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Chapter 4
In the Presence of God In an earlier chapter, we looked at oracles
of doom. In the last chapter we looked at oracles of hope, and we'll
continue to look at oracles of hope throughout much of the rest of
the book. But in this chapter we are going to look mostly at an
event. In Isaiah chapter six, we see what is probably Isaiah's
call to be a prophet. Isaiah has a vision in which he comes
before the very presence of God. The Bible says that no one can see
God, or that no one can see him and live (e.g., Exodus 33:20; I John 4:12).
But God, who is an invisible spirit, has purposely revealed his presence
at various times in limited and restricted ways to mortal
men. These are sometimes in dreams, sometimes in
visions, sometimes in what are called "theophanies". A
theophany is a visual representation of God in which the spirit of the Lord
is made known to man in various visual forms. These may be in human
forms, such as in the "angel of the Lord", or in non-human
forms, such as in a whirlwind or in a burning bush. In Isaiah chapter six, Isaiah sees God
"high and lifted up". What he mostly sees is God's
"train"--that is, the flowing ends of his royal robe. He
also sees clearly the seraphim, the angelic beings who are praising
God's name. Angels are beings whose very presence can inspire
tremendous awe. But, in the presence of God, even they are so
awestruck that they feel compelled to call out and sing about the
awesomeness of God. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are
full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease
to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and
is to come!” In verse one of Isaiah chapter six, we are told that the
vision occurs in the year that King Uzziah dies, that is, about 740
B.C. The references to the royal reigns of kings in prophetic
literature are typically used just as historical markers to let one
know when the events took place...but not this time. Uzziah was
a good king--or, at least he started out that way. He had a very
long reign--52 years in length. But he became proud and
presumptuous, and the result was disastrous for him personally. He decided that, contrary to God's law,
he would take over the functions that had been designated
specifically for the priests alone. Some priests bravely withstood
him and told him that he was doing wrong, and that it would not result in
honor for him from God. This made Uzziah very angry, but the priests
spoke the truth. As Uzziah stood there ready to burn incense on the
altar, he was struck with leprosy by God. The sixth chapter of the book of Isaiah
is a depiction of two kings. One king, Uzziah, reigned a long time;
but his reign eventually came to an end. The King of All the Earth,
however, reigns forever and ever. There is also a contrast between
the leper Uzziah and God. Uzziah would have to live a life confined.
If he were to wander outside, he would have to cover his face and
shout "Unclean! Unclean!" But, of the LORD God above,
the praise rings forth, "Holy! Holy! Holy! is the LORD of
hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" In the presence
of God, even the seraphim are said to cover their faces. Looking on at this magnificent scene is
the prophet Isaiah. Today we
often think of prophets as those people who predicted the future.
They did sometimes predict the future. But prophets primarily were
spokesmen for God. They brought messages from God. The prophets
were people who could see. Yes, they could sometimes see the future.
But the more important point is that they could see who God is, and
they could see who man is, and they could see the tremendous
difference between the two. It is interesting also that Isaiah
doesn't primarily describe God, but talks mainly about his
flowing robe, his throne, the seraphim, the shaking, and the
smoke...but not so much about the One on the throne. In this
chapter of Isaiah, the prophet describes magnificent things and great
events and lesser beings in great detail and in amazing splendor,
leaving one to wonder just how much more glorious is the Greater
Being who is unseen and undescribed. (The opening chapter of the
book of Ezekiel is perhaps the classic example of this technique of
detailed and glowing and effusive descriptions of those who are
lesser, rather than attempting to describe the Great Undescribed and
Undescribable.) In
this life, we--like Isaiah in his vision--see but the skirts of God's
robe. But the glory that is to be revealed will be beyond our
ability to imagine. The
song "I Can Only Imagine" by the group "Mercy Me"
hints at that future. Will we be incredibly celebratory, or will we be so awestruck that we will be speechless?
The glory will almost certainly be beyond our wildest imaginations. Back
in chapter six of Isaiah: In the presence of God, the seraphim cry out "Holy,
holy, holy!" In English we have regular adjectives, comparative adjectives, and
superlative adjectives--for example: holy, holier, holiest. Although the Hebrew language has a somewhat parallel arrangement, another way that they sometimes used to make a similar point was to simply repeat the word or phrase to be emphasized. On very rare occasions, if they wanted
to emphasis something as fervently as possible, they used a threefold
repetition. Not just "holy". Not just "holy,
holy". But "Holy! Holy! Holy! is the LORD of hosts; the
whole earth is full of his glory!" God is the Holiest of All. But the threefold repetition in
Hebrew isn't exactly parallel with our superlative adjective. The
threefold repetition of an adjective is rarely used in Hebrew. It
is probably found less than a dozen times in all of Scripture. So
saying, "Holy! Holy! Holy!" is perhaps even more emphatic
in Hebrew than the word "holiest" is in English. "Holy" means to be set apart. For man, being holy means to be set apart for God.
For God, it involves perfection, being set apart from all ungodliness--set apart from
anything that is finite or incomplete. Since God is perfectly holy, something that is
beyond our grasp, we rightly stand in awe of him.
The idea of holiness is mentioned often in the Bible. How many times something is mentioned in the Bible is not an
absolute indicator of how important it is. For example, the Bible
mentions money far more often than it mentions the Holy Spirit or the
divinity of Jesus. That doesn't mean that money is more important
than those issues. There are things that aren't mentioned very often
that are very important. However, if something is mentioned a lot in
the Bible, it perhaps is an indicator that we might want to be
especially alert to take note of it.
(Isaiah 6:1-8)
the whole earth
is full of his glory."
(Isaiah 6:1-8 [RSV])
the whole earth
is full of his glory."
We see a similar thing in the book of
Revelation in which similar awe-inspiring beings react in a similar
way:
(Revelation 4:8)
(II Chronicles 26:16-21 [RSV])
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
(I Corinthians 2:9)
The
words "holy" or "holiness" are found 663
times in the Bible (in the Revised Standard Version). The words
"saint" or "saints", at least where they are
translated from the same Greek or Hebrew word as the word "holy",
are found an additional 70 times. This makes a total of 733 times.
Compare this with some other important Biblical concepts:
mercy, merciful, mercies--176 times
grace, gracious, graciously--188 times
love, loves, loved--703 times
peace, peaceful, peaceable, peaceably--379 times
joy, joyful, joyfulness--194 times
faith, faithful, faithfulness--427 times
believe, believes, believed, believer, believers, believing, belief--279 times
These last two--"faith" and "believe" in all their forms--are found a total of 706 times, which is still
less than the words "holy", "holiness", and
"saint".
The
word "saint" is the same word in Greek as the word
"holy". (Both are translated from the Greek word
"hagios".) If we are to be God's people, we are to be a
holy people, set apart for God. We are to lead lives that are
different from those of the world around us. God says,
However, there seems to have been a decline in recent years in emphasizing teaching about holiness. Instead the message often seems to be, "We're all sinners. Our lives aren't any different from yours. Come join us. You'll fit right in."
Riding around the county, I saw a church sign that said: "Imperfect people welcome here-- You'll be in good company."
Although the message of the sign may be true, it doesn't tell the whole story.
We do have to understand that we are all sinners. We have to have the humility that comes with understanding that. We can't be like the Pharisee in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke chapter eighteen, where the Pharisee proclaimed that he was "not like other men", essentially stating that he wasn't really a sinner like all those others. We are all sinners. We are all in need of grace. If we don't have the humility to recognize that, then we will never see Heaven. Without the grace of God, we are lost. But as recipients of God's grace, we aren't called to wallow and revel in our sin. We have to understand that we are sinners called to lead holy lives. We are called to be set apart. We are called to be different from the world. We are not called to embrace sinfulness. We are called to embrace a forgiving God, who calls us to a higher plane.
A message of "We're sinners. Come join us.", while true, leaves out some important parts of the story.
The Bible teaches that the church is to be a holy people. We are to be a "set apart" people. We are to be a "called out" people. Our lives are to be different from the lives of the world around us. We are to be the light of the world. We are to be a city set on a hill. And I think, for the most part, that we are.
Yet sometimes the lives of those in the church do not seem much different from those outside in many ways. Sometimes the lifestyles of those who claim to be Christians are too similar to the lives of those who are non-Christians to claim that there is a dramatic difference--whether it's in regard to things such as divorce, or extramarital relationships, or whether we actually seem to care about the poor. The message that sometimes comes across is: "Live however you want to; get drunk with your friends; come up with various reasons to rationalize not helping the poor; live together outside of wedlock; get a divorce. It doesn't matter. God is going to forgive you anyway."
But indeed it does matter. How do we honor God when our lives are dramatically different from that which he has called us to be? How do we shine as a light to those around us if our reflection of God's light is no brighter than what they already have? Their eventual salvation or lack of it may depend on whether we have a light that shines or not. And our own salvation is at risk if we become nonchalant or cavalier about how we live our own lives.
There is a contrast and a conflict today between the Christian worldview and the secular worldview. The differences between the two include differences in beliefs and the accompanying differences in moral values and in the way that we lead our lives. But this isn't a new thing. The same was true both in Old Testament and in New Testament times.
In the Old Testament, the moral standard that God called the
Israelite people to was far different from that of the surrounding
nations. But we see the people of Israel at various times mingling
with and adopting the religious views of those around them. At some
times, worship of pagan gods was predominant in Israel. One
of the many pagan worships they engaged in was Baal worship, which
took various forms. One of the potential problems with Baal worship
was that it was perhaps a bit more seductive and more easily
conflated with and intermingled with the worship of God than some
other pagan religions. This was partly because it was one of the most
predominant pagan religions of the land of Canaan when the Israelites
came out of Egyptian captivity, but it was also simply because of the
name: "Baal". It was a Hebrew word that meant "lord". It
wasn't the only Hebrew word that meant "lord", but it was
one of them. It was a word that was sometimes applied not only to
the pagan god Baal but also to the Hebrew god Yahweh. It was a word that
God sometimes applied to himself (e.g., Isaiah 54:5; Jeremiah 31:32),
although this is obscured in most English translations, which
translate the word as "husband" or "lord" or
some other variation. So you have two competing religions. The gods
of both of them, at least at times, go by either the name or the
description, "Baal".
It could be rather seductive.
In New Testament times, the religious views and values of Christians were radically different from the religious views and values of the Greco-Roman world. The New Testament addresses those conflicts and differences. The church at Corinth was in one of the worst cultural settings. The worship of the Greek and Roman gods involved blatant immorality. Part of the worship in their temples included having sex with temple prostitutes. It was considered to be a standard part of their worship. It would be as if our worship was, if you can imagine, something like sing, pray, preach, Lord's Supper, sex with prostitutes. Perhaps that is why Paul had to write to the Christians at Corinth to tell them that they shouldn't be visiting prostitutes.
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!
(I Corinthians 6:15)
In the Corinthian world, the worship of Bacchus or Dionysius was prevalent. One of the major features of their worship was drunken orgies that included drunken processions through the streets. Homosexuality in Corinth was rampant and an accepted lifestyle. A large percentage of the population were slaves and were treated very badly. And the church at Corinth was in danger of being a part of the culture rather than standing as a light to the culture around them.
It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and of a kind that is not found even among pagans; for a man is living with his father's wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.
(I Corinthians 5:1-2 [RSV])
I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with immoral men; not at all meaning the immoral of this world, or the greedy and robbers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But rather I wrote to you not to associate with any one who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or robber -- not even to eat with such a one.
(I Corinthians 5:9-11 [RSV])
In chapter six of I Corinthians we see that the problems of the Christians at Corinth also included being at each others' throats, so to speak. They were suing each other and taking each other to court. In many ways their lives were not much different from the world around them. They weren't a light to the world but a reflection of the world. Paul warns them,
Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
(I Corinthians 6:9-10 [NASB, 1977]; cf. Galatians 5:19-21)
If we are not going to be a holy people, we are not going to be God's people.
Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
(Hebrews 12:14)
Christians are to be different from the world. We are to be light. We are to be set apart. We are to be a holy people.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
(I Peter 2:9 [RSV])
Back in Isaiah chapter six, we read this:
And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"
(Isaiah 6:4-7 [RSV])
You can almost imagine Isaiah trembling and crying, "I'm lost. I'm a sinful man among a sinful nation coming in sinful rags before the Lord of Hosts. There's no hope! I'm doomed and...and...and...why are my clothes so white all of a sudden? What happened?"
Coming before the Presence of the Lord can be a fearful thing. But having God's presence in your life if you are one of his people can be a glorious thing. Having God near can be a great blessing.
During the Wilderness Wanderings, the Shekinah Glory of God--present as a cloud above the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle--provided the Israelites with guidance and direction and protection on their journeys. When God came by...when God was with them, they were blessed.
But their contact with the Infinite and Holy God was severely limited. Only the high priest could go into the Holy of Holies and approach the presence of God, and that only once a year on the Day of Atonement. But we have a promise of something different:
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
(Hebrews 4:14-16)
God has come by.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John 1:14)
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life -- the life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us -- that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing this that our joy may be complete.
(I John 1:1-4 [RSV])
He continues to dwell with us:
Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?
(I Corinthians 3:16)
And we are promised a glorious future with him:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away."
(Revelation 21:1-4 [RSV])
Being in the Presence of God can be a terrifying thing. But having God on our side, having him with us, can be a great blessing.
The song "He Is With You" by Mandisa speaks eloquently of God being with us even in bad times. He is with us. Whether it is when our faith is weakening, or our marriage is faltering, or even when we lose a family member--He is with us. Whether we are being grilled in the boss's office, or we are in the emergency room with a child surrounded by grim-faced doctors--He is with us. Whether our kids are grown and we are worried as to whether we instilled the right values in them, or we are single in a seemingly hopeless search for true love--He is with us. Even when our heart beats its very last beat--He is with us.
Back in Isaiah chapter six there are three sets of voices that are heard:
Isaiah hears the sound of the seraphim calling and resounding throughout the area, crying "Holy, holy, holy!" And then he hears another voice--the voice of the Holiest of All:
And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"
(Isaiah 6:8a [RSV])
Then Isaiah hears another voice--a weaker, frailer voice--his own voice:
"Here I am! Send me!"
(Isaiah 6:8b [RSV])
Who will go? In the Bible we have various responses to this question. Here is the essence of some of these responses, at least initially:
Moses: Here I am. But they won't believe me; and I can't speak well; please, send someone else.
Moses answered, “But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’ ”
(Exodus 4:1 [WEB])
At this complaint, God supplies Moses with miraculous signs to use in front of the Egyptians in order to prove his case. With that complaint taken away, Moses opts for another one:
Moses said to the LORD, “O Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor since you have spoken to your servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.”...
(Exodus 4:10 [WEB])
At this complaint, God assures Moses that since He, God, is the Maker of man's mouth, that everything is going to be ok, and that He will be Moses' mouth and teach him what to say. When Moses' arguments fail, he finally gets down to the nitty-gritty:
But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.”
(Exodus 4:13)
His seemingly logical arguments were just a cover for not wanting to go.
Jonah: Here I am. There I go.
Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness has come up before me." But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.(Jonah 1:1-3 [RSV])
[Note: Tarshish is in the opposite direction from Nineveh, and about as far from Nineveh as you could get in the known world of that day.]
(Credit: www.openBible.info; BY 4.0 Creative Commons License)
Jeremiah: Here I am. But I am just a kid.
God said to Jeremiah,
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations."
(Jeremiah 1:5-6)
Gideon: Here I am. But I have some complaints. And, besides, I'm too powerless to do anything.
And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor."(Judges 6:12-15)
With the prophet Isaiah we have the most noble response: "Here I am! Send me!"
Which one are we? Are we willing to go for God?
Isaiah's noble response, "Here am I! Send me." has a background in the Old Testament. We see the phrase "Here I am" (or "Here am I") used by men of faith in responding to God. Abraham says it (Genesis 22:1; cf. v.11) when God appears to him prior to telling him to sacrifice his son Isaac. Jacob says it (Genesis 46:2; cf. 31:11) when God appears to him in a dream and tells him that he will make of Jacob a great nation. Moses says it (Exodus 3:4) when God appears to him at the burning bush and commissions him to bring the Hebrew people out of Egyptian slavery. (Although Moses soon unsuccessfully tried to wiggle out of going, he started out strong and finished strong.) As a young boy, Samuel says it (I Samuel 3:4,6,8) not realizing that it was God who was calling him. In the New Testament, Ananias says it (Acts 9:10) when God spoke to him at Damascus about Saul of Tarsus coming to see him. And Isaiah says it (Isaiah 6:8) when God calls him to be a prophet.In each of these cases, great men of God were open and available. They weren't hiding and rejecting. The phrase was not used by Adam after the Fall when he and Eve heard God walking in the garden. When God said to Adam, "Where are you?", Adam answered,
And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
(Genesis 3:10)
"Here am I." It's used by figures such as Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, Isaiah, and Ananias. But it is used by someone else even more significant on a couple of occasions.
One of these occasions is found in Isaiah, chapter 52. God foretells the restoration and redemption of Zion, and his willingness to redeem his people.
Therefore my people shall know my name; therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here am I."
(Isaiah 52:6 [RSV])
The other occasion is also found in the book of Isaiah. In chapter 65, verse one, God says,
I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, "Here am I, here am I," to a nation that did not call on my name.
(Isaiah 65:1 [RSV])
The phrase is not used just once, but (for emphasis) twice.
God is depicted as having the eagerness of a third grade child who knows the answer to the teacher's question. He raises his hand and wiggles and waves his arm to get the teacher's attention. He leans forward as far as he can in his desk, and, as his arm grows tired, he uses one arm to support the other. "Ooo! Ooo! Teacher! Teacher! Pick me! Pick me! Call on me! Please call on me!"
God wants us to call on him. God wants to rescue us. He eagerly desires for us to be a part of him forever. The Holiest of All, He who is "Holy, Holy, Holy", condescends to cry out and shout "Here am I. Here am I."
"Teacher! Teacher! Pick me! Pick me! Please, please pick me!"
That is the kind of God that we serve. It is the greatest of blessings to be made a part of his family.