When Jesus showed up to call Isaiah as His messenger, Isaiah had a choice to make. God knows what He needs for us to do to expand His kingdom, but He gives us free will to agree to do it. This daily devotional looks at how messengers of God should respond to their call.
Nuggets
- Isaiah confessed; he was immediately forgiven – then, he was given a job.
- God knows that this is the way we will grow.
- When Isaiah asked when his enlistment would be up, Jesus replied, “As long as I need you.”
Isaiah’s Message from Sovereign God Series
How are we supposed to respond when God calls us to service? Like Isaiah did — send me.
I picture Isaiah bouncing up and down on his heels, arm up, waving his hand. He is probably making Horshack noises to make sure he has Jesus’ attention.
Look at it this way. Isaiah is believed to have been young (Jenkins said 18 or 19) when he was called to the ministry. He supposedly had ties to royalty.
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The kicker is that Isaiah didn’t ask what this job entailed. There was no, “Where are You sending me?”
All Isaiah said was he was good to go.
But I am getting ahead of myself. Let’s recap the first seven verses, and then go on.
Let's Put It into Context
“Then I said: Woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Armies” (Isa. 6: 5 CSB)
• Isaiah’s message was all about God’s message.
• This vision of God’s glory has a lot of symbolism, so of course, there is diverse opinions about what the symbolism means.
• Isaiah knew that he was unworthy of being in the Lord’s presence.
• God calls to us to do His work, but we have to be listening.
Isaiah was hanging out in the Temple, and God came to visit. Well, really, it was Jesus.
As usual with we humans, Isaiah didn’t feel worthy to be in Jesus’ presence. The seraphim took a coal from the altar and cleansed Him.
Why Does God Call Us to Serve Him?
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord asking: Who will I send? Who will go for us? I said: Here I am. Send me. And he replied: Go! Say to these people: Keep listening, but do not understand; keep looking, but do not perceive. Make the minds of these people dull; deafen their ears and blind their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their minds, turn back, and be healed” (Isa. 6: 8-10 CSB)
We are called to be God’s servants as He gives us jobs to spread His message throughout the world. We have to follow God’s calling for our lives.
Okay, here was Isaiah. He was worshipping. God came to him and purified him.
Then comes the big question. “… Who will I send? …” (Isa. 6: 8 CSB).
There are a couple of things we can pull out of this. God calls to us to do His work, but we have to be listening. God has a job for us, but we have to be ready.
Isn’t it amazing that God does care about us? He wants to restore our relationship.
We have to pay attention to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Look at it this way. Isaiah confessed; he was immediately forgiven. Then, he was given a job.
True, Jesus didn’t say, “I’ve got a job for you.” He asked the question, “… Who will I send? …” (Isa. 6: 8 CSB).
Jesus let Isaiah decide for himself that he was going to do the job. Yep. Free will came into play. Free will is the ability within us to make decisions, which determine actions that produce character.
Just as God isn’t a dictator in making us worship Him, He is not a dictator in making us serve Him. He allows us to choose.
Oh, there are consequences when we choose to not obey God. It is still our choice.
God wants us to be His messengers. No, He really doesn’t need us for anything. He wants us to be involved in His ministry.
Symes has given the best reason that I have come across so far as to why God uses us. He wrote, “He [God] desires intelligent, trustful, loving union with Himself, and it may be that such ends as these are better obtained through human instrumentality than by an overpowering exhibition of the Divine majesty and glory.”
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There is another reason. God knows that this is the way we will grow. Isn’t it said that, if you really want to learn something, teach it to someone else?
It is a little amazing that Jesus had all of the seraphim around Him — and He chooses Isaiah. Men are lower than the angels (Heb. 2: 9) but chosen above them.
I got a hoot out of what Jenkins said. He wrote, “The Lord’s ordinary manner of appointing His messengers is to select them Himself, and without consulting them send them to do their work.” No, He doesn’t ask for our input.
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Sometimes we really don’t understand the full scope of what it meant to be a prophet of the Lord. We get that he was a messenger, but that is an oversimplification.
Isaiah was a messenger in the sense that he gave God’s words to the people, but he also brought the peoples words to God. So, he was a liaison instead of just a delivery boy.
Isaiah knew God’s heart in many situations. He hurt and rejoiced with the God he served. He felt for his people, longing for their redemption and hurting at the thought of their judgment.
We can see Isaiah’s passion and conviction as well as his eagerness to serve and his response to God’s call. This dedication often irritated Isaiah’s audience and came with a cost. Tradition says that Isaiah was executed by order of King Manasseh of Judah. He was sawed in two.
Isaiah knew what he was getting into, and he was still passionate and dedicated. He out his faith in God.
Verse 10 is confusing. It kind of makes it sound like Jesus doesn’t want people to be led to salvation. There is nothing further from the truth.
Cron explained this by saying that “… they would so act that the effect of all his diligence and ingenuity to instruct and reform them would be to render them still more stupid and wicked, and still more the objects of the Lord’s displeasure.”
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Okay, still kind of muddy. Let’s look at Scripture.
- “He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them” (Mt. 13: 11-12 NIV).
- “For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them” (Mt. 13: 15 NIV).
I think Jesus was just warning Isaiah that he wasn’t going to have complete success. There will be those who refused to repent.
How Long Are We to Serve God?
“Then I said, ‘Until when, Lord?’ And he replied: Until cities lie in ruins without inhabitants, houses are without people, the land is ruined and desolate, and the Lord drives the people far away, leaving great emptiness in the land. Though a tenth will remain in the land, it will be burned again. Like the terebinth or the oak that leaves a stump when felled, the holy seed is the stump” (Isa. 6: 11-13 CSB)
Isaiah did ask when his enlistment would be up. Jesus’ reply focused on the job he was given.
We don’t really know his reasons for asking this question. We can realize Isaiah was asking in faith. He wasn’t asking about how long he would have to give up life as he knows it. I don’t think he was asking if it will be a quick fix.
I don’t see Isaiah’s wholehearted response suddenly turning into a qualified one. I think Isaiah was making sure he has all the information that he needs to have to do the work assigned to him.
Jesus had a two-part response. The first was, “As long as I need you.”
The second part was, “It isn’t going to be pretty.” There was going to be consequences that hurt. (Remember, Isaiah was prophesying the Babylonian exile.)
Look at verse 13. Even the remnant was going to feel the punishment. It wasn’t going to be all rainbows and unicorns.
Let’s roost on the tree stump. The rest of the tree is gone. The stump remains attached to the roots.
Sometimes, the tree was felled because it was dead. Not always. The tree could still be alive because the trees around it are feeding it nutrients.
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Isn’t that a wonderful visualization of what disciples are called to do? We are called to provide life to those who are spiritually dead around us. Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin.
We feed them with about the love with which God showers us. Think of the picture of regeneration as the stump has new growth.
It takes care and nourishment to have the new growth. It takes searching for God and learning about Him to understand that we are spiritually dead without Him.
Making the Connections
God has a job for each of us. We won’t all be called to prophesy like Isaiah was.
We are all called to witness to those who are spiritually dead. When we get the call, we need to do our own Horshack imitations and say, “Here I am. Send me.”
We can expect the calling to last the rest of our lives.
How Do We Apply This?
We have to realize we are the seed to help those who are away from God find their way back.
I got two important things out of this study. Our relationship with God is necessary. We also have to witness to others.
A lot of times, we focus solely on our relationship and what we have to do to get back into obedience. Then I read this nugget.
Robinson wrote, “It never helps anyone to begin desperately to study his wickednesses with a view to outroot them. It is better for him to keep looking at God. The objective study of Christ, His life, character, etc., is far safer and more profitable for growth in grace than any painful act of self-examination.”
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We shouldn’t focus on the sin. Our focus needs to be on our Redeemer and His call for us.
Holy Father. You are holy and righteous. We are not. Yet, You call us to work to expand Your kingdom. We know that, when You call us, You will equip us. We stand ready to do all You ask. Amen.
What do you think?
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Great post!
Thank you!