Isaiah chapter 6 : A vision of a different God
Isaiah 6 is that striking chapter
early in the book of Isiah that tells of Isaiah's vision
in the temple, and one of the key
chapters provide the pillars on which the book of Isaiah rests
it provides some of the really important ideas in the book
and make them clear, evident, and visual
it is also one of those
parts of the Bible that becomes clearer and sharper
when we have some background information to help us understand it
it begins, Isaiah's account of this vision,
an account probably written some time after the event looking back
with the benefit of hindsight to sharpen things still further, it begins
in the year king Uzziah died
that beginning immediately puts us in the realm of politics
the background that politics is firstly the geopolitical situation
of the Kingdom of Judah in the Hill Country of the Levant
that whole region, the Levant
what we now call Israel and up
north to Syria and so, that whole region has been fought over
since history began by the empires of the day
as this animated map
from Maps of War makes quite clear, and the particular time in history
in which Uzziah reigned was one that was favorable for a little kingdoms of the
area
the two superpowers in Mesopotamia and Egypt
were both relatively weak and were not
in a position to exert their influence
over this border region as a result
the little kingdom's we're able to flourish and because of trade that
passed through them we're able to flourish economically as well as socially
and that the context of Uzziah's long and prosperous reign
very soon after Uzziah's death things change
and Assyria began increasingly to assert dominance in the West
only six years after Uzziah's death
a pro-Assyrian party within Judah removed his son Jotham
from the throne and places Ahaz
Uzziah's grandson on the throne his father's place
from that moment on the little hill country Kingdom of Judah
was never again to be independent, from that moment on for the next 150 years
the King of jerusalem, the king of Judah
was a subject of the king of Assyria
sometimes obviously and officially so and sometimes less obviously so
and occasionally as with Hezekiah
a subject in rebellion against his Overlord
the overlord of Judah was
the King of Kings, the king of Assyria. "In the year that King Uzziah died
I saw the lord." Now don't get it wrong
that lord is not spelled with capital letters
it's not God's name. Usually find LORD
in capital letters it's God's name Yahweh, but not here
here it is the ordinary every day word for a lord, a boss
someone in charge, so what Isaiah is saying
is that in the year that king Uzziah died
this turn aboiut year, this year when one
age moved to another, when the age of independence became the ages of
subservience
to the Empire, in that year I saw the boss
he goes on to describe this boss
in terms which are reminiscent of human kings and emperors
for this Lord is high
and exalted. It becomes rapidly clear that he's not
merely a human king or Emperor for
the hem of his robe filled the temple and he has seraphs
in attendance on him, what is more striking still
is what the seraphs call out:
"Holy, holy holy" the word "holy" occurs quite often in the Bible
it means set apart, different, if you put the word together twice
it makes it "very" but three times
you don't find elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible this
thrice haggion - three times holy - suggests to us
that this his boss is different
is very different, is (the third time)
absolutely different and indeed that's one of the core messages of the book of Isaiah
this lord, this boss, is
absolutely different. Different from all human kings
and that's one of the messages the early part of the book of Isaiah
different from all gods and that's one of the key messages on the second part of the book of Isaiah
this God is not a god
this king is not a king
holy holy holy
is Yahweh of hosts time LORD uses capital letters
and is God's name.
This boss is identified
This absolutely different boss is identified as Yahweh of hosts
and the whole earth is full His glory!