It frequently astounds us that God calls us to minister for Him. God does know what He is doing when He calls us. This daily devotional looks at how God’s call for our lives is done.
Nuggets
- 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’s Message from Sovereign God Series
Isaiah teaches us so much. He teaches us how God calls us and how we are to respond.
This devotion is going to look at God choosing us to be His messengers. The next devotion will look at our response.
Let's Put It into Context
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and the hem of his robe filled the temple” (Isa. 6: 1 CSB)
Usually, when the books of the prophets start out, they list how the prophets were called first. Isaiah’s wasn’t.
I can see why Isaiah didn’t focus on himself first. He seems to be a real down-to-earth type of guy. He wasn’t into prophesying for his own gain.
Isaiah’s message was all about God’s message. So, His message came first.
The message was really important – and would have been scary.
“For behold, the Lord God of hosts is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and supply, all support of bread, and all support of water; the mighty man and the soldier, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder, the captain of fifty and the man of rank, the counselor and the skillful magician and the expert in charms” (Isa. 3: 1-3 CSB).
God’s Glory Is Shown in Our Calling
“Seraphim were standing above him; they each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies; his glory fills the whole earth. The foundations of the doorways shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke” (Isa. 6: 2-4 CSB)
Most of us probably aren’t expecting a vision from God to ever happen in our lifetimes. That doesn’t mean we aren’t called. We are still shown God’s glory when He calls us.
There is some debate as to where Isaiah was when He received his calling. It is believed that Isaiah remained in the Temple after all other worshipers had gone home.
We would assume God would come to Isaiah while he was in the Temple. However, I doubt Moses’ bush was in the Temple, so we shouldn’t limit God. God comes to us in our hearts.
Others argue it has to be Heaven’s throne room since God is on the throne. There was no throne in the Temple at Jerusalem.
Matthews wrote, “As Isaiah was an attendant on both [Temple and court], 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.”
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Allen contended that this was Jesus as Redeemer on the throne. He cites First John 4: 12 as evidence that it wasn’t God Himself. “No one has ever seen God …” (I Jn. 4: 12 NLT).
Further, Matthew pointed to John 12: 41 that it was Jesus. “Isaiah was referring to Jesus when he said this, because he saw the future and spoke of the Messiah’s glory” (Jn. 12: 41 CSB).
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There is also the fact that God is Spirit. He can’t be seen by the human eye. When He does reveal Himself to us, it is through faith and conscience.
So, it flips it around if this is Jesus, and not God, doesn’t it? It verified that Jesus has authority over Heaven and earth (Mt. 28: 18). His rule is obvious since His train fills the Temple (Isa. 6: 1).
Saving Isaiah
“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. Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said: Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for” (Isa. 6: 5-7 CSB)
Isaiah knew that he was unworthy being in the Lord’s presence. One of the seraphim angels assisted with that.
The Homilist made an interesting statement. It was written that, “Whilst holiness is the normal, depravity is the actual state of man.”
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I guess, if you think about it, holiness was supposed to be the norm. Mankind was made in God’s image. God is holy. That would make us supposed to have been holy.
Yeah, we messed that up. Because a consequence of the original sin was separation from God, we need to be restored to our relationships with Him.
The Homilist argued that all disciples should have seen an inner vision of God. It was contended that these visions are one of the ways used by the Holy Spirit when convicting us.
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Spurgeon added that we can only see ourselves when we have seen God. When we see God, we should fall flat on our faces because we will see that we are unworthy. It takes this self-reflection to know that we need a Savior. We have to take an honest look at ourselves and see where we are not holy. We can only worship when we’ve gone through the steps: the identification of our sin, the submission to God for forgiveness, and the completion of doing what God tells us to do.
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We need to make sure we have the right attitude when prompted by the Holy Spirit. “… 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).
We have to approach God as Sovereign God. God is not our equal. He is not even just our boss. He is our Creator and all-powerful Ruler.
Because Isaiah saw the Lord, he was more aware of sin. It was abundantly clear to Isaiah that he and mankind needed for a Savior.
That knowledge of his inadequacy had to place some fear into Isaiah’s being. Look how efficiently the seraphim took care of that. “Then …” (Isa. 6: 6 CSB). It didn’t take an hour. There wasn’t a long debate as to Isaiah’s sincerity.
The seraphim grabbed the coal and went. Did you catch that the coal cane from the altar? The coal was meant to cleanse Isaiah so that He could be saved.
God will immediately forgive us of our sins when we sincerely and humbly ask Him to do so.
What is also needed is to take away our guilt. Aren’t we good at holding on to the feelings of inadequacy and regret?
We not only are forgiven by God, but we also know we are forgiven by God. He doesn’t hide the fact of His pardon. We have to forgive ourselves.
Look at how Isaiah was cleansed. It was a coal — a glowing coal. That means it was taken from the fire that burned the sacrifice.
Rooting out the sin in our lives hurts. It not only is the cutting and tearing, but it can also be the I-don’t-want-to-give-that-up struggle. We need to be fully cleansed so that we are set to serve our Lord.
Making the Connections
We have to stop making this about us. It isn’t.
It is about how God wants us to expand His kingdom. It is about Him.
God knows exactly the abilities we have that He wants to use. He knows what is best for us.
Do I think God is going to come meet us in the church building? Maybe. He can still do that.
I think, more than likely, He is going to use His Holy Spirit to prompt us within our hearts.
How Do We Apply This?
We apply this by listening for Him. We can’t approach God filled with our own self-importance. The focus has to be on worshiping Him because of His majesty.
We have to sincerely seek God. He will tell us His Will for our lives.
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
Father God. We do feel so unworthy. We know the only reason we are worthy to be in Your Presence is because we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Help us to keep our focus on You so that we may do Your Will. Amen.
What do you think?
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