Isaiah 6:1-3 – In need of a fresh encounter with the LORD

Right from the start in chapters 1 to 5 of Isaiah, all we saw was a picture of gloom and doom. We saw an obstinate unconcerned people refusing the overarching love of God with His loving arm of grace extending affably toward them. But His kindness was scoffed by a people who did not seem to be bothered with this marvelously wonderful God. We saw in Isaiah 2:5 how through the prophet He coaxed the people saying “Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.” But they would not listen. So the conclusion was described in the last part of Isaiah 5:30. It reads, “If one looks to the land, behold, there is darkness and distress; Even the light is darkened by its clouds.”  

When we come to chapter 6, we catch a glimpse of God’s kindness and His transforming grace in the encounter that the Prophet Isaiah had with the LORD. This marvelous God was still extending His kind gesture of grace to a people who didn’t deserve His kindness. He chose to start it with Isaiah. This is the tenacious love of God who would not let go despite being snubbed. It all happened in the year that King Uzziah died. Remember Uzziah was Isaiah’s cousin. According to 2 Chronicles 26, Uzziah’s reign started when he was 16 years old and he ruled Judah for 52 years. Second Chronicles 26:4-5 tell us that  “He did right in the sight of the Lord according to all that his father Amaziah had done. He continued to seek God … and as long as he sought the Lord, God prospered him.” Unfortunately in his prosperity, he became proud. He tried to stand in the office of a priest to burn incense to the Lord. When confronted by the priests for the abuse of the priestly office, instead of being repentant he was angry with the priests and was filled with rage. God had to smite him with leprosy. Uzziah was a leper till the day he died.  

 

It was in the year that King Uzziah died that Isaiah had an encounter with the LORD. Perhaps in the years leading up to the encounter, the prophet was leaning on his cousin and enjoying the prosperity. When people are doing well there is a risk of pivoting trust to the reigning monarch and the wealth that he generated rather than God. Hence, it was not until the king, who seemed to have brought the prosperity, had died that Isaiah had the vision of the LORD, the eternal King.

 

The moment of Isaiah’s encounter with the LORD took place in the temple where he was worshipping. For a long time now his sight was set on Uzziah. Now at the death of his cousin king Uzziah, for the first time after a long time, his eye was lifted to see the vision of the LORD, the eternal King. The fact remains that earthly rulers may come and go, but this LORD, the eternal King remains on the throne forever. So Isaiah encountered Him that day. This eternal king was “sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.” It is hard to imagine the loftiness of the Sovereign’s majestic grandiose. Surrounding the throne were seraphim. We are not told how many there were, but in John’s vision in Revelations, we are told that there were myriads upon myriads of them. Each was said to have “…six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.” Their faces were covered, very likely,  because there were in such great awe of the holy and perfect God that they could not look at Him straight in the face. But it must be said that they were in readiness to do His will.

 

As the seraphim flew waiting to do God’s bidding, they were constantly crying out to each other saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.” The seraphim were seen here unraveled by the holiness and all-embracing glory of God. The cries of holy were not mere repetitions. They were words of wonder and awe in acknowledgment of an awesome and perfect God.    

 

Beloved, the God we worship and honor is beyond description and comprehension. His infinite wisdom is too lofty for our finite mind to grasp. We are lost as to why such a great God should love us so much. All we need to know is that in His greatness, He chose to reveal Himself to us so that we can get a glimpse of the greatness of His heart. The only appropriate response to this awesome God then is to give ourselves wholly and unreservedly to Him. We must learn to take our eye and our trust off the things of this world and set our affection wholeheartedly on Him and trust Him, and like the seraphim ever ready to do His will and bidding. He is worthy of it all!