ISAIAH CHAPTER 6 1) In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, [is] the LORD of hosts: the whole earth [is] full of his glory. a) the year that king Uzziah died: Gill's notes on this time are as follows: "Which was the fifty second year of his reign, and in the year 3246 from the creation of the world; and, according to Jerom, was the year in which Romulus, the founder of the Roman empire, was born." b) king Uzziah died: Earthly kings pass away, but the King of Kings remaineth forever. The earthly king died, but the heavenly King sat upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. King Uzziah was stricken with leprosy when he attempted to burn incense in the temple (2Ch 26:18-19), but the King of Kings' train fills the temple. What king Uzziah attempted to do was reserved for the priests alone who were consecrated to burn incense, but the King of Kings was both high priest and King. c) I saw also the Lord: No one has seen God in his essential being but here God's personage, as Gill puts it, is revealed to Isaiah. Gill says that all three persons are revealed in this vision. Notice in verse 3, we see one of the seraphims crying, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts." Notice there are three holies, one for each person of the Godhead. Notice also in verse 3 that the word LORD is Jehovah. d) That this vision applies to Christ is evident from reading John 12:41. Joh 12:41 These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him. (READ Joh 12:36-42 for context) The him is Christ. The place in scripture where Esaias saw his glory is right here in chapter 6. e) high and lifted up: Not the throne but the person. The Hebrew word for "lifted up" is nasa' {naw-saw'} and is in the niphal stem and the meaning, according to the lexicon is as follows: 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to be lifted up, be exalted 1b2) to lift oneself up, rise up 1b3) to be borne, be carried 1b4) to be taken away, be carried off, be swept away It was Christ who was exalted on high and crowned with glory after His humiliation here on the earth. Eph 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set [him] at his own right hand in the heavenly [places], 21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: Re 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. The Father did not need to be lifted up from one position to another, but the Son was exalted. Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things] under the earth; 11 And [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father. The word robbery is a little misleading. It means a thing seized upon. The word form is "morphe" and the lexicon has the meaning as: 1) the form by which a person or thing strikes the vision 2) external appearance In other words, Christ is "GOD MANIFEST IN THE FLESH." It is God stepping into our world in a manner in which men could behold him, thus Christ told Philip, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou [then], Shew us the Father?" (Joh 14:9). f) Christ on his throne: 1Ti 6:14 That thou keep [this] commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: 15 Which in his times he shall shew, [who is] the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; 16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom [be] honour and power everlasting. Amen. Rev 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him [are] called, and chosen, and faithful. In Isaiah 6:5 we read that Jehovah (LORD) was the King of Israel. Also: Isa 44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I [am] the first, and I [am] the last; and beside me [there is] no God. David said in Psalm 84:3 that Jehovah was his king. Then in Zech 9:9 we read these words, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he [is] just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass." COMPARE: Mt 21:1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose [them], and bring [them] unto me. 3 And if any [man] say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. 4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. g) seraphims: The Hebrew word is "saraph" {saw-rawf'}. AV - fiery serpent 3, fiery 2, seraphim 2; 7 Lexicon: 1) serpent, fiery serpent 1a) poisonous serpent (fiery from burning effect of poison) 2) seraph, seraphim 2a) majestic beings with 6 wings, human hands or voices in attendance upon God Same Hebrew word in Isa 14:29 Isa 14:29 Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit [shall be] a fiery flying serpent. { him that smote thee: probably antichrist } Gill says that these are the same as the four beasts, or living creatures in Rev 4:6. Rev 4:6 And before the throne [there was] a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, [were] four beasts full of eyes before and behind. 7 And the first beast [was] like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast [was] like a flying eagle. 8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about [him]; and [they were] full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. 9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, and in Ezek 1:5 READ Eze 1:1-28 (Fiery) The four faces: Four is the number for the earth. Man, Lion, Ox, and Eagle. The camp in the wilderness: The tabernacle was in the middle. The camp of Judah: 3 tribes, on east, Lion The camp of Ephraim: 3 tribes, West, Ox. The camp of Reuben: 3 tribes, South, Man The camp of Dan: 3 tribes, North, Eagle There seems to be some difference between what Ezekiel saw and what Isaiah saw, in the number of wings (Ez 1:6). The faces in Revelation are the same as with Ezekiel, but the number of wings in Rev is the same as Isaiah. However Gill says concerning the six wings of Isaiah's vision that it was the same with Ezekiel and John's in Revelation. The likeness if Ezekiel's creatures was as "burning coals of fire" (vs 13), which the word "saraph" means. Gill thinks these Seraphims represent the ministers of the Gospel. h) earth full of his glory: That is the glory of Christ. Certainly this will have a literal fulfillment during the millennial reign of Christ. 4) And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. a) posts of the door: Of the temple (vs 1). Moved: translated, "shake 6, wander 6, move 6, promoted 3, fugitive 2, sift 2, stagger 2, wag 2, misc 13; 42" b) filled with smoke: Perhaps an allusion to the cloud of incense that covered the mercyseat on the day of atonement. Lev 16:13 And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not: 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. a) undone: means to "be cutoff, be cut off at sight of the theophany." God pronounced woe on the wicked and ungodly. While no saved person will experience the woe of God in judgement nor will he be cutoff, yet in effectual calling he is made to see his condition in Adam and his end if left to himself. He made to see that he will surely perish else God have mercy on him. b) for: When the glorious light of Christ shines then it reveals sin. A room may look clean in a very dim light but let the sun shine in and it will reveal it's unclean state. We are blind to our sinfulness until the Holy Spirit reveals it to us. Men are self-righteous Pharisees until the Holy Spirit brings conviction of sin. If men could just get a glimpse of the holiness of God then they would repent in fear. c) unclean lips: His office was that of speach in that he was a prophet. d) a people with unclean lips: The nation of Israel. Mt 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 6) 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: 7 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. a) It was his lips that the Prophet confessed as unclean and here we see one of the fiery angelic Seraphims having a live coal purge Isaiah's lips. b) fire: judgement. Gill thinks the live coal is symbolic of the word of God that cleans. Jer 23:29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? But, this seems to be speaking of judgement again. When the word of God cleans it is like a washing. Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, c) altar: where judgement was meated out on the sacrifice. d) purged: translated "atonement" 71 times. Our sins are atoned for by the sacrifice of Christ who stood in our place and received the fire of God's wrath as a punishment for the sins of His people, and there also officiated as our great high priest and placed his blood upon the mercyseat. The smoke filled the tabernacle on the day of atonement and it was atonement that purged Isaiah's unclean lips. READ: Lev 16:1-26 Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. 8) Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here [am] I; send me. a) some say the voice of the Word of the Lord; or Jesus Christ. b) whom will I send: To the people of Israel and preach to them concerning their sin. Gill says, "to reprove them for their blindness and stupidity, and to threaten them, and foretell unto them their ruin and destruction." c) for US: This is not God and the Seraphims. No creature has been God's counsellor. This is the same us in Genesis where God said, "Let US make man in OUR image." (Gen 1:26) SEE also: Gen 3:22; 11:7 1Jo 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. We have already seen that this vision of the Lord which Isaiah saw was applied to the Lord Jesus Christ (Joh 12:41). That it also applies to the Holy Spirit is seen in the book of Acts. Ac 28:25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, 26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: 27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. d) send me: Isaiah wanted to be sent by the Lord. Only after his lips were purged was he ready to be sent. Only after we have experienced the grace of God in salvation are we fit to preach to others. 9) And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. a) hear ye indeed: Not with the spiritual ear but with the natural ear. They had heard the prophets. They heard the very Son of God and they had heard the apostles, yet for all of that hearing they understood it NOT. They saw God's word even in written form and say the very Word of God Himself, and did not perceive. b) understand: Mt 13:19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. Mt 13:23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Mt 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. c) understanding by the Grace of God: Ro 3:11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. d) perceive not: perception is also by the grace of God given in regeneration. Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. { see = Lexicon says to PERCEIVE with teh eyes, also to know or understand. } e) Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes: In the national sense, because many Jews did believe and the first Church was made up of Jews as were all of the apostles. The nation as a whole rejected Messiah and would not believe on him. Here we see the Sovereignty of God involved in their blindness. In the Book of Acts we read, "For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have THEY closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them" (Ac 28:27). God is not the author of sin, but is Sovereign in the bestowal of His grace. If he does not open eyes then they will remain blind and the Word of God will only blind them more. If he does not open the heart then it will remain closed and the word of God will only harden it more. Compare: Ro 11:6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. 7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded 8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. 11) Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, 12 And the LORD have removed men far away, and [there be] a great forsaking in the midst of the land. a) how long: How long will this blindness remain on the people of Israel? b) Gill: "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, (Luke 19:42-44) till that time, and even to this day, the veil of blindness, ignorance, and penitence, is on their hearts, and will remain until they are converted to the Lord, in the latter day;" 13) But yet in it [shall be] a tenth, and [it] shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance [is] in them, when they cast [their leaves: so] the holy seed [shall be] the substance thereof. a) Cross references: Isa 1:9 Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, [and] we should have been like unto Gomorrah. Isa 4:3 And it shall come to pass, [that he that is] left in Zion, and [he that] remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, [even] every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: Isa 10:20 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. Isa 10:21 The remnant shall return, [even] the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. Isa 10:22 For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, [yet] a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. b) Gill on the tenth: "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 (Romans 11:5) and these chosen, called, and saved ones, are the "tenth", that is, the Lord's tenth, as the words may be rendered." Ro 11:5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. c) when they cast [their leaves: so] the holy seed [shall be] the substance thereof: May speak of the latter day when they will be converted.