“IN THE YEAR THAT KING UZZIAH DIED”
TEXT: Isaiah 6 W. Max Alderman
INTRODUCTION: The phrase, “In the year that king Uzziah died” shows the climate and the atmosphere which surrounded Isaiah and his contemporaries at the time of his writings. By describing it this way, Isaiah was indicating when the described event took place in history. Uzziah had ruled for fifty-two years and had done so for the most part very well. He started well, but sadly, he did not finish well. He was a victim of his own pride. Isaiah may have referred to Uzziah because of the sad way that his life ended because of his pride. Our Text will show that Isaiah also had some issues that involved pride. In the first five chapters, Isaiah only sees the problems and the needs of others. In chapter 6, Isaiah saw his own sinful ways and his own needs. He knew that Uzziah had been judged for intruding upon the Priestly office because of pride and now the Lord is appearing before him so that he can judge his own sinful pride. This all began when Isaiah saw the Lord “high and lifted up”. Let’s notice what Isaiah saw:
I. ISAIAH SAW THE HOLY ONE (Vv. 1-3)
A. He Saw the Holy One’s Place. (V. 1) “upon a throne”
The throne was the seat of God’s sovereignty. Isaiah was given the opportunity of seeing God upon His throne, as did others, because as he wrote, Isaiah needed to sense the importance of what he was writing about and also to recognize who it was that had commissioned him to write.
“Isaiah was not alone in seeing God’s throne. Almost everyone in the Bible who had a vision of heaven, was taken to heaven, or wrote about heaven spoke of God’s throne. The prophet Michaiah saw God’s throne (1 Kings 22:19), Job saw God’s throne (Job 26:9), David saw God’s throne (Psalm 9:4 and 7, 11:4), the Sons of Korah saw God’s throne (Psalm 45:6, 47:8), Ethan the Ezrahite saw God’s throne (Psalm 89:14), Jeremiah saw God’s throne (Lamentations 5:19), Ezekiel saw God’s throne (Ezekiel 1:26, 10:1), Daniel saw God’s throne (Daniel 7:9), and the Apostle John saw God’s throne (Revelation 4:1-11). In fact, the book of Revelation may as well be called “the book of God’s throne,” because God’s throne is specifically mentioned more than 35 times in that book!” (Guzik).
By faith, the throne should be an important part of our Christian existence. The Lord is now seated upon the throne from which all power emanates. We should operate as subjects of His kingdom while in the church and upon the earth.
B. He Saw the Holy One’s Prominence. (V.1a) “high and lifted up”
Isaiah impresses upon the reader an immediate contrast of who he was to who God is. Before Isaiah described himself, he described the Lord. There is a great lesson that we may learn from this. We should see Him properly before we can see ourselves appropriately.
C. He Saw the Holy One’s Purity. (Vv.1b, 2) “his train filled the temple”.
The seraphim indicated, by their actions and by the way that they were described, that they were in the presences of the One who is of such great purity. The train of His robe filled the temple. The train is a symbol of purity such as worn by the bride. A God of purity is worthy of universal respect. These seraphim would not even look upon Him as they covered their eyes. They were in the full splendor of His presence and could not look upon Him, whereas Isaiah was permitted to look upon Him even as Moses did without looking upon His face. In Exodus 33:20, Moses was told that he could not look upon the Lord’s face and live.
D. He Saw the Holy One Praised. (V. 3) “Holy, holy, holy”
The Lord is worthy of much praise by all. The expression of praise, “Holy, holy, holy” was an expression that in the Hebrew expressed intensity. It would have been true, that God is Holy, had it been said just once, but to be said three times maximizes the strength of the expression. Also, there seems to be credence which supports the Triune God being addressed. Before we can be changed, we must see Him as One who is worthy to be praised.
When one is truly confronted with the idea that God is a holy God and that He expects the same from those who are His, then that one’s own life style will change accordingly.
E. He Saw the Holy One’s Power. (V. 4) “and the posts of the door moved”
The power of the Seraphim is being described. Their name means “burning ones”. The origin of their power is of the Lord. Therefore the implication is that the entire throne room was charged with the power of God. If we are permitted to exercise power, it must come from Him.
II. ISAIAH STRUGGLES BEFORE THE HOLY ONE (Vv. 3-7)
A. He Made A Cry. (V. 5) “Woe is me”
“Woe is me”. Isaiah saw his own worth and state when He saw the Lord “high and lifted up”. We never truly see ourselves until we first see Him through the eye of faith. The more that I see Him, the more disgusted I am with seeing myself. For this reason, Satan does all that he can to cloud your and my vision in the hopes of keeping our eyes off of the Lord (See Romans 3). When conviction rests upon the lost penitent, he begins to cry similarly, “Woe is me”. If you are here today in a lost state and you begin to see who Christ really is, you will become very miserable at knowing who you really are.
B. He Made A Comparison. “because I am a man of unclean lips” (V. 5)
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.
Isaiah, upon seeing the Lord, saw more of the real person that he was. We are so guilty of making our comparisons with others whom we recognize to be worst than ourselves. This interprets, that if we are as good as or better than the person that we reference to, then we must not be that bad… Isaiah tells us that our righteousness is as filthy rags. The Lord sees us compared to who He is.
C. He Made A Change. “thine iniquity is taken away” (Vv. 6, 7)
Salvation is like this. When we come to Him through repentance, there will be a life changing experience (2 Corinthians 5:17). We will become a new creature. What a difference Christ makes!
III. ISAIAH SUBMITTING TO THE HOLY ONE (Vv. 8-13)
A. Notice the Hearing of the Request. “I heard the voice” (V. 8)
Isaiah was capable of hearing the voice of the Lord only when he was changed. During the course of my ministry, I find that some people are very receptive to the preached Word and then some are not. I often wonder could it be that those who reject Truth have never really come to the Truth; they have never been changed. 1 Corinthians 2:14 reminds us that “the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God”.
B. Notice the Heeding of the Request. “send me” (V. 8)
A changed person, who has seen the Lord is both subject to and willing to involve himself in the work of the Great Commission. A person who has never seen the Lord high and lifted up will never call Him Lord and serve Him as Master.
C. Notice the Hardness of the Request. “how long” (Vv. 9-13)
Isaiah was told that the people would not listen to him. For this reason, he had to find his encouragement only in the Lord. As preachers and as ministers, you may be discouraged when you feel that what you have to say is not being heard. In a New Testament sense, when people reject the Truth after being warned over and over again, then that means that with the additional Light and Truth that they will be more accountable. The Bible speaks of being beaten with many stripes… This principle is stated in Luke 12: 47, 48.
If you are here today and you know that you are of little response or no response to what is being said, then you should be very concerned. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God. (Hebrews 10).
