In The Year That King Uzziah Died

“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.