy Spirit in one of His varied modes of operation—flies, as if in haste, with what is as good as the entire altar and its sacrifice to apply it all effectually. And the effect is as immediate as the touch. Nothing comes in between. There is no waiting, as for a medicine to work its cure; no bargaining, as if a price were to be paid; no process to be gone through; no preparation to be made. IV. THE SUBSEQUENT OFFER AND COMMAND (verses 8, 9). Two things are noticeable here. 1. The grace of God in allowing the prophet, thus exercised, to be a volunteer for service. The Lord might issue a peremptory command. But His servant has the unspeakable privilege of giving himself voluntarily to the Lord who willingly gave Himself for him. 2. The unreservedness of the prophet’s volunteering. It is no half hearted purpose conditional on circumstances; but the full, single-eyed heartiness of one loving much, because forgiven much, that breaks out in the frank, unqualified, unconditional self- enlistment and self-enrolment in the Lord’s host, “Here am I, send me.” Hence, accordingly, the crowning proof and pledge of his conversion, his cleansing, his revival, his commission. He now learns for the first time, after he has committed himself beyond the possibility of honourable retraction or recall, what is the errand darkly indicated by the heavenly voice, Whom shall I send? At first there may be secretly the feeling that any mission on which such a master may send me must have in it the elements of intrinsic glory and assured triumph. But as it turns out it is far otherwise than that. The case is altogether the reverse. The mission is to be a mission of judgment. But what then? Does the freshly quickened volunteer withdraw his offer? or qualify it? or raise any question at all about it? No; he simply asks one question; a brief one; comprised in three words—“Lord, how long?” It is a question indicating nothing like reluctance or hesitation; no repenting of his offer; no drawing back. For himself he has nothing more to say. It is only in the interest of his people, and out of deepest sympathy with them, that the irrepressible cry of piety and of patriotism bursts from his lips—“Lord, how long? how long?” (R. S. Candlish, D. D.) Isaiah’s vision I. THE LIGHT IN WHICH THE SON OF GOD APPEARS TO THOSE WHO ENJOY AN INTIMATE UNION WITH HIM AND A NEAR CONTEMPLATION OF HIM. He is represented— 1. As seated on a lofty throne. 2. As attended by celestial spirits. 3. As receiving their homage and praise. (1) The matter of it. (2) The manner of it. II. THE EFFECT WHICH THIS INTIMATE UNION AND NEAR CONTEMPLATION WILL PRODUCE.
- 30. 1. Humility. Itis ignorance of God that is the parent of pride. True knowledge of Him tends to humility. Qualities are never seen so clearly as by contrast. The application of a straight rule marks the obliquity of a crooked line. 2. Purification. 3. Self-devotion. As eyes dazzled by the sun see not the glittering of drops of dew upon the earth, so the glory of worldly objects ceases to interest a soul that is taken up with the contemplation of God; while he will be led, by a regard to Him whose word has been the instrument of his purification and encouragement, to devote himself unreservedly to His will. (R. Brodie, M. A.) Isaiah’s vision of God’s glory I. The first view of the Divine glory in the text is that of RULE AND DOMINION. The Lord is King—this is the first character under which to approach Him whenever we engage in worship. II. The second view of the majesty and glory of God is that IN HIS NATURE AND PERFECTION HE IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE. III. The third view of the Divine Majesty is HOLINESS. IV. The fourth view is that of A PENITENT, ABASED MAN SINKING BEFORE THIS OVERPOWERING MANIFESTATION. V. The fifth view we have is that of THIS HUMBLE, SILENCED MAN OBTAINING MERCY. (J. Summerfield, M. A.) Isaiah’s vision of Christ’s glory He who “sat upon the throne” Isaiah saw is none other than God Himself. But in his Gospel (Joh_12:41) John tells us, “these things said Esaias, when he saw Christ’s glory, and spake of Him.” It is the throne of Jesus. Let us examine the manner in which they who actually saw the vision were affected by it, and this will best show us at once its consummate splendour and the sentiments it should awaken. I. It was seen by ANGELS AND THE “SPIRITS OF THE JUST MADE PERFECT,” AND HOW WERE THESE AFFECTED. 1. They were astonished. 2. They were filled with joy. Because God’s grace runs in the channel of justice. 3. They celebrate it with songs. 4. They were ready to advance the cause of redemption, for with their wings they were ready to fly. II. Let us understand from the experience of Isaiah HOW BELIEVERS ARE AFFECTED BY THE VISION OF OUR TEXT. 1. Isaiah was overwhelmed at the first. He sees in himself nothing but the dry stubble of guilt, and in God an insatiable fire, approaching to devour it. He sees no fitness for heaven, either in himself or those he loved. 2. But he is immediately revived.
- 31. 3. Then calledto active duty. III. We would now consider HOW THE WORLD IS AFFECTED BY THE VISION THAT ISAIAH SAW. Isaiah preaches the Gospel, but his message is rejected. So now. (J. J. Bonar.) The enthroned Lord The Lord is always upon a throne, even when He is nailed to the Cross; this Lord and His throne are inseparable. There are dignitaries that have to study how to keep their thrones; but the Lord and HIS throne are one. (J. Parker, D. D.) Isaiah’s vision of God I. THE OCCASION OF THE VISION. The emptied throne is the occasion for the manifestation of the true King. God’s purpose in all His withdrawals is the same as His purpose in all His gifts, that we may be led to see Him more clearly as the one foundation of all things, the anchor of our lives and the hope and stay of our hearts. The text not only teaches us the purpose of all withdrawals, but comes to us heavy-freighted with the blessed thought that God is able to fill every place that He empties. This King of Judah was followed by another, a decent enough young man in his way, who on the whole went straight and did God’s will. But that was no comfort to the prophet’s heart. It did not avail to show him a Jotham behind an Uzziah. What he needed, and what you and I need, to fill the empty places in our hearts and lives, is the vision that flamed upon his inward eye; and the conviction that the Lord, the King Himself, had come when the earthly shadow passed away. II. THE CONTENTS OF THE VISION. The temple here is, of course, not the mere earthly house, but that higher house of the Lord, of which the temple of earth is a shadow. Isaiah’s vision was none the less objective, none the less distinguishable from an imagination of his own, none the less manifestly and marvellously, a revelation from God, because if we had been there we should have seen nothing, any more than the Sanhedrim shared in the vision of the opened heavens which gladdened Stephen’s dying eyes. Mark, how there is no word of description here of what the prophet saw in the centre of the light. But if we listen to the description given to us, there are two great thoughts in it. “I saw the Lord sitting on the throne, high and lifted up”—the infinite exaltation of that Divine nature which separates Him from all the lowness of creatures, and makes Him the blessed and incomprehensible infinite foundation of good and of blessedness and the source of life. Correspondent and parallel to this thought of the sovereign exaltation is the song that is put into the mouth of the seraphim. The same idea is expressed by “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts,” as is expressed by “high and lifted up.” The holiness of God means the infinite separation of the infinite nature from the finite creature; and that separation is manifest both in the incomprehensible elevation of His being and in the perfect purity of His nature. But whilst thus a great gulf is fixed between us and Him, and we, like the seraphs, have to veil our faces that we see not, and our feet that we be not seen, there is another side to the thought, “His skirts filled the temple,” and that is paralleled with the other number of the seraphs’ song, “the whole earth is full of His glory.” For the glory of God is the manifestation of His holiness. And just as the trailing skirts of that great robe spread over the whole floor of the temple, so through the whole earth go flashing the manifold manifestations of His glory. These twin thoughts, never to be separated from each other, of the infinite separation and the immeasurable self-communication of our Father-God, are all as true for us today as they ever were. That vision is as possible to us as it was to Isaiah. It was no prerogative of the prophet’s office. Our eyes too, if we will, may behold the King in His beauty. It is Christ that explains to us
- 32. by His Incarnationhow it ever came to pass that to man’s inward or outward eyes there was granted a manifestation of Deity in the form of humanity as here; and His permanent revelation of God to us puts us more than on a level with any of those of old to whom were granted the foreshadowings of that historical fact of God manifest in the flesh. “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.” III. THE EFFECTS OF SUCH A VISION ON THE LIFE. A man that sees God will know his own impurity. Where there is a sense of sin roused by the sight of God there will come the fiery coal from the altar that purifies; and where there is a sense of sin, and the taking away of it, by the sacrifice not brought by the prophet, but provided for the prophet by God, there will follow the glad surrender of self for all service, and any mission. “Here am I, send me.” So this vision of God is the foundation of all nobleness of life. (A. Maclaren, D. D.) Isaiah a typical prophet This is not a story of individual experience only. Isaiah was a typical prophet with special duties, and, consequently, with special qualifications for their right discharge. But in many respects he is also representative of the faithful preacher of the Gospel and worker for Christ. In its inspirations, its aims and motives, its responsibilities and difficulties, the prophet’s office was like that of Christ’s servant everywhere, and from this record we may gather lessons of universal application. 1. The prophet must be a man whose soul is possessed with God, to whom God is a reality, not an abstraction, a living and present Friend, not a distant and unknown Ruler. There must be visions of God in the glory of His holiness as well as in the tenderness of His condescension, or there will be neither desire nor capacity to testify of Him. It is the pure in heart who thus see God, and even as Isaiah needed that the live coal from the altar should touch his lips and he should be cleansed from all iniquity, so must Christ’s messenger know for himself the blessedness of that salvation which he preaches to others. This does not supersede the necessity for intellectual qualifications for the work. Impulse, however pure and noble, cannot fit a man for even the humblest work, much less for the noblest, the most difficult, the most responsible of all. God does lay His hands upon some whom the wisdom of this world would pronounce incompetent for the work. As in the case of Bunyan, the working of His grace in the heart may develop gifts of fancy or of eloquence which might else have lain dormant. 2. Of the special gift of inspiration which Isaiah enjoyed suffice it to say that if that is to be reduced to a “genius for righteousness” which he shared in common with the rest of the Jewish race, the unique character and supreme authority of the Bible are gone. Define inspiration how men will, it must, at all events, imply that God revealed His will to these prophets and seers by whom the Sacred Volume was penned, as He did not to the great poets and writers of the world, or this Book has no distinctive value. 3. The prophet must be a consecrated servant—one who lives not to do his own pleasure, but to glorify God. (J. G. Rogers, B. A.) The making of a prophet 1. The experience that made Isaiah a prophet took the form of a vision. It happened in a period of distressing perplexity and gloom. Wrestling passionately with the darkness, craving wistfully for light, the yearning to see God in the man’s soul became so intense and sensitive, that the great Heart in heaven answered the longing of the heart on earth, and
- 33. aspiration leapt intorealisation, and faith flashed into vision That sight of God—the living, holy, loving God—made Isaiah a prophet. Preachers and teachers of today! if we are to be prophets, we need lust such a sight of God. 2. The vision of God made Isaiah a prophet; but the immediate result was something different. The first effect of contact with God was to produce in his soul an intolerable sense of sin. Had Isaiah been Pharisee, he would have seized the opportunity of his sudden vicinity to the Almighty to direct the Divine attention to his virtues and superiority over other men. Had he been one of those philosophers in whom the heart has been overlaid by the intellect, he would have calmly proceeded to make observations of the Divine for a new theory of the absolute and unconditioned, in sublime insensibility to the deepest problem of existence, the awful antithesis of human sin and of Divine holiness. Because Isaiah was a good man, his new proximity to God woke within him a crushing horror of defilement and undoneness. And it was so, precisely because, he had never been so near to God before, and had never felt himself of so much importance. Away down here, sinning among his fellow men, the blots and blemishes of his soul seemed of little moment. But up there, in the stainless light of heaven, with God’s holy eyes resting on him, every spot of sin within him grew hot and horrible, every defiling stain an insult and a suffering inflicted on the sensitive holiness of God. These two things are linked together, and no man can divorce them—the dignity of humanity and the damnableness of sin. 3. The ethical process by which, in the imagery of the vision, Isaiah’s sense of sinfulness came home to him, is finely natural and simple. It was at his lips that the consciousness of his impurity caught him. “I am a man of unclean lips.” That, judged by our formulas and standards, might seem a somewhat superficial conviction of sin. We should have expected him to speak of his unclean heart, or the total corruption of his whole nature. But actual conviction of sin is very regardless of our theories, and is as diverse in its manifestations as are the characters and records of men. Sin finds out one man in one place, and another in a quite different spot, and perhaps the experience is most real when it is least theological. 4. Isaiah, in the presence of God, felt within him the pang of that death, which must be the end of unpardoned sin in contact with the Divine holiness. He felt himself as good as dead, yet never in all his life had he so longed to live as now, in sight of God and heaven and holiness. He did not ask to escape. He was too overwhelmed to pray or hope. But to God’s heart that cry of despair was an infinitely persuasive prayer for mercy. Pagan sages and Christian saints alike unite in proclaiming the overmastering strength of sin. 5. Is there, then, no possibility of recovery? no way of cleansing? One there is, and one alone. Aye, if only God so loves our sin-stained race as that His stainless purity enters really into our humanity, and wrestles with our impurity in a contact that must be suffering to the Divine holiness, and is sin cleansing to us—that were salvation surely; that were redemption. But is it a reality! Jesus Christ has lived, and died, and lives again, and we know that His Holy Spirit dwells in us and in our world. That, and that alone, is salvation; not any theories nor any rites, but God’s Holy Spirit given unto us. 6. It was at Isaiah’s lips that the sense of sin had stung him, and it was there that he received the cleansing. He, too, might now join in heaven’s praise and service; no more an alien, but a member of the celestial choir and a servant of the King. That act of Divine mercy had transformed him. 7. He was a new creature, and instantly the change appeared. The voice of God sounds through the temple, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And the first of all heaven’s hosts to offer is Isaiah A moment before, he had shrunk back, crushed and despairing, from God’s presence, feeling as if the Divine gaze were death to him. Now he
- 34. springs forward, invokesGod’s attention on himself, and before all heaven’s tried and trusty messengers proposes himself as God’s ambassador. Was it presumption! was it self- assertion? I think, if ever Isaiah was not thinking of himself at all, and was conscious only of God and goodness and gratitude, it was then, when his heart was running over with wonder, love, and praise for God’s unspeakable mercy to him. It was not presumption; it was a true and beautiful instinct that made him yearn with resistless longing to do something for that God who had shown such grace to him. (Prof. W. G. Elmslie, D. D.) Christian missions I. WHAT ISAIAH SAW. II. WHAT HE SAID. “Woe,” etc. III. WHAT HE FELT. The assurance of pardon. IV. WHAT HE HEARD. The pardoned sinner is all ear, all eye. “I heard the voice of the Lord,” etc. V. WHAT HE DID. He made consecration. (Richard Knill.) Isaiah’s vision 1. Inasmuch as sitting upon a throne implies a human form, we are inclined to agree with those expositors who speak of Isaiah’s vision as a vision of Jehovah-Jesus. 2. The vision rebukes those who entertain the notion that, so far as Divine superintendence is concerned, the universe is in a state of orphanage. 3. The vision likewise rebukes those who picture God as absorbed in the contemplation of His own excellence, and as existing in solitary grandeur. God is of a social nature. Like earthly kings He has a court, as much superior to theirs as He is Himself above them. 3. Isaiah’s vision further teaches us, that the creatures referred to, and represented by the seraphim, possess such a knowledge of God, are in such sympathy with Him, and have such confidence in Him, that their lives are spent in an element of worship. 4. The vision was designed to qualify Isaiah for the fulfilment of his course as one of the prophets of Judah; and nobly it answered its purpose. (G. Cron, M. A.) Isaiah’s vision (for Trinity Sunday):—We have here the proper inauguration of the great evangelical prophet to his future work; and one which, in its essential features, resembles very closely the inauguration which other eminent servants of God, alike under the Old Covenant and under the New, obtained;—Moses (Exo_3:6); Jeremiah Jer_1:6-9); Paul; Joshua (Jos_1:1); Gideon (Jdg_6:12- 24); Ezekiel (Eze_1:3); Peter (Luk_5:4-10). God’s messengers go mot until they are sent, and presume not to deliver a message which they have not received directly from the Sender. 1. And, first, he gives the date of the vision. What meaning may there sometimes be in a thing which seems so simple as a date! What significance, what solemnity may it sometimes have, as surely it has here. How simply and yet how grandly are earth and heaven here
- 35. brought together, andthe fleeting phantoms of one set over against the abiding realities of the other. 2. But if God’s throne is in heaven, the skirts of His glory reach even to the earth: “His train filled the temple.” 3. The glimpse afforded here to the Church of the elder dispensation of that great crowning mystery which the Church of the newer dispensation throughout all the world is celebrating today. In this Trisagion we have, it is true, no more than a glimpse of the mystery; even as in the Old Testament more is nowhere vouchsafed. More, in all likelihood, the Church could not then, nor until it had been thoroughly educated into a confession of the unity of the Godhead, with safety have received; while yet it was a precious confirmation of the faith, when, in a later day, this mystery was fully made known, to discover that the rudiments of it had been laid long before in Scripture. 4. But what is the first impression which this glorious vision makes upon the prophet? His first cry is not of exultation and delight, but rather of consternation and dismay. “Woe is me,” etc. Even the heathen, as more than one legend in their mythology declares, could apprehend something of this truth. If Jupiter comes to Semele arrayed in the glories of deity, she perishes, consumed to ashes in a brightness which is more than mortality can bear. So, too, it must have fared with Moses, if to him, still clothed in flesh and blood, that over-bold request of his, “Show me Thy glory,” had been conceded; if it had not been answered to him, “Thou canst not see My face; for there shall no man see Me and live.” “We shall perish, for we have seen the Lord of hosts,” was the ever recurring cry of those saints of old; and even such is the voice of the prophet here. 5. Yet that moment with all its dreadfulness is a passage, in some sense the only passage, into a true life. And such the prophet found it. Observe the manner in which sin, the guilt of sin, is here, as evermore in Holy Scripture, spoken of as taken away by a free act of God, an act of His in which man is passive; in which he has, so to speak, to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord; an act to which he can contribute nothing, save indeed only that Divinely awakened hunger of the soul after the benefit which we call faith. 6. Behold in the prophet the fruit of iniquity taken away, and sin purged. Behold the joyful readiness with which he now offers himself for the service of his God. (Abp. Trench.) The triune Name a call, a message, a chastening The contemplation of the majesty of God is the source of the largest hope for all His creatures. For beings pure and holy that vision is the call to unfaltering adoration and limitless faith; for men “of unclean lips”—sin-stained, and labouring in a sin-stained world—it is the reassuring call to the prophet’s work I. The vision of God THE CALL OF THE PROPHET. 1. Nowhere is the thought presented to us in the Bible with more moving force than in this record of Isaiah’s mission. The very mark of time by which the history is introduced has a pathetic significance. It places together in sharp contrast the hasty presumption of num and the unchanging love of God. The king died an outcast and a leper because he had ventured to take to himself the function of a priest in the house of God; and in close connection with that tragic catastrophe an access to God, far older than that which the successful monarch had prematurely claimed, was foreshown to the prophet in s heavenly figure. Isaiah, a layman, was, it a appears, in the heavenly court, and he saw in a trance the way into the holiest place laid open. The veils were removed from sanctuary and shrine, and he beheld more than met
- 36. the eyes ofthe high priest, the one representative of the people, on the one day on which he was admitted, year by year, to the dark chamber which shrouded the Divine presence. For an eternal moment Isaiah’s senses were unsealed. He saw that which is and not that which appears. For him the symbol of God dwelling in light unapproachable, was transformed into a personal presence; the chequered scene of human labour and worship was filled with the train of God; the marvels of human skill were instinct with the life of God. The spot which God had chosen was disclosed to his gaze as the centre of the Divine revelation; but, at the same time, he was taught to acknowledge that the Divine presence is not limited by any bounds, or excluded by any blindness, when he heard from the lips of angels that the fulness of the whole earth is His glory. Now, when we recall what Judaism was at the time—local, rigid, exclusive—we can at once understand that such a revelation taken into the soul was for Isaiah an illumination of the world. He could see all creation in its true nature through the light of God. So to have looked upon it was to have gained that which the seer, cleansed by the sacred fire, was constrained to declare. Humbled, and purified in his humiliation, he could have but one answer when the voice of the Lord required a messenger: “Here am I; send me.” 2. Isaiah’s vision and call are for us also, and they await from us a like response. When he looked upon that august sight, he saw Christ’s glory; he saw in figures and far off that which we have been allowed to contemplate more nearly and with the power of closer apprehension. He saw in transitory shadows that which we have received in a historic Presence. By the Incarnation God has entered, and empowered us to feel that He has entered, into fellowship with humanity and men. As often as that truth rises before our eyes, all heaven is indeed rent open, and all earth is displayed as God made it. For us, then, the vision and the call of Isaiah find a fuller form, a more sovereign voice in the Gospel than the Jewish prophet could know 3. What does “the mystery,” the revelation “of God, even Christ” Col_2:2), mean, the mystery of which we are ministers and prophets, the mystery which brings the eternal within the forms of time, the mystery which shows to us absolute love made visible in the Incarnate Word? It means that the outward, the transitory, is a yell woven by the necessities of our weakness, which half hides and half reveals the realities with which it corresponds; that the changing forms in which spiritual aspirations are clothed from generation to generation and from life to life, are illuminated, quickened, harmonised in one supreme fact; that beyond the temples in which it is our blessing to worship, and beyond the phrases which it is our joy to affirm, there is an infinite glory which can have no local circumscription, and an infinite Truth which cannot be grasped by any human thought; that man, bruised and burdened by sorrows and sins, was made for God, and that through His holy love he shall not fail of his destiny; that all creation is an expression of God’s thought of wisdom brought within the reach of human intelligence; that God’s Spirit sent in His Son’s name will interpret little by little, as we can read the lesson, all things as contributory to His praise; that we also, compassed with infirmities and burdened with sins, may take, up the song of the redeemed creation, the song of the unfallen angels, and say, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the fulness of the earth is His glory. It means this, and more than this. II. The vision of God THE MESSAGE OF THE PROPHET. It is this vision which the prophet has to proclaim and to interpret to his fellowmen, not as an intellectual theory, but as an inspiration of life. The prophet’s teaching must be the translation of his experience. The Gospel of Christ Incarnate, the Gospel of the Holy Trinity in the terms of human life, covers every imaginable part of life to the end of time, and is new now as it has been new in all the past; as it will be new, new in its power and in its meaning, while the world lasts. True it is that such a vision of God— Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier—entering into fellowship with the beings whom He has made,
- 37. “gathering up allthings to Himself,” “making peace through the blood of the Cross,” shows life to us, as Isaiah saw it, in a most solemn aspect: that it must fill us, as it filled Isaiah, with the sense of our immeasurable unworthiness in the face of Christ’s majesty and Christ’s love: that it must touch us also with something of a cleansing power. And because it is so we can take heart again. For such emotion, such purification of soul, is the beginning of abiding strength. III. The vision of God THE CHASTENING OF THE PROPHET. In the fulfilment of our prophetic work we need more than we know the abasing and elevating influences which the vision of Isaiah and the thoughts which it suggests are fitted to create or deepen. In the stress of restless occupation we are tempted to leave too much out of sight the inevitable mysteries of life. We deal lightly with the greatest questions. We are peremptory in defining details of dogma beyond the teaching of Scripture. We are familiar beyond apostolic precedent in our approaches to God. We fashion heavenly things after the fashion of earth. In all these respects then for our strengthening and for our purifying, we must seek for ourselves aria strive to spread about us the sense of the awfulness of being, as those who have seen God at Bethlehem, Calvary, Olivet, and on the throne encircled by a rainbow as an emerald: the sense, vague and imperfect at the best, of the illimitable range of the courses and issues of action; the sense of the untold vastness of that life which we are bold to measure by our feeble powers; the sense of the majesty of Him before whom the angels veil their faces. If we are cast down by the meannesses, the sorrows, the sins of the world, it is because we dwell on some little part of which we see little; but let the thought of God in Christ come in, and we can rest in that holy splendour. At the same time let us not dare to confine at our will the action of the light. It is our own irreparable loss if in our conceptions of doctrine we gain clearness of definition by following out the human conditions of apprehending the Divine, and forget that every outline is the expression in terms of a lower order of that which is many-sided; if in our methods of devotion we single out the human nature of the Lord, or rather the manifestation of His unascended manhood, as the object of our thoughts, and forget that He leads us to the Father; if we rest in things visible and do not rather strive to read ever more clearly the spiritual lessons to which they point; if we concentrate our worship in isolated rites and fail to bear to the world of daily thought and action the teaching and the promises of sacraments. (B. F. Westcott, D. D.) Uzziah and Isaiah: George III and John Wesley The year in which King Uzziah died must have appeared a very noteworthy one to the Jewish contemporaries of Isaiah, most of whom, in all probability, regarded the death of one king and the accession of another as the most important events which occurred in it. Yet to us, who know that this was the year in which Isaiah was called to the prophetic office, these occurrences shrink into insignificance when compared with the last named fact, although that would take place without attracting the notice of any one besides the prophet himself . . . In the year 1738, on May 24 th, the prince was born who was afterwards known as George III. The event would soon be proclaimed all through England. On the evening of the same day, in a quiet meeting in Aldersgate Street, London, another event took place, known only to one man: John Wesley “believed to the saving of the soul,” and obtained assurance of sins forgiven. In a few years George III will become to all but a few a name, and nothing more; but John Wesley will become more illustrious, and the influence of his work will be more widely felt, as the ages roll on. (B. Hellier.) The elevating presence of God
- 38. How well Iremember when first I visited Switzerland that my bedroom window, perched in Les Avants, looked across the blue of the Lake of Geneva towards that noble line of snow-capped mountains that border its southern shore. It seemed for the brief fortnight that I lived there as though the spell of that mighty vision held me enthralled. I slept and awoke and wrote and conversed as one on whom a new dignity had fallen. Could I ever be mean or selfish in the presence of that mystery of purity and solemnity? This and much more shall be the temper of the soul which by the grace of the Holy Spirit has learnt habitually to recognise and cultivate the presence of God as revealed in Jesus Christ our Lord. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.) 9. EBC, “ISAIAH’S CALL AND CONSECRATION 740 B.C. written 735? or 727? IT has been already remarked that in chapter 6 we should find no other truths than those which have been unfolded in chapters 2-5: the Lord exalted in righteousness, the coming of a terrible judgment from Him upon Judah and the survival of a bare remnant of the people. But chapter 6 treats the same subjects with a difference. In chapters 2-4 they gradually appear and grow to clearness in connection with the circumstances of Judah’s history; in chapter 5 they are formally and rhetorically vindicated; in chapter 6 we are led back to the secret and solemn moments of their first inspiration in the prophet’s own soul. It may be asked why chapter 6 comes last and not first in this series, and why in an exposition attempting to deal, as far as possible, chronologically with Isaiah’s prophecies, his call should not form the subject of the first chapter. The answer is simple, and throws a flood of light upon the chapter. In all probability chapter 6 was written after its predecessors, and what Isaiah has put into it is not only what happened in the earliest moments of his prophetic life, but that spelt out and emphasised by his experience since. The ideal character of the narrative, and its date some years after the events which it relates, are now generally admitted. Of course the narrative is all fact. No one will believe that he, whose glance penetrated with such keenness the character of men and movements, looked with dimmer eye into his own heart. It is the spiritual process which the prophet actually passed through before the opening of his ministry. But it is that, developed by subsequent experience, and presented to us in the language of outward vision. Isaiah had been some years a prophet, long enough to make clear that prophecy was not to be for him what it had been for his predecessors in Israel, a series of detached inspirations and occasional missions, with short responsibilities, but a work for life, a profession and a career, with all that this means of postponement, failure, and fluctuation of popular feeling. Success had not come so rapidly as the prophet in his original enthusiasm had looked for, and his preaching had effected little upon the people. Therefore he would go back to the beginning, remind himself of that to which God had really called him, and vindicate the results of his ministry, at which people scoffed and his own heart grew sometimes sick. In chapter 6 Isaiah acts as his own remembrancer. If we keep in mind that this chapter, describing Isaiah’s call and consecration to the prophetic office, was written by a man who felt that office to be the burden of a lifetime, and who had to explain its nature and vindicate its results to his own soul-grown somewhat uncertain, it may be, of her original inspiration-we shall find light upon features of the chapter that are otherwise most obscure. I. THE VISION (Isa_6:1-4)
- 39. Several years, then,Isaiah looks back and says, "In the year King Uzziah died." There is more than a date given here; there is a great contrast suggested. Prophecy does not chronicle by time, but by experiences, and we have here, as it seems, the cardinal experience of a prophet’s life. All men knew of that glorious reign with the ghastly end-fifty years of royalty, and then a lazar- house. There had been no king like this one since Solomon; never, since the son of David brought the Queen of Sheba to his feet, had the national pride stood so high or the nation’s dream of sovereignty touched such remote borders. The people’s admiration invested Uzziah with all the graces of the ideal monarch. The chronicler of Judah tells us "that God helped him and made him to prosper, and his name spread far abroad, and he was marvellously helped till he was strong"; he with the double name-Azariah, Jehovah-his-Helper; Uzziah, Jehovah-his- Strength. How this glory fell upon the fancy of the future prophet, and dyed it deep, we may imagine from those marvellous colours, with which in later years he painted the king in his beauty. Think of the boy, the boy that was to be an Isaiah, the boy with the germs of this great prophecy in his heart-think of him and such a hero as this to shine upon him, and we may conceive how his whole nature opened out beneath that sun of royalty and absorbed its light. Suddenly the glory was eclipsed, and Jerusalem learned that she had seen her king for the last time: "The Lord smote the king so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, and he was cut off from the house of the Lord." Uzziah had gone into the temple, and attempted with his own hands to burn incense. Under a later dispensation of liberty he would have been applauded as a brave Protestant, vindicating the right of every worshipper of God to approach Him without the intervention of a special priesthood. Under the earlier dispensation of law his act could be regarded only as one of presumption, the expression of a worldly and irreverent temper, which ignored the infinite distance between God and man. It was followed, as sins of wilfulness in religion were always followed under the old covenant, by swift disaster. Uzziah suffered as Saul, Uzzah, Nadab, and Abihu did. The wrath, with which he burst out on the opposing priests brought on, or made evident as it is believed to have done in other cases, an attack of leprosy. The white spot stood out unmistakably from the flushed forehead, and he was thrust from the temple-"yea, himself also hasted to go out." We can imagine how such a judgment, the moral of which must have been plain to all, affected the most sensitive heart in Jerusalem. Isaiah’s imagination was darkened, but he tells us that the crisis was the enfranchisement of his faith. "In the year King Uzziah died"-it is as if a veil had dropped, and the prophet saw beyond what it had hidden, "the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up." That it is no mere date Isaiah means, but a spiritual contrast which he is anxious to impress upon us, is made clear by his emphasis of the rank and not the name of God. It is "the Lord sitting upon a throne-the Lord" absolutely, set over against the human prince. The simple antithesis seems to speak of the passing away of the young man’s hero-worship and the dawn of his faith; and so interpreted, this first verse of chapter 6 is only a concise summary of that development of religious experience which we have traced through chapters 2-4. Had Isaiah ever been subject to the religious temper of his time, the careless optimism of a prosperous and proud people, who entered upon their religious services without awe, "trampling the courts of the Lord," and used them like Uzziah, for their own honour, who felt religion to be an easy thing, and dismissed from it all thoughts of judgment and feelings of penitence-if ever Isaiah had been subject to that temper, then once for all he was redeemed by this stroke upon Uzziah. And, as we have seen, there is every reason to believe that Isaiah did at first share the too easy public religion of his youth. That early vision of his, (Isa_2:2-5) the establishment of Israel at the head of the nations, to be immediately attained at his own word (Isa_5:5) and without preliminary purification, was it not simply a less gross form of the king’s own religious presumption? Uzziah’s fatal act was the expression of the besetting sin of his people, and in that sin Isaiah himself had been a partaker. "I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips." In the person of their monarch the temper of the whole Jewish nation had come to
- 40. judgment. Seeking theends of religion by his own way, and ignoring the way God had appointed, Uzziah at the very moment of his insistence was hurled back and stamped unclean. The prophet’s eyes were opened. The king sank into a leper’s grave, but before Isaiah’s vision the Divine majesty arose in all its loftiness. "I saw the Lord high and lifted up." We already know what Isaiah means by these terms. He has used them of God’s supremacy in righteousness above the low moral standards of men, of God’s occupation of a far higher throne than that of the national deity of Judah, of God’s infinite superiority to Israel’s vulgar identification of His purposes with her material prosperity or His honour with the compromises of her politics, and especially of God’s seat as their Judge over a people, who sought in their religion only satisfaction for their pride and love of ease. From this contrast the whole vision expands as follows. Under the mistaken idea that what Isaiah describes is the temple in Jerusalem, it has been remarked that the place of his vision is wonderful in the case of one who set so little store by ceremonial worship. This, however, to which our prophet looks is no house built with hands, but Jehovah’s own heavenly palace (Isa_6:1 -not temple); only Isaiah describes it in terms of the Jerusalem temple which was its symbol. It was natural that the temple should furnish Isaiah not only with the framework of his vision, but also with the platform from which he saw it. For it was in the temple that Uzziah’s sin was sinned and God’s holiness vindicated upon him. It was in the temple that, when Isaiah beheld the scrupulous religiousness of the people, the contrast of that with their evil lives struck him, and he summed it up in the epigram "wickedness and worship." (Isa_1:13) It was in the temple, in short, that the prophet’s conscience had been most roused, and just where the conscience is most roused there is the vision of God to be expected. Very probably it was while brooding over Uzziah’s judgment on the scene of its occurrence that Isaiah beheld his vision. Yet for all the vision contained the temple itself was too narrow. The truth which was to be revealed to Isaiah, the holiness of God, demanded a wider stage and the breaking down of those partitions, which, while they had been designed to impress God’s presence on the worshipper, had only succeeded in veiling Him. So while the seer keeps his station on the threshold of the earthly building, soon to feel it rock beneath his feet, as heaven’s praise bursts like thunder on the earth, and while his immediate neighbourhood remains the same familiar house, all beyond is glorified. The veil of the temple falls away, and everything behind it. No ark nor mercy-seat is visible, but a throne and a court-the palace of God in heaven, as we have it also pictured in the eleventh and twenty-ninth Psalms. The Royal presence is everywhere. Isaiah describes no face, only a Presence and a Session: "the Lord sitting on a throne, and His skirts filled the palace." "No face; only the sight Of a sweepy garment vast and white With a hem that I could recognise." Around (not above, as in the English version) were ranged the hovering courtiers, of what shape and appearance we know not, except that they veiled their faces and their feet before the awful Holiness, -all wings and voice, perfect readinesses of praise and service. The prophet heard them chant in antiphon, like the temple choirs of priests. And the one choir cried out, "Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of hosts"; and the other responded, "The whole earth is full of His glory." It is by the familiar name Jehovah of hosts-the proper name of Israel’s national God-that the prophet hears the choirs of heaven address the Divine Presence. But what they ascribe to the Deity is exactly what Israel will not ascribe, and the revelation they make of His nature is the contradiction of Israel’s thoughts concerning Him. What, in the first place, is holiness? We attach this term to a definite standard of morality or an unusually impressive fulness of character. To our minds it is associated with very positive forces,
- 41. as of comfortand conviction-perhaps because we take our ideas of it from the active operations of the Holy Ghost. The original force of the term holiness, however, was not positive, but negative, and throughout the Old Testament, whatever modifications its meaning undergoes, it retains a negative flavour. The Hebrew word for holiness springs from a root which means to set apart, make distinct, put at a distance from. When God is described as the Holy One in the Old Testament it is generally with the purpose of withdrawing Him from some presumption of men upon His majesty or of negativing their unworthy thoughts of Him. The Holy One is the Incomparable: "To whom, then, will ye liken Me, that I should be equal to him? saith the Holy One." (Isa_40:25) He is the Unapproachable: "Who is able to stand before Jehovah, this holy God?". (1Sa_6:20) He is the Utter Contrast of man: "I am God, and not man, the Holy One in the midst of thee". (Hos_11:9) He is the Exalted and Sublime: "Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place". (Isa_57:15) Generally speaking, then, holiness is equivalent to separateness, sublimity-in fact, just to that loftiness or exaltation which Isaiah has already so often reiterated as the principal attribute of God. In their thrice-repeated Holy the seraphs are only telling more emphatically to the prophet’s ears what his eyes have already seen, "the Lord high and lifted up." Better expression could not be found for the full idea of Godhead. This little word Holy radiates heaven’s own breadth of meaning. Within its fundamental idea-distance or difference from man-what spaces are there not for every attribute of Godhead to flash? If the Holy One be originally He who is distinct from man and man’s thoughts, and who impresses man from the beginning with the awful sublimity of the contrast in which He stands to him, how naturally may holiness come to cover not only that moral purity and intolerance of sin to which we now more strictly apply the term, but those metaphysical conceptions as well, which we gather up under the name "supernatural," and so finally, by lifting the Divine nature away from the change and vanity of this world, and emphasising God’s independence of all beside Himself, become the fittest expression we have for Him as the Infinite and Self-existent. Thus the word holy appeals in turn to each of the three great faculties of man’s nature, by which he can be religiously exercised-his conscience, his affections, his reason; it covers the impressions which God makes on man as a sinner, on man as a worshipper, on man as a thinker. The Holy One is not only the Sinless and Sin-abhorring, but the Sublime and the Absolute too. But while we recognise the exhaustiveness of the series of ideas about the Divine Nature, which develop from the root meaning of holiness, and to express which the word holy is variously used throughout the Scriptures, we must not, if we are to appreciate the use of the word on this occasion, miss the motive of recoil which starts them all. If we would hear what Isaiah heard in the seraphs’ song, we must distinguish in the three-fold ascription of holiness the intensity of recoil from the confused religious views and low moral temper of the prophet’s generation. It is no scholastic definition of Deity which the seraphim are giving. Not for a moment is it to be supposed, that to that age, whose representative is listening to them, they are attempting to convey an idea of the Trinity. Their thrice-uttered Holy is not theological accuracy, but religious emphasis. This angelic revelation of the holiness of God was intended for a generation some of whom were idol-worshippers, confounding the Godhead with the work of their own hands or with natural objects, and none of whom were free from a confusion in principle of the Divine with the human and worldly, for which now sheer mental slovenliness, now a dull moral sense, and now positive pride was to blame. To worshippers who trampled the courts of the Lord with the careless feet and looked up the temple with the unabashed faces, of routine, the cry of the seraphs, as they veiled their faces and their feet, travailed to restore that shuddering sense of the sublimity of the Divine Presence, which in the impressible youth of the race first impelled man, bowing low beneath the awful heavens, to name God by the name of the Holy. To men, again, careful of the legal-forms of worship, but lawless and careless in their lives, the song of the seraphs revealed not the hard truth, against which they had already rubbed conscience trite, that God’s law was inexorable, but the fiery fact that His whole nature burned with wrath towards
- 42. sin. To men,once more, proud of their prestige and material prosperity, and presuming in their pride to take their own way with God, and to employ like Uzziah the exercises of religion for their own honour, this vision presented the real sovereignty of God: the Lord Himself seated on a throne there- just where they felt only a theatre for the display of their pride, or machinery for the attainment of their private ends. Thus did the three-fold cry of the angels meet the threefold sinfulness of that generation of men. But the first line of the seraph’s song serves more than a temporary end. The Trisagion rings, and has need to ring, forever down the Church. Everywhere and at all times these are the three besetting sins of religious people-callousness in worship, carelessness in life, and the temper which employs the forms of religion simply for self-indulgence or self-aggrandisement. These sins are induced by the same habit of contentment with mere form; they can be corrected only by the vision of the Personal Presence who is behind all form. Our organisation, ritual, law, and sacrament-we must be able to see them fall away, as Isaiah saw the sanctuary itself disappear, before God Himself, if we are to remain heartily moral and fervently religious. The Church of God has to learn that no mere multiplication of forms, nor a more aesthetic arrangement of them, will redeem her worshippers from callousness. Callousness is but the shell which the feelings develop in self-defence when left by the sluggish and impenetrative soul to beat upon the hard outsides of form.. And nothing will fuse this shell of callousness but that ardent flame, which is kindled at touching of the Divine and human spirits, when forms have fallen away and the soul beholds with open face the Eternal Himself. As with worship, so with morality. Holiness is secured not by ceremonial, but by a reverence for a holy Being. We shall rub our consciences trite against moral maxims or religious rites. It is the effluence of a Presence, which alone can create in us, and keep in us, a clean heart. And if any object that we thus make light of ritual and religious law, of Church and sacrament, the reply is obvious. Ritual and sacrament are to the living God but as the wick of a candle to the light thereof. They are given to reveal Him, and the process is not perfect unless they themselves perish from the thoughts to which they convey Him. If God is not felt to be present, as Isaiah felt Him to be, to the exclusion of all forms, then these will be certain to be employed, as Uzziah employed them, for the sake of the only other spiritual being of whom the worshipper is conscious-himself. Unless we are able to forget our ritual in spiritual communion with the very God, and to become unconscious of our organisation in devout consciousness of our personal relation to Him, then ritual will be only a means of sensuous indulgence, organisation only a machinery for selfish or sectarian ends. The vision of God-this is the one thing needful for worship and for conduct. But while the one verse of the antiphon reiterates what Jehovah of hosts is in Himself, the other describes what He is in revelation. "The whole earth is full of His glory." Glory is the correlative of holiness. Glory is that in which holiness comes to expression. Glory is the expression of holiness, as beauty is the expression of health. If holiness be as deep as we have seen, so varied then will glory be. There is nothing in the earth but it is the glory of God. "The fulness of the whole earth is His glory," is the proper grammatical rendering of the song. For Jehovah of hosts is not the God only of Israel, but the Maker of heaven and earth, and not the victory of Israel alone, but the wealth and the beauty of all the world is His glory. So universal an ascription of glory is the proper parallel to that of absolute Godhead, which is implied in holiness. II. THE CALL (Isa_6:4-8) Thus, then, Isaiah, standing on earth, on the place of a great sin, with the conscience of his people’s evil in his heart, and himself not without the feeling of guilt, looked into heaven, and beholding the glory of God, heard also with what pure praise and readiness of service the heavenly hosts surrounded His throne. No wonder the prophet felt the polluted threshold rock beneath him, or that as where fire and water mingle there should be the rising of a great smoke.
- 43. For the smokedescribed is not, as some have imagined, that of acceptable incense, thick billows swelling through the temple to express the completion and satisfaction of the seraphs’ worship; but it is the mist which ever arises where holiness and sin touch each other. It has been described both as the obscurity that envelops a weak mind in presence of a truth too great for it, and the darkness that falls upon a diseased eye when exposed to the mid-day sun. These are only analogies, and may mislead us. What Isaiah actually felt was the dim-eyed shame, the distraction, the embarrassment, the blinding shock of a personal encounter with One whom he was utterly unfit to meet. For this was a personal encounter. We have spelt out the revelation sentence by sentence in gradual argument; but Isaiah did not reach it through argument or brooding. It was not to the prophet what it is to his expositors, a pregnant thought, that his intellect might gradually unfold, but a Personal Presence, which apprehended and overwhelmed him. God and he were there face to face. "Then said I, Woe is me, for I am undone, because a man unclean of lips am I, and in the midst of a people unclean of lips do I dwell; for the King, Jehovah of hosts, mine eyes have beheld." The form of the prophet’s confession, "uncleanness of lips," will not surprise us as far as he makes it for himself. As with the disease of the body, so with the sin of the soul; each often gathers to one point of pain. Every man, though wholly sinful by nature, has his own particular consciousness of guilt. Isaiah being a prophet felt his mortal weakness most upon his lips. The inclusion of the people, however, along with himself under this form of guilt, suggests a wider interpretation of it. The lips are, as it were, the blossom of a man. "Grace is poured upon thy lips, therefore God hath blessed thee forever. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also." It is in the blossom of a plant that the plant’s defects become conspicuous; it is-when all a man’s faculties combine for the complex and delicate office of expression that any fault which is in him will come to the surface. Isaiah had been listening to the perfect praise of sinless beings, and it brought into startling relief the defects of his own people’s worship. Unclean of lips these were indeed when brought against that heavenly choir. Their social and political sin-sin of heart and home and market-came to a head in their worship, and what should have been the blossom of their life fell to the ground like a rotten leaf beneath the stainless beauty of the seraphs’ praise. While the prophet thus passionately gathered his guilt upon his lips, a sacrament was preparing on which God concentrated His mercies to meet it. Sacrament and lips, applied mercy and presented sin, now come together. "Then flew unto me one of the seraphim, and in his hand a glowing stone-with tongs had he taken it off the altar-and he touched my mouth and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips, and so thy iniquity passeth away and thy sin is atoned for." The idea. of this function is very evident, and a scholar who has said that it "would perhaps be quite intelligible to the contemporaries of the prophet, but is undoubtedly obscure to us," appears to have said just the reverse of what is right; for so simple a process of atonement leaves out the most characteristic details of the Jewish ritual of sacrifice, while it anticipates in an unmistakable manner the essence of the Christian sacrament. In a scene of expiation laid under the old covenant, we are struck by the absence of oblation or sacrificial act on the part of the sinner himself. There is here no victim slain, no blood sprinkled; an altar is only parenthetically suggested, and even then in its simplest form, of a hearth on which the Divine fire is continually burning. The "glowing stone," not "live coal" as in the English version, was no part of the temple furniture, but the ordinary means of conveying heat or applying fire in the various purposes of household life. There was, it is true, a carrying of fire in some of the temple services, as, for example, on the great Day of Atonement, but then it was effected by a small grate filled with living embers. In the household, on the other hand, when cakes had to be baked, or milk boiled, or water warmed, or in fifty similar applications of fire, a glowing stone taken from off the hearth was the invariable instrument. It is this swift and simple domestic process which Isaiah now sees substituted for the slow and intricate ceremonial of the temple-a seraph with a glowing
- 44. stone in hishand, "with tongs had he taken it off the altar." And yet the prophet feels this only as a more direct expression of the very same idea with which the elaborate ritual was inspired-for which the victim was slain, and the flesh consumed in fire, and the blood sprinkled. Isaiah desires nothing else, and receives no more, than the ceremonial law was intended to assure to the sinner-pardon of his sin and reconciliation to God. But our prophet will have conviction of these immediately, and with a force which the ordinary ritual is incapable of expressing. The feelings of this Jew are too intense and spiritual to be satisfied with the slow pageant of the earthly temple, whose performances to a man in his horror could only have appeared so indifferent and far away from himself as not to be really his own nor to effect what he passionately desired. Instead, therefore, of laying his guilt in the shape of some victim on the altar, Isaiah, with a keener sense of its inseparableness from himself, presents it to God upon his own lips. Instead of being satisfied with beholding the fire of God consume it on another body than his own, at a distance from himself, he feels that fire visit the very threshold of his nature, where he has gathered the guilt, and consume it there. The whole secret of this startling nonconformity to the law, on the very floor of the temple, is that for a man who has penetrated to the presence of God the legal forms are left far behind, and he stands face to face with the truth by which they are inspired. In that Divine Presence Isaiah is his own altar; he acts his guilt in his own person, and so he feels the expiatory fire come to his very self directly from the heavenly hearth. It is a replica of the fifty-first Psalm: "For Thou delightest not in sacrifice, else would I give it; Thou hast no pleasure in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit." This is my sacrifice, my sense of guilt gathered here upon my lips: my "broken and contrite heart," who feel myself undone before Thee, "Lord, Thou wilt not despise." It has always been remarked as one of the most powerful proofs of the originality and Divine force of Christianity, that from man’s worship of God, and especially from those parts in which the forgiveness of sin is sought and assured, it did away with the necessity of a physical rite of sacrifice; that it broke the universal and immemorial habit by which man presented to God a material offering for the guilt of his soul. By remembering this fact we may measure the religious significance of the scene we now contemplate. Nearly eight centuries before there was accomplished upon Calvary that Divine Sacrifice for sin, which abrogated a rite of expiation, hitherto universally adopted by the conscience of humanity, we find a Jew, in the dispensation where such a rite was most religiously enforced, trembling under the conviction of sin, and upon a floor crowded with suggestions of physical sacrifice; yet the only sacrifice he offers is the purely spiritual one of confession. It is most notable. Look at it from a human point of view, and we can estimate Isaiah’s immense spiritual originality; look at it from a Divine and we cannot help perceiving a distinct foreshadow of what was to take place by the blood of Jesus under the new covenant. To this man, as to some others of his dispensation, whose experience our Christian sympathy recognises so readily in the Psalms, there was granted afore-time boldness to enter into the holiest. For this is the explanation of Isaiah’s marvellous disregard of the temple ritual. It is all behind him. This man has passed within the veil. Forms are all behind him, and he is face to face with God. But between two beings in that position, intercourse by the far off and uncertain signals of sacrifice is inconceivable. It can only take place by the simple unfolding of the heart. It must be rational, intelligent, and by speech. When man is at such close quarters with God what sacrifice is possible but the sacrifice of the lips? Form for the Divine reply there must be some, for even Christianity has its sacraments, but like them this sacrament is of the very simplest form, and like them it is accompanied by the explanatory word. As Christ under the new covenant took bread and wine, and made the homely action of feeding upon them the sign and seal to His disciples of the forgiveness of their sins, so His angel under the old and sterner covenant took the more severe, but as simple and domestic form of fire to express the same to His prophet. And we do well to emphasise that the experimental value of this sacrament of fire is bestowed by the word attached to it. It is not a dumb sacrament, with a magical efficacy.
- 45. But the prophet’smind is persuaded and his conscience set at peace by the intelligible words of the minister of the sacrament. Isaiah’s sin being taken away, he is able to discern the voice of God Himself. It is in the most beautiful accordance with what has already happened that he hears this not as command, but request, and answers not of compulsion, but of freedom. "And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send? and who will go for us? And I said, Here am I; send me." What spiritual understanding alike of the will of God and the responsibility of man, what evangelical liberty and boldness, are here! Here we touch the spring of that high flight Isaiah takes both in prophecy and in active service for the State. Here we have the secret of the filial freedom, the life-long sense of responsibility, the regal power of initiative, the sustained and unfaltering career, which distinguish Isaiah among the ministers of the old covenant, and stamp him prophet by the heart and for the life, as many of them are only by the office and for the occasion. Other prophets are the servants of the God of heaven; Isaiah stands next the Son Himself. On others the hand of the Lord is laid in irresistible compulsion; the greatest of them are often ignorant, by turns headstrong and craven, deserving correction, and generally in need of supplementary calls and inspirations. But of such scourges and such doles Isaiah’s royal career is absolutely without a trace. His course, begun in freedom, is pursued without hesitation or anxiety; begun in utter self-sacrifice, it knows henceforth no moment of grudging or disobedience. "Esaias is very bold," because he is so free and so fully devoted. In the presence of mind with which he meets each sudden change of politics during that bewildering half-century of Judah’s history, we seem to hear his calm voice repeating its first, "Here am I." Presence of mind he always had. The kaleidoscope shifts: it is now Egyptian intrigue, now Assyrian force; now a false king requiring threat of displacement by God’s own hero, now a true king, but helpless and in need of consolation; now a rebellious people to be condemned, and now an oppressed and penitent one to be encouraged:-different dangers, with different sorts of salvation possible, obliging the prophet to promise different futures, and to say things inconsistent with what he had already said. Yet Isaiah never hesitates; he can always say, "Here am I." We hear that voice again in the spontaneousness and versatility of his style. Isaiah is one of the great kings of literature, with every variety of style under his sway, passing with perfect readiness, as subject or occasion calls, from one to another of the tones of a superbly endowed nature. Everywhere this man impresses us with his personality, with the wealth of his nature and the perfection of his control of it. But the personality is consecrated. The "Here am I" is followed by the "send me." And its health, harmony, and boldness are derived, Isaiah being his own witness, from this early sense of pardon and purification at the Divine hands. Isaiah is indeed a king and a priest unto God-a king with all his powers at his own command, a priest with them all consecrated to the service of Heaven. One cannot pass away from these verses without observing the plain answer which they give to the question, What is a call to the ministry of God? In these days of dust and distraction, full of party cries, with so many side issues of doctrine and duty presenting themselves, and the solid attractions of so many other services insensibly leading men to look for the same sort of attractiveness in the ministry, it may prove a relief to some to ponder the simple elements of Isaiah’s call to be a professional and lifelong prophet. Isaiah got no "call" in our conventional sense of the word, no compulsion that he must go, no articulate voice describing him as the sort of man needed for the work, nor any of those similar "calls" which sluggish and craven spirits so often desire to relieve them of the responsibility or the strenuous effort needed in deciding for a profession which their conscience will not permit them to refuse. Isaiah got no such call. After passing through the fundamental religious experiences of forgiveness and cleansing, which are in every case the indispensable premises of life with God, Isaiah was left to himself. No direct summons was addressed to him, no compulsion was laid on him; but he heard the voice of God asking generally for messengers, and he on his own responsibility answered it for himself in
- 46. particular. He heardfrom the Divine lips of the Divine need for messengers, and he was immediately full of the mind that he was the man for the mission, and of the heart to give himself to it. So great an example cannot be too closely studied by candidates for the ministry in our own day. Sacrifice is not the half-sleepy, half-reluctant submission to the force of circumstance or opinion, in which shape it is so often travestied among us, but the resolute self- surrender and willing resignation of a free and reasonable soul. There are many in our day who look for an irresistible compulsion into the ministry of the Church; sensitive as they are to the material bias by which men roll off into other professions, they pray for something of a similar kind to prevail with them in this direction also. There are men who pass into the ministry by social pressure or the opinion of the circles they belong to, and there are men who adopt the profession simply because it is on the line of least resistance. From which false beginnings rise the spent force, the premature stoppages, the stagnancy, the aimlessness and heartlessness, which are the scandals of the professional ministry and the weakness of the Christian Church in our day. Men who drift into the ministry, as it is certain so many do, become mere ecclesiastical flotsam and jetsam, incapable of giving carriage to any soul across the waters of this life, uncertain of their own arrival anywhere, and of all the waste of their generation, the most patent and disgraceful. God will have no drift-wood for His sacrifices, no drift-men for His ministers. Self-consecration is the beginning of His service, and a sense of our own freedom and our own responsibility is an indispensable element in the act of self- consecration. We-not God-have to make the decision. We are not to be dead, but living, sacrifices, and everything which renders us less than fully alive both mars at the time the sincerity of our surrender and reacts for evil upon the whole of our subsequent ministry. III. THE COMMISSION (Isa_6:9-13) A heart so resolutely devoted as we have seen Isaiah’s to be was surely prepared against any degree of discouragement, but probably never did man receive so awful a commission as he describes himself to have done. Not that we are to suppose that this fell upon Isaiah all at once, in the suddenness and distinctness with which he here records it. Our sense of its awfulness will only be increased when we realise that Isaiah became aware of it, not in the shock of a single discovery, sufficiently great to have carried its own anaesthetic along with it, but through a prolonged process of disillusion, and at the pain of those repeated disappointments, which are all the more painful that none singly is great enough to stupefy. It is just at this point of our chapter that we feel most the need of supposing it to have been written some years after the consecration of Isaiah, when his experience had grown long enough to articulate the dim forebodings of that solemn moment. "Go and say to this people, Hearing, hear ye, but understand not; seeing, see ye, but know not. Make fat the heart of this people, and its ears make heavy, and its eyes smear, lest it see with its eyes, and hear with its ears, and its heart understand, and it turn again and be healed." No prophet, we may be sure, would be asked by God to go and tell his audiences that in so many words, at the beginning of his career. It is only by experience that a man understands that kind of a commission, and for the required experience Isaiah had not long to wait after entering on his ministry. Ahaz himself, in whose death-year it is supposed by many that Isaiah wrote this account of his consecration-the conduct of Ahaz himself was sufficient to have brought out the convictions of the prophet’s heart in this startling form, in which he has stated his commission. By the word of the Lord and an offer of a sign from Him, Isaiah did make fat that monarch’s heart and smear his eyes. And perverse as the rulers of Judah were in the examples and policies they set, the people were as blindly bent on following them to destruction. "Every one," said Isaiah, when he must have been for some time a prophet, "every one is a hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly."
- 47. But if thatclear, bitter way of putting the matter can have come to Isaiah only with the experience of some years, why does he place it upon the lips of God, as they give him his commission? Because Isaiah is stating not merely his own singular experience, but a truth always true of the preaching of the word of God, and of which no prophet at the time of his consecration to that ministry can be without at least a foreboding. We have not exhausted the meaning of this awful commission when we say that it is only a forcible anticipation of the prophet’s actual experience. There is more here than one man’s experience. Over and over again are these words quoted in the New Testament, till we learn to find them true and always everywhere that the Word of God is preached to men, -the description of what would seem to be its necessary effect upon many souls. Both Jesus and Paul use Isaiah’s commission of themselves. They do so like Isaiah at an advanced stage in their ministry, when the shock of misunderstanding and ejection has been repeatedly felt, but then not solely as an apt description of their own experience. They quote God’s words to Isaiah as a prophecy fulfilled in their own case-that is to say, as the statement of a great principle or truth of which their own ministry is only another instance. Their own disappointments have roused them to the fact, that this is always an effect of the word of God upon numbers of men-to deaden their spiritual faculties. While Matthew and the book of Acts adopt the milder Greek version of Isaiah’s commission, John gives a rendering that is even stronger than the original. "He hath blinded," he says of God Himself, "their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes and perceive with their hearts." In Mark’s narrative Christ says that He speaks to them that are outside in parables, "for the purpose that seeing they may see, and not perceive, and hearing they may hear, and not understand, lest haply they should turn again and it should be forgiven them." We may suspect, in an utterance so strange to the lips of the Lord of salvation, merely the irony of His baffled love. But it is rather the statement of what He believed to be the necessary effect of a ministry like His own. It marks the direction, not of His desire, but of natural sequence. With these instances we can go back to Isaiah and understand why he should have described the bitter fruits of experience as an imperative laid upon him by God. "Make fat the heart of this people, and its ears make heavy, and its eyes do thou smear." It is the fashion of the prophet’s grammar, when it would state a principle or necessary effect, to put it in the form of a command. What God expresses to Isaiah so imperatively as almost to take our breath away; what Christ uttered with such abruptness that we ask, Does He speak in irony? what Paul laid down as the conviction of a long and patient ministry, is the great truth that the Word of God has not only a saving power, but that even in its gentlest pleadings and its purest Gospel, even by the mouth of Him who came, not to condemn, but to save the world, it has a power that is judicial and condemnatory. It is frequently remarked by us as perhaps the most deplorable fact of our experience, that there exists in human nature an accursed facility for turning God’s gifts to precisely the opposite ends from those for which He gave them. So common is man’s misunderstanding of the plainest signs, and so frequent his abuse of the most evident favours of Heaven, that a spectator of the drama of human history might imagine its Author to have been a Cynic or Comedian, portraying for His own amusement the loss of the erring at the very moment of what might have been their recovery, the frustration of love at the point of its greatest warmth and expectancy. Let him look closer, however, and he will perceive, not a comedy, but a tragedy, for neither chance nor cruel sport is here at work, but free will and the laws of habit, with retribution and penalty. These actors are not puppets in the hand of a Power that moves them at will; each of them plays his own part, and the abuse and contradiction of which he is guilty are but the perogative of his freedom. They are free beings who thus reject the gift of Divine assistance and so piteously misunderstand Divine truth. Look closer still, and you will see that the way they talk, the impression they accept of God’s goodness, the effects of His judgments upon them, are determined not at the moment of their choice, and not by a single act of their will, but by the
- 48. whole tenor oftheir previous life. In the sudden flash of some gift or opportunity, men reveal the stuff of which they are made, the disposition they have bred in themselves. Opportunity in human life is as often judgment as it is salvation. When we perceive these things, we understand that life is not a comedy, where chance governs or incongruous situations are invented by an Almighty Satirist for His own sport, but a tragedy, with all tragedy’s pathetic elements of royal wills contending in freedom with each other, of men’s wills clashing with God’s: men the makers of their own destinies, and Nemesis not directing, but following their actions. We go back to the very fundamentals of our nature on this dread question. To understand what has been called "a great law in human degeneracy," that "the evil heart can assimilate good to itself and convert it to its nature," we must understand what free will means, and take into account the terrible influence of habit. Now there is no more conspicuous instance of this law, than that which is afforded by the preaching of the Gospel of God. God’s Word, as Christ reminds us, does not fall on virgin soil; it falls on soil already holding other seed. When a preacher stands up with the Word of God in a great congregation, vast as Scripture warrants us for believing his power to be, his is not the only power that is operative. Each man present has a life behind that hour and place, lying away in the darkness, silent and dead as far as the congregation are concerned, but in his own heart as vivid and loud as the voice of the preacher, though he be preaching never so forcibly. The prophet is not the only power in the delivery of God’s Word, nor is the Holy Spirit the only power. That would make all preaching of the Word a mere display. But the Bible represents it as a strife. And now it is said of men themselves that they harden their hearts against the Word, and now-because such hardening is the result of previous sinning, and has therefore a judicial character-that God hardens their hearts. "Simon, Simon," said Christ to a face that spread out to His own all the ardour of worship, "Satan is desiring to have you, but I have prayed that your faith fail not." God sends His Word into our hearts; the Mediator stands by, and prays that it make us His own. But there are other factors in the operation, and the result depends on our own will; it depends on our own will, and it is dreadfully determined by our habits. Now this is one of the first facts to which a young reformer or prophet awakes. Such an awakening is a necessary element in his education and apprenticeship. He has seen the Lord high and lifted up. His lips have been touched by the coal from off the altar. His first feeling is that. nothing can withstand that power, nothing gainsay this inspiration. Is he a Nehemiah, and the hand of the Lord has been mighty upon him? Then he feels that he has but to tell his fellows of it to make them as enthusiastic in the Lord’s work as himself. Is he a Mazzini, aflame from his boyhood with aspiration for his country, consecrated from his birth to the cause of duty? Then he leaps with joy upon his mission; he has but to show himself, to speak, to lead the way, and his country is free. Is he-to descend to a lower degree of prophecy-a Fourier, sensitive more than most to how anarchic society is, and righteously eager to settle it upon stable foundations? Then he draws his plans for reconstruction, he projects his phalanges and phalansteres, and believes that he has solved the social problem. Is he-to come back to the heights-an Isaiah, with the Word of God in him like fire? Then he sees his vision of the perfect state; he thinks to lift his people to it by a word. "O house of Jacob," he says, "come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord!" For all of whom the next necessary stage of experience is one of disappointment, with the hard commission, "Make the heart of this people fat." They must learn that, if God has caught themselves young, and when it was possible to make them entirely His own, the human race to whom He sends them is old, too old for them to effect much upon the mass of it beyond the hardening and perpetuation of evil. Fourier finds that to produce his perfect State he would need to re-create mankind, to cut down the tree to the very roots, and begin again. After the first rush of patriotic fervour, which carried so many of his countrymen with him, Mazzini discovers himself in "a moral desert," confesses that the struggle to liberate his fatherland, which has only
- 49. quickened him tofurther devotion in so great a cause, has been productive of scepticism in his followers, and has left them withered and hardened of heart, whom it had found so capable of heroic impulses. He tells us how they upbraided and scorned him, left him in exile, and returned to their homes, from which they had set out with vows to die for their country, doubting now whether there was anything at all worth living or dying for outside themselves. Mazzini’s description of the first passage of his career is invaluable for the light which it throws upon this commission of Isaiah. History does not contain a more dramatic representation of the entirely opposite effects of the same Divine movement upon different natures. While the first efforts for the liberty of Italy materialised the greater number of his countrymen, whom Mazzini had persuaded to embark upon them, the failure and their consequent defection only served to strip this heroic soul of the last rags of selfishness, and consecrate it more utterly to the will of God and the duty that lay before it. A few sentences from the confessions of the Italian patriot may be quoted, with benefit to our appreciation of what the Hebrew prophet must have passed through. "It was the tempest of doubt, which I believe all who devote their lives to a great enterprise, yet have not dried and withered up their soul-like Robespierre-beneath some barren intellectual formula, but bare retained a loving heart, are doomed, once at least, to battle through. My heart was overflowing with and greedy of affection, as fresh and eager to unfold to joy as in the days when sustained by my mother’s smile, as full of fervid hope for others, at least, if not for myself. But during these fatal months there darkened round me such a hurricane of sorrow, disillusion, and deception as to bring before my eyes, in all its ghastly nakedness, a foreshadowing of the old age of my soul, solitary in a desert world, wherein no comfort in the struggle was vouchsafed to me. It was not only the overthrow for an indefinite period of every Italian hope; it was the falling to pieces of that moral edifice of faith and love from which alone I had derived strength for the combat; the scepticism I saw arising round me on every side; the failure of faith in those who had solemnly bound themselves to pursue unshaken the path we had known at the outset to be choked with sorrows; the distrust I detected in those most dear to me, as to the motives and intentions which sustained and urged me onward in the evidently unequal struggle When I felt that 1 was indeed alone in the world, I drew back in terror at the void before me. There. in that moral desert, doubt came upon me. Perhaps I was wrong, and the world right? Perhaps my idea was indeed a dream? One morning I awoke to find my mind tranquil and my spirit calmed, as one who has passed through a great danger. The first thought that passed across my spirit was, Your sufferings are the temptations of egotism, and arise from a misconception of life I perceived that although every instinct of my heart rebelled against that fatal and ignoble definition of life which makes it to be a search after happiness, yet I had not completely freed myself from the dominating influence exercised by it upon the age. I had been unable to realise the true ideal of love-love without earthly hope. Life is a mission, duty therefore its highest law. From the idea of God I descended to faith in a mission and its logical consequence-duty the supreme rule of life: and having reached that faith, I swore to myself that nothing in this world should again make me doubt or forsake it. It was, as Dante says, passing through martyrdom to peace-‘a forced and desperate peace’ I do not deny, for I fraternised with sorrow, and wrapped myself in it as in a mantle; but yet it was peace, for I learned to suffer without rebellion, and to live calmly and in harmony with my own spirit. I reverently bless God the Father for what consolations of affection-I can conceive of no other-He has vouchsafed to me in my later years; and in them I gather strength to struggle with the occasional return of weariness of existence. But even were these consolations denied me, I believe I should still be what I am. Whether the sun shine with the serene splendour of an Italian noon, or the leaden, corpse-like hue of the northern mist be above us, I cannot see that it changes our duty. God dwells above the earthly heaven and the holy stars of faith and the future still
- 50. shine with nour souls, even though their light consume itself unreflected as the sepulchral lamp." Such sentences are the best commentary we can offer on our text. The cases of the Hebrew and Italian prophets are wonderfully alike. We who have read Isaiah’s fifth chapter know how his heart also was "overflowing with and greedy of affection," and in the second and third chapters we have seen "the hurricane, of sorrow, disillusion, and deception darken round him." "The falling to pieces of the moral edifice of faith and love," "scepticism rising on every side," "failure of faith in those who had solemnly bound themselves," "distrust detected in those most dear to me" - and all felt by the prophet as the effect of the sacred movement God had inspired him to begin:-how exact a counterpart it is to the cumulative process of brutalising which Isaiah heard God lay upon him, with the imperative "Make the heart of this people fat!" In such a morally blind, deaf, and dead-hearted world Isaiah’s faith was indeed "to consume itself unreflected like the sepulchral lamp." The glimpse into his heart given us by Mazzini enables us to realise with what terror Isaiah faced such a void. "O Lord, how long?" This, too, breathes the air of "a forced and desperate peace," the spirit of one who, having realised life as a mission, has made the much more rare recognition that the logical consequence is neither the promise of success nor the assurance of sympathy, but simply the acceptance of duty, with whatever results and under whatever skies it pleases God to bring over him. "Until cities fall into ruin without an inhabitant And houses without a man, And the land be left desolately waste. And Jehovah have removed man far away, And great be the desert in the midst of the land; And still if there be a tenth in it, Even it shall be again for consuming. Like the terebinth, and like the oak. Whose stock when they are felled remaineth in them, The holy seed shall be its stock," The meaning of these words is too plain to require exposition, but we can hardly over-emphasise them. This is to be Isaiah’s one text throughout his career. "Judgment shall pass through; a remnant shall remain." All the policies of his day, the movement of the world’s forces, the devastation of the holy land, the first captivities of the holy people, the reiterated defeats and disappointments of the next fifty years-all shall be clear and tolerable to Isaiah as the fulfilling of the sentence to which he listened in such "forced and desperate peace" on the day of his consecration. He has had the worst branded into him; henceforth no man nor thing may trouble him. He has seen the worst, and knows there is a beginning beyond. So when the wickedness of Judah and the violence of Assyria alike seem most unrestrained-Assyria most bent on destroying Judah, and Judah least worthy to live-Isaiah will yet cling to this, that a remnant must remain. All his prophecies will be variations of this text; it is the key to his apparent paradoxes. He will proclaim the Assyrians to be God’s instrument, yet devote them to destruction. He will hail their advance on Judah, and yet as exultingly mark its limit, because of the determination in which he asked the question, "O Lord, how long?" and the clearness with which he understood the until, that came in answer to it. Every prediction he makes, every turn he seeks to give to the practical politics of Judah, are simply due to his grasp of these two facts-a withering and repeated devastation, in the end a bare survival. He has, indeed, prophecies which travel farther; occasionally he is permitted to indulge in visions of a new dispensation. Like
- 51. Moses, he climbshis Pisgah, but he is like Moses also in this, that his lifetime is exhausted with the attainment of the margin of a long period of judgment and struggle, and then he passes from our sight, and no man knoweth his sepulchre unto this day. As abruptly as this vision closes with the announcement of the remnant, so abruptly does Isaiah disappear on the fulfilment of the announcement-some forty years subsequent to this vision-in the sudden rescue of the holy seed from the grasp of Sennacherib. We have now finished the first period of Isaiah’s career. Let us catalogue what are his leading doctrines up to this point. High above a very sinful people, and beyond all their conceptions of Him, Jehovah, the national God, rises holy, exalted in righteousness. From such a God to such a people it can only be judgment and affliction that pass; and these shall not be averted by the fact that He is the national God, and they His worshippers. Of this affliction the Assyrians gathering far off upon the horizon are evidently to be the instruments. The affliction shall be very sweeping; again and again shall it come; but the Lord will finally save a remnant of His people. Three elements compose this preaching-a very keen and practical conscience of sin; an overpowering vision of God, in whose immediate intimacy the prophet believes himself to be; and a very sharp perception of the politics of the day. One question rises. In this part of Isaiah’s ministry there is no trace of that Figure whom we chiefly identify with his preaching; the Messiah. Let us have patience; it is not time for Him; but the following is His connection with the prophet’s present doctrines. Isaiah’s great result at present is the certainty of a remnant. That remnant will require two things-they will require a rallying-point, and they will require a leader. Henceforth Isaiah’s prophesying will be bent to one or other of these. The two grand purposes of his word and work will be, for the sake of the remnant, the inviolateness of Zion, and the coming of the Messiah. The former he has, indeed, already intimated (chapter 4); the latter is now to share with it his hope and eloquence. 10. MACLAREN, “THE EMPTY THRONE FILLED Uzziah had reigned for fifty-two years, during the greater part of which he and his people had been brilliantly prosperous. Victorious in war, he was also successful in the arts of peaceful industry. The later years of his life were clouded, but on the whole the reign had been a time of great well-being. His son and successor was a young man of five-and-twenty; and when he came to the throne ominous war-clouds were gathering in the North, and threatening to drift to Judah. No wonder that the prophet, like other thoughtful patriots, was asking himself what was to come in these anxious days, when the helm was in new hands, which, perhaps, were not strong enough to hold it. Like a wise man, he took his thoughts into the sanctuary; and there he understood. As he brooded, this great vision was disclosed to his inward eye. ‘In the year that King Uzziah died’ is a great deal more than a date for chronological purposes. It tells us not only the when, but the why, of the vision. The earthly king was laid in the grave; but the prophet saw that the true King of Israel was neither the dead Uzziah nor the young Jotham, but the Lord of hosts. And, seeing that, fears and forebodings and anxieties and the sense of loss, all vanished; and new strength came to Isaiah. He went into the temple laden with anxious thoughts; he came out of it with a springy step and a lightened heart, and the resolve ‘Here am I; send me.’ There are some lessons that seem to me of great importance for the conduct of our daily life which may be gathered from this remarkable vision, with the remarkable note of time that is appended to it. Now, before I pass on, let me remind you, in a word, of that apparently audacious commentary upon this great vision, which the Evangelist John gives us: ‘These things said Esaias, when he had beheld His glory and spake of Him.’ Then the Christ is the manifest Jehovah; is the King of
- 52. Glory. Then thevision which was but a transitory revelation is the revelation of an eternal reality, and ‘the vision splendid’ does not ‘fade but brightens, into the light of common day’; when instead of being flashed only on the inward eye of a prophet, it is made flesh and walks amongst us, and lives our life, and dies our death. Our eyes have seen the King in as true a reality, and in better fashion, than ever Isaiah did amid the sanctities of the Temple. And the eyes that have seen only the near foreground, the cultivated valleys, and the homes of men, are raised, and lo! the long line of glittering peaks, calm, silent, pure. Who will look at the valleys when the Himalayas stand out, and the veil is drawn aside? I. Let me say a word or two about the ministration of loss and sorrow in preparing for the vision. It was when ‘King Uzziah died’ that the prophet ‘saw the Lord sitting upon the throne.’ If the Throne of Israel had not been empty, he would not have seen the throned God in the heavens. And so it is with all our losses, with all our sorrows, with all our disappointments, with all our pains; they have a mission to reveal to us the throned God. The possession of the things that are taken away from us, the joys which our sorrows smite into dust, have the same mission, and the highest purpose of every good, of every blessing, of every possession, of every gladness, of all love-the highest mission is to lead us to Him. But, just as men will frost a window, so that the light may come in but the sight cannot go out, so by our own fault and misuse of the good things which are meant to lead us up to, and to show us, God, we frost and darken the window so that we cannot see what it is meant to show us. And then a mighty and merciful hand shivers the painted glass into fragments, because it has been dimming ‘the white radiance of Eternity.’ And though the casement may look gaunt, and the edges of the broken glass may cut and wound, yet the view is unimpeded. When the gifts that we have misused are withdrawn, we can see the heaven that they too often hide from us. When the leaves drop there is a wider prospect. When the great tree is fallen there is opened a view of the blue above. When the night falls the stars sparkle. When other props are struck away we can lean our whole weight upon God. When Uzziah dies the King becomes visible. Is that what our sorrows, our pains, losses, disappointments do for us? Well for those to whom loss is gain, because it puts them in possession of the enduring riches! Well for those to whom the passing of all that can pass is a means of revealing Him who ‘is the same yesterday, and to- day, and for ever’! The message to us of all these our pains and griefs is ‘Come up hither.’ In them all our Father is saying to us, ‘Seek ye My face.’ Well for those who answer, ‘Thy face, Lord, will I seek. Hide not Thy face far from me.’ Let us take care that we do not waste our griefs and sorrows. They absorb us sometimes with vain regrets. They jaundice and embitter us sometimes with rebellious thoughts. They often break the springs of activity and of interest in others, and of sympathy with others. But their true intention is to draw back the thin curtain, and to show us ‘the things that are,’ the realities of the throned God, the skirts that fill the Temple, the hovering seraphim, and the coal from the altar that purges. II. Let me suggest how our text shows us the compensation that is given for all losses. As I have pointed out already, the thought conveyed to the prophet by this vision was not only the general one, of God’s sovereign rule, but the special one of His rule over and for, and His protection of, the orphan kingdom which had lost its king. The vision took the special shape that the moment required. It was because the earthly king was dead that the living, heavenly King was revealed. So there is just suggested by it this general thought, that the consciousness of God’s presence and work for us takes in each heart the precise shape that its momentary necessities and
- 53. circumstances require. Thatinfinite fulness is of such a nature as that it will assume any form for which the weakness and the need of the dependent creature call. Like the one force which scientists now are beginning to think underlies all the various manifestations of energy in nature, whether they be named light, heat, motion, electricity, chemical action, or gravitation, the one same vision of the throned God, manifest in Jesus Christ, is protean. Here it flames as light, there burns as heat, there flashes as electricity; here as gravitation holds the atoms together, there as chemical energy separated and decomposes them; here results in motion, there in rest; but is the one force. And so the one God will become everything and anything that every man, and each man, requires. He shapes himself according to our need. The water of life does not disdain to take the form imposed upon it by the vessel into which it is poured. The Jews used to say that the manna in the wilderness tasted to each man as each man desired. And the God, who comes to us all, comes to us each in the shape that we need; just as He came to Isaiah in the manifestation of His kingly power, because the throne of Judah was vacated. So when our hearts are sore with loss, the New Testament Manifestation of the King, even Jesus Christ, comes to us and says, ‘The same is my mother and sister and brother,’ and His sweet love compensates for the love that can die, and that has died. When losses come to us He draws near, as durable riches and righteousness. In all our pains He is our anodyne, and in all our griefs He brings the comfort; He is all in all, and each withdrawn gift is compensated, or will be compensated, to each in Him. So, dear friends, let us learn God’s purpose in emptying hearts and chairs and homes. He empties them that He may fill them with Himself. He takes us, if I might so say, into the darkness, as travellers to the south are to-day passing through Alpine tunnels, in order that He may bring us out into the land where ‘God Himself is sun and moon,’ and where there are ampler ether and brighter constellations than in these lands where we dwell. He means that, when Uzziah dies, our hearts shall see the King. And for all mourners, for all tortured hearts, for all from whom stays have been stricken and resources withdrawn, the old word is true: ‘Lord shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.’ Let me recall to you what I have already insisted on more than once, that the perfecting of this vision is in the historical fact of the Incarnate Son. Jesus Christ shows us God. Jesus Christ is the King of Glory. If we will go to Him, and fix our eyes and hearts on Him, then losses may come, and we shall be none the poorer; death may unclasp our hands from dear hands, but He will close a dearer one round the hand that is groping for a stay; and nothing can betaken away but He will more than fill the gap it leaves by His own sweet presence. If our eyes behold the King, if we are like John the Seer in his rocky Patmos, and see the Christ in His glory and royalty, then He will lay His hands on us and say, ‘Fear not! Weep not; I am the First and the Last,’ and forebodings, and fears, and sense of loss will all be changed into trustfulness and patient submission. ‘Seeing Him, who is invisible,’ we shall be able to endure and to toil, until the time when the vision of earth is perfected by the beholding of heaven. Blessed are they who with purged eyes see, and with yielding hearts obey, the heavenly vision, and turn to the King and offer themselves for any service He may require, saying, ‘Here am I; send me.’ Isaiah 6:1-13 VISION AND SERVICE WE may deal with this text as falling into three parts: the vision, its effect on the prophet, and his commission.
- 54. I. The Vision.-’Inthe year that King Uzziah died’ is more than a date for chronological accuracy. It tells not only when, but why, the vision was given. The throne of David was empty. God never empties places in our homes and hearts, or in the nation or the Church, without being ready to fill them. He sometimes empties them that He may fill them. Sorrow and loss are meant to prepare us for the vision of God, and their effect should be to purge the inward eye, that it may see Him. When the leaves drop from the forest trees we can see the blue sky which their dense abundance hid. Well for us if the passing of all that can pass drives us to Him who cannot pass, if the unchanging God stands out more clear, more near, more dear, because of change. As to the substance of this vision, we need not discuss whether, if we had been there, we should have seen anything. It was doubtless related to Isaiah’s thoughts, for God does not send visions which have no point of contact in the recipient. However communicated, it was a divine communication, and a temporary unveiling of an eternal reality. The form was transient, but Isaiah then saw for a moment ‘the things which are’ and always are. The essential point of the vision is the revelation of Jehovah as king of Judah. That relation guaranteed defence and demanded obedience. It was a sure basis of hope, but also a stringent motive to loyalty, and it had its side of terror as well as of joyfulness. ‘You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.’ The place of vision is the heavenly sanctuary of which the temple was a prophecy. Eminently significant and characteristic of the whole genius of the Old Testament is the absence of any description of the divine appearance. The prophet saw things ‘which it is not lawful for a man to utter,’ and his silence is not only reverent, but more eloquent than any attempt to put the Ineffable into words. Even in this act of manifestation God was veiled, and ‘there was the hiding of His power.’ The train of His robe can be spoken of, but not the form which it concealed even in revealing it. Nature is the robe of God. It hides while it discloses, and discloses while it hides. The hovering seraphim were in the attitude of service. They are probably represented as fiery forms, but are spoken of nowhere else in Scripture. The significance of their attitude has been well given by Jewish commentators, who say, ‘with two he covered his face that he might not see, and with two he covered his body that he might not be seen’ and we may add, ‘with two he stood ready for service, by flight whithersoever the King would send.’ Such awe-stricken reverence, such humble hiding of self, such alacrity for swift obedience, such flaming ardours of love and devotion, should be ours. Their song celebrated the holiness and the glory of Jehovah of hosts. We must ever remember that the root-meaning of ‘holiness’ is separation, and that the popular meaning of moral purity is secondary and derivative. What is rapturously sung in the threefold invocation of the seraphs is the infinite exaltation of Jehovah above all creatural conditions, limitations, and, we may add, conceptions. That separation, of course, includes purity, as may be seen from the immediate effect of the vision on the prophet, but the conception is much wider than that. Very beautifully does the second line of the song re-knit the connection between Jehovah and this world, so far beneath Him, which the burst of praise of His holiness seems to sever. The high heaven is a bending arch; its inaccessible heights ray down sunshine and drop down rain, and, as in the physical world, every plant grows by Heaven’s gift, so in the world of humanity all wisdom, goodness, and joy are from the Father of lights. God’s ‘glory’ is the flashing lustre of His manifested holiness, which fills the earth as the train of the robe filled the temple. The vibrations of that mighty hymn shook the ‘foundations of the threshold’ (Rev. Ver.) with its thunderous harmonies. ‘The house was filled with smoke’ which, since it was an effect of the seraph’s praise, is best explained as referring to the fragrant smoke of incense which, as we know, symbolised ‘the prayers of saints.’ II. The effect of the vision on the prophet.-The vision kindled as with a flash Isaiah’s consciousness of sin. He expressed it in regard to his words rather than his works, partly because in one aspect speech is even more accurately than act a cast, as it were, of character, and
- 55. partly because hecould not but feel the difference between the mighty music that burst from these pure and burning lips and the words that flowed from and soiled his own. Not only the consciousness of sin, but the dread of personal evil consequences from the vision of the holy God, oppressed his heart. We see ourselves when we see God. Once flash on a heart the thought of God’s holiness, and, like an electric searchlight, it discloses flaws which pass unnoticed in dimmer light. The easy-going Christianity, which is the apology for religion with so many of us, has no deep sense of sin, because it has no clear vision of God. ‘I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth Thee: wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.’ The next stage in Isaiah’s experience is that sin recognised and confessed is burned away. Cleansing rather than forgiveness is here emphasised. The latter is, of course, included, but the main point is the removal of impurity. It is mediated by one of the seraphim, who is the messenger of God, which is just a symbolical way of saying that God makes penitents ‘partakers of His holiness,’ and that nothing less than a divine communication will make cleansing possible. It is effected by a live coal. Fire is purifying, and the New Testament has taught us that the true cleansing fire is that of the Holy Spirit. But that live coal was taken from the altar. The atoning sacrifice has been offered there, and our cleansing depends on the efficacy of that sacrifice being applied to us. The third stage in the prophet’s experience is the readiness for service which springs up in his purged heart. God seeks for volunteers. There are no pressed men in His army. The previous experiences made Isaiah quick to hear God’s call, and willing to respond to it by personal consecration. Take the motive-power of redemption from sin out of Christianity, and you break its mainspring, so that the clock will only tick when it is shaken. It is the Christ who died for our sins to whom men say, ‘Command what Thou wilt, and I obey.’ III. The prophet’s commission.-He was not sent on his work with any illusions as to its success, but, on the contrary, he had a clear premonition that its effect would be to deepen the spiritual deafness and blindness of the nation. We must remember that in Scripture the certain effect of divine acts is uniformly regarded as a divine design. Israel was so sunk in spiritual deadness that the issue of the prophet’s work would only be to immerse the mass of ‘this people’ farther in it. To some more susceptible souls his message would be a true divine voice, rousing them like a trumpet, and that effect was what God desired; but to the greater number it would deepen their torpor and increase their condemnation. If men love darkness rather than light, the coming of the light works only judgment. Isaiah recoils from the dreary prospect, and feels that this dreadful hardening cannot be God’s ultimate purpose for the nation. So he humbly and wistfully asks how long it is to last. The answer is twofold, heavy with a weight of apparently utter ruin in its first part, but disclosing a faint, far-off gleam of hope on its second. Complete destruction, and the casting of Israel out from the land, are to come. But as, though a goodly tree is felled, a stump remains which has vital force (or substance) in it, so, even in the utmost apparent desperateness of Israel’s state, there will be in it ‘the holy seed,’ the ‘remnant,’ the true Israel, from which again the life shall spring, and stem and branches and waving foliage once more grow up. 11. SBC, “I. "I saw the Lord," etc. Some of you may have been watching a near and beautiful landscape in the land of mountains and eternal snows, till you have been exhausted by its very richness, and till the distant hills which bounded it have seemed, you knew not why, to limit and contract the view; and then a veil has been withdrawn, and new hills, not looking as if they belonged to this earth, yet giving another character to all that does belong to it, have unfolded themselves before you. This is a very imperfect likeness of that revelation which must have been
- 56. made to theinner eye of the prophet, when he saw another throne than the throne of the house of David, another King than Uzziah or Jotham, another train than that of priests or minstrels in the temple, other winged forms than those golden ones which overshadowed the mercy-seat. II. "Above the throne stood the seraphim," etc. The sense of awe increasing with the clearness and purity of a spirit, and with the nearness of its approach to God; the face being veiled which receives its light from Him, and most covets to behold Him; the absence of all wish to display their own perfections in spirits that are perfect; the freedom and willingness to go anywhere, to do any errands of mercy,—these are some of the more obvious thoughts which the study of this vision suggests. III. The vision reaches its highest point in the cry, Holy, holy, holy. It is the holiness of God which the seraphim proclaim, that which cannot be represented to the eye, that of which descriptions and symbols offer no image. It was this which led the prophet to say, "Woe is me! for I am undone." IV. The live coal on the altar is a substance dead and cold in itself, which has been kindled from above, and therefore is capable of imparting life and warmth. That warmth and life, communicated to the prophet, take away his iniquity and purge his sin. V. "Here am I; send me." The mighty change which has been wrought in him is soon apparent. He is sure that God cares for Israelites, and has a message to them; he is sure that a man is to be the bearer of that message. The new fire which has entered into him makes him ready to offer himself as that man. VI. The most awful lesson which Isaiah had to teach his people was that God’s own ordinances, the regular sequence of sovereigns, the duties and symbols of the temple, were contributing to make their eyes dim, and their ears deaf, and their hearts fat. They were seeing all the outward tokens of an invisible King, but they perceived not Him. VII. "Yet in it shall be a tenth." The nation will be preserved; the remnant, the tenth, would be a pledge and witness of its preservation. Their preservation would prove that the nation was a sacred and immortal thing, because the holy seed was in the midst of it, because it did not derive its life or its unity from this or that believing man, or from a multitude of believing men; but from Him in whom they believed; from that Divine King who lived, though king Uzziah and all other kings died,—nay, though the whole land should seem to die. F. D. Maurice, Prophets and Kings of the Old Testament, p. 218. Reference: Isa_6:1.—J. W. Lance, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xx., p. 244. Isaiah 6:1-2 I. The spiritual or angelic life on earth consists not only of devotion. The seraph himself, though indeed the spirit of adoration is upon him always, is not always engaged in direct acts of praise. "With twain he did fly," speed forth, like lightning, upon the errands on which God sends him. There is a deep-seated necessity for work in the constitution of our nature. One of the greatest thinkers of antiquity defined happiness to be "an energy of the soul." The reason why activity fails in numberless instances to secure happiness is that it is separated from God, that it is not in His service and interests. II. There is a contemplative element in the service of the seraphim—their activity is fed from the springs of their devotion. And so it must be with God’s human servants. The activity which flows from ambition, the diligence which is purely mechanical and the result of habit, is not angelic
- 57. diligence and activity.To attempt to lead the spiritual life without devotion is even a greater mistake than to go apart from our duties in order to lead it. Our flying on God’s errands will be an unhallowed flight, if we do not first secretly adore Him in our hearts. E. M. Goulburn, Thoughts on Personal Religion, p. 30. Isaiah 6:1-3 We have here in this wondrous vision the proper inauguration of the great evangelical prophet to his future work. I. First, he gives the date of the vision. "In the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord." What would he say but this: "In the year when the crowned monarch of the earth went down into the dust and darkness of the tomb, and all the pomp and pageantry which had surrounded him for a little while dissolved and disappeared, I saw another king, even the King Immortal, sitting upon His throne, which is forever and ever"? How simply and yet how grandly are earth and heaven here brought together, and the fleeting phantoms of one set over against the abiding realities of the other! II. What is the first impression which this glorious vision makes upon the prophet? His first cry is not that of exultation and delight, but rather of consternation and dismay. "Woe is me! for I am undone." He who had uttered this cry was one who had kept himself from his iniquity, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience; and yet in that terrible light he saw and avowed himself as a man undone, saw stains in himself which he had not imagined before, discovered impurities which he had not dreamt of before, saw his own sin and his people’s sin, till that mighty cry of anguish was wrung from him. Yet that moment, with all its dreadfulness, was a passage into a true life. III. Observe the manner in which the guilt of sin is here, as evermore in Holy Scripture, spoken of as taken away by a free act of God,—an act of His in which man is passive; in which he has, so to speak, to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord,—an act to which he can contribute nothing, save indeed only that divinely awakened hunger of the soul after the benefit which we call faith. It is quite another thing with the power of sin. In the subduing of the power of sin we must be fellow-workers with God; all the faculties of our renewed nature will need to be strained to the uttermost. IV. Behold the joyful readiness with which the prophet now offers himself for the service of His God. "Here am I; send me." He stops not to inquire whereunto the Lord would send him, to undertake what painful labour, to drink what cup of suffering, to be baptized with what baptism of blood. Be the task what it may, he is ready for it. R. C. Trench, Sermons New and Old, p. 98 (see also Sermons Preached in Ireland, p. 166). References: Isa_6:1-3.—M. Nicholson, Communion with Heaven, p. 57; R. W. Forrest, Christian World Pulpit, vol. i., p. 492. Isa_6:1-4.—Homilist, Excelsior series, vol. ii., p. 347. Isaiah 6:1-8 I. Consider what the prophet saw. He sees Jehovah as Ruler, Governor, King; He is upon a throne, high and lifted up. It is the throne of absolute sovereignty: of resistless, questionless
- 58. supremacy over all.He is in the temple where the throne is the mercy-seat, between the cherubim; over the ark of the covenant, which is the symbol and seal of friendly communion. His train, the skirts of His wondrous garment of light and love, filled the temple. Above, or upon, that train stood the seraphim. These are not, as I take it, angelic or super-angelic spirits, but the Divine Spirit Himself, the Holy Ghost, appearing thus in the aspect and attitude of gracious ministry. With this great sight voice and movement are joined. A voice of adoring awe fills the august temple with the echoing sound. The voice occasions commotion, excitement, shaken door-posts, the smoke of the glorious cloudy fire filling all the house. II. How the prophet felt. It is a thorough prostration. He falls on his face as one dead. He cannot stand that Divine presence—that living, personal, Divine presence—abruptly confronting him in the inmost shrine of the Lord’s sanctuary, and the sanctuary of his own heart. What the Lord really is, thus flashing on his conscience, shows him what he is himself. Undone! unclean! Unclean in the very sphere and line of living in which I ought to be most scrupulously clean! III. How the prophet’s case was met. There, full in his view, is an altar with its sacrifice; present to him then, though future; with a living coal from that living altar, the blessed Spirit touches him at the very point of his deepest self-despair. And the effect is as immediate as the touch. Nothing comes in between. Enough that there are, on the one side, the unclean lips, and on the other the live coal from off the altar. To the one let the other be applied, graciously, effectually, by the sevenfold, myriadfold, agency of the Spirit who is ever before the throne on high. The prophet asks nothing more. He hears the voice, as of Him who said, "Thy sins be forgiven thee." "Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." IV. The subsequent offer and command. Two things are noticeable here: the grace of God in allowing the prophet, thus exercised, to be a volunteer for service; and the unreservedness of the prophet’s volunteering. It is no half-hearted purpose, conditional on circumstances; but the full, single-eyed heartiness of one loving much, because forgiven much, that breaks out in the frank, unqualified, unconditional self-enlistment and self-enrolment in the Lord’s host,—"Here am I; send me." R. S. Candlish, Sermons, p. 86. 12. PULPIT, “The vision of God. Sight is a thing of degrees. The healthy eye sees with infinite shades of distinctness and indistinctness, according to the amount of light which is vouchsafed it. The diseased eye has an equal variety of gradation in its powers of seeing, owing to the variations in its own condition. And it is with our spiritual as with our natural sight. The vision which men have of God varies infinitely with varying circumstances— from extreme dimness up to perfect distinctness. Amid this infinitude of gradation, depending mainly on the internal condition of the visual power, three main varieties, depending on the circumstances under which the spiritual sight exerts itself, may be distinguished. I. THE NATURAL VISION OF GOD IN THIS LIFE. This is, even in the best men, dim and unsatisfying. "Now we see through a glass darkly" (1Co_13:12). We have to look within us and without us; and, among
- 59. the confused shadowsof things, as sight and memory and imagination present them to us, we have to piece together a conception of that mysterious and inscrutable Power which alone exists of itself and has brought all that is beside itself into existence. How should not the vision be unsatisfactory? Agnosticism denies that any conception which we can form can possibly bear any resemblance at all to the reality, if there be a reality. Agnosticism, to be consistent, ought not to go so far, but should content itself with saying that we cannot tell whether there be a resemblance or no. Some conception, however, of God all men form who reflect at all; and there is so much likeness among the conceptions of men of all times and countries as to point to some basis of truth underlying them all as the only conceivable ground of the similarity. The conceptions differ less in their essential character than in their vividness and their continuousness. Most men "see God" dimly and rarely—by snatches, and as through a cloud or mist. A small number have a somewhat clearer and more frequent vision. To a few only is it given to "set God always before their face," and to see him with something approaching to distinctness. II. THE ECSTATIC VISION OF GOD IN THIS LIFE. It has been the privilege of some great saints to be lifted up from earth into that condition which is called ecstasy, and while in that state to have a vision of God. In ecstasy Moses saw "the glory of God" from the "cleft in the rock" on his second ascent of Sinai (Exo_33:18-23; Exo_34:6-8). In ecstasy Isaiah now saw him. In ecstasy Ezekiel saw him "by the river of Chebar" (Eze_1:26-28). So St. John the divine beheld him in the island of Patmos (Rev_4:2-11). The exact nature of such visions we do not know; but it is only reasonable to suppose that they were, to those favored with them, revelations of God more distinct, more vivid, more satisfying, than any which belong to the ordinary course of nature, even to those which are vouchsafed to the "pure in heart" (Mat_5:8). They fall short in respect of duration; they are transient—some of them, perhaps, momentary. But their vividness seems to have so impressed them on the beholders as to have given them a quasi- permanency in the recollection, which made them possessions for life, and gave them an undying influence on the character. III. THE BEATIFIC VISION OF GOD IN ANOTHER LIFE. What this is no tongue of man can tell. "Eye hath not seen," etc. We know only what the Word of God declares. "Then shall we see him face to face; then shall we know even as we are known," (1Co_13:12). That this vision transcends even the ecstatic one is reasonably concluded, from its being the final reward of God's saints—the beatitude beyond which there is none other (Rev_22:4). But it is scarcely reverent to speculate on a theme so far above human imagining. Even Bishop Butler seems to overstep the just limit, when he supposes the beatific vision to include the contemplation of the scheme of the universe in the mind of him who contrived it. We shall not know what the beatific vision is until we are admitted to it. Perhaps it will not be the same to all. Probably, as on earth "the eye sees that which it brings with it the power of seeing," so, in the world beyond the grave, the vision of God will stand in a certain correlation with the seeing faculty of the beholders. All will "see his face," but all will not be capable of receiving from the sight that which it will convey to some. There are degrees of happiness in the next world no less than in the present. If we
- 60. would derive fromthat blessed sight all that God intended man to derive from it, we must in this life cultivate the power of "seeing God" and delighting in the contemplation of him. 13. GREAT TEXTS, “The Making of a Missionary In the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the foundations of the thresholds were moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, 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 mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he touched my mouth with it, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. And 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.—Isa_6:1-8. This chapter is one of the most important in the history of revelation. Like a picture of wonderful beauty and subtle suggestion, it will repay repeated and careful study. The great words of the chapter are heard and spoken in vision, but they cannot be called visionary in any shallow sense; they are intensely practical, they contain the prophet’s call, they give the keynote of his life, and sum up in a few striking sentences the spirit and purpose of his ministry. The vision shows us how Isaiah became a prophet, and gives the secret of his strong, consistent career in the words, “Mine eyes have seen the King.” The passage is particularly rich in material for the expositor and the preacher. Although it will be taken Here as a single great text, there is enough for a sermon in every verse of it, enough sometimes in a part of a verse. It has received many titles. The most popular title is, “The Making of a Prophet.” Perhaps that title should be enlarged now into “The Making of a Missionary,” letting it be understood, however, that the word “missionary” means anyone who is sent to do any work for God. The passage is easily and almost inevitably divided into three parts— 1. A Vision of God, Isa_6:1-4. 2. A Vision of Self, Isa_6:5-7. 3. A Vision of Duty, Isa_6:8. I A Vision of God There is an essential difference between the prophets of early times and the writing prophets. That difference is that the latter are conscious of an express call, at a definite moment, by Jehovah to their
- 61. office. We havenot an actual account of this in the case of all of them, but its preciseness in the case of five justifies our assuming that from the time of Amos onwards a similar call was experienced by all true prophets of Jehovah. The call to be a prophet surprised Amos in the midst of occupations of a wholly different kind—Jehovah took him from the herd. According to Hos_1:2 the commencement of Hosea’s prophetic ministry was contemporaneous with his recognition that Jehovah intended even the prophet’s unhappy experiences in his married life to be a reflection of Israel’s relation to Himself. Isaiah records a vision that he had in the year King Uzziah died, when the Divine commission was given him to drive the people by his message into ever-increasing obduracy. Attempts have been made to explain this vision— the only one in Isaiah—as simply the literary garb invented for inward reflections and conflicts, so that the prophet’s own determination would take the place of an express Divine call. But all such attempts are shattered by the earnest terms of the narrative, which will not permit us to think but of a real occurrence. The very same is the impression we receive from Jeremiah’s record of his call in the thirteenth year of Josiah. Quite remarkable there is the emphasis laid (Isa_1:5) on the choice and consecration of Jeremiah to the prophetic office even before his birth. How could anyone invent a thing of this kind and proclaim it as a word addressed to him by God? But as little could he have added the supplementary invention that he tried to evade the Divine commission (v. 7) by pleading want of skill in speaking, and youth. On the contrary, we must see here an experience the prophet once had which left an ineffaceable impression upon his memory. In the case of Ezekiel, his exact dating of his first vision (Isa_1:1-2) by year, month, and day is the pledge that he, too, is conscious that his call to be a prophet (Isa_2:3 ff.) was a definite occurrence. 1 [Note: E. Kautzsch, in Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible, v. p. 672b.] The normal mode, says Whitehouse, by which Christian ministers and statesmen have been led to realise their vocation constitutes the most interesting point in their life-story, because it is the turning-point. Among Christian statesmen we would instance the Englishman John Bright and the American Senator Sumner. The case of John Bright is not without its partial parallel to that of Hosea. That of Senator Sumner has been portrayed in Whittier’s immortal verses, beginning— No trumpet sounded in his ear, He saw not Sinai’s cloud and flame; But never yet to Hebrew seer A clearer voice of duty came. i. The Occasion of the Vision “In the year that King Uzziah died.” There is more than a date given here; there is a great contrast suggested. Prophecy does not chronicle by time, but by experiences, and we have here, as it seems, the cardinal experience of a prophet’s life. 1. Uzziah.—Of all the kings of Israel none had done so much for the nation as King Uzziah, save only David. Solomon’s greatness was largely inherited. He certainly stands a figure more splendid than Uzziah, but not of as great service. Coming to the throne when a lad of sixteen, for more than fifty years Uzziah reigned in Jerusalem wisely and well. Under the guidance of one Zechariah, of whom all we know is this, that he “had understanding in the vision of God,” the youth Uzziah sought the Lord, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper. He drove back the Philistines and many another tribe that had encroached upon Israel’s domain, so that his name was spread abroad even to Egypt. At home he was always busy seeing after the welfare of his people. He strengthened Jerusalem with fortified towers, and set up towers for the protection of those in the pastures and plains. Careful about the water supply, he digged many wells. He had husbandmen busied with cattle; and planted vines on the mountain slopes.
- 62. “He loved husbandry,”we read,—an honest and healthy love that it were well if we could all encourage and exercise. He turned to account the inventions of cunning men. Altogether a man whose name spread far abroad, associated with all that was beneficent and prosperous: “he was marvellously helped,” we are told, “till he was strong.” But—ah, there comes this black and dreadful “but”—But when he was strong his heart was lifted up to his destruction. There came a day—probably some day of high festival, when he made a feast to the lords and chief captains; and the power of the wine, and the power of a yet more intoxicating flattery, prompted him to a deed that was his ruin. Arrayed in all his splendour the king comes to the Temple and demands in his haughty pride to usurp the authority of the priest, and to burn incense on the altar. The priests, those of them that were valiant men, rose up, and stayed the intruder, king though he was. For a moment Uzziah stood face to face with the priests, the golden censer in his hand, furious at their opposition. Would they lift their hand against the king, and such a king as he? Then suddenly the rage resulted, as it is believed to have done in other cases, in the manifestation of leprosy. Suddenly on that face, flushed in its anger, under the royal crown, spread the ghastly whiteness. He felt that God had smitten him. A king no more; one from whom all men shrank—he went forth from the palace and throne and court. And all the nation spake of him with bated breath, suppressing the very name, “He is a leper.” 2. Isaiah.—Isaiah seems to have spent the whole, or the greater part, of his life in the city of Jerusalem; for many years he was the most remarkable figure, and sometimes the most influential man, in that city. The tribes of Israel had again been broken into discordant division, and Jerusalem was at that time the centre of only a small kingdom; but this man and his band of disciples set at work spiritual influences of greater significance for the higher life of the world. Though the Jerusalem of his day was full of feebleness, folly, and wickedness, we can trace in his teaching the beginnings of a new Jerusalem, Zion, the city of the Great King, which shall not pass away. He was a young man when he saw the vision; as he stood at the opening of his great career he was led to look into the heart of things, and to see the real meaning of his life. Probably it was later in his life when he wrote down this statement for the use of his disciples and the service of the Church. Before he committed it to the care of men who loved him and who would cherish his memory, he had often pondered its meaning and proved its power. He remembered that the decisive moment of his life came in the year of King Uzziah’s death. When the proud, successful king had been brought low by disease, and had passed under the shadow of death, the young patriot was called to see the spiritual temple and the Eternal King. Life is full of change; high rank and worldly success cannot resist the attack of decay and death; how important, then, for the young man to learn that there is an unchanging kingdom, and a King supreme in majesty and righteousness. Read the memoirs of Isaiah, and you will see how intense and intimate was the part he played in the life and movement of his age. One day you will find him at the Temple, scathing with scornful reprobation the hypocrisy and hollowness of the established ritual of religion. Another time he has taken his stand over against the fashionable promenade of Jerusalem, and as he watches the passing procession of pomp and opulence, built up on the misery and degradation of defenceless poverty, his heart grows hot with honest indignation, and he breaks into impassioned invective against the stream of selfish luxury, as it rolls by with a smiling face and a cruel heart. Again, he forces his way into a meeting of the Privy Council, fearlessly confronts the king and his advisers, denounces the iniquity of a faithless foreign policy, and sternly demands its abandonment. In every department of national life, in every section of social and religious existence, his voice was heard and his personality felt. Yet nobody ever mistook him for a mere politician, philanthropist, or reformer. He was ever, and was ever felt to be, a prophet. 3. It was in the year that King Uzziah died that this strange sight was seen by this inhabitant of Jerusalem. Most probably it was soon after the king died, perhaps immediately after. For though, in the general heading of the prophecies, Isaiah is said to have prophesied in the days of Uzziah, that heading is not to be pressed so far as to make it assert that he had actually prophesied in the lifetime of Uzziah; what is meant is that his prophetic ministry extended all through the reign of Jotham, even from the very year that King Uzziah died. This inaugural vision and prophecy was given so near the death of Uzziah that it might be said to be in the days of that renowned king. Perhaps it was given immediately after his death; it might be when, though dead, he had not yet been laid in the grave. It was a vision that might well have been suggested by such a momentous death, the death of one once a king, and one so powerful, holding such
- 63. a place amongthe forces of society, bridling them with so firm a hand, a hand now relaxed, leaving the unquiet humours of the land to assert themselves, and draw the State on to its destruction. We might even fancy, without unduly stretching fancy, that Isaiah, who, though not yet a prophet, appears to have been a citizen of high rank, and perhaps familiar at the court, had this vision presented to him a little after he had come out of the royal chamber where the deceased monarch lay in state. Perhaps he had been permitted to enter along with the common crowd of subjects, who pressed in to render their last act of homage; and though he had seemed to walk round the bier, and linger a moment to look upon the still face, as mechanically as any of them, it was with very different thoughts in his heart. It was a dead king that lay before him. And though the presence of death in any form might have suggested the first half of the vision—the unseen world within this world—only the sight of a dead king could have led Isaiah’s mind to draw that comprehensive sketch of the history and the destiny of his nation with which the chapter ends. Those eternal, changeless sights are reflected in the face, rapt but unmoved; the grandeur, the unchanging flow of eternity, the awful face of God, holding the mind in an absorbed stillness, so that emotion ebbs and flows no more in the heart, and no more plays upon the countenance, but all is still. Now when the prophet came out from the presence of the dead, musing on all things as he must have mused, and probably entering the Temple where the service of God was going on—for the vision is just the reflection of the service of God in His house upon earth, it is only this service translated into its real meaning—it is not unnatural that such a vision as this should have presented itself before him. Such a sight is well fitted to bring before our minds the same great scene. For there is such an eternal scene behind the changing forms of the present life; a scene not future but present, though the perfect realising of it be, to most of us, future; a world within this world, or behind it, of which we only catch glimpses sometimes through the occurrences of this life—a world such as the prophet saw, God the King on His throne, surrounded by beings all alive to His glory, serving Him continually in the greatness of their might. There is such a world within this world, of which this world is but the veil and covering; and we begin to understand this world, and see any order and meaning in it, only when this other, which is the inner side of it, is revealed to our sight. A king must die! There seems to be something almost incongruous in the very phrase. The very word “king” means power. The king is the man who can, the man who is possessed of ability, dominion, sovereignty; and the shock is almost violent when we are told that the range of the kingship is shaped and determined by death. We could all understand how death might limit the years and conquests of Lazarus, shivering outside the palace gates, weary, hungry, and “full of sores,” but it is more difficult to understand how death can enter the palace, and set a barrier to the life of Dives, “clothed in purple and fine linen, and faring sumptuously every day”; but “it came to pass that the beggar died,” and “the rich man also died, and was buried.” A little while ago I took up the death-roll at a workhouse, and glanced through the chronological lists of paupers: Elizabeth So-and-so, died so-and-so. Then I took up a volume of English history, looked at the death-roll of monarchs, the chronological list of kings and queens: Queen Elizabeth, died so-and-so. I found that the one word described the end of both pauper and king—“the beggar died,” “William the Conqueror died,” “King Uzziah died.” How the one word suffices for all sorts and conditions of men! 1 [Note: J. H. Jowett.] 4. God never empties places in our homes and hearts, or in the nation or the Church, without being ready to fill them. He sometimes empties them that He may fill them. Sorrow and loss are meant to prepare us for the vision of God, and their effect should be to purge the inward eye, that it may see Him. When the leaves drop from the forest trees we can see the blue sky which their dense abundance hid. Well for us if the passing of all that can pass drives us to Him who cannot pass, if the unchanging God stands out more clear, more near, more dear, because of change. This accounts for a great many of the dark experiences in life. God puts out our little light that we may see Him the better. When you are looking out of the window at night, gazing towards the sky, you will see the stars more clearly if you put out your gaslight. That is what God has to do for us. He has to put out the secondary lights in order that we may see the eternal light. Uzziah has to die, in order that we may see it is God who lives. God has continually to take away our little kings, the weak repositories of our trust, in order to show that we have given a false emphasis to life. He takes away that which we regarded as the
- 64. keystone, in orderto reveal to us the real binding-force in life. I have known Him come to a nation and take away the King of Commercial Prosperity, because when commercial prosperity reigns men are too prone to forget the Lord. It is not in the seven fat years that we pray. It is in the seven years of famine, when the wheat is “blasted with the east wind.” It is then that men see the Lord and pray. I know a little cottage which is surrounded by great and stately trees, clothed with dense and massy foliage. In the summer days and through all the sunny season, it just nestles in this circle of green, and has no vision of the world beyond. But the winter comes, so cold and keen. It brings its sharp knife of frost, cuts off the leaves, until they fall trembling to the ground. There is nothing left but the bare framework on which summer hung her beauteous growths. Poor little cottage, with the foliage all gone! But is there no compensation? Yes, yes. Standing in the cottage in the winter time and looking out of the window, you can see a mansion, which has come into view through the openings left by the fallen leaves. The winter brought the vision of the mansion! 1 [Note: J. H. Jowett.] 5. Human purpose never has so definite and intelligible an aspect as when it flashes first in sudden intuition on the mind. The main end fills the vision; the essential significance absorbs the attention; all the thousand contingencies which will obscure that end and compromise that significance are as yet unsuspected. Everything is clear, clear-cut, and coercive. But with the years comes also a cleansing of the spiritual vision; and the intuitions of youth, seen in the retrospect, are seen more justly. The correspondence of the earlier and the later visions brings the verification of their quality. If the man, wise with the bitter wisdom of failure and conflict, hears still the Voice which thrilled the unshadowed heart of the boy, that Voice needs no better authentication of origin. For inspiration or for the “great refusal” then, for acquittal or for condemnation now, it was, and is, the Voice of God. All the years are bound by it into a single experience. I hear a voice, perchance I heard Long ago, but all too low, So that scarce a care it stirred If the voice were real or no; I heard it in my youth when first The waters of my life outburst; But, now their stream ebbs faint, I hear That voice, still low, but fatal clear. The definiteness of the prophet’s memory is startling,—in the death-year of King Uzziah. Happy the man who keeps a journal and records the date of this and that event. I know one who is able to say, “It was on the 19th of March, 1886, I began to be led by the Spirit.” But others there are who must say, “I do not know just when I entered the new life. I think it was some time between sixteen and twenty years of age. The change came so gradually that I glided into the consciousness of a definite relationship to God as a ship glides out of a region of ice into a warmer zone.” 1 [Note: C. C. Albertson.] 6. It is in hours like this that men get real glimpses of God. It is always when some Uzziah has piled up his successes until in their very definiteness men wake up to their shortcoming in the presence of the needs of the hour, that we feel the Infinite near, and at last see His skirts filling all the vacancies of life. Never until we know how much, do we know how little, man can do. Never until we see the best that humanity achieves do we know how grave are the problems which are born beneath our very success, which demand an infinite factor for their solution. In the death-hour of Uzziah, when under the mighty hands of the Medici, Florence had been growing luxurious and beautiful, when gems flashed from her proud neck
- 65. and marble palaceswere her play-things, when copious rivers of revenue poured in upon the Duke and the throne, and literature and art were in sight of their long-delayed laurels, yea—in the death-hour of their Uzziah when Lorenzo had fallen, Girolamo Savonarola, the Isaiah of that Jerusalem, saw amidst and above the terrible problems which his reign had made, and which surrounded him, the vision of the Almighty God. In the death-hour of Uzziah, when the arms of freedom had begun to shine with glorious victory, when the hand of rebellion had been pushed away from the white throat of liberty, when the whole race was ready to drown the dreadful clanking of eighty years of chains in one glad song of freedom, when a restored Union lifted up her head above the heat and dust of war, in the death-year of Uzziah, when Lincoln fell, yonder at New York another whose sword was like the tongue of Isaiah, seeing the problem which survived the assassin’s bullet, saw midst and above them the vision of God; “Fellow- citizens,” said Garfield on that occasion, “God reigns, and the Government at Washington still lives.” 1 [Note: F. W. Gunsaulus.] ii. The Vision “I saw the Lord.” 1. The prophet had lost a hero and found his Lord. “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord.” He had anticipated that when the good King Uzziah died the linch-pin would be removed, and the car of the nation’s life would topple over into confusion and disaster. All Isaiah’s hopes were centred in this radical and aggressively righteous monarch, and he feared for the State when its monarch should be taken. He anticipated chaos, and lo! in place of chaos there emerged the Lord of Order! He found that in the days of his hero-worship he had been living in comparative twilight, the real Luminary had been partially obscured, there had been an eclipse of the Sun: and now, with the passing of Uzziah the eclipse had ended, and the Presence of the Lord blazed out in unexpected glory! “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord.” It had seemed to the foreboding fears of the depressed youth as though the very existence of the kingdom were involved in the continued reign of the king. If he goes—what then? A crisis was assured! And yet in place of the crisis came God, and the effulgent glory was bewildering. Succeeding generations of men have shared these pessimistic fears. We have riveted our gaze upon the incidental until the incidental has become the essential, and we have feared the withering blast of death. “What will Israel do when Uzziah is taken?” “What will Methodism do when John Wesley is removed?” “What will the Salvation Army do when anything happens to its General?” “What will this or that church do when bereft of its minister?” And the long-feared crisis has come, but instead of being left to the hopeless, clammy darkness of the grave, we have gazed upon the dazzling glories of a forgotten heaven! The transient pomp and splendour died, and their passing removed the veil from the face of the eternal, and we saw the Lord. “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord.” He anticipated an end, he found a new beginning. Last autumn I spent a little time in the old castle at Stirling, and in one of the rooms of the tower were two curiosities which riveted my attention. In one corner of the room was an old time-worn pulpit. It was John Knox’s pulpit, the pulpit from which he used to proclaim so faithfully the message of the King. In the opposite corner were a few long spears, much corrupted by rust, found on the field of Bannockburn, which lies just beyond the castle walls. John Knox’s pulpit on the one hand, the spears of Bannockburn on the other! One the type of material forces, forces of earth and time; the other the type of spiritual forces, forces of eternity and heaven. The spears, representative of King Uzziah; the pulpit, representative of the Lord. Which symbolises the eternal? The force and influence which radiated from that pulpit will enrich and fashion Scottish character when Bannockburn has become an uninfluential memory, standing vague and indefinite, on the horizon of a far-distant time. When King Uzziah is dead, the Lord will still live, high and lifted up. 1 [Note: J. H. Jowett.] 2. The great characteristic of Isaiah’s age was religious indifference. That which the prophet was enabled to see—that great Divine world within this outer world—was the very thing which the nation could not be made to perceive. Men could not be impressed with the idea of a living God, a Sovereign high and lifted up, ruling over the world and life and men’s consciences. They were insensible to this, and would have
- 66. none of it.“The heart of the people was fat, and their ears heavy, and their eyes closed.” They were incapable of being touched with the feeling of the reality of God. And this insensibility led to disobedience, to formalism, to distrust of Jehovah, and to schemes of worldly policy; and, when danger threatened, to the calling in of foreign help: “they stayed themselves on Egypt, they trusted in Assyria”; and when these great world-powers once planted their foot on the little country the end of it was not far distant—as described in the closing verses of the chapter. Perhaps the death of Uzziah suggested some of this to the prophet, and made him think of it, and follow it out in his mind to its conclusion. But it was the sight of Jehovah that made him understand it on its deeper side. It was the revelation to him of a great Ruler behind all things, and a hidden glory—the real power within all things,—a fire in contact with the sin and impurity of mankind, that must consume them or cleanse it. It was this that made him feel the real meaning of the circumstances of his time in their relation to this Ruler and made him, when he himself had been brought into right relation to Him, take a stand in regard to the world, and assume his right place in it. It is singular how little place we take in the world, how little we feel it needful to take any place; how we are like mere grains of sand, the sport of the wind, each one of us without inherent force, not taking a place, but rolled into a place by the forces about us, or by the mere dead weight of gravity—pushed into a profession by the example of our companions, or the advice of friends, or, it may be, because we think we should like something in it, but without taking a broad view of it, especially without taking a moral estimate of it as a force which we might wield for higher ends, and setting it clearly before us as one of other great forces that should all combine, and realising it in its relation to the world and the state of society as a whole,—how slow we are to feel that we have any responsibilities in regard to the condition of things. 1 [Note: A. B. Davidson.] 3. I saw.—In a very deep and true sense it is what a man sees that either makes or unmakes him. The effect of vision upon character and service is transforming. It elevates or debases, according to its quality. Whether a man grovels or soars, whether he slimes his way with the worm or walks upon the hill-tops, whether he remains in the realm of animalism or rises into the spiritual, and lives in the high places of the sons of God, is determined by his seeing. The men who shape history and direct the destinies of nations are the men who have eyes. Moses saw the invisible, and endured, struggled, conquered, lifted himself and his people into prominence for evermore. Saul of Tarsus, on the Damascus road, saw Jesus Christ, and out of that vision came a power of manhood that has thrown itself beneficently across twenty centuries. Luther, in his monk’s cell, had a vision of the spiritual, and out of it came the Protestant Reformation, with all its forces of liberty and progress and enterprise. General Booth’s tremendous success with the Salvation Army, an organisation which in less than a generation has belted the globe, is simply the realisation of what he saw. Because David Livingstone had eyes to see, Africa to-day is zoned with light, and that matchless career of his stands out before the world, and will ever stand, as an inspiration to the noblest efforts for human uplifting. Because Jesus saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven, He was thrilled by a sublime optimism, because He saw, as no one else has ever seen, His kingdom is coming, and will yet cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. 2 [Note: R. F. Coyle.] Isaiah says, “I saw.” Is it, then, given to a man to be so sure of spiritual phenomena? So it seems from this Book. The basis of this confidence is in the spiritual consciousness out of which Moses spoke when he said, “I saw the passing pageant of the goodness of the Lord”; out of which Paul spoke when he said, “I saw a light above the brightness of the sun, and heard a voice out of the radiance calling me by name”; out of which John spoke when he said, “In the midst of the golden candlesticks I saw One like unto the Son of Man, girt with a golden girdle, and holding the seven stars in his hand.” Not more real was the mountain whereon Moses stood, or the splendid highway over which Paul was travelling, or the rocks of Patmos whereon the waves broke into spray,—not more real were these than the visions unfolded to human spirits there. All men who do really great work for the world have some touch of this Divine faculty and vision. Even the
- 67. man of science,is, at his best, a seer and a poet; for it is not only observation and reflection, but imagination also, which enable him to see the real behind the phenomenal, to look quite through the shows of things, and to gaze on an universe utterly unlike this visible universe, a world in which a few great forces, in obedience to a few great laws, robe themselves in an infinite variety of forms. Under the drifting and confused play of events the historian, again, if he be worthy of his name, discerns an increasing purpose, a secret law, a Divine order, a growing harmony. Even the statesman is great only as he too can look through the welter of passing events, and see what are the ruling forces and principles at work beneath the surface of national life, and how he may avail himself of these for the general good. 1 [Note: S. Cox, in The Expositor, 2nd Ser., ii. p. 25.] 4. The Lord.—Let me remind you of that apparently audacious commentary upon this great vision which the Evangelist John gives us: “These things said Esaias, when he had beheld his glory and spake of him.” Then the Christ is the manifest Jehovah; is the King of Glory. Then the vision which was but a transitory revelation is the revelation of an eternal reality, and “the vision splendid” does not “fade but brightens, into the light of common day”; when instead of being flashed only on the inward eye of a prophet, it is made flesh and walks amongst us, and lives our lives, and dies our death. Our eyes have seen the King in as true a reality, and in better fashion, than ever Isaiah did amid the sanctities of the Temple. And the eyes that have seen only the near foreground, the cultivated valleys, and the homes of men, are raised, and lo! the long line of glittering peaks, calm, silent, pure. Who will look at the valleys when the Himalayas stand out, and the veil is drawn aside? To see “also the Lord” is alike the secret of steadfastness, and the guarantee of that knowledge in the midst of perplexity which alone liberates from fretful anxiety and unbelief, and leads to right choice and wise action. And to those who seek Him, He is always so revealing Himself, in character varying according to their present need, and always as their entire sufficiency. Some men can see only “the things which are temporal,” and are hence distracted; but others have learned to look at “the things which are eternal,” and are in consequence being continually attracted to Him in whom they find the perfection of wisdom and strength and love. Two men looked through prison bars, The one saw mud—the other stars. iii. The Throne “Sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up.” 1. The scene which Isaiah beholds is the heavenly palace of Jehovah’s sovereignty, modelled upon, but not a copy of, His earthly Temple at Jerusalem: “I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.” The comparatively small adyton of the Temple on Zion is indefinitely expanded, the lofty throne takes the place of the mercy-seat, the skirts of the royal mantle, falling in ample folds, fill the space about and below the throne, and conceal from the beholder, standing beneath, the unapproachable Form seated upon it. The two colossal cherubim, whose extended wings overshadowed the ark in the Holy of holies, are absent, and there appears instead a choir of living creatures, encircling the throne: “Seraphim stood above Him: each had six wings; with twain He covered His face, and with twain He covered His feet, and with twain He did fly.” Some of you may have been watching a near and beautiful landscape in the land of mountains and eternal snows, till you have been exhausted by its very richness, and till the distant hills which bounded it have seemed, you knew not why, to limit and contract the view, and then a veil has been withdrawn, and new hills not looking as if they belonged to this earth, yet giving another character to all that does belong to it, have unfolded themselves before you. This is an imperfect, very imperfect, likeness (yet it is one) of
- 68. that revelation whichmust have been made to the inner eye of the prophet, when he saw another throne than the throne of the house of David, another king than Uzziah or Jotham, another train than that of priests or minstrels in the Temple, other winged forms than those golden ones which over-shadowed the mercy-seat. Each object was the counterpart of one that was then or had been at some time before his bodily eyes; yet it did not borrow its shape or colour from those visible things. They evidently derived their substance and radiance from those which were invisible. Separated from them they could impart no lustre; for they had none. The kings of the house of David reigned because that king was reigning whom God had set upon His holy hill of Zion; because He lived on, when they dropped one and another into their graves; because in Him dwelt the light and the power by which each might illumine his own darkness, sustain his own weakness. The symbols and services of the Temple were not, as priests and people often thought, an earthly machinery for scaring a distant Heaven; they were witnesses of a Heaven nigh at hand, of a God dwelling in the midst of His people, of His being surrounded by spirits which do His pleasure hearkening to the voice of His words. 1 [Note: F. D. Maurice, Prophets and Kings, p. 221.] What was Uzziah in all his greatness now as the Lord sat upon His throne high and lifted up? Here were the shifting scenes of human life—the shadows that come and go, the pageants that move to the silence and rest of the grave.There high and lifted up—above all time, above all change—was the Eternal. Uzziah the king, Uzziah the leper, Uzziah the corpse—to set the heart upon him was to be disappointed, deserted, desolate. The Lord is king—that is the centre of all things, the true home and refuge of the soul. Here is some ground for our trust; here all the adoration of the soul finds fitting room and sphere, and worthy rank for its service and worship. The Lord is always upon a throne, even when He is nailed to the Cross; this Lord and His throne are inseparable. There are dignitaries that have to study how to keep their thrones, but the Lord and His throne are one. 2 [Note: J. Parker, The People’s Bible, xiv. p. 283.] 2. But what shall we say when we recall Him of whom the evangelist asserts “Isaiah saw his glory, and spoke of him”? High and lifted up, verily! But how all unlike that which Isaiah saw. Bound and beaten and buffeted, scourged and mocked, amidst a band of ribald soldiers and ruffians who smite Him and pluck the hairs off His cheek. Condemned alike by Jewish priest and Roman judge He goes forth to be crucified. There in all shame and agony He hangs stricken and smitten. Surely, “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” iv. The Train “And his train filled the temple.” 1. It was not only that Isaiah had an unexpected vision of God, it was the unique character of the vision which impressed and empowered him. Where does the wonder of the prophet culminate? “I saw the Lord, sitting upon a throne!” That was not the unfamiliar sight, and not there did the prophet’s wonder gather. “High and lifted up!” A terrible sublimity, like some towering and awe-inspiring Alpine height! Yet not there was concentrated the supreme surprise. “And his train filled the temple!” That was the marvel which made the prophet’s heart stand still. He was not a stranger to the conception of the throne, or of the lonely and snow-white exaltation, but this vision of the train that “filled the temple” was altogether foreign to his thought. You will remember that in all these Temple arrangements of the olden days there were different grades and varying degrees of sanctity. Even in the time of our Lord there were divisions, separating the holy and the profane, beginning at the outer courts, where the foot of the Gentile might tread, but beyond which he was not permitted to pass, on penalty of death, on to the veiled and silent chamber where the awful Presence dwelt between the cherubim. And there was the same gradient in the thought of the young Isaiah. There were divisions in his temple, separating the different degrees of sanctity, ranging from the much-diluted holiness of the remote circumference to the clear and quenchless flame of the sacred Presence. And now comes this strange and all-convulsing vision: “His train filled the temple,” filled it, every section of it, every corner of it, to the furthest and outermost wall. “The posts of the
- 69. thresholds,” not merelythe curtains of the inner shrine, “the posts of the thresholds moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.” That is the word which expresses the supreme wonder of this great inaugural vision. “His train filled the temple!” “The house was filled with smoke.” The garments of the Almighty swept an unsuspected area, His robe impartially carpeted the entire pile, there was not a single inch that was exempt from the touch of His enveloping Presence. “His train filled the temple.” What, then, had the crisis brought to the young hero-worshipper who had been so fearful of the passing of his noble king? It had brought to him a larger conception of God, a filling-out conception of God, a full-tide conception, filling every nook and creek and bay in the manifold and far-stretching shore of human life. 1 [Note: J. H. Jowett, in The Examiner, March 15, 1906.] No face: only the sight Of a sweepy garment, vast and white, With a hem that I could recognise. 2 [Note: Browning, Christmas Eve.] 2. The most important crises in a man’s life are related to the growth or impoverishment of his conception of God. It is momentous when some area in the wide circle of his life is unexpectedly discovered to be the dwelling-place of God. Robinson Crusoe begins to track his desolate and presumably uninhabited island, and one day, on the sandy shore, comes upon the print of a human foot. That footprint revolutionises his entire conception of the island, and all his plans and expedients are transfigured. And so the soul, moving over some area of its activities which has never been related to God, and over which God has never been assumed to exercise a living and immediate authority, one day unexpectedly discovers His footprints upon this particular tract of the sands of time, and the whole of the spiritual outlook is transformed. “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.” If thus His train fills the temple, the great temple in which He ever dwells, then how easy for us to touch the hem of His garment and be made whole of whatever plague of soreness we may suffer from. God’s children cannot wander beyond reach Of the sweep of His white raiment. Touch and hold! And if you weep, still weep where John was laid While Jesus loved him. 3. There is a division which is made, not merely by the thoughtless and flippant, but even by many grave and serious minds. On one side the barrier they move softly and reverently, as though feeling the very breathings of the Almighty Presence: on the other side they step loudly and thoughtlessly, as though the Almighty were absent. And then one day there comes one of the great crises of life, and on the secular side of the barrier they see the trailing garments of the Lord, and they are filled with a surprise which ends in resurrection. For it is a birthday for the soul when we discover that the Lord occupies the whole of this divided house, and that His train fills the temple. (1) I have frequently heard reference to my own vocation as a “sacred calling,” says Mr. Jowett, but I have rarely, if ever, heard the same sober phrase applied to the work of the baker or tent-maker, or even to the work of the city councillor or the members of the House of Commons. But the seamless robe of the Lord is on both sides the artificial barrier, and all things on either side can be equally sacred and sanctified. (2) Another temple which our modern thought frequently divides into sections of different degrees of sanctity is the temple of the entire personality. One side of the barrier is called body, and the other is called spirit. It is a great day for a man when the wonderful revelation breaks upon his eyes, that these two entities possess a common sanctity, that our division is unwise and impoverishing, and that His train fills the whole temple. In the olden days there was a school of thinkers who regarded matter as essentially
- 70. evil, the verysphere and dwelling-place of evil, and, therefore, the body itself was esteemed as the very province of the devil. It was therefore further reasoned that to despise the body was to heap shame and contumely upon the devil, and that one of the holiest exercises was thus to treat the flesh with disdain and contempt. The body was a thing of the gutter,—gutter-born, and destined to a gutter death! Therefore they neglected it, they bruised it, they refused to cleanse it, and they utterly deprived it of any attention and adornment. So far as the body part of the temple was concerned, the Lord was not in it! Now we can see the force and relevancy of the Apostle’s firm and vigorous teaching: “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost?” That word would come as a bewildering surprise! The Lord’s temple does not end where the spirit ends; it includes the body too: and His train fills the temple! “I beseech you, therefore, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” That veil in the temple has been rent in twain! (3) There is still another temple which we divide into discriminating sections much as the Temple of old was divided. One side of the barrier is described as home, the other side as foreign, the one side as Jew, the other side as Gentile. And so the temple itself, rather than the partitioning veil, is too frequently rent in twain. It is a season of wonderful regeneration when first the train of the Almighty is seen to fill the entire temple, and the whole of the unworthily divided area is seen to be the familiar walking-ground of the Eternal God. To go out, I say, into the section regarded as foreign, and to behold the footprints of the Lord, to see that, even where home ends, the trailing garment of the Lord sweeps on, is a great birthday for the soul, a day of fertilising knowledge and of energising grace! To gaze upon other sects, foreign to our own, and to see common footprints in the varying roads; to gaze upon other nations, foreign to our own, and to see the mystic garment in their unfamiliar ways, to discover that the train fills the entire temple, is to enter an experience only less momentous than our conversion, for it is a second conversion into the larger thought and love of God. “In Christ Jesus there is neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, neither Jew nor Gentile, neither bond nor free.” “His train filled the temple.” You need imagination for the missionary impulse, especially for foreign missions. You need the sense of the glory of the Lord, of the fulness of the whole earth, and of the voice that, crying, shakes the pillars of the house. It is not easy to conceive of a man of no imagination becoming a great missionary. It is the imagination of boyhood that leads many a man to the mission field, as it leads many a man to the sea. It is the romance of missions, the call of the deep and the wild. It is the same thing, with a consecration of faith added, that seals the resolve, and finally sends him abroad. To his vision of foreign lands he adds visions of redeemed peoples. His eye has seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. He dreams a dream of good. He has visions of an earth full of the knowledge and glory of God. He has the imagination of the adventurer with the consecration of the prophet. Every missionary must be an idealist. The man who has no sympathy with missions is devoid of imagination, and sometimes he seems even a little proud of his defect. 1 [Note: P. T. Forsyth, Missions in State and Church, p. 224.] After telling the story of the martyrdom of Perpetua the Roman matron, and the slaves Revocatus and Felicitas, in the beginning of the third century, Professor Gwatkin says: 2 [Note: Early Church History to A. D. 313, ii. p. 127.] “There is something here even more significant than the lofty courage of Perpetua, which forms the front of the story. From first to last she never dreams that Revocatus and Felicitas are less than her equals and companions in Christ. Enthusiasm might have nerved the matron and the slave apart; but no mere enthusiasm could have joined their hands in death. The mischievous eccentricities of Montanism are as dust in the balance while we watch the mighty working of the power of another world in which not only the vulgar fear of death is overcome, but the deepest social division of the ancient world is entirely forgotten.” v. The Seraphim “Above him stood the seraphim.” 1. The seraphim are not mentioned elsewhere, and the origin and meaning of the name can only be supplied by conjecture. It must suffice to say that they appear here as the most exalted ministers of the
- 71. Divine Being, inimmediate proximity to Himself, and give expression to the adoration and reverence unceasingly due from the highest of created intelligences to the Creator. Possessed apparently of human form, and in an erect posture, they form a circle—or perhaps rather a double choir, about the throne, each with two of his wings seeming to support himself upon the air, with two covering his face, in reverence, that he might not gaze directly upon the Divine glory, and with two his own person, in humility, not deigning to meet directly the Divine glance. Can the scene be more aptly or more worthily reproduced than in our own poet’s noble lines?— Fountain of light, thyself invisible Amidst the glorious brightness where thou sitt’st, Throned inaccessible, but when thou shadest The full blaze of thy beams, and through a cloud Drawn round about thee like a radiant shrine Dark with excessive bright thy skirts appear, Yet dazzle Heaven, that brightest Seraphim Approach not, but with both wings veil their eyes. 1 [Note: Paradise Lost, iii. 375.] 2. The seraphim, says Kautzsch (Dictionary of the Bible, v. 643), belong undoubtedly to the realm of angels. Although mentioned only in the vision of Isaiah (Isa_6:2), they appear there as well-known beings, so that the belief in them may certainly be assumed for the pre-Prophetic period. Furnished with six wings, they offer around God’s throne antiphonal praise in the Trisagion; one of them purges the lips of the prophet, and announces to him the forgiveness of his sins. They are thus, in fact, intelligent beings, angels. Of the numerous explanations of the name, the only one that can be taken in earnest is that which traces it back to the singular sârâph. This word means properly “serpent” (Num_21:8, Deu_8:15), and the seraphim must accordingly have been originally serpent-formed creatures—embodiments, indeed, of the serpent-like lightning flashes that play around Jehovah. But, in the case of the seraphim of Isaiah, the six wings may be regarded as all that has survived of this somewhat mythological form. Moreover (probably long before the time of Isaiah), they have assumed human form, as is evident not only from the song of praise (Isa_6:3), which would be inconceivable in a serpent’s mouth, but from the hand (Isa_6:6) and the speech of the sârâph (Isa_6:7). 3. The first thing that strikes us about the seraphim is their redundance of wings. They had each six, only two of which were used for flying; the others, with which they shrouded their faces and their feet, were, apparently, quite superfluous. Why should they have had them when there was no fit employment for them? Was it not sheer waste to be possessing wings that were merely employed as covering, and never spread for flight? And yet, perhaps, without this shrouding of their faces and feet—an office which, at least, the wings performed—they might not have answered so well high heaven’s purposes, might not have swept abroad with such undivided intentness and such entire abandonment on their Divine errands. Perhaps their upper and lower parts needed to be swathed thus to make them the singly bent, the wholly absorbed ministers that they were. With unveiled faces and naked feet they might have been less prompt and alert, less concentrated and surrendered for the Lord. We meet sometimes with these seemingly wasted wings in men, in the form of powers or capabilities, knowledges or skills, for the exercise of which there is no scope or opportunity in their lot, which they are not called on or able to apply. There they lie, unutilised; nothing is done with them, no demand for them exists. To what end, we ask, have they been acquired? or what a pity, we say, that the men could not be placed in circumstances in which a field would be offered them, in which they would be wanted and drawn out! And yet, a knowledge or skill gained, may not be really wasted, though it be left without due scope and opportunity. The best, the finest use of it does not lie always in what it accomplishes, in the open
- 72. product of itsactivity, but often in what has been secretly added to us or wrought into us, through gaining it, in the contribution which the gaining of it has been to our charactor or moral growth, in some nobler shaping of ourselves by means of it. 1 [Note: S. A. Tipple.] (1) “With twain he covered his face.” The first pair of wings suggest the need of the lowliest reverence in the worship of God. What does that lofty chorus of “Holy! holy! holy!” that burst from those immortal lips mean but the declaration that God is high above, and separate from, all limitations and imperfections of creatures? And we Christians, who hear it re-echoed in the very last Book of Scripture by the four and twenty elders who represent redeemed humanity, have need to take heed that we do not lose our reverence in our confidence, and that we do not part with godly fear in our filial love. The eldest daughter of Faith is Reverence. We remember how Moses acted at the Burning Bush: he went up to it at first merely from curiosity, but as soon as he heard the voice of God calling to him out of the fire, “Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.” Without reverence of heart there can be no true worship; and the soul-reverence ought to be accompanied by reverence of posture and demeanour. It is not reverential to stand during praise with one’s hand buried in one’s trousers pocket, or to sit straight during prayer, and stare all over the church, or to go to or from public worship with a cigarette in one’s mouth. These things ought not so to be. A friend of mine, a clergyman, told me that he was once showing some one over his church. This person omitted to take his hat off on entering the church. “I hope you don‘t mind my keeping my hat on?” he said to my friend. “I mind? not at all!” was my friend’s reply. “It isn’t my house!” 1 [Note: W. J. Foxell.] (2) The next pair of wings suggest the need of self-forget-fulness. “With twain he covered his feet.” The wings made no screen that hid the seraph’s feet from the eye of God, but it was the instinctive lowly sense of unworthiness that folded them across the feet, even though they, too, burned as a furnace. The nearer we get to God, the more we shall be aware of our limitations and unworthiness, and it is because that vision of the Lord sitting on “His throne, high and lifted up,” with the thrilling sense of His glory filling the holy temple of the universe, does not burn before us that we can conceit ourselves to have anything worth pluming ourselves upon. Once lift the curtain, once let my eye be flooded with the sight of God, and away goes all my self-conceit, and all my fancied superiority over others. One little molehill is pretty nearly the same height as another, if you measure them both against the top of the Himalayas, that lie in the background, with their glittering peaks of snow. “Star differeth from star in glory” in a winter’s night, but when the great sun swims into the sky they all vanish together. If you and I saw God burning before us, as Isaiah saw Him, we should veil ourselves, and lose all that which so often veils Him from us—the fancy that we are anything when we are nothing. And the nearer we get to God, and the purer we are, the more keenly conscious shall we be of our imperfections and our sins. “If I say I am perfect,” said Job in his wise way, “this also should prove me perverse.” Consciousness of sin is the continual accompaniment of growth in holiness. “The heavens are not pure in His sight, and He chargeth His angels with folly.” Everything looks black beside that sovereign whiteness. Get God into your lives, and you will see that the feet need to be washed, and you will cry, “Lord! not my feet only, but my hands and my head!” He covered his feet in order, I suppose, that his very form and motion might not be seen; and therefore it is mentioned before “the flight.” He did not set out until, as far as possible, himself was concealed. There shall be simply the fact of a mission, and the method: so that, if an “angel” were to bring God’s embassy to you, you would not see “the angel.” That is true embassy! In like manner, it was commanded of the high priest, that his garments should “go down to his feet,” that the minister should not be seen. 1 [Note: J. Vaughan, Sermons, iv. p. 5.] (3) “And with twain he did fly.” The third pair of wings suggest Service. Whosoever, beholding God, has found need to hide his face from the Light, even whilst he comes into the Light, and to veil his feet from the all-seeing Eye, will also feel impulses to go forth in His service. For the perfection of worship is neither the consciousness of my own insufficiency, nor the humble recognition of His glory, nor the great voice of
- 73. praise that thrilledfrom those immortal lips, but it is the doing of His will in daily life. Some people say the service of man is the service of God. Yes, when it is service of man, done for God’s sake, it is so, and only then. The old motto, “Work is worship,” may preach a great truth or a most dangerous error. But there is no possibility of error or danger in maintaining this: that the climax and crown of all worship, whether for us footsore servants upon earth, or for those winged attendants on the throne of the King in the heavens, is activity in obedience. The souls of modern men need all their wings to enable them to fly as quickly as their fellows, and they have none left wherewith to cover their faces and their feet. 2 [Note: Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler, in Concerning Isabel Carnaby.] We can have little difficulty in discovering the motive from which the seraphim act. We see at once that it is love—the love of God which ever moves them. They fly away on swift wing to do God’s will, but they ever return to the throne. That is the place of their rest; there they desire to dwell; and they dwell there adoring God, forgetting themselves and hiding all their own, that God may be all in all. Now nothing but love, the most intense love, can account for this. Only love can draw the creature to God, and make him desire to abide in His presence and to behold His glory. And thus we see that the great motive power in heaven is just that which ought to be the great motive power on earth—the love of God. And that indeed must move every intelligent being who will serve God, in whatever world he may dwell or to whatever race he may belong. When you go into some of the world’s great workshops you see a vast variety of machinery, all, it may be, in motion, and engaged in a variety of operations; yet throughout that great manufactory there is just one motive power, so that what keeps going the gigantic hammer crushing in its descent the cold iron, also keeps in motion machinery which for delicacy of touch and operation the very spider might not excel. Even so, throughout His wide Kingdom God has many servants, and, we cannot doubt, many races of intelligent beings doing His will, and these engaged in an endless variety of labours, but the power which moves them all is the same—the sovereign power of love. These then are the three—reverence and self-forgetfulness and active obedience,—“With twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.” It is because of irreverence and self-conceit and idleness that our lives are weak. Go stand in the sight of God, and these wings of salvation shall come and clothe your life. They perfectly clothed the life of Jesus. Reverence and self-sacrifice and obedience were perfect in Him. In the most overwhelmed moments of His life,—crushed in the garden, agonised upon the cross,—he was really standing, like the strong seraphim, at the right hand of God. The seraphim were winged for service even while they stood above the throne and pealed forth their thunderous praise which shook the Temple. May we not discern in that a hint of the blessed blending of two modes of worship which will be perfectly united in heaven, and which we should aim at harmonising even on earth? “His servants serve Him and see His face.” There is possible, even on earth, some foretaste of the perfection of that heavenly state in which no worship in service shall interfere with the worship in contemplation. Mary, sitting at Christ’s feet, and Martha, busy in providing for His comfort, may be, to a large extent, united in us even here, and will be perfectly so hereafter, when the practical and the contemplative, the worship of noble aspiration, of heart-filling gazing, and that of active service shall be indissolubly blended. 1 [Note: A. Maclaren.] vi. The Song of the Seraphim “And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” It was an antiphonal song, proceeding without interruption. Some of them commenced and others responded.
- 74. I like tothink of that. It was as if one of them cried, “Your strains are not lifted high enough; higher, brothers, higher!” And he cried across the intervening space to the seraphim opposite, and bade them rise to a higher note, till the chorus swelled and rose and broke. I have heard a bird in the spring morning cry to all the songsters of the glade till the whole woodland has rung again. Sometimes in our prayer- meeting an earnest man has shaken the very gates of heaven and has stirred the whole meeting. That is what we want. And as I tell you of a richer, fuller life, a life more abundant than many of you know, may you be convicted of the need of a new anointing, of a fresh application to the Son of God for the touch of fire. May ours be the seraph’s reverence, with the veiled face; ours his modesty, with the veiled form; ours his balance of one-third obedience to two-thirds of contemplation. Then perhaps our cry may awaken similar results to his, and others shall cry, “Undone.” 1 [Note: F. B. Meyer.] Two of the Divine attributes form the theme of the seraphs 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 1.BARNES, “Above it - Either above the throne, or above him. The Septuagint renders it, ‘Round about him’ - κύκλሩ αᆒτοሞ kuklo autou. The Chaldee, ‘The holy ministers stood on high in his presence.’ The seraphims - The verb שׂרף s'araph, from which this word is derived, is uniformly translated “to burn,” and is used frequently; see “Taylor.” The noun שׂרף s'araph denotes, according to Bochart, the “chersydros,” a serpent that lives in lakes and moist places; but when those places are dried up, it becomes a land serpent, and then its bite is very fierce, and is attended with a most dreadful inflammation all over the body. Rabbi Solomon says, that ‘serpents are called seraphim because they burn people with the poison of their teeth,’ perhaps because the idea of “heat and poison” were connected. The word is applied to the fiery flying serpents which bit the children of Israel, and in imitation of which a brass serpent was erected on a pole by Moses. It is translated ‘a fiery serpent’ in Num_21:8; Isa_14:29; Isa_30:6. In Deut; Deu_8:15; Num_21:6, it is rendered ‘fiery,’ and in the passage before us, “seraphims.” The word שׂרפה s'e rephah often occurs in the sense of “burning;” Deu_29:23; 2Ch_16:14; 2Ch_21:19, ... The Septuagint renders it “seraphim,” σεραφᆳµ serafim; so the Vulgate and the
- 75. Syriac. The Chaldee,‘his holy ministers.’ Probably it is now impossible to tell why this name was given to the representations that appeared to Isaiah. Perhaps it may have been from their “burning” ardor and zeal in the service of God; perhaps from the “rapidity” of their motion in his service - derived from the rapid motion of the serpent. Gesenius supposes that the name was derived from a signification of the word denoting “noble or excellent,” and that it was on this account applied to princes, and to celestial beings. Kimchi says, that the name was given with reference to their bright, shining appearance; compare Eze_1:13; 2Ki_2:2; 2Ki_6:17. The word is applied to celestial beings no where else, except in this chapter. There is no reason to think that the seraphim described here partook of the “form of” the serpent, as the representation seems to be rather that of a man. Thus each one Isa_6:2 is represented as covering his “face” and his “feet” with his wings - a description that does not pertain to the serpentine form. God is usually represented as surrounded or encompassed by heavenly beings, as his ministers; Psa_104:4; Dan_7:10; 1Ki_22:19; Psa_68:17; Heb_12:22. The idea is one of special magnificence and grandeur. It is derived especially from the customs of monarchs, particularly Eastern monarchs, who had numerous princes and nobles to attend them, and to give magnificence to their court. Each one had six wings - “Wings” are emblematic of the “rapidity” of their movement; the number here, perhaps, denoting their celerity and readiness to do the will of God. With twain he covered his face - This is designed, doubtless, to denote the “reverence and awe” inspired by the immediate presence of God; compare Amo_6:9, Amo_6:10. The Chaldee adds, ‘He covered his face so that he could not see.’ To cover the face in this manner is the natural expression of reverence; compare the note at Isa_52:15. And if the pure and holy seraphim evinced such reverence in the presence of Yahweh, with what profouond awe and veneration should we, polluted and sinful creatures, presume to draw near to him! Assuredly “their” position should reprove our presumption when we rush thoughtlessly and irreverently into his presence, and should teach us to bow with lowly veneration and deep humility; compare Rev_4:9-11. He covered his feet - In a similar description of the cherubim in Eze_1:11, it is said tha they covered “their bodies.” In Isaiah, the expression clearly denotes not the feet only, but the lower extremities. This was also an expression of reverence drawn from our conceptions of propriety. The seraphim stood covered, or as if “concealing themselves” as much as possible, in token of their nothingness and unworthiness in the presence of the Holy One. He did fly - He was quick to execute the commands of God. It may be observed, also, that among the ancients, “Mercury,” the messenger of Jupiter, was always represented with wings. Milton has copied this description of the seraphim: ‘A seraph winged: six wings he wore to shade His lineaments divine; the pair that clad Each shoulder broad, came mantling o’er his breast With regal ornament; the middle pair Girt like a starry zone his waist, and round Skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold, And colors dipt in heaven; the third his feet Shadowed from either heel with feathered mail, Sky-tinctured grain.’ Par. Lost, Book v.
- 76. 2. CLARKE, “Aboveit stood the seraphim - שרפים seraphim, from שרף seraph, to burn. He saw says Kimchi, the angels as flames of fire, that the depravity of that generation might be exhibited, which was worthy of being totally burnt up. He covered his feet “He covereth his feet” - By the feet the Hebrews mean all the lower parts of the body. But the people of the East generally wearing long robes, reaching to the ground, and covering the lower parts of the body down to the feet, it may hence have been thought want of respect and decency to appear in public and on solemn occasions with even the feet themselves uncovered. Kempfer, speaking of the king of Persia giving audience, says, Rex in medio supremi atrii cruribus more patrio inflexis sedebat: corpus tunica investiebat flava, ad suras cum staret protensa; discumbentis vero pedes discalceatos pro urbanitate patria operiens. - Amoen. Exot. p. 227. “The king sat on the floor cross-legged, as is the custom of the country. He was covered with a yellow garment, which reached down to the feet when standing, but covered the feet for decency when sitting with his slippers off.” Sir John Chardin’s MS. note on this place of Isaiah is as follows: Grande marque de respect en orient de se cacher les pieds, quand on est assis, et de baisser le visage. Quand le souvrain se monstre en Chine et a Japon, chacun se jette le visage contre terre, et il n’est pas permis de regarder le roi; “It is a great mark of respect in the East to cover the feet, and to bow down the head in the presence of the king.” 3. GILL, “Above it stood the seraphims,.... Not above the temple, nor above the throne, much less above him that sat upon it, but either "by him", on the right hand and on the left, as Aben Ezra; or "near him", as Kimchi and Ben Melech; or "before him", as the Targum; or "round about him", as the Septuagint; all which denote the ministering form in which they stood; by whom are meant, not the Son and Spirit, as some of the ancients thought, who imagined the Father to be the Person sitting on the throne; nor the two Testaments, as Jerom; nor angels, which is the common interpretation; but ministers of the Gospel, the same with the four beasts in Rev_4:6 and the four living creatures in Eze_1:5 the Jewish commentators in general agree that these are the same with Ezekiel's living creatures; so Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi; and the first of these cites the Midrash Agada, as saying this is the Mercavah, which is the name they give to Ezekiel's vision of the living creatures and wheels; and this appears by their name "seraphim", which signifies "burning", and so Ezekiel's living creatures are said to be "like burning coals of fire", Eze_1:13 and the ministers of the Gospel are so called, because of their ministerial gifts, compared to fire, as the gifts of the spirit of God are, especially those which the apostles had bestowed on them, who were baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire, Mat_3:11 and even the ordinary gifts of the spirit are signified by the same figure, 1Ti_1:6 and because of their light, which they have in the truths of the Gospel; and because of their fervent and ardent love to Christ and immortal souls; and because of their flaming zeal for his cause and interest: and this also appears by their situation near the throne, see Eze_1:26 and Christ on it; where they stand as servants waiting upon him, and in order to receive from him, and where they enjoy communion with him; or "above" it may mean the temple, the church, where they stand in the highest place in it, and are over others in the Lord; they stand as servants to Christ, but preside in the church as the rulers and governors of it; to which agrees the Targum, "holy ministers on high before him:'' and this further appears by their wings, each one had six wings; as Ezekiel's living creatures, Eze_1:4 and John's four beasts, Rev_4:8,
- 77. with twain hecovered his face; that it might not be seen, as the Targum adds; expressive of their modesty and humility, looking, upon themselves as less than the least of all the saints, and the chief of sinners, and as ashamed of themselves before the Lord; or that they might not look upon the divine Majesty, as Jarchi; or rather as being unable to look upon the dazzling glory and infinite perfections of his being; so Elijah wrapped his face in a mantle, when he heard the still small voice of the Lord, 1Ki_19:12 and as Moses before him did, Exo_3:6 being afraid to look upon God, conscious of creature distance, and of sinfulness and unworthiness; and therefore not so suitable to angels, who always behold the face of God, Mat_18:10, with twain he covered his feet; or body, that it might not be seen, as the Targum; as conscious of the imperfection of their conduct, walk, and conversation, as ministers and Christians, in the sight of God, however beautiful their feet may appear to others, Isa_52:7, and with twain he did fly: or minister, as the Targum; this denotes their readiness and swiftness in preaching the everlasting Gospel, running to and fro with it, having their feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace: see Rev_14:6. 4. HENRY, “See the bright and blessed attendants on his throne, in and by whom his glory is celebrated and his government served (Isa_6:2): Above the throne, as it were hovering about it, or nigh to the throne, bowing before it, with an eye to it, the seraphim stood, the holy angels, who are called seraphim-burners; for he makes his ministers a flaming fire, Psa_104:4. They burn in love to God, and zeal for his glory and against sin, and he makes use of them as instruments of his wrath when he is a consuming fire to his enemies. Whether they were only two or four, or (as I rather think) an innumerable company of angels, that Isaiah saw, is uncertain; see Dan_7:10. Note, It is the glory of the angels that they are seraphim, have heat proportionable to their light, have abundance, not only of divine knowledge, but of holy love. Special notice is taken of their wings (and of no other part of their appearance), because of the use they made of them, which is designed for instruction to us. They had each of them six wings, not stretched upwards (as those whom Ezekiel saw, Eze_1:11), but, 1. Four were made use of for a covering, as the wings of a fowl, sitting, are; with the two upper wings, next to the head, they covered their faces, and with the two lowest wings they covered their feet, or lower parts. This bespeaks their great humility and reverence in their attendance upon God, for he is greatly feared in the assembly of those saints, Psa_89:7. They not only cover their feet, those members of the body which are less honourable (1Co_12:23), but even their faces. Though angel's faces, doubtless, are much fairer than those of the children of men (Act_6:15), yet in the presence of God, they cover them, because they cannot bear the dazzling lustre of the divine glory, and because, being conscious of an infinite distance from the divine perfection, they are ashamed to show their faces before the holy God, who charges even his angels with folly if they should offer to vie with him, Job_4:18. If angels be thus reverent in their attendance on God, with what godly fear should we approach his throne! Else we do not the will of God as the angels do it. Yet Moses, when he went into the mount with God, took the veil from off his face. See 2Co_3:18. 2. Two were made use of for flight; when they are sent on God's errands they fly swiftly (Dan_9:21), more swiftly with their own wings than if they flew on the wings of the wind. This teaches us to do the work of God with cheerfulness and expedition. Do angels come upon the wing from heaven to earth, to minister for our good, and shall not we soar upon the wing from earth to heaven, to share with them in their glory? Luk_20:36.
- 78. 5. JAMISON, “stood— not necessarily the posture of standing; rather, were in attendance on Him [Maurer], hovering on expanded wings. the — not in the Hebrew. seraphim — nowhere else applied to God’s attendant angels; but to the fiery flying (not winged, but rapidly moving) serpents, which bit the Israelites (Num_21:6), called so from the poisonous inflammation caused by their bites. Seraph is to burn; implying the burning zeal, dazzling brightness (2Ki_2:11; 2Ki_6:17; Eze_1:13; Mat_28:3) and serpent-like rapidity of the seraphim in God’s service. Perhaps Satan’s form as a serpent (nachash) in his appearance to man has some connection with his original form as a seraph of light. The head of the serpent was the symbol of wisdom in Egypt (compare Num_21:8; 2Ki_18:4). The seraphim, with six wings and one face, can hardly be identified with the cherubim, which had four wings (in the temple only two) and four faces (Eze_1:5-12). (But compare Rev_4:8). The “face” and “feet” imply a human form; something of a serpentine form (perhaps a basilisk’s head, as in the temples of Thebes) may have been mixed with it: so the cherub was compounded of various animal forms. However, seraph may come from a root meaning “princely,” applied in Dan_10:13 to Michael [Maurer]; just as cherub comes from a root (changing m into b), meaning “noble.” twain — Two wings alone of the six were kept ready for instant flight in God’s service; two veiled their faces as unworthy to look on the holy God, or pry into His secret counsels which they fulfilled (Exo_3:6; Job_4:18; Job_15:15); two covered their feet, or rather the whole of the lower parts of their persons - a practice usual in the presence of Eastern monarchs, in token of reverence (compare Eze_1:11, their bodies). Man’s service a fortiori consists in reverent waiting on, still more than in active service for, God. 6. K&D, ““Above it stood seraphim: each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he did fly.” We must not render לוֹ ל ַע ַ ִמ “near him;” for although ל ַע or ל ַמע is applied to a person standing near or over against another who is sitting down (Exo_18:13; Jer_36:21; compared 2Ch_26:19, where the latter is used to signify “over against” the altar of incense), and is used in this sense to denote the attitude of spirits (Job_1:16; 1Ki_22:19; Zec_6:5), and even of men (Zec_4:14), in relation to God when seated on His throne, in which case it cannot possibly be employed in the sense of “towering above;” yet לוֹ ל ַע ַ ִ,מ the strongest expression for supra, cannot be employed in any other than a literal sense here; for which reason Rashi and the Targums understand it as signifying “above in the attitude of service,” and the accentuation apparently, though erroneously, implies this (Luzzatto). What Isaiah meant by this standing above, may be inferred from the use which the seraphim are said to have made of their wings. The imperfects do not describe what they were accustomed to do (Böttcher and others), but what the seer saw them do: with two of their six wings he saw them fly. Thus they stood flying, i.e., they hovered or soared (cf., Num_14:14), as both the earth and stars are said to stand, although suspended in space (Job_26:7). The seraphim would not indeed tower above the head of Him that sat upon the throne, but they hovered above the robe belonging to Him with which the hall was filled, sustained by two extended wings, and covering their faces with two other wings in their awe at the divine glory (Targ. ne videant), and their feet with two others, in their consciousness of the depth at which the creature stands below the Holiest of all (Targ. ne videantur), just as the cherubim are described as veiling their bodies in Eze_1:11. This is the only passage in the Scriptures in which the seraphim are mentioned. According to the orthodox view, which originated with Dionysius the Areopagite, they stand at
- 79. the head ofthe nine choirs of angels, the first rank consisting of seraphim, cherubim, and throni. And this is not without support, if we compare the cherubim mentioned in Ezekiel, which carried the chariot of the divine throne; whereas here the seraphim are said to surround the seat on which the Lord was enthroned. In any case, the seraphim and cherubim were heavenly beings of different kinds; and there is no weight in the attempts made by Hendewerk and Stickel to prove that they are one and the same. And certainly the name serpahim does not signify merely spirits as such, but even, if not the highest of all, yet a distinct order from the rest; for the Scriptures really teach that there are gradations in rank in the hierarchy of heaven. Nor were they mere symbols or fanciful images, as Hävernick imagines, but real spiritual beings, who visibly appeared to the prophet, and that in a form corresponding to their own supersensuous being, and to the design of the whole transaction. Whilst these seraphim hovered above on both sides of Him that sat upon the throne, and therefore formed two opposite choirs, each ranged in a semicircle, they presented antiphonal worship to Him that sat upon the throne. 7. PULPIT, “Above it stood the seraphims; rather, above him were standing seraphim. The "seraphim" are introduced, not as well known, with the article, but without it, as unknown. The word means "fiery ones," and is supposed to denote the burning love of the blessed spirits spoken of. They appeared to the prophet as standing above the King as he sat upon his throne—"standing" to show their readiness to minister; but why "above him" is not so clear. Perhaps, simply, as those that stand are "above" those that sit; perhaps as ready to fly through infinite space at the bidding of him who was seated in his palace, as it were upon the ground. Their form, as seen by the prophet, appears to have been human, and only distinguished from ordinary humanity by the wings. Thus, though in name they resembled those other "fiery ones," which had punished the Jews in the wilderness (Num_21:6-9), there is nothing to show that Isaiah in any way connected the two. Each one had six wings. Gesenius is mistaken in saying that there are at Persepolis any six-winged figures. The Persians not infrequently represented their genii with four wings; but no six-winged figures have been found, so far as I know, among the Persian remains. With twain he covered his face, etc. The general idea of the six wings was probably rapid flight, the carrying out of God's behests "with speed swiftly." But, in the Divine presence, the wings were applied to a different use. One pair veiled the seraph's head from the intolerable effulgence of the Divine glory; another concealed the feet, soiled in their various ministrations, and unmeet for the all-pure presence; the third pair alone sustained the seraph in mid-air, as he hovered in readiness to depart on any errand on which Jehovah aright send him. 8. CALVIN, “2.And the seraphim stood upon it. Having declared that God appeared to him full of majesty and of glory, he adds, that God was attended by angels, whom the Prophet calls seraphim on account of their fervor. Though the etymology of this word is well known, yet various reasons are adduced. Some think that they are calledseraphim because they burn with the love of God; others,
- 80. because they areswift like fire; others, because they are bright. However that may be, this description holds out to us, as in sunbeams, the brightness of God’ infinite majesty, that we may learn by it to behold and adore his wonderful and overwhelming glory. Many think that there were two seraphim, as there were two cherubim that encompassed the ark of the testimony. This opinion I willingly adopt, though I do not venture to make any assertion where Scripture is silent. As it is customary with the sacred writers to accommodate their descriptions of God to those outward signs which were commonly used and familiarly known among the godly, it is possible that the Prophet saw a representation of this kind. While I hold this to be a probable conjecture, I leave room for other interpretations which some may be disposed to prefer; for Daniel saw not two angels only, but thousands of thousands of angels. (Dan_7:10.) Each one had six wings. This representation is instructive; for those wings thus arranged contained some mystery which it was the will of the Lord should not remain wholly unknown. The two wings with which the angels fly mean nothing else than their ready and cheerful performance of the commandments of God. On this point the resemblance is so clear and manifest, that it will be at once admitted by all who do not take delight in controversy. The two wings with which they cover their face show plainly enough that even angels cannot endure God’ brightness, and that they are dazzled by it in the same manner as when we attempt to gaze upon the radiance of the sun. And if angels are overwhelmed by the majesty of God, how great will be the rashness of men if they venture to intrude so far! Let us, therefore, learn that our inquiries concerning God ought never to go beyond what is proper and lawful, that our knowledge may soberly and modestly taste what is far above our capacity. And yet the angels do not cover their face in such a manner as not to be favored with beholding God in some degree; for their flight is not at random. In like manner we too ought to look at God, but only so far as our capacity shall enable us. As to the remaining two wings, which were placed lower, the difficulty is somewhat greater. Some think that the angels covered their feet, that they might not touch the earth, and contract any defilement from it, as human beings like ourselves are wont to do; for in walking we gather filth and dust, and accordingly, so long as we dwell on earth, we are always tainted by some kind of contagion. This reminds believers that they will have no intercourse with angels till they raise themselves high, and are no longer fastened to the earth. Such is the interpretation given by some expositors. But I rather agree with those who think that the use of those wings was opposite to that of the upper wings; for, as by the upper wings they cover their face, that they may not be overpowered by God’ brightness, so they have also lower wings to conceal them from our view. Now, if it be true that we cannot behold the small and feeble rays of the Divine brightness
- 81. without being altogetheroverpowered, how could we gaze upon that unspeakably bright and glorious majesty which lays prostrate all our faculties? Let men learn, therefore, that they are far distant from a perfect knowledge of God, since they cannot even reach to the angels. The latter appears to me to be the more correct exposition, but I do not disapprove of the former. 9. PULPIT, “A sermon from the seraphim. Taking the seraphim of this prophetic vision as symbols of the "highest creaturely intelligences," we gather from the text— I. THAT THE LOWLIEST REVERENCE BECOMES THE HIGHEST CREATED BEINGS. "With twain [of his wings] he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feel." Of the six wings each seraph possessed, four were used to indicate their sense of unworthiness in the near presence of God; two only were in readiness for active service. May we not fairly infer that, as we go upward in the order of intelligence, we become more impressed with the majesty and greatness of the Divine, and consequently with our own littleness? Elevation in rank does not mean diminution, but increase in reverence of spirit and in homage of worship. The higher the intelligence, the deeper the sense of lowliness, and the fuller the devotion of power in the attitude and act of adoration. II. THAT THE HEAVENLY LIFE IS LARGELY SPENT IN ACTIVE SERVICE. "With twain he did fly." The seraphim are represented as so equipped as to be ready for the most prompt and speedy service. The heavenly life may be one of sacred song and peaceful rest; but it certainly is also one of joyous, holy activity. It will be the very crown of our blessedness that, unclothed of all that hampers and impedes, and clothed upon with those celestial organs which fit for fleetest and strongest service, we shall do the King's behests with untiring wing, with unflagging energy, with unfading love and joy. III. THAT THE CELESTIAL INTELLIGENCES HAVE A KEEN APPRECIATION OF THE DIVINE. HOLIN ESS. "Holy, holy, holy," etc. It is significant enough that, in this ascriptive utterance, only one of the attributes of God finds a place. The repetition of the epithet marks the fullness and clearness of the thought, as also the intensity of the feeling. In Jesus Christ we rightly magnify the grace and mercy, the gentleness and considerateness, of the heavenly Father to whom we are reconciled through him; but we must see to it that we do not so dwell on the more gracious aspects of the Divine character as to lose sight of, or even dwarf his other and opposite attributes. As we draw near to the heavenly world we must take the celestial view, which is one of a deep and strong conviction of his perfect purity, of his stainless holiness, of his utter and eternal hostility to every shade and taint of sin.
- 82. IV. THAT THEHIGHEST INTELLIGENCES SEE ALL THINGS IN THEIR RELATION TO GOD. "The whole earth is full of his glory." Those who will receive no more helpful and decisive teaching than that of science and philosophy fall short of this; they come to the irreverent conclusion that the heavens and the earth declare the glory of those only who have studied their secrets and discovered their laws. But the highest, the heavenly intelligences find God everywhere and his glory in everything. The psalm of the seraphim declares that "the whole earth is full of his glory." And we as we ascend in mental power and spiritual worth, shall let all earthly things speak to us of God. The multitude of all created things and of all living creatures will speak of his power; the intricacy and delicacy and adaptation of all things will tell of his wisdom; the vast and measureless amount of happiness scattered over all the earth's surface and even in its depths will sing of his beneficence; the sorrow and the death which are beneath its skies will chant the righteousness of his holy rule; the upward struggle and the better life, which grow clearer and stronger age by age, will beat' witness to his regenerating goodness. All things will speak of God, the whole earth will be full of his glory.—C. 3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” 1.BARNES, “And one cried to another - Hebrew ‘This cried to this.’ That is, they cried to each other in alternate responses. One cried ‘holy;’ the second repeated it; then the third; and then they probably united in the grand chorus, ‘Full is all the earth of his glory.’ This was an ancient mode of singing or recitative among the Hebrews; see Exo_15:20-21, where Miriam is represented as going before in the dance with a timbrel, and the other females as following her, and “answering,” or responding to her, Psa_136:1; compare Lowth, “on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews,” Lect. xix. Holy, holy, holy - The “repetition” of a name, or of an expression, three times, was quite common among the Jews. Thus, in Jer_7:4, the Jews are represented by the prophet as saying, ‘the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these. Thus, Jer_22:29 : ‘O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord;’ Eze_21:27 : ‘I will overturn, overturn, overturn;’ see also 1Sa_18:23 : ‘O my son Absalom! my son, my son;’ see also the repetition of the form of benediction among the Jews, Num_6:24-26 : Jehovah bless thee and keep thee; Jehovah make his face to shine upon thee,
- 83. And be graciousunto thee; Jehovah lift up his countenance upon thee, And give thee peace. In like manner, the number “seven” is used by the Hebrews to denote a great, indefinite number; then a full or complete number; and then perfectness, completion. Thus, in Rev_1:4; Rev_3:1; Rev_4:5, the phrase, ‘the seven spirits of God,’ occurs as applicable to the Holy Spirit, denoting his fullness, completeness, perfection. The Hebrews usually expressed the superlative degree by the repetition of a word. Thus, Gen_14:10 : ‘The vale of Siddim, pits, pits of of clay,’ that is, was full of pits; see Nordheimer’s “Heb. Gram.” Section 822-824. The form was used, therefore, among the Jews, to denote “emphasis;” and the expression means in itself no more than ‘thrice holy;’ that is, supremely holy. Most commentators, however, have supposed that there is here a reference to the doctrine of the Trinity. It is not probable that the Jews so understood it; but applying to the expressions the fuller revelations of the New Testament, it cannot be doubted that the words will express that. Assuming that that doctrine is true, it cannot be doubted, think, that the seraphs laid the foundation of their praise in that doctrine. That there was a distinct reference to the second person of the Trinity, is clear from what John says, Joh_12:41. No “argument” can be drawn directly from this in favor of the doctrine of the Trinity, for the repetition of such phrases thrice in other places, is merely “emphatic,” denoting the superlative degree. But when the doctrine is “proved” from other places, it may be presumed that the heavenly beings were apprized of it, and that the foundation of their ascriptions of praise was laid in that. The Chaldee has rendered this, ‘Holy in the highest heavens, the house of his majesty; holy upon the earth, the work of his power; holy forever, and ever, and ever, is the Lord of hosts.’ The whole expression is a most sublime ascription of praise to the living God, and should teach us in what manner to approach him. The Lord of hosts - see the note at Isa_1:9. The whole earth - Margin, ‘The earth is the fulness of his glory.’ All things which he has made on the earth express his glory. His wisdom and goodness, his power and holiness, are seen every where. The whole earth, with all its mountains, seas, streams, trees, animals, and people, lay the foundation of his praise. In accordance with this, the Psalmist, in a most beautiful composition, calls upon all things to praise him; see Psa_148:1-14. Praise the Lord from the earth, Ye dragons, and all deeps: Fire and hail; snow and vapors; Stormy wind fulfilling his word: Mountains, and all hills; Fruitful trees, and all cedars; Beasts, and all cattle; Creeping things, and flying fowl. 2. CLARKE, “Holy, holy, holy - This hymn performed by the seraphim, divided into two choirs, the one singing responsively to the other, which Gregory Nazian., Carm. 18, very elegantly calls Συµφωνον, αντιφωνον, αγγελων στασιν, is formed upon the practice of alternate singing, which prevailed in the Jewish Church from the time of Moses, whose ode at the Red Sea was thus performed, (see Exo_15:20, Exo_15:21), to that of Ezra, under whom the priests and Levites sung alternately, “O praise Jehovah, for he is gracious;
- 84. For his mercyendureth for ever;” Ezr_3:11. See De Sac. Poes. Hebr. Prael. xix., at the beginning. 3. GILL, “And one cried unto another,.... This denotes the publicness of their ministry, and their harmony and unity in it; they answered to one another, and agreed in what they said; their preaching was not yea and nay, 2Co_1:19, and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; this expresses the subject matter of the Gospel ministry, respecting the holiness of God; all the doctrines of the Gospel are pure and holy, and have a tendency to promote holiness of heart and life, and are agreeable to the holiness of God, and in them the holiness of God in each of the divine Persons is declared; particularly the Gospel ministry affirms that there is one God, who is the Lord of hosts, of armies above and below, of angels and men; that there are three Persons in the Godhead, Father, Son, and Spirit; and that each of these three are glorious in holiness; there is the Holy Father, and the Holy Son, and the Holy Ghost, and the holiness of them is displayed in each of the doctrines of grace: the holiness of the Father appears in the choice of persons to eternal life, through sanctification of the Spirit; in the covenant of grace, which provides for the holiness of covenant ones; and in the justification of his people through Christ, and redemption by him, whereby the honour of his justice and holiness is secured: the holiness of the Son appears in his incarnation and life; in redemption from sin by him, and in satisfying for it, and justifying from it: and the holiness of the Spirit is seen in the doctrines of regeneration and sanctification, ascribed unto him. The whole earth is full of his glory; as it was when Christ dwelt in it, wrought his miracles, and manifested forth his glory, and when his Gospel was preached everywhere by his apostles; and as it will be, more especially in the latter day, when it will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord; when the kingdoms of this world will become his, and his kingdom will be everywhere, even from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the ends of the earth; and this is what Gospel ministers declare will be: or "the fulness of the whole earth is his glory" (m); the earth is his, and all that is in it, and all declare his glory; see Rev_4:8. 4. HENRY, “Hear the anthem, or song of praise, which the angels sing to the honour of him that sits on the throne, Isa_6:3. Observe, 1. How this song was sung. With zeal and fervency - they cried aloud; and with unanimity - they cried to another, or one with another; they sang alternately, but in concert, and without the least jarring voice to interrupt the harmony. 2. What the song was; it is the same with that which is sung by the four living creatures, Rev_4:8. Note, Praising God always was, and will be to eternity, the work of heaven, and the constant employment of blessed spirits above, Psa_84:4. Note further, The church above is the same in its praises; there is no change of times or notes there. Two things the seraphim here give God the praise of: - (1.) His infinite perfections in himself. Here is one of his most glorious titles praised: he is the Lord of hosts, of their hosts, of all hosts; and one of his most glorious attributes, his holiness, without which his being the Lord of hosts (or, as it is in the parallel place, Rev_4:8, the Lord God Almighty) could not be so much as it is the matter of our joy and praise; for power, without purity to guide it, would be a terror to mankind. None of all the divine attributes is so celebrated
- 85. in scripture asthis is. God's power was spoken twice (Psa_62:11), but his holiness thrice, Holy, holy, holy. This bespeaks, [1.] The zeal and fervency of the angels in praising God; they even want words to express themselves, and therefore repeat the same again. [2.] The particular pleasure they take in contemplating the holiness of God; this is a subject they love to dwell upon, to harp upon, and are loth to leave. [3.] The superlative excellency of God's holiness, above that of the purest creatures. He is holy, thrice holy, infinitely holy, originally, perfectly, and eternally so. [4.] It may refer to the three person in the Godhead, Holy Father, Holy Son, and Holy Spirit (for it follows, Isa_6:8, Who will go for us?) or perhaps to that which was, and is, and is to come; for that title of God's honour is added to this song, Rev_4:8. Some make the angels here to applaud the equity of that sentence which God was now about to pronounce upon the Jewish nation. Herein he was, and is, and will be, holy; his ways are equal. (2.) The manifestation of these to the children of men: The earth is full of his glory, the glory of his power and purity; for he is holy in all his works, Psa_145:17. The Jews thought the glory of God should be confined to their land; but it is here intimated that in the gospel times (which are pointed to in this chapter) the glory of God should fill all the earth, the glory of his holiness, which is indeed the glory of all his other attributes; this then filled the temple (Isa_6:1), but, in the latter days, the earth shall be full of it. 5. JAMISON, “(Rev_4:8). The Trinity is implied (on “Lord,” see on Isa_6:1). God’s holiness is the keynote of Isaiah’s whole prophecies. whole earth — the Hebrew more emphatically, the fulness of the whole earth is His glory (Psa_24:1; Psa_72:19). 6. K&D, ““And one cried to the other, and said, Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of hosts: filling the whole earth is His glory.” The meaning is not that they all lifted up their voice in concert at one and the same time (just as in Psa_42:8 el is not used in this sense, viz., as equivalent to C'neged), but that there was a continuous and unbroken antiphonal song. One set commenced, and the others responded, either repeating the “Holy, holy, holy,” or following with “filling the whole earth is His glory.” Isaiah heard this antiphonal or “hypophonal” song of the seraphim, not merely that he might know that the uninterrupted worship of God was their blessed employment, but because it was with this doxology as with the doxologies of the Apocalypse, it had a certain historical significance in common with the whole scene. God is in Himself the Holy One (kadosh), i.e., the separate One, beyond or above the world, true light, spotless purity, the perfect One. His glory (Cabod) is His manifested holiness, as Oetinger and Bengel express it, just as, on the other hand, His holiness is His veiled or hidden glory. The design of all the work of God is that His holiness should become universally manifest, or, what is the same thing, that His glory should become the fulness of the whole earth (Isa_11:9; Num_14:21; Hab_2:14). This design of the work of God stands before God as eternally present; and the seraphim also have it ever before them in its ultimate completion, as the theme of their song of praise. But Isaiah was a man living in the very midst of the history that was moving on towards this goal; and the cry of the seraphim, in the precise form in which it reached him, showed him to what it would eventually come on earth, whilst the heavenly shapes that were made visible to him helped him to understand the nature of that divine glory with which the earth was to be filled. The whole of the book of Isaiah contains traces of the impression made by this ecstatic vision. The favourite name of God in the mouth of the prophet viz., “the Holy One of Israel” (kedosh Yisrael), is the echo of this seraphic sanctus; and the fact that this name already occurs with such marked
- 86. preference on thepart of the prophet in the addresses contained in Isaiah 1:2-4:5, supports the view that Isaiah is here describing his own first call. All the prophecies of Isaiah carry this name of God as their stamp. It occurs twenty-nine times (including Isa_10:17; Isa_43:15; Isa_49:7), viz., twelve times in chapters 1-39, and seventeen times in chapters 40-66. As Luzzatto has well observed, “the prophet, as if with a presentiment that the authenticity of the second part of his book would be disputed, has stamped both parts with this name of God, 'the Holy One of Israel,' as if with his own seal.” The only other passages in which the word occurs, are three times in the Psalms (Psa_71:22; Psa_78:41; Psa_89:19), and twice in Jeremiah (Jer_50:29; Jer_51:5), and that not without an allusion to Isaiah. It forms an essential part of Isaiah's distinctive prophetic signature. And here we are standing at the source from which it sprang. But did this thrice-holy refer to the triune God? Knobel contents himself with saying that the threefold repetition of the word “holy” serves to give it the greater emphasis. No doubt men are accustomed to say three times what they wish to say in an exhaustive and satisfying manner; for three is the number of expanded unity, of satisfied and satisfying development, of the key-note extended into the chord. But why is this? The Pythagoreans said that numbers were the first principle of all things; but the Scriptures, according to which God created the world in twice three days by ten mighty words, and completed it in seven days, teach us that God is the first principle of all numbers. The fact that three is the number of developed and yet self-contained unity, has its ultimate ground in the circumstance that it is the number of the trinitarian process; and consequently the trilogy (trisagion) of the seraphim (like that of the cherubim in Rev_4:8), whether Isaiah was aware of it or no, really pointed in the distinct consciousness of the spirits themselves to the truine God. 7. PULPIT, “One cried; rather, kept crying (comp. Rev_4:8, "They rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy"). But the prophet scarcely goes so far; he describes only his vision—they did not rest while the vision was vouchsafed him. Holy, holy, holy. The Church on earth has taken pattern by the Church above; and the "Trisagion" is ever being repeated in one part of the earth or another without ceasing: "Thou continuest holy, O thou Worship of Israel." There is no attribute so essential to God as this. It is for his holiness, more than for anything else, that his creatures worship him. The triple repetition has been understood in all ages of the Church as connected with the doctrine of the Trinity. Holy is he who has created us, and bidden us worship him in the beauty of holiness Holy is he who has redeemed us, and washed away our sins, and made us by profession holy! Holy is he who day by day sanctifies us, and makes us in very deed and truth, so far as we will permit him, holy! The whole earth is full of his glory. Even in heaven the seraphic thoughts are turned to earth, and its relation to its Divine Creator is made the subject of angelic utterances. The lesson which they gather from their contemplation, even under all the miserable circumstances of the time, is a cheering one: "The whole earth is full of God's glory." Men, whether they will it or not, are working out God's purposes, advancing his designs, accomplishing the ends that he desires (see Homiletics on Isa_5:25-29).
- 87. 8. CALVIN, “3.Andthey cried one to another. It was necessary that all these things should be presented to the Prophet in vision, in order to produce a stronger impression on the people, and on Isaiah himself; for the vision was not less necessary to him than to the whole nation, because sharp and painful struggles awaited him, and he could not have boldly announced those events if he had not been previously confirmed. The people also, being warned by this vision how great and how dreadful was the majesty of God, by whom this condemnation was pronounced, had good reason for being alarmed. He who now came forth to public view is God, at the sight of whom the very angels tremble, whose praises they continually and loudly utter, and whom, in a word, they serve and obey; but men, whom he had been pleased to adopt as his children, obstinately and rebelliously opposed him. Now, when we are informed that the angels are employed in uttering the glory of God, let us know that their example is set before us for imitation; for the most holy service that we can render to him is, to be employed in praising his name. When he associates us with angels, it is in order that, while we sojourn on earth, we may resemble and be joined to the inhabitants of heaven. That the harmony between us and the angels may be in every respect complete, we must take care not only that the praises of God may be sounded by our tongues, but likewise that all the actions of our life may correspond to our professions; and this will only be done if the chief aim of our actions be the glory of God. Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of hosts. The ancients quoted this passage when they wished to prove that there are three persons in one essence of the Godhead. I do not disagree with their opinion; but if I had to contend with heretics, I would rather choose to employ stronger proofs; for they become more obstinate, and assume an air of triumph, when inconclusive arguments are brought against them; and they might easily and readily maintain that, in this passage, as in other parts of Scripture, the number “” denotes perfection. Although, therefore, I have no doubt that the angels here describe One God in Three Persons, (and, indeed, it is impossible to praise God without also uttering the praises of the Father, of the Son, and of the Spirit,) yet I think that it would be better to employ more conclusive passages, lest, in proving an article of our faith, we should expose ourselves to the scorn of heretics. And, indeed, this repetition rather points out unwearied perseverance, as if the Prophet had said, that the angels never cease from their melody in singing the praises of God, as the holiness of God supplies us with inexhaustible reasons for them. The whole earth is full of his glory. Literally it is, the fullness of the whole earth, which might be understood to refer to the fruits, and animals, and manifold riches with which God has enriched the earth, and might convey this meaning, that in the ornaments and great variety of furniture of the world the glory of God shines, because they are so many proofs of a father’ love. But the more simple and natural interpretation is, that the glory of God fills the whole world, or is spread through every region of the earth.
- 88. There is also,I think, an implied contrast, by which he puts down the foolish boasting of the Jews, who thought that the glory of God was nowhere to be seen but among themselves, and wished to have it shut up within their own temple. But Isaiah shows that it is so far from being confined to so narrow limits, that it fills the whole earth. And to this agrees the prophecy which immediately follows, (verse 10,) about the blinding of the Jews, which opened up for the Gentiles admission into the Church of God; for they occupied that place which the Jews had forsaken and left empty. 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 1.BARNES, “And the posts of the door - Margin, ‘Thresholds.’ There is some difficulty in the Hebrew here, but the meaning of the expression is sufficiently apparent. It means that there was a tremour, or concussion, as if by awe, or by the sound attending the cry. It is evidently a poetic expression. The house - The temple. Was filled with smoke - There is here, doubtless, a reference to “the cloud” that is so often mentioned in the Old Testament as the visible symbol of the Divinity; see the note at Isa_4:5. A similar appearance is recorded when Solomon dedicated the temple; 1Ki_8:10; 2Ch_5:13; Eze_10:4. 2. PULPIT, “The posts of the door moved; rather, the bases of the thresholds shook (compare Revised Version). The shout of the seraphs shook the very foundations on which the thresholds of the gates of heaven rested—a testimony to the energy with which it was uttered. At the voice of him that cried; i.e. "at the voice of each and all." The house was filled with smoke. "Smoke" is sometimes the mere sign of the presence of God, as in Isa_4:5; but more often it indicates his presence in anger or judgment (see Exo_19:18; Exo_20:18; Rev_15:8). Here there had been no smoke at first, and we must suppose it, therefore, a sign of the anger which finds vent in verse 9-12. 3. GILL, “And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried,.... That is, the posts of the door of the temple, as the Targum adds, where this vision was seen, as
- 89. represented to theprophet. Some think this respects the earthquake in Uzziah's time, mentioned in Zec_14:5 and which they suppose was at the time he attempted to offer incense, and was smitten with leprosy; but, as Kimchi observes, this moving of the door posts was only in the vision of prophecy, and not in reality; this shaking therefore may denote either the shaking and removing of the temple service and worship, at the death of Christ, and through the preaching of the Gospel; or rather the shaking of the consciences of men by the word, which made them cry out, what shall we do to be saved? And the house was filled with smoke; this was a token either of the burning of the temple, or of the anger of God against the Jews, Psa_18:8 or of their superstition and will worship, the cause of it, Rev_9:1 or of the judicial blindness and darkness they were given up unto, Isa_6:9 or rather of the presence of God in his church, and with his ministers, Exo_40:3 the allusion may be to the cloud of incense that covered the mercy seat, on the day of atonement, Lev_16:13 the passage is cited on this account in the Talmud (n). 4. HENRY, “Observe the marks and tokens of terror with which the temple was filled, upon this vision of the divine glory, Isa_6:4. 1. The house was shaken; not only the door, but even the posts of the door, which were firmly fixed, moved at the voice of him that cried, at the voice of God, who called to judgment (Psa_50:4), at the voice of the angel, who praised him. There are voices in heaven sufficient to drown all the noises of the many waters in this lower world, Psa_93:3, Psa_93:4. This violent concussion of the temple was an indication of God's wrath and displeasure against the people for their sins; it was an earnest of the destruction of it and the city by the Babylonians first, and afterwards by the Romans; and it was designed to strike an awe upon us. Shall walls and posts tremble before God, and shall we not tremble? 2. The house was darkened; it was filled with smoke, which was as a cloud spread upon the face of his throne (Job_26:9); we cannot take a full view of it, nor order our speech concerning it, by reason of darkness. In the temple above there will be no smoke, but everything will be seen clearly. There God dwells in light; here he makes darkness his pavilion, 2 Chron, Rom_6:1. 5. JAMISON, “posts of ... door — rather, foundations of the thresholds. house — temple. smoke — the Shekinah cloud (1Ki_8:10; Eze_10:4). 6. K&D, “When Isaiah heard this, he stood entranced at the farthest possible distance from Him that sat upon the throne, namely, under the door of the heavenly palace or temple. What he still further felt and saw, he proceeds to relate in Isa_6:4 : “And the foundations of the thresholds shook with the voice of them that cried; and the house became full of smoke.” By ‛ ammoth hassippim, the lxx, Vulgate, Syriac, and others understand the posts of the lintels, the supporting beams of the superliminaria, which closed the doorway at the top. But as saph is only used in other places to signify the threshold and porch (limen and vestibulum), ‛ammoth hassippim must be understood here in the (perfectly appropriate) sense of “the foundations of the thresholds” (ammah, which bears the same relation to ,עם mother, as matrix to mater, is used to
- 90. denote the receptivebasis into which the door-steps with their plugs were inserted, like the talmudic ammetah derechayyah, the frame or box of the hand-mill (Berachoth 18b), and ammath megerah, the wood-work which runs along the back of the saw and keeps it firmly extended (Kelim 21, 3); compare the “Schraubenmutter,” literally screw-mother, or female screw, which receives and holds the cylindrical screw). Every time that the choir of seraphim (א ֵוֹר ַ:ה compare such collective singulars as ha'oreb, the ambush, in Jos_8:19; hechalutz, of men of war, in Jos_6:7, etc.) began their song, the support of the threshold of the porch in which Isaiah was standing trembled. The building was seized with reverential awe throughout its whole extent, and in its deepest foundations: for in the blessed state beyond, nothing stands immoveable or unsusceptible in relation to the spirits there; but all things form, as it were, the accidentia of their free personality, yielding to their impressions, and voluntarily following them in all their emotions. The house was also “filled with smoke.” Many compare this with the similar occurrence in connection with the dedication of Solomon's temple (1Ki_8:10); but Drechsler is correct in stating that the two cases are not parallel, for there God simply attested His own presence by the cloud of smoke behind which He concealed Himself, whereas here there was no need of any such self-attestation. Moreover, in this instance God does not dwell in the cloud and thick darkness, whilst the smoke is represented as the effect of the songs of praise in which the seraphim have joined, and not of the presence of God. The smoke arose from the altar of incense mentioned in Isa_6:6. But when Drechsler says that it was the prayers of saints (as in Rev_5:8; Rev_8:3-4), which ascended to the Lord in the smoke, this is a thought which is quite out of place here. The smoke was the immediate consequence of the seraphs' song of praise. This begins to throw a light upon the name seraphim, which may help us to decipher it. The name cannot possibly be connected with saraph, a snake (Sanscr. sarpa, Lat. serpens); and to trace the word to a verb saraph in the sense of the Arabic 'sarafa ('sarufa), to tower high, to be exalted, or highly honoured (as Gesenius, Hengstenberg, Hofmann, and others have done), yields a sense which does not very strongly commend itself. On the other hand, to follow Knobel, who reads sharathim (worshippers of God), and thus presents the Lexicon with a new word, and to pronounce the word serpahim a copyist's error, would be a rash concession to the heaven- storming omnipotence which is supposed to reside in the ink of a German scholar. It is hardly admissible, however, to interpret the name as signifying directly spirits of light or fire, since the true meaning of saraph is not urere (to burn), but Comburere (to set on fire or burn up). Umbreit endeavours to do justice to this transitive meaning by adopting the explanation “fiery beings,” by which all earthly corruption is opposed and destroyed. The vision itself, however, appears to point to a much more distinctive and special meaning in the name, which only occurs in this passage of Isaiah. We shall have more to say upon this point presently. 7.CALVIN, “4.And the lintels of the posts were moved. This noise was an indication that it was not a human voice which the Prophet had heard; for no mortal man has a voice so powerful as to be capable of making the lintels and posts shake. Now, the Lord intended not only to establish the authority of his voice over the Prophet, but to confirm it to posterity in all ages, that it might never be forgotten. Let us, therefore, know that this noise confirms at this day the voice of God, that we may tremble whenever he speaks; for if inanimate and dumb creatures are moved, what ought we to do, who feel, smell, taste, and
- 91. understand, for noother purpose than that we may obey his word in a holy and reverent manner? And the house was filled with smoke. This was the common and ordinary sign which the Lord employed with his ancient people; for we read that, whenever Moses entered into the tabernacle, smoke was wont to be diffused through it in such a manner that the people could not see either Moses or the tabernacle. (Exo_33:9.) The smoke, therefore, which Isaiah describes was not an unusual occurrence; but in the ordinary way God intended to demonstrate that he would display his power in executing judgment on the people. But it may be asked, Why did God manifest his presence by this sign rather than by any other? This question may be answered in two ways. First, it was always the will of God to repress the insolence of men, in pushing their inquiries about his majesty beyond what is proper; for on this point almost all men are too rash and daring. They wish to rise above the clouds, and to penetrate into the secrets of God, while they do not see what lies at their feet. Hence arises a labyrinth of errors, and when the minds of men have been entangled in it, they adopt false and pretended modes of worship; for when men allow themselves to adopt any false notions about God, there is nothing which they will not venture to attempt against him. It was not without good reason, therefore, that he made use of smoke, in order to remind men of their weakness; and yet he did not intend that they should be blind or stupid, that is, that they should have the stupidity and error which the papists disguise under the name of simplicity; but he forbids us to inquire or search beyond what he has revealed to us in his word; for, as Augustine says, “ is a learned ignorance.” Whenever, therefore, smoke of this kind is mentioned, let us know that it lays a restraint upon us from indulging curiosity in our researches into the purpose of God. Secondly, this smoke ought to strike terror, as David, when describing an angry and terrible God, says that clouds and darkness are round about him. (Psa_97:2.) This also agrees well with the present passage; for he pronounces a dreadful judgment, namely, the blinding of the Jews. Others think that it indicated the burning by which he consumed the temple; but the view which I have given is more probable. 5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean
- 92. lips, and myeyes have seen the King, the LORDAlmighty.” 1.BARNES, “When Isaiah heard this, he stood entranced at the farthest possible distance from Him that sat upon the throne, namely, under the door of the heavenly palace or temple. What he still further felt and saw, he proceeds to relate in Isa_6:4 : “And the foundations of the thresholds shook with the voice of them that cried; and the house became full of smoke.” By ‛ ammoth hassippim, the lxx, Vulgate, Syriac, and others understand the posts of the lintels, the supporting beams of the superliminaria, which closed the doorway at the top. But as saph is only used in other places to signify the threshold and porch (limen and vestibulum), ‛ammoth hassippim must be understood here in the (perfectly appropriate) sense of “the foundations of the thresholds” (ammah, which bears the same relation to ,עם mother, as matrix to mater, is used to denote the receptive basis into which the door-steps with their plugs were inserted, like the talmudic ammetah derechayyah, the frame or box of the hand-mill (Berachoth 18b), and ammath megerah, the wood-work which runs along the back of the saw and keeps it firmly extended (Kelim 21, 3); compare the “Schraubenmutter,” literally screw-mother, or female screw, which receives and holds the cylindrical screw). Every time that the choir of seraphim (א ֵוֹר ַ:ה compare such collective singulars as ha'oreb, the ambush, in Jos_8:19; hechalutz, of men of war, in Jos_6:7, etc.) began their song, the support of the threshold of the porch in which Isaiah was standing trembled. The building was seized with reverential awe throughout its whole extent, and in its deepest foundations: for in the blessed state beyond, nothing stands immoveable or unsusceptible in relation to the spirits there; but all things form, as it were, the accidentia of their free personality, yielding to their impressions, and voluntarily following them in all their emotions. The house was also “filled with smoke.” Many compare this with the similar occurrence in connection with the dedication of Solomon's temple (1Ki_8:10); but Drechsler is correct in stating that the two cases are not parallel, for there God simply attested His own presence by the cloud of smoke behind which He concealed Himself, whereas here there was no need of any such self-attestation. Moreover, in this instance God does not dwell in the cloud and thick darkness, whilst the smoke is represented as the effect of the songs of praise in which the seraphim have joined, and not of the presence of God. The smoke arose from the altar of incense mentioned in Isa_6:6. But when Drechsler says that it was the prayers of saints (as in Rev_5:8; Rev_8:3-4), which ascended to the Lord in the smoke, this is a thought which is quite out of place here. The smoke was the immediate consequence of the seraphs' song of praise. This begins to throw a light upon the name seraphim, which may help us to decipher it. The name cannot possibly be connected with saraph, a snake (Sanscr. sarpa, Lat. serpens); and to trace the word to a verb saraph in the sense of the Arabic 'sarafa ('sarufa), to tower high, to be exalted, or highly honoured (as Gesenius, Hengstenberg, Hofmann, and others have done), yields a sense which does not very strongly commend itself. On the other hand, to follow Knobel, who reads sharathim (worshippers of God), and thus presents the Lexicon with a new word, and to pronounce the word serpahim a copyist's error, would be a rash concession to the heaven- storming omnipotence which is supposed to reside in the ink of a German scholar. It is hardly
- 93. admissible, however, tointerpret the name as signifying directly spirits of light or fire, since the true meaning of saraph is not urere (to burn), but Comburere (to set on fire or burn up). Umbreit endeavours to do justice to this transitive meaning by adopting the explanation “fiery beings,” by which all earthly corruption is opposed and destroyed. The vision itself, however, appears to point to a much more distinctive and special meaning in the name, which only occurs in this passage of Isaiah. We shall have more to say upon this point presently. 2. CLARKE, “Wo is me! for I am undone - נדמיתי nidmeythi, I am become dumb. There is something exceedingly affecting in this complaint. I am a man of unclean lips; I cannot say, Holy, holy, holy! which the seraphs exclaim. They are holy; I am not so: they see God, and live; I have seen him, and must die, because I am unholy. Only the pure in heart shall see God; and they only can live in his presence for ever, Reader, lay this to heart; and instead of boasting of thy excellence, and trusting in thy might, or comforting thyself in thy comparative innocence, thou wilt also be dumb before him, because thou hast been a man of unclean lips, and because thou hast still an unclean heart. I am undone “I am struck dumb” - נדמיתי nidmeythi, twenty-eight MSS. (five ancient) and three editions. - I understand it as from דום dum or דמם damam, silere, “to be silent;” and so it is rendered by the Syriac, Vulgate, Symmachus, and by some of the Jewish interpreters, apud Sal. b. Melec. The rendering of the Syriac is תויראני tavir ani, stupens, attonitus sum, “I am amazed.” He immediately gives the reason why he was struck dumb: because he was a man of polluted lips, and dwelt among a people of polluted lips, and was unworthy, either to join the seraphim in singing praises to God, or to be the messenger of God to his people. Compare Exo_4:10; Exo_6:12; Jer_1:6. 3. GILL, “Then said I, woe is me,.... There's no woe to a good man, all woes are to the wicked; but a good man may think himself wretched and miserable, partly on account of his own corruptions, the body of sin and death he carries about with him; and partly on account of wicked men, among whom he dwells, Rom_7:24, for I am undone; a good man cannot be undone, or be lost and perish; he is lost in Adam with the rest; in effectual calling he is made sensible of his lost and undone state; and under the power of unbelief may write bitter things against himself; but be can never perish, or be lost and undone for ever. The Targum is, "for I have sinned;'' and his particular sin is after mentioned: some (o) render it, "for I have been silent"; as if he had not performed the duty of his office, in reproving for sin, or declaring the will of God: others (p), "for I am reduced to silence", I am forced to be silent; he could not join with the "seraphim", being conscious to himself of his vileness, and of his unworthiness to take the holy name of God into his polluted lips, as follows:
- 94. because I ama man of unclean lips; he says nothing of the uncleanness of his heart, nor of his actions; not that he was free from such impurity; but only of his lips, because it was the sin of his office that lay upon his mind, and gave him present uneasiness; there is no man but offends in words, and of all men persons in public office should be careful of what they say; godly ministers are conscious of many failings in their ministry. The Targum is, "because I am a sinful man to reprove;'' and so unfit for it. And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; such were the Jews, not only in Isaiah's time, but in the times of Christ and his apostles, who traduced him, as if he was a wicked person, calumniated his miracles, said he was a Samaritan, and had a devil; they taught for doctrines the commandments of men, and opposed and blasphemed the truths of the Gospel; and to live among men of a filthy speech and conversation is a concern to a good man; he is vexed and distressed hereby; he is in danger of learning their words, and of suffering with them in a common calamity. For mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts; the same divine and glorious Person described in Isa_6:1 who is no other than the Lord Christ, King of kings, and Lord of lords, King of saints, and Lord of the armies, in heaven and in earth; and a lovely sight it is to see him by faith, in the glory and beauty of his person, and in the fulness of his grace; such a sight is spiritual, saving, assimilating, appropriating, very endearing, and very glorious and delightful: wherefore it may seem strange that a sight of Christ should fill the prophet with dread; one would think he should rather have said, happy man that I am, because I have seen this glorious Person, whom to see and know is life eternal; but the reason of it is, because in this view of Christ he saw the impurity of himself, and was out of conceit with himself, and therefore cries out in the manner he does; just as in a sunbeam a man beholds those innumerable motes and atoms, which before were invisible to him. It was not because of his sight of Christ he reckoned himself undone; but because of the impurity of himself, and those among whom he dwelt, which he had a view of through his sight of Christ: his sight of Christ is given as a reason of his view of his impurity, and his impurity as the reason of his being undone in his apprehension of things. The prophet, in these his circumstances, represents a sensible sinner, under a sight and sense of his sinfulness and vileness; as the seraph in the following verses represents a Gospel minister bringing the good news of pardon, by the blood and sacrifice of Christ. 4. HENRY, “Our curiosity would lead us to enquire further concerning the seraphim, their songs and their services; but here we leave them, and must attend to what passed between God and his prophet. Secret things belong not to us, the secret things of the world of angels, but things revealed to and by the prophets, which concern the administration of God's kingdom among men. Now here we have, I. The consternation that the prophet was put into by the vision which he saw of the glory of God (Isa_6:5): Then said I, Woe is me! I should have said, “Blessed art thou, who hast been thus highly favoured, highly honoured, and dignified, for a time, with the privilege of those glorious beings that always behold the face of our Father. Blessed were those eyes which saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and those ears which heard the angels' praises.” And, one would think, he should have said, “Happy am I, for ever happy; nothing now shall trouble me, nothing make me blush or tremble;” but, on the contrary, he cries out, “Woe is me! for I am undone. Alas for me! I am a gone man; I shall surely die (Jdg_13:22; Jdg_6:22); I am silenced; I am struck dumb,
- 95. struck dead.” ThusDaniel, when he heard the words of the angel, became dumb, and there was no strength, no breath, left in him, Dan_10:15, Dan_10:17. Observe, 1. What the prophet reflected upon in himself which terrified him: “I am undone if God deal with me in strict justice, for I have made myself obnoxious to his displeasure, because I am a man of unclean lips.” Some think he refers particularly to some rash word he had spoken, or to his sinful silence in not reproving sin with the boldness and freedom that were necessary - a sin which God's ministers have too much cause to charge themselves with, and to blush at the remembrance of. But it may be taken more generally; I am a sinner; particularly, I have offended in word; and who is there that hath not? Jam_3:2. We all have reason to bewail it before the Lord, (1.) That we are of unclean lips ourselves; our lips are not consecrated to God; he had not had the first-fruits of our lips (Heb_13:15), and therefore they are counted common and unclean, uncircumcised lips, Exo_6:30. Nay, they have been polluted with sin. We have spoken the language of an unclean heart, that evil communication which corrupts good manners, and whereby many have been defiled. We are unworthy and unmeet to take God's name into our lips. With what a pure lip did the angels praise God! “But,” says the prophet, “I cannot praise him so, for I am a man of unclean lips.” The best men in the world have reason to be ashamed of themselves, and the best of their services, when they come into comparison with the holy angels. The angels had celebrated the purity and holiness of God; and therefore the prophet, when he reflects upon sin, calls it uncleanness; for the sinfulness of sin is its contrariety to the holy nature of God, and upon that account especially it should appear both hateful and frightful to us. The impurity of our lips ought to be the grief of our souls, for by our words we shall be justified or condemned. (2.) That we dwell among those who are so too. We have reason to lament not only that we ourselves are polluted, but that the nature and race of mankind are so; the disease is hereditary and epidemic, which is so far from lessening our guilt that it should rather increase our grief, especially considering that we have not done what we might have done for the cleansing of the pollution of other people's lips; nay, we have rather learned their way and spoken their language, as Joseph in Egypt learned the courtier's oath, Gen_42:16. “I dwell in the midst of a people who by their impudent sinnings are pulling down desolating judgments upon the land, which I, who am a sinner too, may justly expect to be involved in.” 2. What gave occasion for these sad reflections at this time: My eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. He saw God's sovereignty to be incontestable - he is the King; and his power irresistible - he is the Lord of hosts. These are comfortable truths to God's people, and yet they ought to strike an awe upon us. Note, A believing sight of God's glorious majesty should affect us all with reverence and godly fear. We have reason to be abased in the sense of that infinite distance that there is between us and God, and our own sinfulness and vileness before him, and to be afraid of his displeasure. We are undone if there be not a Mediator between us and this holy God, 1Sa_6:20. Isaiah was thus humbled, to prepare him for the honour he was now to be called to as a prophet. Note, Those are fittest to be employed for God who are low in their own eyes and are made deeply sensible of their own weakness and unworthiness. 5. JAMISON, “undone — (Exo_33:20). The same effect was produced on others by the presence of God (Jdg_6:22; Jdg_13:22; Job_42:5, Job_42:6; Luk_5:8; Rev_1:17). lips — appropriate to the context which describes the praises of the lips, sung in alternate responses (Exo_15:20, Exo_15:21; Isa_6:3) by the seraphim: also appropriate to the office of speaking as the prophet of God, about to be committed to Isaiah (Isa_6:9).
- 96. seen — notstrictly Jehovah Himself (Joh_1:18; 1Ti_6:16), but the symbol of His presence. Lord — Hebrew, “Jehovah.” 6. K&D, “The seer, who was at first overwhelmed and intoxicated by the majestic sight, now recovers his self-consciousness.”Then said I, Woe to me! for I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I am dwelling among a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts.” That a man cannot see God without dying is true in itself, and was an Old Testament conviction throughout (Exo_33:20, etc.). He must die, because the holiness of God is to the sinner a consuming fire (Isa_33:14); and the infinite distance between the creature and the Creator is sufficient of itself to produce a prostrating effect, which even the seraphim could not resist without veiling their faces. Isaiah therefore regarded himself as lost (nidmethi, like ᆊλωλα, perii, a preterite denoting the fact which, although not outwardly completed, is yet effected so far as a man's own consciousness is concerned), and all the more because he himself was of unclean lips, and he was also a member of a nation of unclean lips. The unholiness of his own person was doubled, in consequence of the closeness of the natural connection, by the unholiness of the nation to which he belonged. He designates this unholiness as uncleanness of lips, because he found himself transported into the midst of choirs of beings who were praising the Lord with pure lips; and he calls the King Jehovah, because, although he had not seen Jehovah face to face, he had seen the throne, and the all-filling robe, and the seraphim who surrounded and did homage to Him that sat upon the throne; and therefore, as he had seen the heavenly King in His revealed majesty, he describes the scene according to the impression that he had received. But to stand here in front of Jehovah of hosts, the exalted King, to whom everything does homage, and to be obliged to remain mute in the consciousness of deep uncleanness, excited within him the annihilating anguish of self-condemnation. And this is expressed in the confession made by the contrite seer. 7. PULPIT, “THE SEQUEL OF THE VISION—THE PROPHET'S SENSE OF UNWORTHINESS. The vision of God in this life, whether natural or ecstatic, cannot but produce in the beholder a deep feeling of his unworthiness. God "is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity;" even "the heavens are not clean in his sight" (Job_15:15). Man, being never wholly purged from sin while on earth, cannot but shrink from contact with the absolutely Holy. Hence Isaiah's cry (verse 5); and hence, to comfort him, the symbolic action of the seraph (verse 6) and his encouraging words (verse 7). Isa_6:5 I am undone; literally, cut off, destroyed (comp. Isa_15:1; Jer_47:5; Hos_4:5, Hos_4:6, etc.). God once said himself, "There shall no man see me and live" (Exo_33:20). Men expected to die even when they had seen angels of God (Gen_32:30; Jdg_6:22, Jdg_6:23; Jdg_13:22). How we are to
- 97. reconcile Exo_33:20 withthis passage, Job_42:5, and Eze_1:26-28, is uncertain. Perhaps the ecstatic sight was not included in the "seeing" of which God spoke to Moses. I am a man of unclean lips. A man must be indeed" perfect" never to offend in word (Jas_3:2). Isaiah felt that he had often so offended. His lips were not "clean" in God's sight, and if not his lips, then not his heart; for "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Mat_12:34). I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. Men catch up the phraseology of their time, and use wrong forms of speech, because they hear them daily. "Evil communications corrupt good manners" (1Co_15:33). 8. CALVIN, “5.Wo to me! for I am undone. The Prophet now relates how powerfully he was affected by that vision; namely that he was so terrified by seeing God; that he expected immediate destruction. He assigns the reason for believing that it is all over with him; because, says he, I am a man of unclean lips I wonder why Jerome renders it, because I was silent; seeing that there is no ambiguity in the expression. דמה (damah) does indeed signify to be silent, but here the undoubted mark of a passive verb is added. This passage may likewise be rendered, Wo to me! for I have been reduced to silence. In the Scriptures silence is often taken for death and those who have been buried are said to have been reduced to silence. But as the meaning is the same, I will not dispute much about the translation. The Prophet therefore means, that he was so terrified as to resemble a dead man. And certainly we need not wonder at this; for the whole man, so far as relates to the flesh, must be reduced to nothing, that it may be renewed according to God. Whence comes it that men live, that is, imagine that they live, and are swelled with vain confidence in their wisdom or strength, but because they know not God? Accordingly, until God reveal himself to us, we do not think that we are men, or rather, we think that we are gods; but when we have seen God, we then begin to feel and know what we are. Hence springs true humility, which consists in this, that a man makes no claims for himself, and depends wholly on God; and therefore on this point the present and similar passages ought to be carefully studied. It was customary with the godly fathers, whenever they saw God, to break out into these words: I am gone; I am utterly undone. (Jud_13:22.) Our life, therefore, until our minds earnestly draw near to God, is a vain delusion; we walk in darkness, and can with difficulty distinguish truth from falsehood; but when we come into the light it is easy to perceive the difference. So when God draws near to us, he brings light with him, that we may perceive our worthlessness, which we could not formerly see, while we entertained a false opinion of ourselves.
- 98. And yet mineeyes have seen the king, Jehovah of hosts. (93) But does the sight of God bring death to men? For it appears strange that the sight of God or approach to him should take away life, of which he is the source and giver. I reply that this is an accidental result; for it takes place through our fault, and not on account of the nature of God. Death is within us; but we do not perceive it, unless when it is compared with the life of God. This is unquestionably what the Prophet means; for he does not merely say that he is dead, but assigns the reason, because he has unclean lips. But why does he confine the pollution to the lips ? Was he pure in understanding, or in the other parts of the body? I answer: the Prophet mentions that which he regarded as the most valuable, his tongue, which was consecrated to God; for God had appointed him to be a Prophet. Even though he was in other respects a sinner, yet because the office which he held was holy, this part of his body was sacred; and as it does not correspond to the divine holiness, he confesses that, even in that part which in itself is more holy, he is polluted. Such appears to me to be the true and natural meaning of this passage, in the explanation of which commentators have hitherto been unsuccessful. And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. This is added by way of explanation; for he includes himself as an individual in the number of the common people, tainted with that pollution which extends to the whole body, and forgets the purity which he had received from God, because it cannot dwell in his presence. Hence it is evident that they are mistaken who imagine that the Prophet spoke under erroneous views; as the common people are wont to contrive a variety of false notions concerning God. For, as I have said, the presence of God and approach to him is the destruction of our flesh; because it shows that we are nothing in ourselves. When he who is conscious of his wretchedness sees God, what can he expect but destruction? For God is our judge, to whom, we know, nothing is concealed or unknown, in whose sight our purity is impure. And if this happened to the Prophet, what ought we to think of ourselves? For what are we in comparison of him? Even if the LORD hath begun to cleanse us, yet we ought to acknowledge our pollution, the remains of which always continue in our flesh. Hence also we ought to draw a universal doctrine, that the lips of all men are impure and polluted, till the Lord has cleansed them; from which it also follows, that human doctrines have an uncleanness which betrays them, and that there is nothing pure but what has come from God. (93) For mine eyes have seen the king, the LORD of hosts. — Eng. Ver. 9. PULPIT, “Spiritual agitation.
- 99. The passage depictsthe prophet in a condition of great mental agitation; his state may suggest to us— I. THE ALARM OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT UNDER THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE DIVINE PRESENCE . Anything which brings us into close contact with the unseen world powerfully affects our spirit and produces an apprehension for which we may not be able to account. 1. Any visitant, real or imaginary, from the spiritual realm fills us with fear (see Jdg_6:22; Jdg_13:22; Job_4:15; Dan_10:8; Luk_1:12; Luk_2:9). We have not the slightest reason to apprehend any act of hostility from such a being, and may be said to have a positive interest in knowing that such as they are do exist and do concern themselves in our welfare. But there are few men who would not be considerably agitated if they believed themselves to be in the presence of a disembodied (or unembodied) spirit. 2. We are affected with lively apprehension when we think ourselves to be on the confines of the future, the spiritual world. 3. The conception of the near presence of the Lord himself awakens the greatest disquietude of soul. So was it with Isaiah now. "Woe is me! I am undone," he exclaimed. So was it with Peter when the miraculous draught revealed the presence of his Divine Master. "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord," was his prayer. And whenever we are brought into such a spiritual condition that we are ready to say, "Surely God is in this place," whenever the hand of the Lord is felt to be upon our souls and his voice to be manifestly addressing our hearts, we are awed, agitated, even alarmed, with a peculiar and inexpressible apprehension. II. ITS JUSTIFICATION IN OUR HUMAN GUILT. We may not be able to explain our alarm at the nearness of any created being from the other world, but we can well understand how it is we are affected as we are under the consciousness of the divine presence. It is that our littleness is abashed at the presence of Divine majesty, our ignorance in presence of Divine wisdom, our feebleness in presence of Divine power. But this is not the explanation of our alarm. It is found in the fact that when we find ourselves before God we are conscious that a guilty soul is in the near presence of the thrice-holy One (see verse 3). The clue to our agitation is in the words, "I am a man of unclean lips;" "I am a sinful man." There is a twofold reason why sinful men should be alarmed at the felt presence of God: one, that all sin by its very nature shrinks and cowers in the conscious presence of purity; the other, that the guilty human soul knows well that it is the province, and is in the power, of the righteous God to inflict the penalty which is its due; and it knows that the rightful penalty of sin is sorrow, shame, death. III. ITS DIVINE REMOVAL. (Verses 6, 7.) Under Divine direction one of the cherubim took a live coal from that altar of sacrifice which God had caused to be built for the purging of the sins of the people, and with the coal he touched the "unclean lips" of which the prophet had made confession and complaint; so was
- 100. his "iniquity takenaway," and, we may conclude, his spirit calmed. The removal of that spiritual agitation which comes to our soul when we realize that our guilt is in the full view of the Holy One can only come from God himself. We may bless his Name that he has made such ample provision for this gracious purpose. 1. He has provided the sacrifice and the altar; that is found in him who is the Propitiation for our sins, in the cross of Calvary. 2. He has provided the messengers of mercy; these are found in those faithful servants who carry the gospel of his grace on the wings of their ardent love. 10. CHARLES SIMEON, “ISAIAH’S VISION OF CHRIST Isa_6:5-7. Then said I, 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 mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar; and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. PREVIOUS to the full revelation of himself in the Gospel, God was pleased to communicate his mind and will to men by dreams and visions, which, since the completion of the sacred canon, are no longer to be expected. But we must not therefore imagine that the revelations so made are less interesting to us, than those which proceeded more immediately from the enlightening influence of the Holy Ghost. The same importance must be attached to every thing which God has spoken, so far at least as the instruction which is intended to be conveyed is itself important. For instance, the vision of Isaiah seems to have been a peculiar favour vouchsafed to him: but still it contains many instructive lessons for us: and in this two- fold view we will consider it, I. As a peculiar favour vouchsafed to him— That we may have a more distinct view of it, we shall notice in succession, 1. The vision given— [The place where the prophet was supposed to be, was the outer court of the temple; from whence, the
- 101. veil which separatedit from the sanctuary being drawn aside, he beheld jehovah seated on his throne, and his train, like that of eastern monarchs, filling the temple. Had no additional light been cast on this vision in the New Testament, we should not have thought of inquiring more minutely about the glorious object whom he saw, and who is here so repeatedly designated by titles peculiar to the one supreme God; but we are authorized to declare, that the person whom he saw, was the Lord Jesus Christ, even our “Immanuel, God with us [Note: Joh_12:41.].” Around the throne were “the seraphim,” the holy angels, like flames of file [Note: Psa_104:4.], in a posture of devout adoration. Each of them had six wings; with two of which he covered his face, as unworthy to behold the Deity; and with other two, his feet, as unworthy to serve him: whilst with the remaining two he flew with all possible activity to fulfil his will. In themselves they were perfect and spotless creatures: yet, conscious of being as nothing in the sight of a pure and holy God, they were filled with profoundest awe, and served him with reverential fear. In their worship of him they celebrated, in alternate and responsive songs, the holiness of his nature, and the wonders of his grace. Whether, in the repetition of the word “holy,” there be any reference, as some have thought, to the Three Persons of the Godhead, we undertake not to determine: but they evidently regarded the holiness of the Deity as that attribute, which constitutes the glory and perfection of all the rest: and indeed it is that attribute in which he is more especially glorious [Note: Exo_15:11.], and at the remembrance of which the whole universe should give thanks [Note: Psa_30:4.]. Together with this glorious subject they evidently combined the wonders of redeeming love. It is in that view alone that “the earth” can be said to be “full of his glory.” In the whole creation indeed there is a marvellous display of wisdom and power; but in redemption alone are seen the mercy, and truth, and faithfulness of our God. And though the seraphims are not interested in that work as we are, yet, as exhibiting the full radiance of all the divine perfections in united splendour, they admire it, they sing of it, they, glorify the Lord Jesus on account of it [Note: Compare Psa_72:17-19. where the same person is spoken of, and the some subject pursued.]. At the sound of their voices the doors of the temple were shaken, and the house was filled with smoke. It is possible that this was designed to express the approbation of the Deity, and his delight in that work which was the subject of their praise [Note: 2Ch_5:13-14; 2Ch_6:1.]. But we rather suppose, that it was intended to intimate the future abolition of the temple worship, when the time should have arrived for the complete establishment of the Christian dispensation [Note: Amo_9:1. with Heb_12:27.].] 2. The fear excited—
- 102. [In all themanifestations of God to men, the sight of his majesty has excited alarm and terror [Note: Jdg_13:22. Dan_10:6-8. Rev_1:17.]. A measure of this feeling we behold in the prophet on this occasion. But together with this, there was also a deep sense of humiliation and contrition. As Job, on a similar occasion, was led to exclaim, “I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes [Note: Job_42:6.],” so the prophet, viewing himself, and all around him, in the light of God’s holiness, accounted himself a leper in the midst of a leprous world. Whatever he might have judged of himself before, he now was dumb; as indeed every human being must be in the presence of a holy God [Note:Rom_3:19.]; since “we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags [Note: Isa_64:6.].” From the apprehension and terror we are freed by the Gospel: but the humiliation and self-abasement should rather increase in proportion to the more exalted privileges we enjoy [Note: Eze_16:63.].] 3. The consolation administered— [Instantly did one of the seraphim fly to him, to declare, that his iniquities were all blotted out as a morning cloud, through the atoning blood of Christ. This was emblematically represented to him by a coal taken from off the altar of burnt-offering, and applied to his lips. Doubtless the performance of this office was a delightful service to the Seraph, who would willingly forego for a season the more immediate vision of the Deity himself, for the honour of executing his will as a messenger of mercy to sinful man.] But we hasten from this more restricted view of the subject, to consider it, II. As an instructive lesson to us— Whilst we acknowledge that such visions are not to be expected by us, we may contemplate this with great advantage to our souls. We may learn from it, 1. That a sight of Christ is the highest privilege we can enjoy— [What is it that constitutes the felicity of heaven? What is it that is the great source of happiness to the seraphim around the throne? It is a sight of Christ enthroned in his glory. Yet was that sight afforded to the prophet in a vision: and afterwards to St. Paul, by an immediate admission to it in heaven. And is there no such vision to be enjoyed by us? To our bodily eyes indeed there is not; nor to our imaginations will any such view of him be presented: but to the eye of faith the Lord Jesus is clearly visible; and the eyes of every believer may even now “behold the King in his beauty [Note: Isa_33:17.].” In the Gospel he
- 103. is fully revealedto us: there he appears as “the brightness of his Father’s glory, and the express image of his person:” and we may “behold his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” We need not envy the prophet himself; for we may have even brighter views of Jesus than he ever enjoyed. We are told that John was greater than all the prophets; and yet that “the least in the Kingdom of heaven,” that is under the Gospel dispensation, “is greater than he [Note: Luk_7:26-28.].” How did he excel all others?. Others prophesied of Christ; but he pointed him out: “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world!” And wherein do we excel him? He beheld Jesus when he came to accomplish our redemption: and we behold him after its accomplishment, seated on his throne of glory, and actually applying to millions of his people the full benefits of that redemption. Let those who embrace the Gospel know their high privilege. Let the poor especially rejoice and be glad. It is not to human learning or to strength of intellect that this discovery of Christ is made, but to faith: and if we search the sacred records with a believing eye, then will “God shine into our hearts, to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”] 2. That the more lowly we are in our own eyes, the richer communications we shall receive from him— [Behold how speedily the angel was sent to comfort the mind of the dejected prophet! This was a faithful representation of the care which Jesus takes of all his afflicted people, especially when humbled in the dust before him. “He will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax, till he bring forth judgment unto victory.” Though he is “The High and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, yet will he dwell with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the Spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones [Note: Isa_57:15; Isa_66:2.].” Does not his word universally attest this blessed truth, that “whilst he who exalteth himself shall be abased, the man that humbleth himself shall be exalted?” Be not afraid then, ye who feel your own unworthiness: give not way to despondency; say not, “Woe is me! I am undone:” follow not the unbelieving example of Peter, saying, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord [Note: Luk_5:8.].” But know that, if you feel yourselves lost, it was precisely such persons that he came to seek and save [Note: Luk_19:10.]; and that, “where sin has abounded, his grace shall much more abound [Note: Rom_5:20-21.]:” and if, like Mary, you are enabled to go behind him, and wash his feet with your tears, he will ere long say to you, “Thy sins, which are many, are forgiven thee.” Indeed it is in this way that he is daily acting by the ministry of his word: he sends his servant to take his promises, and apply them to the hearts and consciences of his people [Note: 1Th_1:5.], and thus to fill them with “a peace that passeth understanding,” and with “joy that is unspeakable and glorified.”] 3. That a sense of his pardoning love should animate us to an unreserved surrender of ourselves to
- 104. him— [See the effectwhich was instantly produced on the prophet’s mind. God designed to send his messages of love and mercy to the Jews, notwithstanding he knew beforehand that they would prove ineffectual for their conversion. To carry such messages was a painful task; but yet, when God asked, “Who will go for us?” the prophet hesitated not one moment to offer his services, saying, “Here am I, send me [Note: ver. 8.].” Thus should we also manifest our gratitude to God for all the mercies vouchsafed unto us through the Son of his love. We should not inquire whether the office be pleasant; or, whether it will advance our credit in the world. It should be sufficient for us to know what the will of the Lord is; and then we should account it our honour to do, or suffer it. Especially does this observation apply to those who minister in holy things: if God say, Who will go for me, to carry my Gospel to the heathen? we should not stand to inquire, Whether the office be lucrative or not; or, whether the climate to which we are to go be more or less salubrious. No: we should stand forth and say, “Here am I;, send me.” O that we all felt this holy zeal, and that we did not so lamentably “confer with flesh and blood,” when, if called to it, we should leave even the vision of God himself, to execute his will towards sinful man! [Note: This is a fit subject for Missions.] But, in whatever line of life we move, we should be actuated by the same spirit; and so feel the constraining influence of Christ’s love, as to live no longer to ourselves, but altogether unto Him who died for us, and rose again [Note: 2Co_5:14-15.].] 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 1.BARNES, “Then flew - Isaiah is represented as standing out of the temple; the seraphim as in it. Having a live coal - The Vulgate renders this, ‘A stone.’ This is, probably, the original meaning of the word; see 1Ki_19:6. It at first denoted a hot stone which was used to roast meat upon. It may also mean a coal, from its resemblance to such a stone. From off the altar - The altar of burnt-offering. This stood in the court of the priests, in front of the temple; see the notes at Mat_21:12. The fire on this altar was at first kindled by the Lord, Lev_9:24, and was kept continually burning; Lev_6:12-13.
- 105. 2. CLARKE, “Alive coal - The word of prophecy, which was put into the mouth of the prophet. From off the altar - That is, from the altar of burnt-offerings, before the door of the temple, on which the fire that came down at first from heaven (Lev_9:24; 2Ch_7:1) was perpetually burning. It was never to be extinguished, Lev_6:12, Lev_6:13. 3. GILL, “Then flew one of the seraphim unto me,.... When the prophet had confessed his sin; for upon that follows the application of pardon; and when the seraph, or minister of the Gospel, had an order from the Lord to publish the doctrine of it: it is God's act alone to forgive sin; it is the work of his ministers to preach forgiveness of sin, and that to sensible sinners; who when they are made sensible of sin, and distressed with it, the Lord takes notice of them, and sends messengers to them, to comfort them, by acquainting them that their iniquity is forgiven; who go on such an errand cheerfully and swiftly; and though they do not know the particular person, yet the Lord directs their ministration to him, and makes it effectual. Having a live coal in his hand: by which is meant the word of God, comparable to fire, and to a burning coal of fire, Jer_23:29 for the light and heat which it gives both to saints and sinners, and for its purity and purifying nature: which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar; of burnt offering, where the fire was always burning; which was a type of Christ, and his sacrifice; and this shows what particular doctrine of the word it was the seraph or Gospel minister took, and delivered in this visionary way; it was the doctrine of pardon, founded upon the sacrifice and satisfaction of Christ. To this sense of the words the Targum agrees, which paraphrases them thus, "and there flew to me one of the ministers, and in his mouth a word which he received from his Shechinah, upon the throne of glory, in the highest heavens, above the altar,'' 4. HENRY, “The silencing of the prophet's fears by the good words, and comfortable words, with which the angel answered him, Isa_6:6, Isa_6:7. One of the seraphim immediately flew to him, to purify him, and so to pacify him. Note, God has strong consolations ready for holy mourners. Those that humble themselves in penitential shame and fear shall soon be encouraged and exalted; those that are struck down with the visions of God's glory shall soon be raised up again with the visits of his grace; he that tears will heal. Note, further, Angels are ministering spirits for the good of the saints, for their spiritual good. Here was one of the seraphim dismissed, for a time, from attending on the throne of God's glory, to be a messenger of his grace to a good man; and so well pleased was he with the office that he came flying to him. To our Lord Jesus himself, in his agony, there appeared an angel from heaven, strengthening him, Luk_22:43. Here is, 1. A comfortable sign given to the prophet of the purging away of his sin. The seraph brought a live coal from the altar, and touched his lips with it, not to hurt them, but to heal them - not to cauterize, but to cleanse them; for there were purifications by fire, as well as by water, and the filth of Jerusalem was purged by the spirit of burning, Isa_4:4. The blessed Spirit works as fire, Mat_3:11. The seraph, being himself kindled with a divine fire, put life into the prophet, to make him also zealously affected; for the way to purge the lips from the uncleanness of sin is to fire the soul with the love of God. This live coal was taken from off the altar, either the altar of incense or that of burnt-offerings, for they had both of them fire burning
- 106. on them continually.Nothing is powerful to cleanse and comfort the soul but what is taken from Christ's satisfaction and the intercession he ever lives to make in the virtue of that satisfaction. It must be a coal from his altar that must put life into us and be our peace; it will not be done with strange fire. 2. An explication of this sign: “Lo, this has touched thy lips, to assure thee of this, that thy iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged. The guilt of thy sin is removed by pardoning mercy, the guilt of thy tongue-sins. Thy corrupt disposition to sin is removed by renewing grace; and therefore nothing can hinder thee from being accepted with God as a worshipper, in concert with the holy angels, or from being employed for God as a messenger to the children of men.” Those only who are thus purged from an evil conscience are prepared to serve the living God, Heb_9:14. The taking away of sin is necessary to our speaking with confidence and comfort either to God in prayer or from God in preaching; nor are any so fit to display to others the riches and power of gospel-grace as those who have themselves tasted the sweetness and felt the influence of that grace; and those shall have their sin taken away who complain of it as a burden and see themselves in danger of being undone by it. 5. JAMISON, “unto me — The seraph had been in the temple, Isaiah outside of it. live coal — literally, “a hot stone,” used, as in some countries in our days, to roast meat with, for example, the meat of the sacrifices. Fire was a symbol of purification, as it takes the dross out of metals (Mal_3:2, Mal_3:3). the altar — of burnt offering, in the court of the priests before the temple. The fire on it was at first kindled by God (Lev_9:24), and was kept continually burning. 6. K&D, “This confession was followed by the forgiveness of his sins, of which he received an attestation through a heavenly sacrament, and which was conveyed to him through the medium of a seraphic absolution. “And one of the seraphim flew to me with a red-hot coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said, Behold, this hath touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away; and so thy sin is expiated.” One of the beings hovering round the Lord (there were, therefore, a large and indefinite number) flew to the altar of incense - the heavenly original of the altar of incense in the earthly temple, which was reckoned as belonging to the Most Holy Place - and took from this altar a ritzpah, i.e., either a red-hot stone (Vulg. Calculum, Ar. radfe or radafe), or, according to the prevailing tradition, a red-hot coal (vid., ratzeph -rashaph, to scatter sparks, sparkle, or glow: syn. gacheleth), and that with a pair of tongs, because even a seraph's hand cannot touch the vessels consecrated to God, or the sacrifices that belong to Him. With this red-hot coal he flew to Isaiah, and having touched his mouth with it, i.e., that member of his body of whose uncleanness he had more especially complained (cf., Jer_1:9, where the prophet's mouth is touched by Jehovah's hand, and made eloquent in consequence), he assured him of the forgiveness of his sins, which coincided with the application of this sacramental sign. The Vav connects together what is affirmed by naga‛ (hath touched) and sar (a taker away) as being simultaneous; the zeh (this) points as a neuter to the red-hot coal. The future tecuppar is a future consec., separated by Vav conversive for the purpose of bringing the subject into greater prominence; as it is practically impossible that the removal of guilt should be thought of as immediate and momentary, and the expiation as occurring gradually. The fact that the guilt was taken away was the very proof that the expiation was complete. Cipper, with the “sin” in the accusative, or
- 107. governed by לַ,ע signifies to cover it up, extinguish, or destroy it (for the primary meaning, vid., Isa_28:18), so that it has no existence in relation to the penal justice of God. All sinful uncleanness was burned away from the prophet's mouth. The seraph, therefore, did here what his name denotes: he burned up or burned away (Comburit). He did this, however, not by virtue of his own fiery nature, but by means of the divine fire which he had taken from the heavenly altar. As the smoke which filled the house came from the altar, and arose in consequence of the adoration offered to the Lord by the seraphim, not only must the incense-offering upon the altar and this adoration be closely connected; but the fire, which revealed itself in the smoke and consumed the incense-offering, and which must necessarily have been divine because of its expiatory power, was an effect of the love of God with which He reciprocated the offerings of the seraphim. A fiery look from God, and that a fiery look of pure love as the seraphim were sinless, had kindled the sacrifice. Now, if the fact that a seraph absolved the seer by means of this fire of love is to be taken as an illustrative example of the historical calling of the seraphim, they were the vehicles and media of the fire of divine love, just as the cherubim in Ezekiel are vehicles and media of the fire of divine wrath. For just as, in the case before us, a seraph takes the fire of love from the altar; so there, in Eze_10:6-7, a cherub takes the fire of wrath from the throne-chariot. Consequently the cherubim appear as the vehicles and media of the wrath which destroys sinners, or rather of the divine doxa, with its fiery side turned towards the world; and the seraphim as the vehicles and media of the love which destroys sin, or of the same divine doxa with its light side towards the world. (Note: Seraphic love is the expression used in the language of the church to denote the ne plus ultra of holy love in the creature. The Syriac fathers regarded the burning coal as the symbol of the incarnate Son of God, who is often designated in poetry as the “live or burning coal” (Kemurto denuro): DMZ. 1860, pp. 679, 681.) 7. PULPIT, “A live coal; or, a glowing stone, as Gesenius, Rosenmüller, Knobel, and Mr. Cheyne understand. The tongs the altar. The presence of an altar in the heavenly dwelling, with the usual appurtenances, is assumed (comp. Rev_6:9;Rev_8:3). The altar is, no doubt, an altar of incense, and of gold, not of stone; but the incense is burnt upon stones heated to a glow, and it is one of these stones which the angel takes with the golden tongs of the sanctuary (Exo_25:38). 8. CALVIN, “6.Then flew one of the seraphim to me. The Prophet shows what kind of relief was brought to him, when he was so terrified as to think that he was a dead man; and this confirms what we have already said, that purity of lips comes from God alone; for men can produce nothing of themselves but what is filthy and abominable. If it be objected that it is absurd to say that the Lord now cleansed him, as if his tongue had formerly been impure and profane, though it had been the instrument employed by the Holy Spirit, I have already replied sufficiently to that objection. The Lord had already cleansed him, but according to his degree. The cleansing which is now added is greater; for it has its enlargements and
- 108. additions, which noman can obtain all at once. We must not conclude, therefore, that Isaiah’ lips were impure, because they are now cleansed; but we ought to inquire why it is done. It was because the Lord intended to enlarge and extend his favor towards him, and to raise him to higher dignity, that he might have greater influence over the people; and this was rendered necessary by the character of the times, and the change which had taken place in the state. The fire was taken from the altar, to intimate that it was divine or heavenly; for the law forbade any strange fire to be brought to it, (Lev_10:1,) because in sacred things every human mixture is absolute profanation. By this figure, therefore, Isaiah was taught that all purity flows from God alone. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” 1.BARNES, “And he laid it upon my mouth - Margin, ‘And he caused it to touch my mouth.’ This is the more correct rendering. It was a slight, momentary touch, sufficient merely to be a “sign or token” that he was cleansed. Thine iniquity is taken away - That is, whatever obstacle there existed to your communicating the message of God to this people, arising from your own consciousness of unworthiness, is taken away. You are commissioned to bear that message, and your own consciousness of guilt should not be a hinderance. To understand this, it should be remembered that “fire,” among the orientals, has been always regarded as an emblem of “purifying.” Thus the Sabeans, the followers or Zoroaster in Persia, worshipped “fire,” as the emblem of a pure divinity; see Mal_3:2-3; compare Mat_3:2. Every minister of the gospel, though conscious of personal unworthiness and unfitness, should yet go freely and cheerfully to his work, if he has evidence that he is called and commissioned by God. “Is purged.” Is purified, is removed - תכפר te kupar from כפר kaphar, “to cover, to overlay;” then to make an atonement for, to expiate, to cover sin, to pardon it, to affect or to procure forgiveness; and then to purify in general, to make whole; compare the note at Isa_43:3. This does not mean, that the fire from the altar had any physical effect to purify him from sin, but that it was “emblematic” of such a purifying; and probably, also, the fact that it was taken from the altar of sacrifice, was to him an indication that he was pardoned through the “atonement,” or expiation there made. The Jews expected pardon in no other mode than by sacrifice; and the offering on their altar pointed to the great sacrifice which was to be made on the cross for the sins of human beings. There is here a beautiful “union” of the truths respecting sacrifice. The great doctrine is presented that it is only by
- 109. sacrifice that sincan be pardoned; and the Messiah, the sacrifice himself, is exhibited as issuing the commission to Isaiah to go and declare his message to people. 2. PULPIT, “He laid it upon my mouth; literally, he caused it to touch my mouth; i.e. "he touched my mouth with it." He brought it into contact with that part of him which the prophet had recognized (Isa_6:5) as the seat of impurity. Thine iniquity is taken away. By the contact the prophet's impurity is purged, and he is freed from it. The symbolical net showed (1) that sin could be purged; (2) that the highest angelic nature could not, alone and of its own force, purge it; and (3) that the purging could come only from that fire which consumes the incense that is laid upon the altar of God. Dr. Kay suggests that this fire is "the Divine love." 3. GILL, “And he laid it upon my mouth,.... Because he had complained of the impurity of his lips, and that his mouth might take in by faith this comfortable doctrine of pardon, and it might be filled with praise and thankfulness; it denotes the ministration of the Gospel, as a means of the application of pardoning grace: and said, lo, this hath touched thy lips; this coal, as a symbol of the word; the particle "lo", or "behold", is prefixed to this declaration, as requiring attention to a matter of importance, and as expressing something wonderful, and declaring something sure and certain; all which the pardon of sin is, and which is spoken of without a figure in the next words: and thine iniquity is taken away: which was abominable in his sight; a burden to him, and the cause of his distress; even all his iniquity, and particularly the iniquity of his lips he had been mourning over, and confessing; this was taken away, as by the sacrifice of Christ, from the sight of God, so from his own conscience, by the application of pardon: and thy sin purged; or "atoned for", or "covered" (q); which is done meritoriously, only by the blood and sacrifice of Christ; and in a way of application by the Spirit of God, through a promise, and by the ministry of the word; which latter is here meant. The Targum is, "and he disposed "it" in my mouth; and said, lo, I have put the words of my prophecy in thy mouth, and thine iniquities are removed, and thy sins are expiated, or forgiven.'' 4. JAMISON, “mouth ... lips — (See on Isa_6:5). The mouth was touched because it was the part to be used by the prophet when inaugurated. So “tongues of fire” rested on the disciples (Act_2:3, Act_2:4) when they were being set apart to speak in various languages of Jesus.
- 110. iniquity — consciousunworthiness of acting as God’s messenger. purged — literally, “covered,” that is, expiated, not by any physical effect of fire to cleanse from sin, but in relation to the altar sacrifices, of which Messiah, who here commissions Isaiah, was in His death to be the antitype: it is implied hereby that it is only by sacrifice sin can be pardoned. 5. CALVIN, “7.And applying it to my mouth. (94) We see how God condescends to meet the weakness of human sense. He puts the tongs into the hand of a seraph, that by means of it he may take a coal from the altar and apply it to the Prophet’ mouth. This was, no doubt, done in vision; but by the aid of the outward sign God assisted the Prophet’ understanding. There is no reason to believe that the coal possessed any virtue, as superstitious persons imagine that in the magical arts there is some hidden power. Nothing of this sort is to be found here; for it is God alone who can cleanse our pollution, in whatever part it exists. Here the angel administered the cleansing, but was not the author of it; so that we must not ascribe to another what belongs to God alone. This is expressly stated by the angel himself, who claims nothing as his own, but bringing forward the sacred pledge which he had received from God, laid it as a sacrament on the lips of the Prophet; not that he could not be cleansed without the coal, but because the visible sign was useful for the confirmation and proof of the fact. And such is the use of sacraments, to strengthen us in proportion to our ignorance; for we are not angels, that can behold the mysteries of God without any assistance, and therefore he raises us to himself by gradual advances. Lo, this hath touched thy lips. He shows that the confirmation which was obtained by the sign was not without effect, but that the blessing signified by it was at the same time bestowed, so that Isaiah knew that he had not been deceived. Hence we may infer, that in the sacraments the reality is given to us along with the sign; for when the Lord holds out a sacrament, he does not feed our eyes with an empty and unmeaning figure, but joins the truth with it, so as to testify that by means of them he acts upon us efficaciously. And this ought to be the more carefully observed, because there are few persons in the present day who understand the true use of sacraments, and because many godly and learned men are engaged in frequent disputes respecting them. First of all, we ought to believe that the truth must never be separated from the signs, though it ought to be distinguished from them. We perceive and feel a sign, such as the bread which is put into our hands by the minister in the Lord’ Supper; and because we ought to seek Christ in heaven, our thoughts ought to be carried thither. By the hand of the minister he presents to us his body, that it may be actually enjoyed by the godly, who rise by faith to fellowship with him. He bestows it, therefore, on the godly, who raise their thoughts to him by faith; for he cannot deceive.
- 111. Unbelievers indeed receivethe sign; but because they linger in the world, and do not arrive at Christ’ heavenly kingdom, they have no experience of the truth; for he who has not faith cannot raise his thoughts to God, and therefore cannot partake of Christ. Faith alone opens for us the gate of the kingdom of God; and therefore, whoever wishes to eat the flesh of Christ must be carried by faith to heaven beyond human conception. In short, it is the Spirit of God alone who can make us partakers of that fellowship. And yet it does not follow that the unbelief of men takes anything away from the truth of the sacrament, since God always presents to us a spiritual matter, but wicked men treat it with scorn; just as the grace of God is offered by the gospel, but all do not receive it, though they actually hear it, and are compelled to yield assent to the truth. Besides, we learn from this passage that the sacraments are never separated from the word. The angel does not here act the part of a dumb man, but, after having given the sign, immediately adds the doctrine, in order to show what was intended by it; for it would have been no sacrament, if doctrine had not been added, from which Isaiah could learn for what purpose the coal was applied to his mouth. Let us therefore learn that the chief part of the sacraments consists in the word, and that without it they are absolute corruptions, such as we see every day in popery, in which the sacraments are turned into stage-plays. The amount of the whole is, that there is nothing to prevent Isaiah, who has been perfectly cleansed, and is free from all pollution, from appearing as God’ representative. (94) And he laid it upon (marg., caused it to touch) my mouth. — Eng. Ver. 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
- 112. 1.BARNES, “The voiceof the Lord - Hebrew: “The voice of Yahweh.” He had before been addressed by one of the seraphim. Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? - The change of number here, from the singular to the plural, is very remarkable. Jerome, on this place, says that it indicates the ‘sacrament’ of the Trinity. The Septuagint renders it, ‘whom shall I send, and who will go to this people?’ The Chaldee, ‘whom shall I send to prophesy, and who will go to teach?’ The Syriac, ‘whom shall I send, and who will go?’ The Arabic has followed the Septuagint. The use of the plural pronouns “we and us,” as applicable to God, occurs several times in the Old Testament. Thus, Gen_1:26 : ‘And God said, Let us make man in our image;’ Gen_11:6-7 : ‘And Jehovah said, Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language.’ Such a use of the name of God in the plural is very common, but it is not clear that there is a reference to the doctrine of the Trinity. In some cases, it is evident that it cannot have such a reference, and that no “argument” can be drawn from the use of that plural form in favor of such a doctrine. Thus, in Isa_19:4, the expression ‘a cruel lord,’ is in the Hebrew in the plural, yet evidently denoting but one. The expression translated ‘the most Holy One,’ or ‘the Holy,’ is in the plural in Pro_9:10; Pro_30:3. In 1Sa_19:13, 1Sa_19:16, the plural form is applied to a “household god,” or an image; and the plural form is applied to God in Job_30:25, ‘my Makers’ (Hebrew); Ecc_12:1, ‘thy Creators’ (Heb,); Psa_121:5, ‘Yahweh is thy keepers’ (Hebrew); see also Isa_54:5; Isa_22:2; Isa_43:5; Isa_62:5. This is called by grammarians pluralis excellentice, or the plural form indicating majesty or honor. It is, in all countries, used in reference to kings and princes; and as God often represents himself as a “king” in the Scriptures, and speaks in the language that was usually applied to kings in oriental countries, no argument can be drawn from expressions like these in defense of the doctrine of the Trinity. There are unanswerable arguments enough in support of that doctrine, without resorting to those which are of doubtful authority. That there are clearer intimations of the doctrines of the Trinity, than that contained in this and similar texts, is indubitable; but we must not set aside the early and somewhat obscure intimations of a doctrine, simply because it comes afterward to be exhibited with more fulness. Such is the plan of revelation; and, instead of despising early announcements, or deeming them useless, because better “proofs” of the doctrine in question can be found, we ought to admire the wisdom and goodness of God in this gradual development of truth. The same interest belongs to the work of thus tracing the rise and progress of truth in the Bible, as belongs to that of him who traces rivers to their fountain head, and proves that, far up amid mountains all but inaccessible, rises the tiny stream, on whose broad waters, as it nears the sea, navies float in proud array. No more visible, in its earlier outflowings, is this doctrine of the Trinity; yet by and by it is the element on which Christianity doats, and in which it lives and moves. Thus we see the unity and harmony of revelation in 11 ages; the doctrine is the same; the degree of manifestation only is different. The necessity of preserving and exhibiting this unity, gives to these early intimations an unspeakable importance; though some, through an excess of candor, would abandon them to the enemy. This text, and its parallels, Gen_1:26; Gen_3:22; Gen_11:7, exhibit the Trinity in Revelation’s dawn indistinctly - partially disclosed - revealing only a “plurality” of persons. As the light increases, the “three” persons are seen moving under the lifting shadows, until, in the New Testament, baptism is commanded in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and the existence and functions of each person are clearly unfolded. The problem is, to account for the use of the plural number in these passages, consistently with the unity of God. The doctrine of the Trinity seems to furnish an easy and beautiful solution; but this solution has been rejected, not by Unitarians only, but by Trinitarians not a few. Various hypotheses have been offered: as, that in the creation of man Gen_1:26, God associated with himself the heavens and the earth; or, that he consulted with angels; or, meant simply to indicate the importance of the work; or, perhaps, to supply a lesson of deliberation!
- 113. These crudities areby most, however, long ago abandoned as untenable; and the solution most generally approved by such as reject that of the Trinity, is that furnished by an appeal to the “style of majesty.” Oriental princes, it is alleged, from the most ancient times, used the plural number in publishing their decrees; and such is the style of royalty to this day. But, unfortunately for this theory, there is no evidence whatever that ancient potentates employed this style. “The use of the plural number by kings and princes, is quite a modern invention.” The Bible does not furnish any example of it. Nor is there any evidence that God himself, on especially solemn occasions, keeping out of sight, of course, the text in question, used such style; there is abundant evidence to the contrary, the singular number being used by Yahweh in the most sublime and awful declarations. Besides this strange use of the plural number on the part of God himself, plural names (אלהים 'elohı ym, אדנים 'adonayı m) are frequently given to him by the writers of the Bible; the instances in which these names occur in the singular form, are the exceptions. The name usually rendered “God” in the English Bible, is almost invariably plural - אלהים 'elohı ym, Gods. That these plural forms are used of idols, as well as of the true God, is admitted; but as the special names of the true God came, in process of time, to be applied to idols, so would the special “form” of these names, and to tell us that these forms “are” so applied, is quite beside the question. We wish to know why, originally, such forms were applied to the “true” God; and it is no answer to tell us they are also applied to idols. ‘There is nothing more wonderful in the name being so used in the plural form, than in its being so used at all. The same principle which accounts for the name God being given to pagan deities at all, will equally well account for its being given to them in the particular form in which it is applied to the true God.’ - “Wardlaw.” This is pointed and decisive; and renders it needless to speculate here on the mode in which the name, or the plural form of it, came to be transferred to false gods, or great men. On this point, see Dr. John Pye Smith’s “Scripture testimony to the Messiah.” It is further remarkable, that these plural appellatives are, for the most part combined with verbs and adjectives in the singular number; as, ‘Gods (he) created,’ Gen_1:1; and with plural adjuncts but rarely. Now, the ordinary rule of grammar might have been followed invariably, as well as in these few instances, or the departures from it might have been but few in number. That this is not the case, implies the existence of some very cogent reason, and cannot be regarded as the result, merely, of accident. To account for the use of these plural names, our author has recourse to what is called the pluralis majestaticus, or excellentiae, according to which, nouns of dignity and majesty, in Hebrew, are said to be used in the plural form. But the existence of this pluralis majestaticus has never been proved. Its defense is now abandoned by the most skillful grammarians. Ewald repudiates it. And it is not a little remarkable, that some of the examples most relied on for proof of this “dignified plural,” are found, on examination, to possess nothing of the dignity, while more exact scholarship has reduced their plurality also. The examples alluded to, are, Exo_21:29, Exo_21:34; Exo_22:10, Exo_22:13; Isa_1:3; where the supposed plural form denotes the owner of oxen, of sheep, and of asses! - fit parties, doubtless, to be honored with the pluralis majestaticus. In truth, leaving out of view the plural appellatives applied to the Deity, that is, the appellatives in question, and which, therefore, cannot be adduced, there is no evidence whatever of this pretended rule. Had any rule of the kind existed, we should, without doubt, have found it exemplified, when kings, princes, nobles, generals, priests, and prophets figure on the sacred pages. That the pluralis excellentiae is not applied to them, is sufficient proof of its nonexistence; and should dispose rational and candid inquirers to acquiesce in the solution of the grammatical anomalies we have been considering, that is furnished by the doctrine of Trinity in Unity - the solution which, to say the least of it, is beset with fewest difficulties.
- 114. The language hereidicates the “design” for which this vision was shown to Isaiah. It was to commission him to exhibit truth that would be extremely unpleasant to the nation, and that would have the certain effect of hardening their hearts. In view of the nature and effect of this message, God is represented as inquiring who would be willing to undertake it? Who had courage enough to do it? Who would risk his life? And it indicates, perhaps, that there were “few” in the nation who would be willing to do it, and that it was attended with self-denial and danger. Here am I - This shows at once his confidence in God, and his zeal. He had been qualified for it by the extraordinary commission, and he was now ready to bear the message to his countrymen. In this attitude “we” should stand, prompt to deliver “any” message that God shall entrust to our hands, and to engage in “any” service that he calls on us to perform. 2. PULPIT, “THE PROPHET ENTRUSTED WITH A SPECIAL MISSON. We do not know what special call Isaiah had had previously. Perhaps he had been brought up in the "schools of the prophets." Perhaps, when the "word of the Lord" came to him, he had accepted the fact as sufficient call. Now, however, he had, in vision, a clear and distinct call and mission (verses 8, 9). He was told to "go," and instructed as to what he was to say (verses 9, 10). As before (Isaiah 1-5.), while in the main he was to denounce woe, he was still to proclaim the survival of a remnant (verses 10-12). Isa_6:8 Whom shall I send?. Such questions enable those who wait in the courts of heaven to show their zeal and readiness. Who will go for us? Some explain the plural pronoun as used of the Almighty and those with whom he is consulting. But he does not really "consult" his creatures (infra, Isa_40:14; Rev_11:1-19 :34), nor do his messengers do his errands for them. The plural form is best explained by the light which Isa_6:3 throws on it, as indicative of the doctrine of the Trinity (comp. Gen_1:26). 3. GILL, “Also I heard the voice of the Lord,.... The Targum renders it, the voice of the Word of the Lord, as if it was the second Person, the Word, that was heard speaking; but it seems rather to be the voice of the first Person, the Father: saying, Whom shall I send? to the people of Israel, to reprove them for their blindness and stupidity, and to threaten them, and foretell unto them their ruin and destruction; intimating that it was a difficult thing to pitch upon a proper person; and that there were but few that were fit to go on such an errand: this is spoken after the manner of men; otherwise the Lord knew whom to send, and whom he would send; and could easily qualify anyone he pleased, and send with such a message: and who will go for us? not directing his discourse to the seraphim, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi; as if he consulted with them: for who of all the creatures is the Lord's counsellor? but to the Son and Spirit, who it is certain were concerned in this mission; for the following words were
- 115. said when Isaiahsaw the glory of Christ, and spake of him, Joh_12:41 and they are expressly attributed to the Holy Ghost in Act_28:25 the Septuagint and Arabic versions, instead of "for us", read "unto this people"; and the Targum is, "whom shall I send to prophesy? and who will go to teach?'' then said I, here am I, send me: for he who before thought himself undone, and unworthy to be employed in the service of God, now having a discovery and application of pardoning grace, freely offers himself to God: this shows the true nature and effect of an application of pardon; it gives a man freedom and boldness in the presence of God, and stimulates to a ready and cheerful obedience to his will, and engages him with the utmost alacrity in his service; so far is the doctrine of free and full pardon by the blood of Christ from being a licentious doctrine. 4. HENRY, “The renewing of the prophet's mission, Isa_6:8. Here is a communication between God and Isaiah about this matter. Those that would assist others in their correspondence with God must not themselves be strangers to it; for how can we expect that God should speak by us if we never heard him speaking to us, or that we should be accepted as the mouth of others to God if we never spoke to him heartily for ourselves? Observe here, 1. The counsel of God concerning Isaiah's mission. God is here brought in, after the manner of men, deliberating and advising with himself: Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? God needs not either to be counselled by others or to consult with himself; he knows what he will do, but thus he would show us that there is a counsel in his whole will, and teach us to consider our ways, and particularly that the sending forth of ministers is a work not to be done but upon mature deliberation. Observe, (1.) Who it is that is consulting. It is the Lord God in his glory, whom he saw upon the throne high and lifted up. It puts an honour upon the ministry that, when God would send a prophet to speak in his name, he appeared in all the glories of the upper world. Ministers are the ambassadors of the King of kings; how mean soever they are, he who sends them is great; it is God in three persons (Who will go for us? as Gen_1:26, Let us make man), Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. They all concur, as in the creating, so in the redeeming and governing of man. Ministers are ordained in the same name into which all Christians are baptized. (2.) What the consultation is: Whom shall I send? And who will go? Some think this refers to the particular message of wrath against Israel, Isa_6:9, Isa_6:10. “Who will be willing to go on such a melancholy errand, on which they will go in the bitterness of their souls?” Eze_3:14. But I rather take it more largely for all those messages which the prophet was entrusted to deliver, in God's name, to that people, in which that hardening work was by no means the primary intention, but a secondary effect of them, 2Co_2:16. Whom shall I send? intimating that the business was such as required a choice and well-accomplished messenger, Jer_49:19. God now appeared, attended with holy angels, and yet asks, Whom shall I send? For he would send them a prophet from among their brethren, Heb_2:17. Note, [1.] It is the unspeakable favour of God to us that he is pleased to send us his mind by men like ourselves, whose terror shall not make us afraid, and who are themselves concerned in the messages they bring. Those who are workers together with God are sinners and sufferers together with us. [2.] It is a rare thing to find one who is fit to go for God, and carry his messages to the children of men: Whom shall I send? Who is sufficient? Such a degree of courage for God and concern for the souls of men as is necessary to make a man faithful, and withal such an insight into the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven as is necessary to make a man skilful, are seldom to be met with. Such an interpreter of the mind of God is one of a thousand, Job_33:23. [3.] None are allowed to go for God but those who are sent by him; he will own none but those whom he appoints, Rom_10:15. It is Christ's work to put men into the ministry, 1Ti_1:12.
- 116. 2. The consentof Isaiah to it: Then said I, Here am I; send me. He was to go on a melancholy errand; the office seemed to go a begging, and every body declined it, and yet Isaiah offered himself to the service. It is an honour to be singular in appearing for God, Jdg_5:7. We must not say, “I would go if I thought I should have success;” but, “I will go, and leave the success to God. Here am I; send me.” Isaiah had been himself in a melancholy frame (Isa_6:5), full of doubts and fears; but now that he had the assurance of the pardon of his sin the clouds were blown over, and he was fit for service and forward to it. What he says denotes, (1.) His readiness: “Here am I, a volunteer, not pressed into the service.” Behold me; so the word is. God says to us, Behold me (Isa_65:1), and, Here I am (Isa_58:9), even before we call; let us say so to him when he does call. (2.) His resolution; “Here I am, ready to encounter the greatest difficulties. I have set my face as a flint.” Compare this with Isa_50:4-7. (3.) His referring himself to God: “Send me whither thou wilt; make what use thou pleasest of me. Send me, that is, Lord, give me commission and full instruction; send me, and then, no doubt, thou wilt stand by me.” It is a great comfort to those whom God sends that they go for God, and may therefore speak in his name, as having authority, and be assured that he will bear them out. 5. JAMISON, “I ... us — The change of number indicates the Trinity (compare Gen_1:26; Gen_11:7). Though not a sure argument for the doctrine, for the plural may indicate merely majesty, it accords with that truth proved elsewhere. Whom ... who — implying that few would be willing to bear the self-denial which the delivering of such an unwelcome message to the Jews would require on the part of the messenger (compare 1Ch_29:5). Here am I — prompt zeal, now that he has been specially qualified for it (Isa_6:7; compare 1Sa_3:10, 1Sa_3:11; Act_9:6). 6. K&D, “When Isaiah had been thus absolved, the true object of the heavenly scene was made apparent.”Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Behold me here; send me!” The plural “for us” (lanu) is not to be accounted for on the ground that, in a case of reflection or self-consultation, the subject also stands as the object in antithesis to itself (as Hitzig supposes); nor is it a pluralis majestatis, as Knobel maintains; nor is the original abstract signification of the plural hinted at, as Meier thinks. The plural is no doubt used here with reference to the seraphim, who formed, together with the Lord, one deliberative council (sod kedoshim, Psa_89:8), as in 1Ki_22:19-22; Dan_4:14, etc.; just as, from their very nature as “sons of God” (b'ne Ha-elohim), they made one family with God their Creator (vid., Eph_3:15), all linked so closely together that they themselves could be called Elohim, like God their Creator, just as in 1Co_12:12 the church of believers is called Christos, like Christ its head. The task for which the right man was sought was not merely divine, but heavenly in the broadest sense: for it is not only a matter in which God Himself is interested, that the earth should become full of the glory of God, but this is also an object of solicitude to the spirits that minister unto Him. Isaiah, whose anxiety to serve the Lord was no longer suppressed by the consciousness of his own sinfulness, no sooner heard the voice of the Lord, than he exclaimed, in holy self-consciousness, “Behold me here; send me.” It is by no means a probable thing, that he had already acted as a messenger of God, or held the office of prophet. For if the joy, with which he offered himself here as the messenger of God, was the direct consequence of
- 117. the forgiveness ofsins, of which he had received the seal; the consciousness of his own personal sinfulness, and his membership in a sinful nation, would certainly have prevented him thereto from coming forward to denounce judgment upon that nation. And as the prophetic office as such rested upon an extraordinary call from God, it may fairly be assumed, that when Isaiah relates so extraordinary a call as this, he is describing the sealing of his prophetic office, and therefore his own first call. 6B. SBC, “I. This, in all seeming, was the thankless office to which Isaiah was called, to be heard, to be listened to, by some with contempt, by others with seeming respect, and to leave things in the main worse than he found them. His office was towards those, in part at least, who were ever hearing, never doing, and so never understanding. The more they heard and saw, the farther they were from understanding, from being converted, from the reach of healing. And what said the prophet? Contrary as the sentence must have been to all the yearnings of his soul, crushing to his hopes, he knew that it must be just, because "the Judge of the whole world" must do right. He intercedes, but only by these three words: "Lord, how long?" This question implied a hope that there would be an end; the answer "until" implied that there would be an end. II. Where there is desolation for the sake of God, there is also consolation. Isaiah had not seen the Beatific Vision. Not with his bodily eyes did he behold God, nor with his bodily ears did he hear His words; but to his inward sight did God disclose some likeness, whereby he should understand the nature of the Divine Essence, how God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, in-exists in Himself; although the Beatific Vision, as He is, was reserved for the life to come. So God prepared him to be—above all others, even of the goodly company of the prophets—the evangelic prophet, in that he had seen the glory of the Lord. This, then, is ever his consolation, this his joy in trouble, this his life in death. The surges of this world, higher and higher as they rose, only bore his soul upward toward his God. He, too, was a man of longing. In the darkness of the world God ever brings this light before him,—his darkest visions are the dawn-streaks of the brightest light. E. B. Pusey, Lenten Sermons, p. 466. References: Isa_6:8-13.—S. Cox, Expositor, 2nd series, vol. ii., p. 217. Isa_ 7.CALVIN, “8.Afterwards I heard the voice of the Lord. The Prophet now begins to discourse about the design of this vision, why God appeared to him with such glorious majesty, in order to ordain him anew as a prophet. It was because he was called to deliver an incredible message about blinding the Jews. On this revolting occasion, therefore, he is more fully assured of his calling, that he may lay aside fear and obey the command of God; for nothing gives greater confidence to pious minds than to know that they obey God. He had also another proof, namely, that the Lord had cleansed him; and this was sufficient to lead him to undertake any task, however difficult. Whom shall I send? The Prophet represents the Lord as speaking, as if he could not find a man qualified for such a message. Some think that this is intended to reprove the ignorance of the priests and prophets; because, though they are very numerous, still not one of them was qualified to teach. This reason carries some probability, but I would rather view it as referring to the certainty of Isaiah’ calling, as implying that it
- 118. was not atrandom, but from choice, that the Lord appointed him. There is here, therefore, a weighty deliberation whom the Lord will be pleased to send; not that he hesitates, but such modes of expression are used on our account, just as these words, I will go down and see. (Gen_18:21.) For God, to whom all things are known, has no need to make any inquiry; but, lest men should think that he acts with precipitation, he thus accommodates himself to the ordinary modes of speaking among men. In like manner, when he asks whom he shall send, the meaning is, that he needs not an ordinary person, but a teacher of uncommon excellence on a subject of the greatest importance. Hence we infer that the authority of Isaiah was confirmed, so that he was reckoned to be not only a prophet, but eminent among the prophets. Who will go for us? I am rather favorable to the opinion that this passage points to Three Persons in the Godhead, just as we elsewhere read, Let us create man in our likeness. (Gen_1:26.) For God talks with himself, and in the plural number; and unquestionably he now holds a consultation with his eternal Wisdom and his eternal Power, that is, with the Son and the Holy Spirit. Here am I. So ready a reply shows how great is that cheerfulness which springs from faith; for he who but lately lay like a dead man dreads no difficulty. Hence we see that the amazement of which we have formerly spoken did not spring from rebellion, in wishing to flee from God, or to refuse the charge which had been laid upon him; but because he needed new grace, that he might know that he would be able to endure the burden. On this account it ought to be observed, that we cannot undertake anything in a proper manner without the evidence of our calling; otherwise we shall pause and hesitate at every step. Besides, it is a powerful aid to our confidence, when we know that we are not destitute of the necessary gifts, but that God has bestowed them on us, in order that we may be better enabled to discharge our office. Now, this remarkable instance of obedience ought to produce such an effect on our minds that we shall readily and cheerfully undertake any task which he may be pleased to enjoin, and shall never refuse any task, however difficult we may imagine it to be. When the Prophet says, Here am I, the meaning is, that he is ready to obey the commands of God; for this mode of expression is frequently employed in Scripture to denote obedience. 8. CHARLES SIMEON, “A MISSIONARY SPIRIT DESCRIBED
- 119. Isa_6:8. I heardthe nice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send? and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. IN former ages, God was well pleased to reveal his will to men, sometimes in dreams, and sometimes in visions, and sometimes by an audible voice, like that of a man conversing with his friend: and these methods were more especially vouchsafed when he was about to devolve on them any particular office, or to employ them on any extraordinary service. It was God’s intention to send the Prophet Isaiah on a painful errand; such as, if he consulted his own feelings only, he would be very averse to execute. But to prepare him for it, God vouchsafed to him a vision of the glory and felicity of the heavenly world. The scene of the vision was, the temple, in which Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, was worshipped. An assurance, at the same time, was given him of qualification for his work, and of acceptance in it: and by this he was brought to such a state, that, at the very first proposal from God to send a messenger to his people, he offered himself for the service, willing and desirous to undertake any thing whereby his God might be honoured, and his Saviour glorified. Respecting the vision itself, I forbear to speak. The points to which I shall call your attention, are, I. The proposal made [In the first instance, the proposal referred solely to a mission which God intended to send to his people. And, in this view, it may justly be applied to any call which may be given to undertake the ministry of the Gospel, either in our own country or in foreign parts [Note: Here somewhat of a parallel may be drawn between that particular occasion and any other which presents itself for more especial consideration.]— — — But we may consider the call as given to every one of us, not to undertake the office of the ministry, but to serve God in a way of general obedience: “Who is willing to fulfil my will, and to consecrate himself to me?” — — — This honour God is ready to confer on all who are willing to accept it: and, if we be really desirous to engage in His service, he will make us lights in the world, and monitors to all around us — — — Such offers as these are common in the Holy Scriptures — — — and we may suppose it as now made to us, in the name, and by the command, of God himself — — —] To the proposal so made, let us consider,
- 120. II. The answergiven— This also we may regard, in the first instance, as an acceptance of the prophetic office. And we cannot but admire the conduct of Isaiah in relation to it, when he offered himself to God without hesitation and without reserve. Here were no inquiries made, what the particular office was, or what would be the difficulties attending the execution of it. It was sufficient for this holy man that he should be employed in doing the will of God; and he was willing to devote to that service all his faculties and all his powers [Note: Here, if the subject of Missions be treated of, it would be proper to shew, that every Candidate for the office of such a Ministry ought to possess the very disposition which was here evinced.] — — — But, taking the proposal as made to us in general to serve our God, we may here see what a spirit we should cultivate. We should offer ourselves to God to serve him, 1. Instantly— [There should be no delay; no looking for a more convenient season. We should not be questioning, whether we shall be able to do all that is required of us; but should expect assuredly, that God will enable us to perform whatever we undertake for him, and will give a successful issue to our endeavours — — —] 2. Without reserve— [We should not draw back from any labour, nor hesitate to make any sacrifice. The loss of life itself should be regarded as no loss, yea, rather as a grain, in such a cause — — — To live for God, or die for God, should be deemed equally desirable, if only God’s will may be done in us, and the Lord Jesus Christ be magnified [Note: Act_20:24. Php_1:20-21.] — — —] But the point to which I would move particularly draw your attention, is, III. The peculiar obligation which lies on us to follow the prophet’s example— You will find in the vision, that the prophet was favoured with a bright manifestation of the glory of Christ: for St. John, referring to it, says, “These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him [Note: Joh_12:41.],” that is, of Christ. You will see, also, that assistance in his work was promised him: for the putting of the live coal upon his mouth seems to have been designed to assure him of it [Note: Compare Jer_1:9 and Act_2:3.]. In addition to all this, a sense of God’s pardoning love, through the
- 121. Redeemer’s sacrifice, wasapplied to his soul: for the live coal, being taken from the altar of burnt-offering, marked clearly the connexion between the atonement offered for him, and thepardon vouchsafed unto him. But in no respect do we full short of the favours conferred on him: yea, rather, we may be considered as having, 1. More glorious discoveries of Christ— [Bright as that vision was, it was far inferior to that which is vouchsafed to us in the Gospel. There we behold Christ as “the brightness of his Father’s glory, and the express image of his person [Note: Heb_1:3.];” yea, we see all “the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ [Note: 2Co_4:6.]” — — —] 2. More abundant communications of the Spirit— [Whatever measures of grace were imparted to some highly-favoured individuals under the Law, as to David, Isaiah, Daniel, and others, the effusions of the Holy Spirit were very small and partial in comparison of those which are given to the Christian Church: so that none of us need to draw Sack from the greatest work; since the weakest of true Believers may say, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthened me [Note: Philip. 4:13.].”] 3. More certain assurances of the forgiveness of our sins— [Doubtless the vision, and that one promise given him in it, were sufficient to satisfy his mind. But in the New Testament we have promises without number, “exceeding great and precious promises;” so “great,” that they comprehend every possible state that can be imagined; and so “precious,” that they bring us into a participation of the divine nature [Note: 2Pe_1:4.], and “fill us with all the fulness of God [Note: Eph_3:19.].” I can have no hesitation in saying, that were an alternative offered to any true Christian, to receive for his comfort the personal, and particular promise that was given to the prophet, or to have given him for his dependence the broad and general promises of the New Testament, he would do well to rest on those broad promises, which engage that “all manner of sin shall he forgiven unto men,” and that “all who believe shall be justified from all things.”] Say, then, whether we be not bound to imitate the prophet, in his surrender of himself to God? [Doubtless, if mercies vouchsafed are motives to obedience, we, who have received such transcendent mercies, ought to “present our whole selves as living sacrifices unto God; which, as it is a holy and an
- 122. acceptable, is alsoa most reasonable, service [Note: Rom_12:1.]” — — —] It may be proper, in conclusion, to reply to a question which will probably be asked, How shall I know whether any particular call to any special service is really from the Lord? [I readily grant, that that is a point very difficult to be determined. There is no difficulty et all in determining that we are every one of us called to devote ourselves to God. The difficulty lies in reference to those particular acts which are required only of few. And here I must say, that no rules can be given which shall apply to all cases; nor perhaps any rules that shall be perfectly satisfactory to every mind. And probably, instead of giving a direct answer to the question, the best answer will be, to suggest a caution against those workings of mind which render the full solution of the case so difficult. Moses, we know, was called to go to Pharaoh, and to bring the Lord’s people out of Egypt. Now, in opposition to this call, he urged his own unworthiness of such an office [Note: Exo_3:11.]; the improbability of succeeding in his attempt [Note: Exo_4:1.]; his own utter unfitness for the work assigned him [Note: Exo_4:10.];” and his desire that it should be transferred to some one else [Note: Exo_4:13.].” Nay, he further adduced his own experience of disappointment in less arduous labours, as a certain ground for apprehending that he must of necessity fail in a matter of so much greater difficulty [Note: Exo_6:12. N.B. Cite all these passages from Exodus; because they are, in fact, the very excuses which a false humility invariably suggests.]. But what were all these objections? They were, in truth, only so many excuses, urged to cover his own backwardness to undertake the work. Had he been in the frame of mind which the prophet manifested in my text, all these difficulties would have vanished; and he would have engaged in his work as Paul did, who was “not disobedient to the heavenly vision,” but “preached at once the faith, which, till that moment, he had laboured to destroy.” To any one, therefore, who desires an answer to the question that has been proposed, I say, Get your soul filled with love to Christ: and that will answer ten thousand difficulties, and constrain you to engage in any thing whereby the kingdom of the Redeemer may be advanced in the world. You will depend on your Lord and Saviour for “grace sufficient for you [Note: 2Co_12:9.],” and expect that “strength shall be given you according to your day [Note: Deu_33:25.].” As to excuses for withholding or delaying a general surrender of ourselves to God, they are lighter than vanity itself. Think not that they can stand one moment, when you come before your God. To serve God instantly, and with Our whole hearts, is the duty of every child of man: and therefore, to the proposal which God at this moment makes by my voice, let every individual amongst you reply, “Here am I: send me.”]
- 123. 9 He said, “Goand tell this people: “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ 1.BARNES, “And he said ... - The expressions which follow are those which denote hardness of heart and blindness of mind. They would hear the words of the prophet, but they would not understand him. They were so obstinately bent on iniquity that they would neither believe nor regard him. This shows the spirit with which ministers must deliver the message of God. It is their business to deliver the message, though they should know that it will neither be understood nor believed. Hear ye indeed - Hebrew ‘In hearing, hear.’ This is a mode of expressing emphasis. This passage is quoted in Mat_13:14; see thenote at that place. 2. CLARKE, “And he said - לי li, to me, two MSS. and the Syriac. Thirteen MSS. have ראה raah, in the regular form. 3. GILL, “And he said, go, and tell this people,.... What is and will be their case and condition, as follows: hear ye indeed; the words of the prophets sent unto them, yea, Christ himself incarnate preaching among them; the great Prophet Moses said should be raised up unto them: but understand not; neither that he is the Messiah, nor the doctrines delivered by him; which were spoken to them in parables; see Mat_13:13, and see ye indeed: the miracles wrought by him, as raising the dead, cleansing the lepers, restoring sight to the blind, causing the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak: but perceive not; that he is the Messiah, though all the characteristics pointed at in prophecy are upon him, and such miracles are done by him.
- 124. 4. HENRY, “Godtakes Isaiah at his word, and here sends him on a strange errand - to foretel the ruin of his people and even to ripen them for that ruin - to preach that which, by their abuse of it, would be to them a savour of death unto death. And this was to be a type and figure of the state of the Jewish church in the days of the Messiah, when they should obstinately reject the gospel, and should thereupon be rejected of God. These verses are quoted in part, or referred to, six times, in the New Testament, which intimates that in gospel time these spiritual judgments would be most frequently inflicted; and though they make the least noise, and come not with observation, yet they are of all judgments the most dreadful. Isaiah is here given to understand these four things: - 1. That the generality of the people to whom he was sent would turn a deaf ear to his preaching, and wilfully shut their eyes against all the discoveries of the mind and will of God which he had to make to them (Isa_6:9): “Go, and tell this people, this foolish wretched people, tell them their own, tell them how stupid and sottish they are.” Isaiah must preach to them, and they will hear him indeed, but that is all; they will not heed him; they will no understand him; they will not take any pains, nor use that application of mind which is necessary to the understanding of him; they are prejudiced against that which is the true intent and meaning of what he says, and therefore they will not understand him, or pretend they do not. They see indeed (for the vision is made plain on tables, so that he who runs may read it); but they perceive not their own concern in it; it is to them as a tale that is told. Note, There are many who hear the sound of God's word, but do not feel the power of it. 5. JAMISON, “Hear ... indeed — Hebrew, “In hearing hear,” that is, Though ye hear the prophet’s warnings again and again, ye are doomed, because of your perverse will (Joh_7:17), not to understand. Light enough is given in revelation to guide those sincerely seeking to know, in order that they may do, God’s will; darkness enough is left to confound the willfully blind (Isa_43:8). So in Jesus’ use of parables (Mat_13:14). see ... indeed — rather, “though ye see again and again,” yet, etc. 6. K&D, “This is confirmed by the words in which his commission is expressed, and the substance of the message. “He said, Go, and tell this people, Hear on, and understand not; and look on, but perceive not. Make ye the heart of this people greasy, and their ears heavy, and their eyes sticky; that they may not see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and their heart understand, and they be converted, and one heal them.” “This people” points back to the people of unclean lips, among whom Isaiah had complained of dwelling, and whom the Lord would not call “my people.” It was to go to this people and preach to them, and therefore to be the prophet of this people, that he was called. But how mournful does the divine commission sound! It was the terrible opposite of that seraphic mission, which the prophet had experienced in himself. The seraph had absolved Isaiah by the burning coal, that he as prophet might not absolve, but harden his people by his word. They were to hear and see, and that continually as the gerundives imply (Ges. §131, 3, b; Ewald, §280, b), by having the prophet's preaching actu directo constantly before them; but not to their salvation. The two prohibitory expressions, “understand not” and “perceive not,” show what the result of the prophet's preaching was to be, according to the judicial will of God. And the imperatives in v. 10 are not to be understood as simply instructing the prophet to tell the people what God had determined to do; for the fact
- 125. that “prophets areoften said to do what they announce as about to happen,” in proof of which Jer_1:10 is sometimes quoted (cf., Jer_31:28; Hos_6:5; Eze_43:3), has its truth not in a rhetorical figure, but in the very nature of the divine word. The prophet was the organ of the word of God, and the word of God was the expression of the will of God, and the will of God is a divine act that has not yet become historical. For this reason a prophet might very well be said to perform what he announced as about to happen: God was the Causa efficiens principalis, the word was the Causa media, and the prophet the Causa ministerialis. This is the force of the three imperatives; they are three figurative expressions of the idea of hardening. The first, hishmin, signifies to make fat (pinguem), i.e., without susceptibility or feeling for the operations of divine grace (Psa_119:70); the second, hicbı̄d, to make heavy, more especially heavy or dull of hearing (Isa_59:1); the third, ע ֵהשׁ or ע ַהשׁ (whence the imperative ַע ֵשׁ ָה or ע ַשׁ ָ,)ה to smear thickly, or paste over, i.e., to put upon a person what is usually the result of weak eyes, which become firmly closed by the hardening of the adhesive substance secreted in the night. The three future clauses, with “lest” (pen), point back to these three imperatives in inverse order: their spiritual sight, spiritual hearing, and spiritual feeling were to be taken away, their eyes becoming blind, and their ears deaf, and their hearts being covered over with the grease of insensibility. Under the influence of these futures the two preterites לוֹ א ָפ ָרְו ב ָשׁ affirm what might have been the result if this hardening had not taken place, but what would never take place now. The expression ְל א ָפ ָר is used in every other instance in a transitive sense, “to heal a person or a disease,” and never in the sense of becoming well or being healed; but in the present instance it acquires a passive sense from the so-called impersonal construction (Ges. §137, 3), “and one heal it,” i.e., “and it be healed:” and it is in accordance with this sense that it is paraphrased in Mar_4:12, whereas in the three other passages in which the words are quoted in the New Testament (viz., Matthew, John, and Acts) the Septuagint rendering is adopted, “and I should heal them” (God Himself being taken as the subject). The commission which the prophet received, reads as though it were quite irreconcilable with the fact that God, as the Good, can only will what is good. But our earlier doctrinarians have suggested the true solution, when they affirm that God does not harden men positive aut effective, since His true will and direct work are man's salvation, but occasionaliter et eventualiter, since the offers and displays of salvation which man receives necessarily serve to fill up the measure of his sins, and judicialiter so far as it is the judicial will of God, that what was originally ordained for men's salvation should result after all in judgment, in the case of any man upon whom grace has ceased to work, because all its ways and means have been completely exhausted. It is not only the loving will of God which is good, but also the wrathful will into which His loving will changes, when determinately and obstinately resisted. There is a self-hardening in evil, which renders a man thoroughly incorrigible, and which, regarded as the fruit of his moral behaviour, is no less a judicial punishment inflicted by God, than self-induced guilt on the part of man. The two are bound up in one another, inasmuch as sin from its very nature bears its own punishment, which consists in the wrath of God excited by sin. For just as in all the good that men do, the active principle is the love of God; so in all the harm that they do, the active principle is the wrath of God. An evil act in itself is the result of self-determination proceeding from a man's own will; but evil, regarded as the mischief in which evil acting quickly issues, is the result of the inherent wrath of God, which is the obverse of His inherent love; and when a man hardens himself in evil, it is the inward working of God's peremptory wrath. To this wrath Israel had delivered itself up through its continued obstinacy in sinning. And consequently the Lord now proceeded to shut the door of repentance against His people. Nevertheless He directed the prophet to preach repentance, because the judgment of hardness suspended over the people as a whole did not preclude the possibility of the salvation of individuals.
- 126. 7. PULPIT, “Hearye indeed see ye indeed; literally, In hearing hear in seeing see—with the force of "Listen and bear; look and see;" "Attend, "that is," with the outward souse, and catch all that sense can catch, but without perception of the inward meaning". This is what they would do. Isaiah is bidden to exhort them, in grave irony, to do it. 8. CALVIN, “9.Then he said, Go, and tell that people. (95) This shows still more clearly how necessary the vision was, that Isaiah might not all at once fail in his course. It was a grievous stumblingblock, that he must endure such obstinacy and rebellion in the people of God, and that not only for a year or two, but for more than sixty years. On this account he needed to be fortified, that he might be like a brazen wall against such stubbornness. The Lord, therefore, merely forewarns Isaiah that he will have to do with obstinate men, on whom he will produce little effect; but that so unusual an occurrence must not lead him to take offense, and lose courage, or yield to the rebellion of men; that, on the contrary, he must proceed with unshaken firmness, and rise superior to temptations of this nature. For God gives him due warning beforehand as to the result; as if he had said, “ will indeed teach without any good effect; but do not regret your teaching, for I enjoin it upon you; and do not refrain from teaching, because it yields no advantage; only obey me, and leave to my disposal all the consequences of your labors. I give you all this information in good time, that the event may not terrify you, as if it had been strange and unexpected.” Besides, he is commanded openly to reprove their blind obstinacy, as if he purposely taunted them. “ labors will do no good; but it matters not to me: it is enough that what I do obtains the approbation of God, to whom my preaching will be a sweet smell, though it bring death to you.” (2Co_2:15.) (95) And he said, Go, and tell this people. — Eng. Ver.
- 127. 10 Make the heartof this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes.[a] Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” 1.BARNES, “Make the heart - The word “heart” here is used in the sense of the “mind” - to denote all their mental powers. It is commonly used in this sense in the Scriptures. Fat - Gross, heavy, dull, stupid. That is, go and proclaim such “truth” to them as shall have this effect - as shall irritate, provoke, enrage them; truth, whose delivery shall be attended, in their gross and corrupt hearts, with this blinding and infatuating influence the effect would be produced by the corrupt state of their hearts, not by any native tendency of the truth, and still less by any direct divine influence. ‘Go, and proclaim truth to a corrupt and sensual people, and the result will be that they will not hear; they are so wicked that they will not attend to it; they will become even more hardened; yet go, and though certain of producing this effect, still proclaim it;’ see this passage explained in the notes at Joh_12:40. Their ears heavy - Dull, stupid, insensible. And shut their eyes - The word used here means “to spread over,” and then to close. It denotes here the state of mind which is more and more indisposed to attend to the truth. And be healed - Be restored from the malady of sin; be recovered and pardoned. Sin is often represented as a painful, loathsome malady, and forgiveness as restoration from such a malady; Isa_30:26; Ps. 103; Psa_41:3-4; 2Ch_7:14; Jer_3:22; Jer_17:14. We may learn here, (1) That the effect of truth is often to irritate people and make them more wicked. (2) The truth must, nevertheless, be proclaimed. This effect is not the fault of the truth; and it is often well that the heart should be known, and the true effect should be seen. 2. CLARKE, “Make the heart of this people fat “Gross” - The prophet speaks of the event, the fact as it would actually happen, not of God’s purpose and act by his ministry. The prophets are in other places said to perform the thing which they only foretell: - “Lo! I have given thee a charge this day Over the nations, and over the kingdoms; To pluck up, and to pull down; To destroy, and to demolish;
- 128. To build, andto plant.” Jer_1:10. And Ezekiel says, “When I came to destroy the city,” that is, as it is rendered in the margin of our version, “when I came to prophesy that the city should be destroyed;” Eze_43:3. To hear, and not understand; to see, and not perceive; is a common saying in many languages. Demosthenes uses it, and expressly calls it a proverb: ᆞστε το της παροιµιας ᆇρωντας µη ᆇρᇮν, και ακουοντας µη ακουειν; Conttra Aristogit. I., sub fin. The prophet, by the bold figure in the sentiment above mentioned, and the elegant form and construction of the sentence, has raised it from a common proverb into a beautiful mashal, and given it the sublime air of poetry. Or the words may be understood thus, according to the Hebrew idiom: “Ye certainly hear, but do not understand; ye certainly see, but do not acknowledge.” Seeing this is the case, make the heart of this people fat - declare it to be stupid and senseless; and remove from them the means of salvation, which they have so long abused. There is a saying precisely like this in Aeschylus: - - - - βλεποντες εβλεπον µατην, Κλυοντες ουκ ηκουον. Aesch. Prom. Vinct. 456. “Seeing, they saw in vain; and hearing, they did not understand.” And shut “Close up” - השע hasha. This word Sal. ben Melec explains to this sense, in which it is hardly used elsewhere, on the authority of Onkelos. He says it means closing up the eyes, so that one cannot see; that the root is שוע shava, by which word the Targum has rendered the word טח tach, Lev_14:42, וטחאתבית vetach eth beith, “and shall plaster the house.” And the word טח tach is used in the same sense, Isa_44:18. So that it signifies to close up the eyes by some matter spread upon the lids. Mr. Harmer very ingeniously applies to this passage a practice of sealing up the eyes as a ceremony, or as a kind of punishment used in the East, from which the image may possibly be taken. Observ. 2:278. With their heart “With their hearts” - ובלבבו ubilebabo, fifteen MSS. of Kennicott’s and fourteen of De Rossi’s, and two editions, with the Septuagint, Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate. And be healed “And I should heal” - וארפא veer pa, Septuagint, Vulgate. So likewise Mat_13:14; Joh_12:40; Act_28:27. 3. GILL, “Make the heart of this people fat,.... Gross and heavy, stupid and unteachable, hard and obdurate; which is sometimes done by the preaching of the Gospel, through the wickedness of man's heart, that being the savour of death unto death to some, just as the sun hardens the clay; or declare that their hearts are thus gross and stupid; or that I will give them up to a judicial hardness of heart: and make their ears heavy: that they cannot hear the word, so as to understand it; they having stopped the ear, and plucked away the shoulder, it is in righteous judgment that they are
- 129. given up tosuch an insensibility as not to be capable of hearing and understanding what is delivered in the ministry of the word: and shut their eyes; they having wilfully shut their own eyes against all evidence of the Messiah, and the truth of his doctrines, they are given up to a judicial blindness; which still continues upon them, and will until the fulness of the Gentiles is brought in: lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understated with their heart; though only in a notional way, the things relating to the Messiah, the truths of the Gospel, and the ordinances thereof, and what may belong to their outward peace: and convert; or turn themselves by external repentance and reformation: and be healed: or forgiven in such sense as to be preserved from national ruin; which God willed not; for seeing they went such great lengths in sin, in rejecting the Messiah, and his Gospel, they were given up to a reprobate mind, to do things that were not convenient, that they might be destroyed; which destruction is after prophesied of. 4. HENRY, “That, forasmuch as they would not be made better by his ministry, they should be made worse by it; those that were wilfully blind should be judicially blinded (Isa_6:10): “They will not understand or perceive thee, and therefore thou shalt be instrumental to make their heart fat, senseless, and sensual, and so to make their ears yet more heavy, and to shut their eyes the closer; so that, at length, their recovery and repentance will become utterly impossible; they shall no more see with their eyes the danger they are in, the ruin they are upon the brink of, nor the way of escape from it; they shall no more hear with their ears the warnings and instructions that are given them, nor understand with their heart the things that belong to their peace, so as to be converted from the error of their ways, and thus be healed.” Note, (1.) The conversion of sinners is the healing of them. (2.) A right understanding is necessary to conversion. (3.) God sometimes, in a way of righteous judgment, gives men up to blindness of mind and strong delusions, because they would not receive the truth in the love of it, 2Th_2:10- 12. He that is filthy let him be filthy still. (4.) Even the word of God oftentimes proves a means of hardening sinners. The evangelical prophet himself makes the heart of this people fat, not only as he foretels it, passing this sentence upon them in God's name, and seals them under it, but as his preaching had a tendency to it, rocking some asleep in security (to whom it was a lovely song), and making others more outrageous, to whom it was such a reproach that they were not able to bear it. Some looked upon the word as a privilege, and their convictions were smothered by it (Jer_7:4); others looked upon it as a provocation, and their corruptions were exasperated by it. 5. JAMISON, “Make ... fat — (Psa_119:17). “Render them the more hardened by thy warnings” [Maurer]. This effect is the fruit, not of the truth in itself, but of the corrupt state of their hearts, to which God here judicially gives them over (Isa_63:17). Gesenius takes the imperatives as futures. “Proclaim truths, the result of which proclamation will be their becoming the more hardened” (Rom_1:28; Eph_4:18); but this does not so well as the former set forth God as designedly giving up sinners to judicial hardening (Rom_11:8; 2Th_2:11). In the first member of the sentence, the order is, the heart, ears, eyes; in the latter, the reverse order, the eyes, ears, heart. It is from the heart that corruption flows into the ears and eyes (Mar_7:21, Mar_7:22); but through the eyes and ears healing reaches the heart (Rom_10:17), [Bengel]. (Jer_5:21; Eze_12:2; Zec_7:11; Act_7:57; 2Ti_4:4). In Mat_13:15, the words are
- 130. quoted in theindicative, “is waxed gross” (so the Septuagint), not the imperative, “make fat”; God’s word as to the future is as certain as if it were already fulfilled. To see with one’s eyes will not convince a will that is opposed to the truth (compare Joh_11:45, Joh_11:46; Joh_12:10, Joh_12:11). “One must love divine things in order to understand them” [Pascal]. be healed — of their spiritual malady, sin (Isa_1:6; Psa_103:3; Jer_17:14). 6. PULPIT, “Make the heart of this people fat. Isaiah is commanded to effect by his preaching that which his preaching would, in fact, effect. It would not awaken the people out of their apathy, it would not stir them to repentance; therefore it would only harden and deaden them. The words have a national, not an individual, application. Shut their eyes; literally, besmear their eyes; or, seal them up. Such sealing has been employed by Oriental monarchs as a punishment. And convert; i.e. "turn to God." Our translators have used the word in an intransitive sense. 7.CALVIN, “10.Harden the heart of this people. (96) Here the former statement is more fully expressed; for God informs Isaiah beforehand, not only that his labor in teaching will be fruitless, but that by his instruction he will also blind the people, so as to be the occasion of producing greater insensibility and stubbornness, and to end in their destruction. He declares that the people, bereft of reason and understanding, will perish, and there will be no means of obtaining relief; and yet he at the same time affirms that the labors of the Prophet, though they bring death and ruin on the Jews, will be to him an acceptable sacrifice. This is a truly remarkable declaration; not only because Isaiah here foretold what was afterwards fulfilled under the reign of Christ, but also because it contains a most useful doctrine, which will be of perpetual use in the Church of God; for all who shall labor faithfully in the ministry of the word will be laid under the necessity of meeting with the same result. We too have experienced it more than we could have wished; but it has been shared by all the servants of Christ, and therefore we ought to endure it with greater patience, though it is a very grievous stumbling-block to those who serve God with a pure conscience. Not only does it give great offense, but Satan powerfully excites his followers to raise a dislike of instruction on the pretense of its being not merely useless, but even injurious; that it renders men more obstinate, and leads to their destruction. At the present day, those who have no other reproach to bring against the doctrine of the gospel maintain that the only effect produced by the preaching of it has been, that the world has become worse. But whatever may be the result, still God assures us that our ministrations are acceptable to him, because we obey his command; and although our labor appear to be fruitless, and men rush forward to
- 131. their destruction, andbecome more rebellious, we must go forward; for we do nothing at our own suggestion, and ought to be satisfied with having the approbation of God. We ought, indeed, to be deeply grieved when success does not attend our exertions; and we ought to pray to God to give efficacy to his word. A part of the blame we ought even to lay on ourselves, when the fruits are so scanty; and yet we must not abandon our office, or throw away our weapons. The truth must always be heard from our lips, even though there be no ears to receive it, and though the world have neither sight nor feeling; for it is enough for us that we labor faithfully for the glory of God, and that our services are acceptable to him; and the sound of our voice is not ineffectual, when it renders the world without excuse. Hence arises a most excellent and altogether invaluable consolation to godly teachers, for supporting their minds against those grievous offenses which daily spring from the obstinacy of men, that, instead of being retarded by it, they may persevere in their duty with unshaken firmness. As it is also a general offense, that the lively word of God, at the hearing of which the whole world ought to tremble, strikes their ears to no purpose, and without any advantage, let weak men learn to fortify themselves by this declaration. We wonder how it is possible that the greater part of men can furiously oppose God; and hence also arises a doubt if it be the heavenly truth of God which is rejected without bringing punishment; for it can hardly be believed that God addresses men for the purpose of exciting their scorn. That our faith may not fail, we ought to employ this support, that the office of teaching was enjoined on Isaiah, on the condition that, in scattering the seed of life, it should yield nothing but death; and that this is not merely a narrative of what once happened, but a prediction of the future kingdom of Christ, as we shall find to be stated shortly afterwards. We ought also to attend to this circumstance, that Isaiah was not sent to men indiscriminately, but to the Jews. Accordingly, the demonstrative particle ,הנה (hinneh,) behold, is emphatic, and implies that the people whom the Lord had peculiarly chosen for himself do not hear the word, and shut their eyes amidst the clearest light. Let us not wonder, therefore, if we appear to be like persons talking to the deaf, when we address those who boast of the name of God. It is undoubtedly a harsh saying, that God sends a prophet to close the ears, stop up the eyes, and harden the heart of the people; because it appears as if these things were inconsistent with the nature of God, and therefore contradicted his word. But we ought not to think it strange if God punishes the wickedness of men by blinding them in the highest degree. Yet the Prophet shows, a little before, that the blame of this blindness lies with the people; for when he bids them hear, he bears witness that the doctrine is fitted for instructing the people, if they choose to submit to it; that light is given to guide them, if they will but open their eyes. The whole blame of the evil is laid on the people for rejecting the amazing kindness of God; and hence is obtained a more complete solution of that difficulty to which we formerly adverted.
- 132. At first sightit seems unreasonable that the Prophets should be represented as making men’ hearts more hardened. They carry in their mouth the word of God, by which,as by a lamp, the steps of men ought to be guided; for this encomium, we know, has been pronounced on it by David. (Psa_119:105.) It is not the duty of the Prophets, therefore, to blind the eyes, but rather to open them. Again, it is called perfect wisdom, (Psa_19:9;) how then does it stupify men and take away their reason? Those hearts which formerly were of brass or iron ought to be softened by it; how then is it possible that it can harden them, as I have already observed? Such blinding and hardening influence does not arise out of the nature of the word, but is accidental, and must be ascribed exclusively to the depravity of man. As dim-sighted people cannot blame the sun for dazzling their eyes with its brightness; and those whose hearing is weak cannot complain of a clear and loud voice which the defect of their ears hinders them from hearing; and, lastly, a man of weak intellect cannot find fault with the difficulty of a subject which he is unable to understand; so ungodly men have no right to blame the word for making them worse after having heard it. The whole blame lies on themselves in altogether refusing it admission; and we need not wonder if that which ought to have led them to salvation become the cause of their destruction. It is right that the treachery and unbelief of men should be punished by meeting death where they might have received life, darkness where they might have had light; and, in short, evils as numerous as the blessings of salvation which they might have obtained. This ought to be carefully observed; for nothing is more customary with men than to abuse the gifts of God, and then not only to maintain that they are innocent, but even to be proud of appearing in borrowed feathers. But they are doubly wicked when they not only do not apply to their proper use, but wickedly corrupt and profane, those gifts which God had bestowed on them. John quotes this passage as a clear demonstration of the stubbornness of the Jews. He does not indeed absolutely give the very words, but he states the meaning clearly enough. Therefore, says he, they could not believe, because Isaiah said, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart. (Joh_12:39 (97)) True, this prediction was not the cause of their unbelief, but the Lord foretold it, because he foresaw that they would be such as they are here described. The Evangelist applies to the Gospel what had already taken place under the law, and at the same time shows that the Jews were deprived of reason and understanding, because they were rebels against God. Yet if you inquire into the first cause, we must come to the predestination of God. But as that purpose is hidden from us, we must not too eagerly search into it; for the everlasting scheme of the divine purpose is beyond our reach, but we ought to consider the cause which lies plainly before our eyes, namely, the rebellion by which they rendered themselves
- 133. unworthy of blessingsso numerous and so great. Paul, too, shows from this passage, on more than one occasion, (Act_28:27; Rom_11:8,) that the whole blame of blindness rests with themselves. They have shut their ears, says he, and closed their eyes. What Isaiah here ascribes to doctrine, Paul traces to the wicked disposition of the nation, which was the cause of their own blindness; and accordingly, I have stated that this was an accidental and not a natural result of the doctrine. In that passage Paul introduces the Spirit as speaking, (Act_28:25;) but John says that Isaiah spake thus of Christ, when he had beheld his glory. (Joh_12:41.) From this it is evident, as we formerly said, that Christ was that God who filled the whole earth with his majesty. Now, Christ is not separate from his Spirit, and therefore Paul had good reason for applying this passage to the Holy Spirit; for although God exhibited to the Prophet the lively image of himself in Christ, still it is certain that whatever he communicated was wholly breathed into him by the power of the Holy Spirit. Now, however ungodly men may bark against us with their reproaches, that our doctrine ought to bear the blame, because the world is made worse by the preaching of it, they gain nothing at all, and take nothing away from the authority of the doctrine; for they must at the same time condemn God himself and the whole of his doctrine. But their calumnies will not hinder his justice from being displayed, or hinder him from vindicating itself, and at the same time vindicating us. And when they shall be converted (98) Here he expressly declares that he did not send the Prophet because he intended to save the people; but, on the contrary, because he intended to destroy them. But the word of God brings salvation; at least some benefit must arise from the preaching of it, that it may do good to some, though many are deprived of the advantage by their own unbelief. I answer, the subject treated of is the whole body, which had already been condemned and devoted to destruction; for there were always some whom the Lord exempted from the general ruin; to them the word brought salvation, and on them it actually produced its proper effect; but the great body of the people were cut off and perished through obstinate unbelief and rebellion. So, then, we perceive that the word of God is never so destructive that there are not a few who perceive that it brings salvation to them, and feel that it does so in reality. They shall be healed. We ought also to observe from the order and connection of the words, that the first step of healing is repentance. But in the first place, we must understand what he means by the word healing; for he uses it in reference to the chastisements which had been inflicted on the people on account of their sins. Now, the cause of all the evils which we endure is our rebellion against God. When we repent, he is reconciled to us, and the rods with which he chastised us are no longer employed. This is our healing. And this order ought to be carefully observed, from which it is evident what object the Lord has in view in inviting us to himself, and what is the design of the heavenly doctrine, namely, that we may
- 134. be converted This isanother part of the Gospel, Repent ye. (Mat_3:2.) Then, offering reconciliation he holds out remedies for all diseases, not only of the body but of the soul. And such being the eminent advantage derived from the word of God, if we are not reconciled to God as soon as his word sounds in our ears, we have no right to lay the blame on any other, for it rests wholly with ourselves. Indeed, the Prophet here speaks of it as unnatural and monstrous, that, by the doctrine of the word, the native tendency of which is to heal and soften, men should become insolent and obstinate and altogether incurable. It is undoubtedly true, that when we are drawn inwardly, (Joh_6:44,) it is an extraordinary gift of God, and that the arm of God is not revealed to all, (Isa_53:1;) but by this dreadful punishment of obstinate malice, Isaiah intended to teach, that we ought earnestly to beware of despising when God calls. (96) Make the heart of this people fat. — Eng. Ver. (97) In the original text the reference reads: Joh_12:39 I added the next verse to include the quoted text. — fj. (98) And convert. — Eng. Ver. 11 Then I said, “For how long, Lord?” And he answered: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged,
- 135. 1.BARNES, “How long- The prophet did not dare to pray that this effect should not follow. He asked merely therefore “how long” this state of things must continue; how long this message was to be delivered, and how long it should be attended with these painful effects. Until the cities ... - They will remain perverse and obstinate until the land is completely destroyed by divine judgments. Still the truth is to be proclaimed, though it is known it will have no effect in reforming the nation. This refers, doubtless, to the destruction that was accomplished by the Babylonians. The houses without man - This is strong language, denoting the certain and widespread desolation that should come upon the nation. 2. CLARKE, “Be utterly desolate “Be left” - For תשאה tishaeh, the Septuagint and Vulgate read תשאר tishshaer. 3. GILL, “Then said I, Lord, how long?.... That is, how long will this blindness, hardness, stupidity, and impenitence, remain with this people, or they be under such a sore judgment of God upon them: and he answered, until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate; until there is not an inhabitant in the cities of Judea, nor in Jerusalem, the metropolis of the land, nor a single man in any house in them; which denotes the utter desolation of the land and city; and can refer to no other than to the desolation thereof by the Romans; and till that time the blindness which happened to them continued; the things which belonged to their peace were hid from their eyes till their city was destroyed, and not one stone left upon another, Luk_19:42 till that time, and even to this day, the veil of blindness, ignorance, and and penitence, is on their hearts, and will remain until they are converted to the Lord, in the latter day; see Rom_11:25, 2Co_3:14. 4. HENRY, “That the consequence of this would be their utter ruin, Isa_6:11, Isa_6:12. The prophet had nothing to object against the justice of this sentence, nor does he refuse to go upon such an errand, but asks, “Lord, how long?” (an abrupt question): “Shall it always be thus? Must I and other prophets always labour in vain among them, and will things never be better?” Or, (as should seem by the answer) “Lord, what will it come to at last? What will be in the end hereof?” In answer to this he is told that it should issue in the final destruction of the Jewish church and nation. “When the word of God, especially the word of the gospel, had been thus abused by them, they shall be unchurched, and consequently undone. Their cities shall be uninhabited, and their country houses too; the land shall be untilled, desolate with desolation (as it is in the margin), the people who should replenish the houses and cultivate the ground being all cut off by sword, famine, or pestilence, and those who escape with their lives being removed far away into captivity, so that there shall be a great and general forsaking in the midst of the land; that populous country shall become desert, and that glory of all lands shall be abandoned.” Note, Spiritual judgments often bring temporal judgments along with them upon persons and places.
- 136. This was inpart fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, when the land, being left desolate, enjoyed her sabbaths seventy years; but, the foregoing predictions being so expressly applied in the New Testament to the Jews in our Saviour's time, doubtless this points at the final destruction of that people by the Romans, in which it had a complete accomplishment, and the effects of it that people and that land remain under to this day. 5. JAMISON, “how long — will this wretched condition of the nation being hardened to its destruction continue? until — (Isa_5:9) - fulfilled primarily at the Babylonish captivity, and more fully at the dispersion under the Roman Titus. 6. K&D 11-13, “Isaiah heard with sighing, and yet with obedience, in what the mission to which he had so cheerfully offered himself was to consist. Isa_6:11. “Then said I, Lord, how long?” He inquired how long this service of hardening and this state of hardness were to continue - a question forced from him by his sympathy with the nation to which he himself belonged (cf., Exo_32:9-14), and one which was warranted by the certainty that God, who is ever true to His promises, could not cast off Israel as a people for ever. The answer follows in Isa_6:11-13 : “Until towns are wasted without inhabitant, and houses are without man, and the ground shall be laid waste, a wilderness, and Jehovah shall put men far away, and there shall be many forsaken places within the land. And is there still a tenth therein, this also again is given up to destruction, like the terebinth and like the oak, of which, when they are felled, only a root-stump remains: such a root-stump is a holy seed.” The answer is intentionally commenced, not with י ִⅴד־ ַ,ע but with ם ִא ר ֶשׁ ֲא ד ַע (the expression only occurs again in Gen_28:15 and Num_32:17), which, even without dropping the conditional force of ם ִ,א signified that the hardening judgment would only come to an end when the condition had been fulfilled, that towns, houses, and the soil of the land of Israel and its environs had been made desolate, in fact, utterly and universally desolate, as the three definitions (without inhabitant, without man, wilderness) affirm. The expression richak (put far away) is a general and enigmatical description of exile or captivity (cf., Joe. 4:6, Jer_27:10); the literal term galah has been already used in Isa_5:13. Instead of a national term being used, we find here simply the general expression “men” (eth-haeadam; the consequence of depopulation, viz., the entire absence of men, being expressed in connection with the depopulation itself. The participial noun ha azubah (the forsaken) is a collective term for places once full of life, that had afterwards died out and fallen into ruins (Isa_17:2, Isa_17:9). This judgment would be followed by a second, which would expose the still remaining tenth of the nation to a sifting. הָי ָהְו ב ָ,שׁ to become again (Ges. §142, 3); ר ֵע ָב ְל הָי ָ,ה not as in Isa_5:5, but as in Isa_4:4, after Num_24:22 : the feminine does not refer to the land of Israel (Luzzatto), but to the tenth. Up to the words “given up to destruction,” the announcement is a threatening one; but from this point to “remains” a consolatory prospect begins to dawn; and in the last three words this brighter prospect, like a distant streak of light, bounds the horizon of the gloomy prophecy. It shall happen as with the terebinth and oak. These trees were selected as illustrations, not only because they were so near akin to evergreens, and produced a similar impression, or because there were so many associations connected with them in the olden times of Israel's history; but also because they formed such fitting symbols of Israel,
- 137. on account oftheir peculiar facility for springing up again from the root (like the beech and nut, for example), even when they had been completely felled. As the forms yabbesheth (dryness), dalleketh (fever), ‛avvereth (blindness), shachepheth (consumption), are used to denote certain qualities or states, and those for the most part faulty ones (Concord. p. 1350); so shalleceth here does not refer to the act itself of felling or casting away, but rather to the condition of a tree that has been hewn or thrown down; though not to the condition of the trunk as it lies prostrate upon the ground, but to that of the root, which is still left in the earth. Of this tree, that had been deprived of its trunk and crown, there was still a mazzebeth kindred form of mazzebah), i.e., a root-stump (truncus) fast in the ground. The tree was not yet entirely destroyed; the root-stump could shoot out and put forth branches again. And this would take place: the root-stump of the oak or terebinth, which was a symbol of Israel, was “a holy seed.” The root-stump was the remnant that had survived the judgment, and this remnant would become a seed, out of which a new Israel would spring up after the old had been destroyed. Thus in a few weighty words is the way sketched out, which God would henceforth take with His people. The passage contains an outline of the history of Israel to the end of time. Israel as a nation was indestructible, by virtue of the promise of God; but the mass of the people were doomed to destruction through the judicial sentence of God, and only a remnant, which would be converted, would perpetuate the nationality of Israel, and inherit the glorious future. This law of a blessing sunk in the depths of the curse actually inflicted, still prevails in the history of the Jews. The way of salvation is open to all. Individuals find it, and give us a presentiment of what might be and is to be; but the great mass are hopelessly lost, and only when they have been swept away will a holy seed, saved by the covenant-keeping God, grow up into a new and holy Israel, which, according to Isa_27:6, will fill the earth with its fruits, or, as the apostle expresses it in Rom_11:12, become “the riches of the Gentiles.” Now, if the impression which we have received from Isa_6:1-13 is not a false one - namely, that the prophet is here relating his first call to the prophetic office, and not, as Seb. Schmidt observes, his call to one particular duty (ad unum specialem actum officii) - this impression may be easily verified, inasmuch as the addresses in chapters 1-5 will be sure to contain the elements which are here handed to the prophet by revelation, and the result of these addresses will correspond to the sentence judicially pronounced here. And the conclusion to which we have come will stand this test. For the prophet, in the very first address, after pointing out to the nation as a whole the gracious pathway of justification and sanctification, takes the turn indicated in Isa_6:11-13, in full consciousness that all is in vain. And the theme of the second address is, that it will be only after the overthrow of the false glory of Israel that the true glory promised can possibly be realized, and that after the destruction of the great body of the people only a small remnant will live to see this realization. The parable with which the third begins, rests upon the supposition that the measure of the nation's iniquity is full; and the threatening of judgment introduced by this parable agrees substantially, and in part verbally, with the divine answer received by the prophet to his question “How long?” On every side, therefore, the opinion is confirmed, that in Isa_6:1-13 he describes his own consecration to the prophetic office. The addresses in chapters 2-4 and 5, which belong to the time of Uzziah and Jotham, do not fall earlier than the year of Uzziah's death, from which point the whole of Jotham's sixteen years' reign lay open before them. Now, as Micah commenced his ministry in Jotham's reign, though his book was written in the form of a complete and chronologically indivisible summary, by the working up of the prophecies which he delivered under Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, and was then read or published in the time of Hezekiah, as we may infer from Jer_26:18, it is quite possible that Isaiah may have taken from Micah's own lips (though not from Micah's book) the words of promise in Isa_2:1-4, which he certainly borrowed from some quarter. The notion that this word of promise originated with a third prophet (who must have been Joel, if he were one of
- 138. the prophets knownto us), is rendered very improbable by the many marks of Micah's prophetic peculiarities, and by its natural position in the context in which it there occurs (vid., Caspari, Micha, pp. 444-5). Again, the situation of Isa_6:1-13 is not inexplicable. As Hävernick has observed, the prophet evidently intended to vindicate in Isa_6:1-13 the style and method of his previous prophecies, on the ground of the divine commission that he had received. but this only serves to explain the reason why Isaiah has not placed Isa_6:1-13 at the commencement of the collection, and not why he inserts it in this particular place. He has done this, no doubt, for the purpose of bringing close together the prophecy and its fulfilment; for whilst on the one hand the judgment of hardening suspended over the Jewish nation is brought distinctly out in the person of king Ahaz, on the other hand we find ourselves in the midst of the Syro-Ephraimitish war, which formed the introduction to the judgments of extermination predicted in Isa_6:11-13. It is only the position of chapter 1 which still remains in obscurity. If Isa_1:7-9 is to be understood in a historically literally sense, then chapter 1 must have been composed after the dangers of the Syro-Ephraimitish war had been averted from Jerusalem, though the land of Judah was still bleeding with the open wounds which this war, designed as it was to destroy it altogether, had inflicted upon it. Chapter 1 would therefore be of more recent origin than chapters 2-5, and still more recent than the connected chapters 7-12. It is only the comparatively more general and indefinite character of chapter 1 which seems at variance with this. But this difficulty is removed at once, if we assume that chapter 1, though not indeed the first of the prophet's addresses, was yet in one sense the first - namely, the first that was committed to writing, though not the first that he delivered, and that it was primarily intended to form the preface to the addresses and historical accounts in chapters 2-12, the contents of which were regulated by it. For chapters 2-5 and 7-12 form two prophetic cycles, chapter 1 being the portal which leads into them, and Isa_6:1-13 the band which connects them together. The prophetic cycle in chapters 2-5 may be called the Book of hardening, as it is by Caspari, and chapters 7-12 the Book of Immanuel, as Chr. Aug. Crusius suggests, because in all the stages through which the proclamation in chapters 7-12 passes, the coming Immanuel is the banner of consolation, which it lifts up even in the midst of the judgments already breaking upon the people, in accordance with the doom pronounced upon them in Isa_6:1-13. 7. PULPIT, “Then said I, Lord, how long? Either, "How long am I to continue this preaching?" or, "How long is this blindness and callousness of the people to continue?" Isaiah assumes that he has not heard as yet God's final purpose; that there is some merciful intention kept in reserve, which is to take effect after the close of the period of judgment. The cities the houses; rather, cities houses. An entire desolation of the whole land, and extermination of its inhabitants, is not prophesied, and never took place. Nebuchadnezzar "left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen" (2Ki_25:12; Jer_39:10). Even when the great mass of these persons went into Egypt and perished there (Jer_44:11-27), a certain number escaped and returned to Palestine (Jer_44:14, Jer_44:28). The land; rather, the ground, the soil.
- 139. 8. CALVIN, “11.AndI said, How long, O LORD? Although the Prophets are severe in denouncing the wrath of God against men, yet they do not lay aside human feelings. It is therefore necessary that they sustain a twofold character; for they must proclaim the judgment of God with high and unshaken courage, so that they would rather choose that the world should be destroyed and utterly ruined than that any part of His glory should be taken away. And yet they are not devoid of feeling, so as to be unmoved by compassion for their brethren, whose destruction their office lays them under the necessity of foretelling. These two feelings, though they appear to be inconsistent, are in full harmony, as appears from the instance of Jeremiah, who at first complains of the hard task assigned him of proclaiming destruction to the people, but afterwards revives his courage, and proceeds boldly in discharging the duties of his office (Jer_1:6.) Such was also the state of Isaiah’ mind; for, being desirous to obey God, he earnestly proclaimed His judgments; and yet he had some regard to the people, which led him to entreat, that if this blindness must come upon them, it might not be permanent. There can be no doubt, that when he thus prayed to God, he was moved with compassion, and desired that so dreadful a punishment should be mitigated. Natural affections, ( στοργαὶ φυσικαὶ,) therefore, ought not to prevent us from performing what is our duty. For instance, there is the natural affection of a husband to a wife, and of a father to a son; but it ought to be checked and restrained, so that we may chiefly consider what is suitable to our calling, and what the Lord commands. This ought to be carefully observed; for when we wish to give loose reins to ourselves, we commonly plead this excuse, that we are willing and ready to do what God requires, but are overpowered by natural affection. But those feelings ought to be restrained in such a manner as not to obstruct our calling; just as they did not hinder the Prophet from proceeding in the discharge of his duty; for to such an extent ought we to acknowledge the authority of the Lord over us, that when he orders and commands, we should forget ourselves and all that belongs to us. But although the godly anxiety of Isaiah about the salvation of the people is here expressed, still the severity of the punishment is likewise stated, that wicked men may not, as they are wont to do, indulge the hope of some mitigation. Nor can it be doubted that the Prophet was led by a secret impulse from God to ask this, that the stern and dreadful reply which immediately follows might be more fully brought out; from which it is evident what kind of destruction awaits unbelievers, that they will receive no light or moderate punishment, but will be utterly destroyed and cut off. Until the houses be without man, and the land become a desolation. This is an additional aggravation; for it is possible that countries might be wasted, and yet that one city might remain; that even cities might be stormed and laid desolate, and yet very many houses be left. But here the slaughter, he tells us, will be so great, that not only the cities, but even the very houses will be thrown down, and the whole land will be
- 140. reduced to frightfuland lamentable desolation; though even amidst the heaviest calamities some remnant is still left. Though Isaiah said this but once, yet let us understand that it is also spoken to us; for this punishment has been pronounced against all who obstinately disobey God, or who with a stiff neck struggle against his yoke. The more violent their opposition, the more resolutely will the Lord pursue them till they are utterly destroyed. 9. PULPIT 11-13, “The loving-kindness of God shown in his judgments. "I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and flat thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me," says the psalmist (Psa_119:75). No doubt, at last God must simply punish the obdurate and impenitent; but for the most part he sends his judgment upon men in mercy, either to turn them from their sins, or to refine and improve their characters. I. EVEN WHEN GOD SIMPLY PUNISHES, IT IS IN LOVING-KINDNESS TO MANKIND AT LARGE. When a nation, like Israel, as distinct from Judah, has persisted in evil-doing for centuries, in spite of warnings, teaching, remonstrance, knowledge of the truth, its case is hopeless—"there is no remedy" (2Ch_36:16). The blow that then falls upon the nation is penal and final—the requital of its ill desert. But if the blow is dealt to the nation itself in mere justice, it is also struck for the benefit of all neighboring nations, in mercy. It warns them from their evil ways; it says to them, in a voice which they can scarcely fail to hear, "Take heed, lest ye too perish." II. MOST OF GOD'S JUDGMENTS ARE CHASTISEMENTS, SENT TO TURN MEN FROM THEIR SINS. "We have had fathers of our flesh who corrected us" (Heb_12:9) when we had done wrong, and strove thereby to deter us from evil. So God acts with his children. So he chastened Judah, bringing calamity after calamity upon her, until at last there was a "remnant" which truly turned to him, and became the germ of the Christian Church. So be has chastened many a nation besides. So, too, he chastens individuals, sending on them sickness, and poverty, and loss of friends, and other misfortunes, to check them in a career of sin, and cause them to pause, and reflect, and tremble at his mighty hand, and humble themselves under it, and change their course of life. In this way he chastened David by the loss of Bathsheba's first child, and by the revolt of Absalom and Adonijah; Hezekiah by war and sickness; Solomon by "adversaries" at home and abroad. Of this kind again are the natural punishments which he has attached to sins, the natural tendency of which is to deter men from them. III. ONE CLASS OF HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRIALS, SENT TO PROVE MEN, AND THEREBY TO PUR IFY THEM AND RAISE THEM TO GREATER SAINTLINESS. "Every branch in me that beareth fruit, he
- 141. purgeth it, thatit may bring forth more fruit" (Joh_15:2); "The trying of your faith worketh patience" (Jas_1:3). Christ himself, we are told, was in his human nature "made perfect through suffering." The discipline of affliction is needed for forming in us many of the highest Christian graces, as patience, resignation, forgivingness, mildness, long-suffering. The sons of God are taught to expect a chastening which shall be "for their profit, that they may be partakers of his holiness" (Heb_12:10). 12 until the LORD has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken. 1.BARNES, “And the Lord have removed ... - The land shall be given up to desolation. The men - the strength of the nation - shall be taken to a distant land. And there be a great forsaking - A great desolation; the cities and dwellings shall be abandoned by the inhabitants; compare Isa_17:2; Jer_4:29; Zep_2:4. 2. PULPIT, “And the Lord have removed men far away. The Assyrian and Babylonian policy of deportation is pointed at. Pul had attacked the kingdom of Israel ten or twelve years before Uzziah's death, and had perhaps made the Assyrian policy known, though he had allowed himself to be bought off (2Ki_15:19, 2Ki_15:20). And there be a great forsaking; rather, and the desolation be great; i.e. till a great portion of Judah be depopulated. 3. GILL, “And the Lord have removed men far away,.... Not to Babylon, but to the ends of the earth, into the most distant countries, by means of the Romans; for they were but instruments of carrying the Jews captive out of their own land, and dispersing them among the several nations of the world; it was the Lord's doing, and a judgment which he inflicted upon them for their sins: and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land; not that there should be many left in the land, and multiply and increase in it; which is the sense of the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions; but that the land should be greatly forsaken of men; there should be many places in the midst of the land destitute of them; and this should continue a long time, as
- 142. Kimchi observes, whichtherefore cannot be understood of the Babylonish captivity, but of their present one. 4. JAMISON, “(2Ki_25:21). forsaking — abandonment of dwellings by their inhabitants (Jer_4:29). 5. CALVIN, “12.Till the Lord have removed men far away. These words contain nothing new, but merely an explanation of the former verse, and a description by other words of the ruin that shall overtake Judea; namely, that God will send the inhabitants far away. He asserts that those who shall survive the war will not be exempted from punishment, for they will be led into captivity. And next he adds a general clause about the desolation of the land; as if he had said that it would be desolate and bereft of inhabitants, because some would flee away, others would be driven into banishment, and others would perish by the sword. Such is the reward prepared for obstinate and rebellious persons, who add crime to crime, till the indignation of God rise to such a height that it cannot be appeased. 13 And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.” 1.BARNES, “But yet ... - The main idea in this verse is plain, though there is much difficulty in the explanation of the particular phrases. The leading thought is, that the land should not be “utterly” and finally abandoned. There would be the remains of life - as in an oak or terebinth tree when the tree has fallen; compare the notes at Isa_11:1. A tenth - That is, a tenth of the inhabitants, or a very small part. Amidst the general desolation, a small part should be preserved. This was accomplished in the time of the captivity of the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar. We are not to suppose that “literally” a tenth part of the nation would remain; but a part that should bear somewhat the same proportion to the entire nation, in strength and resources, that a tenth does to the whole. Accordingly, in the captivity by the Babylonians we are told 2Ki_25:12, that ‘the captain of the guard left the poor of the land to be vinedressers and farmers;’ compare 2Ki_24:14, where it is said, that ‘Nebuchadnezzar carried
- 143. away all Jerusalem,and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths, none remained save the poorer sort of the people of the land.’ Over this remnant, Nebuchadnezzar made Gedaliah king; 2Ki_25:22. And it shall return - This expression can be explained by the history. The prophet mentions the “return,” but he has omitted the fact that this remnant should go away; and hence, all the difficulty which has been experienced in explaining this. The history informs us, 2Ki_25:26, that this remnant, this tenth part, ‘arose and came to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldees.’ A part also of the nation was scattered in Moab and Edom, and among the Ammonites; Jer_40:2. By connecting this idea with the prophecy, there is no difficulty in explaining it. It was of the return from Egypt that the prophet here speaks; compare Jer_42:4-7. After this flight to Egypt they returned again to Judea, together with those who were scattered in Moab, and the neighboring regions; Jer_40:11-12. This renmant thus collected was what the prophet referred to as “returning” after it had been scattered in Egypt, and Moab, and Edom, and among the Ammonites. And shall be eaten - This is an unhappy translation. It has arisen from the difficulty of making sense of the passage, by not taking into consideration the circumstances just adverted to. The word translated ‘eaten’ means to feed, to graze, to consume by grazing to consume by fire, to consume or destroy in any way, to remove. “Gesenius” on the word בער ba‛ar. Here it means that this remnant shall be for “destruction;” that judgments and punishments shall follow them after their return front Egypt and Moab. Even this remnant shall be the object of divine displeasure, and shall feel the weight of his indignation; see Jer_43:1-13; 44. As a teil-tree - The word “teil” means the “linden,” though there is no evidence that the linden is denoted here. The word used here - אלה 'elah - is translated “elm” in Hos_4:13, but generally “oak:” Gen_35:4; Jdg_6:11, Jdg_6:19; 2Sa_18:9, 2Sa_18:14. It is here distinguished from the אלון 'allon “oak.” It probably denotes the “terebinth,” or turpentine tree, for a description of which, see the notes at Isa_1:29. Whose substance - Margin, ‘Stock’ or ‘Stem.’ The margin is the more correct translation. The word usually denotes the upright shaft, stem, or stock of a tree. It means here, whose “vitality” shall remain; that is, they do not entirely die. When they cast their leaves - The words ‘their leaves’ are not in the original, and should not be in the translation. The Hebrew means, ‘in their falling’ - or when they fall. As the evergreen did “not” cast its leaves, the reference is to the falling of the “body” of the tree. The idea is, that when the tree should fall and decay, still the life of the tree would remain. In the root there would be life. It would send up new “shoots,” and thus a new tree would be produced; see the notes at Isa_4:2; Isa_11:1. This was particularly the case with the terebinth, as it is with the fir, the chestnut, the oak, the willow, etc.; see Job_14:7. The idea is, that it would be so with the Jews. Though desolate, and though one judgment would follow another, and though even the renmant would be punished, yet the race would not be extinguished. It would spring up again, and survive. This was the case in the captivity of Babylon; and again the case in the destruction of Jerusalem; and in all their persecutions and trials since, the same has always occurred. They survive; and though scattered in all nations, they still live as demonstrative of the truth of the divine predictions; Deut 28. The holy seed - The few remaining Jews. They shall not be utterly destroyed, but shall be like the life remaining in the root of the tree. No prophecy, perhaps, has been more remarkably fulfilled than that in this verse. Though the cities be waste and the land be desolate, it is not from the poverty of the soil that the fields are abandoned by the plow, nor from any diminution of its ancient and natural fertility, that the land has rested for so many generations. Judea was not forced only by artificial means, or from local and temporary causes, into a luxuriant
- 144. cultivation, such asa barren country might have been, concerning which it would not have needed a prophet to tell that, if once devastated and abandoned it would ultimately revert to its original sterility. Phenicia at all times held a far different rank among the richest countries of the world; and it was not a bleak and sterile portion of the earth, nor a land which even many ages of desolation and neglect could impoverish, that God gave in possession and by covenant to the seed of Abraham. No longer cultivated as a garden, but left like a wilderness, Judea is indeed greatly changed from what it was; all that human ingenuity and labor did devise, erect, or cultivate, people have laid waste and desolate; all the “plenteous goods” with which it was enriched, adorned, and blessed, have fallen like seared and withered leaves when their greenness is gone; and stripped of its “ancient splendor,” it is left “as an oak whose leaf fadeth,” but its inherent sources of fertility are not dried up; the natural richness of the soil is unblighted; “the substance is in it,” strong as that of the tell tree or the solid oak, which retain their substance when they east their leaves. And as the leafless oak waits throughout winter for the genial warmth of returning spring, to be clothed with renewed foilage, so the once glorious land of Judea is yet full of latent vigor, or of vegetative power, strong as ever, ready to shoot forth, even “better than at the beginning,” whenever the sun of heaven shall shine on it again, and “the holy seed” be prepared for being finally” the substance thereof.” “The substance that is in it” - which alone has here to be proved - is, in few words, thus described by an enemy: “The land in the plains is fat and loamy, and exhibits every sign of the greatest fecundity. Were nature assisted by art, the fruits of the most distant countries might be produced within the distance of twenty leagues.” “Galilee,” says Malte Brun, “would be a paradise, were it inhabited by an industrious people, under an enlightened government.”’ 2. CLARKE, “A tenth - This passage, though somewhat obscure, and variously explained by various interpreters, has, I think, been made so clear by the accomplishment of the prophecy, that there remains little room to doubt of the sense of it. When Nebuchadnezzar had carried away the greater and better part of the people into captivity, there was yet a tenth remaining in the land, the poorer sort left to be vinedressers and husbandmen, under Gedaliah, 2Ki_25:12, 2Ki_25:22, and the dispersed Jews gathered themselves together, and returned to him, Jer_40:12; yet even these, fleeing into Egypt after the death of Gedaliah, contrary to the warning of God given by the prophet Jeremiah, miserably perished there. Again, in the subsequent and more remarkable completion of the prophecy in the destruction of Jerusalem, and the dissolution of the commonwealth by the Romans, when the Jews, after the loss of above a million of men, had increased from the scanty residue that was left of them, and had become very numerous again in their country; Hadrian, provoked by their rebellious behavior, slew above half a million more of them, and a second time almost extirpated the nation. Yet after these signal and almost universal destructions of that nation, and after so many other repeated exterminations and massacres of them in different times and on various occasions since, we yet see, with astonishment, that the stock still remains, from which God, according to his promise frequently given by his prophets, will cause his people to shoot forth again, and to flourish. - L. A tenth, עשיריה asiriyah. The meaning, says Kimchi, of this word is, there shall yet be in the land ten kings from the time of declaring this prophecy. The names of the ten kings are Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Jostah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiachin, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah; then there shall be a general consumption, the people shall be carried into captivity, and Jerusalem shall be destroyed.
- 145. For בם bam,in them, above seventy MSS., eleven of Kennicott’s, and thirty-four of De Rossi’s, read בה bah, in it; and so the Septuagint. 3. GILL, “But yet in it shall be a tenth,.... Which some understand of ten kings that should reign over Judah from this time, the death of Uzziah, unto the captivity, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra observe; and which are, as Kimchi reckons them, as follows, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah; but the prophecy, as we have seen, respects not the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, but their present one; wherefore the words are to be understood of a few persons, a remnant, according to the election of grace, that should be called, and saved amidst all the blindness, darkness, and destruction that should come upon that people; and may be illustrated by the words of the apostle in Rom_11:5 and these chosen, called, and saved ones, are the "tenth", that is, the Lord's tenth, as the words may be rendered (r). To this sense the Targum agrees, "and there shall be left in it righteous persons, one out of ten;'' though indeed the Christians were not left in Jerusalem when it was destroyed, but were called out of it just before, and were preserved from that ruin. And it shall return, and shall be eaten; or "be for burning". I should choose to render it, "it shall return, and be burnt" (s); that is, it shall be burnt again; it was burnt a first time by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and his army, Jer_52:13 and a second time by Titus Vespasian, to which this prophecy refers: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves; the word "Beshallecheth", which we render, "when they cast their leaves", is by some, as Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi observe, thought to be the name of a gate in Jerusalem, called "Shallecheth", from which a causeway went towards the king's palace, from whence it had its name, 1Ch_26:16 and along which causeway, as is supposed, were planted teil trees and oaks, which are here referred to. But the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi, interpret the word as we do, of casting their leaves: and the sense seems to be this; that as the teil tree and oak, when they cast their leaves in autumn, and look as if they were dry, withered, and dead, yet have a substance in them, and in spring appear alive and green, and flourishing again; so the Jews, notwithstanding their miserable destruction by the Romans, when they were stripped of all their riches and glory, yet were not utterly consumed as a people, but remained an entire distinct people, and do so to this day, among the nations of the world; though, like a dry withered trunk of a tree, without verdure or beauty; the reason of this follows: so, or "because", the holy seed shall be the substance thereof; that is, they shall subsist, or continue a distinct people, though in this miserable condition; because there is a "holy seed", or a certain number, whom God has chosen to be holy, that is to arise from them, and will be called and converted in the latter day; hence they have a substance, a subsistence, and shall remain till that comes, and that chosen remnant is called and saved, Rom_11:25. The Targum is,
- 146. "as the elmand oak, when their leaves fall, and are like to dry "trees", and yet are moist to raise up seed from them; so the captivities of Israel shall be gathered, and shall return to their land; for the seed which is holy is their plantation.'' Some, interpreting the passage of the Babylonish captivity, by the "holy seed" understand the Messiah. See Luk_1:35 (t). 4. HENRY, “That yet a remnant should be reserved to be the monuments of mercy, Isa_6:13. There was a remnant reserved in the last destruction of the Jewish nation (Rom_11:5, At this present time there is a remnant); for so it was written here: But in it shall be a tenth, a certain number, but a very small number in comparison with the multitude that shall perish in their unbelief. It is that which, under the law, was God's proportion; they shall be consecrated to God as the tithes were, and shall be for his service and honour. Concerning this tithe, this saved remnant, we are here told, (1.) That they shall return (Isa_6:13; Isa_10:21), shall return from sin to God and duty, shall return out of captivity to their own land. God will turn them, and they shall be turned. (2.) That they shall be eaten, that is, shall be accepted of God as the tithe was, which was meat in God's house, Mal_3:10. The saving of this remnant shall be meat to the faith and hope of those that wish well to God's kingdom. (3.) That they shall be like a timber-tree in winter, which has life, though it has no leaves: As a teil-tree and as an oak, whose substance is in them even when they cast their leaves, so this remnant, though they may be stripped of their outward prosperity and share with others in common calamities, shall yet recover themselves, as a tree in the spring, and flourish again; though they fall, they shall not be utterly cast down. There is hope of a tree, though it be cut down, that it will sprout again, Job_14:7. (4.) That this distinguished remnant shall be the stay and support of the public interests. The holy seed in the soul is the substance of the man; a principle of grace reigning in the heart will keep life there; he that is born of God has his seed remaining in him, 1Jo_3:9. So the holy seed in the land is the substance of the land, keeps it from being quite dissolved, and bears up the pillars of it, Psa_75:3. See Isa_1:9. Some read the foregoing clause with this, thus: As the support at Shallecheth is in the elms and the oaks, so the holy seed is the substance thereof; as the trees that grow on either side of the causeway (the raised way, or terrace-walk, that leads from the king's palace to the temple, 1Ki_10:5, at the gate of Shallecheth, 1Ch_26:16) support the causeway by keeping up the earth, which would otherwise be crumbling away, so the small residue of religious, serious, praying people, are the support of the state, and help to keep things together and save them from going to decay. Some make the holy seed to be Christ. The Jewish nation was therefore saved from utter ruin because out of it, as concerning the flesh, Christ was to come, Rom_9:5. Destroy it not, for that blessing is in it (Isa_65:8); and when that blessing had come, it was soon destroyed. Now the consideration of this is designed for the support of the prophet in his work. Though far the greater part should perish in their unbelief, yet to some his word should be a savour of life unto life. Ministers do not wholly lose their labour if they be but instrumental to save one poor soul. 5. JAMISON, “and it shall return, and ... be eaten — Rather, “but it shall be again given over to be consumed”: if even a tenth survive the first destruction, it shall be destroyed by a second (Isa_5:25; Eze_5:1-5, Eze_5:12), [Maurer and Horsley]. In English Version, “return” refers to the poor remnant left in the land at the Babylonish captivity (2Ki_24:14; 2Ki_25:12), which afterwards fled to Egypt in fear (2Ki_25:26), and subsequently returned thence along with others who had fled to Moab and Edom (Jer_40:11, Jer_40:12), and suffered under further divine judgments.
- 147. tell — rather,“terebinth” or “turpentine tree” (Isa_1:29). substance ... when ... cast ... leaves — rather, “As a terebinth or oak in which, when they are cast down (not ‘cast their leaves,’ Job_14:7), the trunk or stock remains, so the holy seed (Ezr_9:2) shall be the stock of that land.” The seeds of vitality still exist in both the land and the scattered people of Judea, waiting for the returning spring of God’s favor (Rom_11:5, Rom_11:23-29). According to Isaiah, not all Israel, but the elect remnant alone, is destined to salvation. God shows unchangeable severity towards sin, but covenant faithfulness in preserving a remnant, and to it Isaiah bequeaths the prophetic legacy of the second part of his book (the fortieth through sixty-sixth chapters). 6. PULPIT, “But yet in it shall be a tenth, etc.; rather, and should there still be in it a tenth; i.e. should there still remain, after the great deportation, a tenth part of the inhabitants, "this again shall be burned up," i.e. shall be destined to further judgment and destruction. The trials of the Jewish nation under the Persian, Egyptian, and Syrian monarchies may be intended. As a teil tree, and as an oak, etc.; rather, as the terebinth tree and as the oak—trees which shoot up again from the stock after being cut down; or, as the prophet expresses it, "have a stem in their destruction." So to Judah shall remain, after all, a "holy seed," which shall be its "stem" or "stock, "and from which it shall once more "take root downward, and bear fruit upward" (Isa_37:31) 7.CALVIN, “13.Till there shall be in it a tenth (99) There is some obscurity in the words; but let us first ascertain the meaning, and then we shall easily find out what is the signification of the words. There are two ways of explaining this passage. Some explain עשיריה (asiriyah) to mean decimation; others make it to mean a tenth part, and consider it to be a collective noun. Undoubtedly, the Hebrew word ,עשירית (asirith,) and not ,עשיריה (asiriyah,) denotes a tenth part, though the difference between them is not great. Those who render it decimation think that a truce is promised to the people, because from the reign of Uzziah to the destruction of Jerusalem there would be ten kings; and undoubtedly that is the number of kings, reckoning from Uzziah to Zedekiah. His prophetical doctrine would derive no small support from the circumstance, that he could tell the number of kings who should reign even after his death, and that he described not only the fact itself, but likewise the time, and the day. Yet I know not if another meaning be not somewhat more appropriate; for the Prophet appears to hold out to the people this consolation, that they will retain some hidden vigor, and will be capable of sprouting out, though they may appear for a time to be entirely dead; just as, when the winter is past, the trees renew their foliage. But as the former exposition carries sufficient probability, I shall therefore explain the whole verse according to the opinion of those who think that mention is here made of ten kings, so as to mean that, when the ten kings shall have completed their reign, the people will be carried into captivity, and
- 148. then, as bya conflagration, the whole land will be consumed. At the same time, the reader ought to be aware that whether עשיריה (asiriyah) be rendered a tenth part, or decimation, it may with the utmost propriety be viewed as referring to the people; and then the meaning will be, Till the people be diminished to a tenth part. He had formerly spoken of a remnant, and a very small remnant, (Isa_1:9,) and afterwards he will speak of it again, (Isa_10:22;) for it was a very small number that remained. It might therefore be naturally viewed as meaning, that out of a thousand there would be left a hundred; out of a hundred, ten; and out of ten, one. And shall return. That is, a change will take place for the better: the Jews will return from captivity to their native country, and the land will assume a new aspect. But this may be thought to be somewhat at variance with what follows; for the Prophet immediately adds, It shall be destruction. How cold comfort will it yield to the people to be restored, if shortly afterwards they shall be again destroyed! Some commentators solve this difficulty, by supposing that Isaiah spoke about the final destruction of the people. But in my opinion he rather means that the destruction will not be complete, but such as happens to trees, when their leaves fall off in the winter, and nothing appears but dead timber; but when spring returns, they bud forth anew: and so also will this people. לבער (lebaer) means to burn, (100) and therefore it means here that they will be consumed by a conflagration: but we ought to read it in connection with the metaphor which immediately follows; for Isaiah does not barely mean that it will be consumed, but that it will be consumed like the teil-tree, that is, with the hope of immediate recovery. When Jerome rendered it for exhibition, I know not on what he supposed that opinion to be founded, if it were not that he made a free translation, looking rather to the meaning than to the etymology of the word; for when trees blossom or put forth leaves, their life is again brought forth and displayed; and this meaning will be very appropriate. As a teil-tree and an oak. It appears that Isaiah did not select at random those two kinds of trees; for one of them puts forth its leaves, and likewise sheds them, sooner than the other. So it happened to the tribe of Judah; for first the ten tribes, with the half tribe of Benjamin, were carried into captivity; and thus they who were the first to blossom were likewise the first to decay. This tribe was the latest of all in decaying, not without high expectation of blossoming again; for here the hope of deliverance is held out, and this was different from the captivity of the Israelites. There appears, therefore, to be some appropriateness in this metaphor of the trees; but I would not choose to press it very far. When they cast their leaves. By the phrase, casting of leaves, must be understood that throwing of them down which takes place when trees are stripped of their leaves as of their garment; for trees, in that state
- 149. of nakedness, appearto be dry and withered; though there remains in them a hidden vigor, through which they are at length quickened by the returning mildness of the season. So in it shall be substance. This is the application of the metaphor, which is exceedingly forcible; for when we see the spiritual grace of God in the very order of nature, we are strongly confirmed. As Paul holds out a likeness of the resurrection in the sowing of corn, which is a daily occurrence, (1Co_15:36,) so in like manner Isaiah in this passage describes the restoration of the Church, by taking a metaphor from trees, which wither at the end of autumn, but again blossom at the return of spring, and put forth new leaves; which could not happen, did they not retain some vigor during the winter, though to outward appearance they are dead. He foretells that a similar event will happen to this people; so that, although during their hard and oppressive captivity they resemble dry timber, and it may be thought that they can never be delivered, still there will always be preserved in them some vigor, by which they shall be supported amidst those calamities, and shall at length come forth and blossom. This doctrine, we have said, is not peculiar to a single age, and therefore it ought to be carefully observed; for it frequently happens that the Church, amidst the numerous afflictions which she endures, appears to have no strength, and is supposed to be utterly ruined. Whenever this takes place, let us fully believe that, notwithstanding these appearances, there is still some concealed energy, which, though it be not immediately manifest to our eyes, will at length yield its fruit. That energy lies hidden in the word of the Lord, by which alone the Church is sustained. The holy seed. He shows what is that substance, that it consists of a small number of the godly, whom he calls the holy seed; for he means the elect, who would be preserved by the free mercy of God, and thus would survive that captivity. That banishment might be regarded as a cleansing of the Church, by which the Lord took away the ungodly; and when they had been cut off, he collected a people, small in number, but truly consecrated to himself. Some commentators consider this phrase to refer to Christ; but the interpretation appears to be too far-fetched, and it will be more consistent to extend it to all the godly; for the holy seed is the substance of the Church. (99) But yet in it shall be a tenth. — Eng. Ver. (100) Bishop Lowth’ rendering is, And though there be a tenth part remaining in it, even this shall undergo repeated destruction; which accords with Calvin’ view, that the substance of the tree will be left. Bishop Stock renders it for pasture: But yet in it shall be left a tenth, and it shall recover, and serve for pasture. He reasons thus: “ verb בער may either signify to eat grass, or to eat it down. The question is, in which sense it is to be understood here? whether the land is again to yield food to its inhabitants, or to be laid
- 150. bare and waste?That the former is the true meaning I think very evident, as well from the tendency of the ensuing simile of the oak, which is of the consolatory kind, as because it is the almost constant practice of Isaiah to subjoin to denunciations of divine vengeance a prediction of final reconcilement and happiness.” Jarchi, as interpreted by Breithaupt, renders the word, et erunt in combustionem (sive depastionem,) and they shall be for destruction, (or for pasture;) leaving it doubtful which of the above renderings ought to be preferred. — Ed 8. PULPIT, “The prophet's call and consecration. There are turning-points in life which give a meaning to the whole of its after-course. A light may be given to the 'mind at such moments by which it may have to steer its course for years. In moments of despondency the man of God will fall back on memory, and encourage himself by the recollection that, having once received and followed Divine guidance, that guidance will not desert him in the future. Such was this moment in the history of Isaiah. Life stood before him like a crowded picture; he foresaw the difficulties with which he would have to contend, yet that picture did not dismay him. "Like Christ from the first beginning of his Messianic labors, he thought of the end, nor did he shrink flora the image of death, so that the fact as it came nearer only confirmed what had Dot seemed strange from the beginning" (Ewald). It is the sense, not of our own faithfulness, nor of our own means, but of a Divine destiny working in and through us that must be our support in weak and lonely hours. To feel that we are moving against the course of the sun, even in the midst of external comfort or popular applause, is to be weak and unnerved; while a stern yet sweet joy fills the soul in the prospect of duty and danger, in which, though we seem to fail, we must be victors forever. Every true man has his hours of prophetic revelation; and well for him whose will is strong, and who abides by the truth of that revelation through good and through evil report, unswervingly to the end. I. THE VISION OF THE DIVINE MAJESTY. 1. Its date is fixed in memory. "The year that King Uzziah died." Dates are the resting-places of memory and fancy, around which accumulates the lore of our years. The accessions and the deaths of kings, battles, peaces, revolutions, acts of parliament that wrought weal for the people,—such are the dates of nations. And every soul has its epochs—birth, youthful events of pleasure, love, struggle, defeat, success; and for each there must be more to him than the events recorded in the calendar. The most "uneventful" year, as we speak, is eventful for the hidden sphere of many a spirit. How hint and poor are our public memorials of history compared with those private recollections which are written in the invisible ink of memory! Let us own that history means, first and foremost to every one of us, the history of our own
- 151. spirit. By aDivine providence the fragment of an Isaiah's, a Jeremiah's, an Ezekiel's autobiography is preserved through the ages, to remind us that the inner life, the contact of God with the soul, is our real concern, our deepest interest. Between the two dates on the tombstone that will mark our entrance into the world, our passage from it, what a record must lie, stored in the archives of eternity—of visions beheld, of voices heard, whether obeyed or disregarded! "In the year that King Uzziah died." 2. It is a vision of the sublimity of God. Seated on a high, exalted throne, God in this image is conceived under the analogy of the Ruler. Father and Ruler—such is the Bible view of God; his rule based upon his fatherhood, his fatherhood imparting benignancy and tenderness to the sterner character of the Lawgiver of the universe. But here the Father seems for the moment absorbed in the awful Sovereign, whose throne is in the heights of heaven, his footstool earth. It is only his skirts that are visible to the awe-struck gaze of the prophet. Amidst the most magnificent scenes of external nature, the Alps or the Andes, we may gain a passing soul-expanding vision of the Highest—still only part revealed, but much more hidden. The verdure bejeweled with flowers, the forests glancing with the luster of dazzling birds of plumage,— these may represent the vesture of the great King, hinting an unutterable beauty on which none can look and live. And so in the inward or moral world. In the history of a people or of a man there are moments when God, in the still more impressive might of his holiness, sweeps by, an awakening and a purifying Spirit. Or in higher moments of devotion we may gain a momentary glimpse of that pure love, so full of terror yet so full of blessing, which burns at the core of things, and whose light is reflected in the light of every human conscience. Yet these are partial revelations, like that to the prophet; glimpses of the skirts of Jehovah's majesty, tastes of a "burning bliss" which in its fullness could not be endured. It is this sense that there is a beauty all around us, ready at any moment to break into glowing manifestation, were not our mortal eyes too dim to look upon it; an eternal music from which this "muddy vesture of decay grossly closing us in" protects us, which otherwise might paralyze by its thunderous tones;—it is this sense which does, or which should, impress an habitual reverence upon the mind. We should all be able to look back upon moments of our history when we have seen in the inner chamber of the mind something of what Isaiah saw, and to cherish the recollection as a lore never to be forgotten. For if we have never known a time when we were reduced into insignificance in the presence of God, and felt that he was all and we were naught, and that the best tradition about God must be hushed into silence before what we personally know of God, we have missed an elementary lesson which, when once obtained, adds weight and worth to all our after-experience. 3. The seraphs and their song. "Seraphs stood high around [or, 'above'] him." It is impossible to gain a true notion of the seraphic figures without consulting works of art. Like the cherubim and the griffins and the sphinxes, their origin is in the remotest fore-time. All these were, in fact, among man's earliest efforts to represent to himself in visible art the Divine power which he felt to be working in and through nature; in
- 152. the flash ofthe lightning, the thunder's roar, the might of the blast, and all those mysterious sounds and sights which usher in the changes of the year. As this is the only place where the seraphim are named, their character must remain for the most part speculative. Similar winged figures are, however, found in Oriental sculpture (such as those in the British Museum) as attributes of a sovereign. And we can hardly be wrong in considering them as appropriate signs of Jehovah's sovereignty over nature in the vision of Isaiah. Wings in art-figures generally denote the wind. If, then, we compare the passages in the Old Testament whence Jehovah's power is described as revealed in storm and wind, e.g. Psa_18:10 ("He rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind") or Psa_104:3, Psa_104:4 ("Who walketh upon the wings of the wind; who maketh his messengers spirits, his ministers a flaming fire"), we may gain a fair understanding of what is meant. The stormy winds at the turning-points of the year reveal force—the force of the omnipotent Creator. And at the same time, the Creator is concealed behind, as well as revealed in, these expressions of his might. And so the seraphic figures are seen by the prophet doubly veiled by their own wings—in face and feet. For we can neither look upon the face of God nor follow the viewless track of his footsteps. As the noble verse of Cowper aptly expresses it— "God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform; He plants his footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm." We shall not be far wrong if we find this truth symbolically set forth by the six-winged seraphic figures of the prophet's vision. But the wind is full of music as well as of might, and the seraphs give utterance to a solemn song, which falls into two members, sung antiphonally by these celestial choristers. "One called to the other," just as the priests in the temple-music below. Profound and weighty is the burden of this alternate chant— "Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of hosts! The fullness of the whole earth is his glory!" How shall we think of the holiness of Jehovah? As height, like that in which the seraphs sing—a nature and a life so "far above" our base and groveling ways? Alas for us, if we do not ever recollect in our
- 153. worship that, highas yonder empyrean above this "dim spot that men call earth," distinct as the clouds in fleeciest white from the stagnant and foul spots below, are the thoughts of Jehovah above our thoughts, and his ways above our ways! Shall we think of holiness as separation? Woe to us if we know not that purity, which, like the flame, retirees to wed with ought that is alien to itself; which, like the light, divides and discriminates the evil from the good wheresoever it comes! The thrice-holy God is none other than the supremely pure Intelligence, the perfect chastity of Love. But the infinite glory as well as the holiness of Jehovah is celebrated. It is the "fullness of the earth," teeming with life, throbbing with mysterious forces, covered with a rich robe of rare embroidery, holding rich treasures in her keeping; which embodies to our thought the nature of God in its vast extent, just as the pure sky represents the intensity of that nature as a principle of holiness. Silent and inaccessible as sun and stars, he is yet near to us in the throbbing of great nature's heart—nay, of our own. "Speak to him, then! for he hears, and spirit with spirit may meet; Closer is he than thy breathing, nearer than hands and feet." "God in all"—this was the thought of Paul the apostle, as of Isaiah the prophet. Incarnate in the flower and in the stem, vocal in the "sound of many waters," or in the tinkling of brook or murmur of zephyr; there is nothing in the world in which he is not revealed. "Thou art, O God, the Life and Light Of all this wondrous world we see! Its glow by day, its smile by night, Are but reflections caught from thee: Where'er we turn, thy glories shine, And all things fair and bright are thine."
- 154. 4. The yokeof God. A loud cry is heard even above the hymn of the seraphim, and it causes the thresholds to tremble. The thunder was among all ancient nations listened to as the voice of God. It is the natural expression of supreme and irresistible power, before which man, in the last height of his own intelligence and power, must bow. Instantly the smoke soars from the altar, and the temple is filled with smoke. Worship is man's answer to God's voice—the answerer his conscience, the answer of his heart. Nor can we truly worship without the sense of being face to face with unutterable mystery. For behind the most glorious visions remains he "whom no man hath at any time seen, nor can see;" at the heart of the thunder is that Divine emotion which must slay us were it fully discharged into our souls. The rising smoke may fitly typify that sacred silence, the "offspring of the deeper heart," in which our worship should begin and end. II. THE PROPHET'S CONSECRATION. 1. The effect of the revelation on his mind. First, there is the sense of utter weakness. When the true glory of the spiritual world bursts upon us, it seems as if we must die. Every difficulty conquered brings us a new sense of strength; every human being we have fairly faced in the consciousness of our own manhood we may reduce to our own level; for one man is virtually the peer of every other, the world over. But who can look and live in the presence of the white intense light of the pure and burning Spirit of God? Already, like Abraham (Gen_18:1-33.), the man feels himself as if reduced to "dust and ashes;" or, like Moses, that he cannot see the Eternal and live, but must shelter himself in a cleft of the rock, and hide behind the hand of God (Exo_33:1-23.); or, like Manoah, forebodes a deathful doom as he gazes into the mystic altar-flame (Jdg_13:1-25.). In Greek and other Gentile legends we read of children receiving a nightly birth of fire as the condition of immortality, the meaning of which was that none but those destined to divinity could endure the fiery ordeal Profound enigma of our nature! That we to whom has been imparted the longing for life eternal, the dim consciousness of an undying destiny, should yet know moments when we seem on the verge of "dusty death." But the man whom God calls to be mighty in word and deed must pass through the whole gamut and scale of human emotion, from the lowest mood of self- distrust to that of loftiest confidence in God. No note must be left unstruck in our own heart, if we are to make it sound in the conscience of others. There is, besides, the consciousness inefficiency. The very calling which already glimmers before Isaiah's mind as his is that for which he finds himself unfit, lie is to be a nabi, a prophet; that is, a man of fluent lips and pure, through which the streams of Divine eloquence are to flow. Alas! how can this be? For he is a "man of unclean lips," and will not the truth be muddied passing through them, and so cease to be truth? All this is a typical experience. The man who has never felt unfit will never be fit for any great thing. Jeremiah, at his call, felt that he was "a child;" and Moses that he was "slow of speech and slow of tongue" (Exo_4:10); and John fell at the feet of the Son of man "as one dead," brain and hand paralyzed, before he took up the pen that glowed with apocalyptic fire. Who is
- 155. the fit manfor God's ends? The self-confident man? It depends on what we mean by "self-confidence." Appearances deceive; the show of strength is not the same thing with strength itself, nor the demeanor of weakness a certain index of inefficiency. To read our own hearts is our business. And heart-experience may teach us that absolute confidence in our resources bodes humiliation, while trembling self-distrust may hint that something is to be done by God through us. "Do the very thing you are afraid to do," is in certain moments the voice of conscience and of God. So it proved in this instance. 2. Purification and pardon. One of the burning beings flies to the prophet's side, bearing a herded stone (for such seems to be the meaning of the word ritzpah) forming part of the altar, and detached without difficulty from it. With this he touches the lips of the trembling seer, saying, "Lo! this hath touched thy lips, and so will thy guilt depart, and thy sin may be atoned for." More meaning can be condensed into a symbolic action than into any mere words. Fire is the enemy of all impurity; and the idea of a fire- baptism as the means of cleansing is deeply rooted in the lore of olden time. In this respect it seems nearly allied to the sprinkling of blood. And just as when Moses sprinkled all the people with the sacrificial blood, or the priests sprinkled the altar and other sacred objects, one drop seemed sufficient to diffuse ceremonial cleanness on the object on which it fell, so the mere touch of the hot coal or stone is enough to signify the completeness of the purification. It is not the quantity of the fiery element, but the quality, which does the work. A small spark may kindle a mass of fuel, or, falling on the hand, spread a keen pain through all the nervous network of the body; so a glimpse of God, a touch from his hand, may change the mood of our being for a lifetime. It may set up a glow which shall not die down till all that is selfish, sensual, base, in us shall lie in ashes. The sense of guilt lies deep in the mind; and never is it so clear and keen as in moments of bodily sickness or mental depression. The moment when we are tempted to say, "I cannot help it," there rises up the thought that there is help in God, and therefore that we are not helpless. No sooner does the cry of weakness, the complaint concerning the unclean lips, escape Isaiah, than the eternal evangel, in all its supernatural strength to heal, comes homo to his heart. For this is the eternal gospel' in its essence, whether borne by lips of seraph, prophet, or Son of God: "Thy guilt will depart, thy sin may he atoned for." And in those blessed moments when we grasp this message in its fullest meaning, and believe it in its inmost truth, the heart is set free, and, despite present fetters and prisons in which fact or fancy holds us bound, we know that it will not ever be thus. Then, indeed, the yoke of duty becomes easy, the burden of toil, for the sake of the love which pardons and emancipates, light. 3. The call to service. Again the august and dominant voice of the Eternal is heard: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" A ready answer, full of devotion, full of self-abandonment, comes from that lately overwhelmed heart: "Here am I; send me." Out of weakness Isaiah has been made strong, and there is no hesitation now. There is "triumph lingering in his eyes, wide as of some swimmer's who descries help
- 156. from above inhis extreme despair." The foolish imprudence which cries, "Here am I; send me," without having calculated the cost of the enterprise and the extent of the resources, is not that of Isaiah. Still less is the unfaithful trifling with one's powers and opportunities under the excuse of modesty, or the delight in dreams of action rather than in action itself, seen in him. We see some men rashly staking their future on the cast of a die, impetuously crossing a Rubicon; others lingering on the brink, or moving superstitiously in a fancied circle, beyond which seems to lie the frowning impossible. And we see a third class who have learned the Divine magic of the word "obey," and who alone move safely and with high heart to ends greater than their dreams. The servant's readiness, his quickness of eye and ear, is what we need. Can we allege that we have never seen our vision, heard our call from the unmistakable voice? If the plea he sound, then our mistakes and aberrations cannot be charged against us. But can we maintain such plea so long as there is any meaning in the words" truth" and" duty?" Truth is ever beckoning to us, duty's low clear voice is ever sounding, though the paths to which they guide lie but dimly before. The call to act is for us all; the call to act greatly but for God's elected few. Let us not mistake our wishes for Divine commands, nor in vanity create a destiny which is only our own fiction. Still less let us treat impressions which have seized us and shaken us with awe, and against which reluctant flesh and blood have struggled, as dreams to be set aside and fancies to be overcome. If, after straining eye and ear, God seems to leave you through wide tracts of life's way to struggle with your ignorance and to work out your problems unaided,—be it so. This is your call. If otherwise you are the subject of strong and extraordinary impressions, reaching into the reality behind the shows of things, hearing with open ears where others know but confused sounds,—be it so. Your call is more direct. If only we will not indulge the blindness of those who will not see, the deafness of those who stop their ears, the proud weakness of those who hate to obey, all may be well. III. THE MISSION. 1. It will be thankless and disappointing. Isaiah is to go and waste, as it seems, his eloquence upon dull ears, upon intelligences sealed up, and hearts that are proof against religious feeling. The light of truth as it streams from him will encounter rocks that will not melt in the sun, natures that can neither be softened nor sweetened. It is the height of a preacher's joy when every word comes back to him a silent echo from the conscience of the people; and his day of mourning is when he feels himself to be speaking in a valley full of dry bones, or before beings who seem to have life and conscience, set are but as specters of men. In his best moments it seems that all the eloquence is in the people, and he is "gathering up in a mist" from them that which he is to "return upon them in a flood." In other moments of discouragement it seems that he is alone in the world, with a sublime cry upon his lips, now become meaningless, because there are none to whom it has a meaning. We know the legend of St. Antony preaching to the fishes; and, indeed, it seems better to talk with the dumb creatures whom we can win to silent sympathy, than to a
- 157. people which "doesnot consider." The company of the ox or the ass seems better than that or men who have become as "stocks and stones, and worse than senseless filings." The preacher and teacher will know these trials, and let him recollect that it is pro uncommon experience. We find its pathos repeated in different ways in all the great prophets, in John the Baptist, the "voice in the desert," and in Christ himself. Ate we to cease crying when the echo ceases? Rather let us go on until we hear once more the truth coming back to us. Let us believe that what is true to us in our inmost heart will one day be true for all the world. One of our great countrymen said that he was wont to iterate the same statement again and again until he heard it on the tongue of common talk; and this was a statesman to whom the people owed the greatest material blessings. The test of truth is not the way in which it is received, but the immediate reflection of it in our own mind. 2. The gloom of the time will deepen. "How long, O Lord?" The answer describes a prophet shut in by clouds and mist, or overhung by some all-pervading pall of gloom. Sin is to go on working out its waste, until there be an empty and depopulated land; Things bad begun to make themselves strong by ill." And there are times when evil must be left to gather to a head and run its full course. It may even be the part of the prophet to hasten it on its way. But when we say, "Things are getting worse and worse," let us remember that beyond the worst remains the best, and after last returns the first; for God is the principle of an inexhaustible and unconquerable life. 3. The gleam of hope. There is now visible at the close a gleam on the dark horizon, denoting a coming dawn. A section, an elect few, a tenth, will survive these coming disasters. The fire of judgment and purification, of which the burning seraphs are symbolic, must wither the goodly branches of the national tree, and leave the stem all blackened and charred. Still the stump will remain with its root still fastened in the earth. "Just as the trunk of terebinth or oak, deeply and ineradicably sunk in the earth, bears constantly new shoots, an image of eternity and immortality, springing from an inward "rejuvenating power," so with the spiritual life of the nation and the individual. Here, then, we see how the deepest seriousness and sadness is yet compatible with undying hope. (1) The nation that hopes in the Eternal can never perish. That terebinth root lives on; all fresh developments of Christianity spring from its undying life. (2) The man who hopes in the Eternal shall be saved. He may, he must, pass through the fire of trial; but if he endure to the end, he shall be saved. Amidst his ashes he will discover fresh life; for there is hope of the tree, and hope of the man, that though felled, he shall rise again.
- 158. (3) Holiness isthe secret of life. It is health, it is the sanity of the mind which has made truth its portion, God its delight, and his service its eternal choice.—J. Footnotes: a. Isaiah 6:10 Hebrew; Septuagint ‘You will be ever hearing, but never understanding; / you will be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ / 10 This people’s heart has become calloused; / they hardly hear with their ears, / and they have closed their eyes New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.