Today’s Reading: ISAIAH 6:1–8
This vision of Isaiah is, pardon the pun, revealing.
* It teaches all kings of good stuff, especially related to the nature of God and the nature of man.
* What is God like, or at least how should we think of him?
* What is a proper perspective on man’s position next to God?
* I’m just going to skim the surface here.
One lesson on God and man: kings pass away, but the King is on the throne.
* It is no accident that Isaiah mentions that the occasion of his vision is the death of king Uzziah.
* Nor is it an accident that he refers to the LORD as the “King” in the same passage.
* God is the one, true, eternal Sovereign over creation.
Another lesson: God is “Holy, holy, holy.”
* Obviously, this is a key concept in the Scriptures. God is matchlessly pure, absolutely righteous, and utterly unique.
* This trifold holy is a Hebrew superlative, meaning that God is not just “holy,” but the holiest if holies.
* Only God can receive this identification. Someone or something else can be called holy, or even made holy, but the holiness of creation is only a shadow of God’s holiness.
How about a worship style lesson?
* Can you imagine the voices of the seraphim as they call out?
* Don’t you dare imagine a monotone chant!
* Come on! Their voices cause the whole temple to shake!
* This is not a drone, but an exuberant song.
In light of the holiness of God, there is yet another lesson: Seeing God is overwhelming.
* So disturbing, in fact, that Isaiah assumes that he will die: “Woe is me,” he says (v. 5).
* Even the seraphim hide their faces, and they are sinless creations!
What does this teach us about the fear of the LORD?
* As I’ve mentioned before, there is good fear and bad fear.
* We should avoid minimizing the fearsome presence of God, giving fear a more comfortable name, like reverence (though I think reverence is definitely a part of it!).
* Think of it this way: the fool flees from God in fear, but the worshiper falls on his face.
Clever Remarks 