Isaiah 6:1 The Jerusalem Bible’s heading for this portion is, “The call of Isaiah”. (p.1151) The setting is in the southern kingdom of Judah. Uzziah, a great king of Judah tastes death, not to be seen or heard again. This is a time of loss and mourning. Then, the great and gracious vision is given to Isaiah. He sees the Lord. When the outward look sees gloom, the upward look gives a glimpse of glory.
The LORD was on His throne. His throne was high, and exalted or lifted up. James Moffat, in his translation, closes the verse this way: ‘his trailing robes spread over the temple-floor’. (page 734)
What a wonderful lift Isaiah experienced, when he lifted his eyes and received a flash of God’s unfaded and unfailing presence. During a dark time, with great human loss of leadership, there is Almighty God, in all of His breath-taking brilliance and glory. He appears in our greatest need time. He brings assurance, reinvigorated hope and many reasons to stay the course of our lives.
Moffat’s translation, helps us to bridge a gap from a too literal translation of ‘his train filled the temple’ as if this is a view of an heavenly grand central station with the Lord’s own special choo-choo train pulling into the temple, to the thought of his grandeur and glory taking up the space of our vision of Him in this Temple.
Isaiah 6:2-3 We catch a view of this throne and temple, with these first-time mentioned heavenly beings. They are called seraphim, and we take them to be an order of angelic beings. With few details of their description, we know they have six wings, with a pair of these wings used to cover their face, two to cover their feet and two used to fly.
They are able to speak to one another with a testimony about a thrice holy LORD of hosts. The whole earth is said to be full of His glory, recognized or not.
Isaiah 6:4 An unidentified voice cries out, which seems to be that of the seraphim. The foundations of the threshold shook and the temple begins to fill with smoke. This, then, is a truly, holy happening which impacts Isaiah.
Isaiah 6:5 We are now caught up in the response of Isaiah, as he views this great vision of Almighty God. His experience is the same for all men and women who are favored with a true glance at God. There is a vast contrast, between a holy, holy, holy God and the failed, flawed and finite human being. A true testimony comes roaring from his inner soul.
“Woe is me ! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips…”
His convicting, convincing and insightful words give reason for his selfportrait:
“for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”
We find our true estimate of ourselves when we have a divine measuring standard. The human dilemma finds that there is no measuring up to meet the standard that God sets. We have all come short of God’s glory.
Isaiah 6:6-7 The solution is God’s provision for being undone, unclean and unpurged. Sin and iniquity can be removed. This is God’s business. Isaiah’s lips were touched with the fire of God’s provision and he was declared as one whose iniquity is taken away and whose sin has been purged. There is joy, relief and release when experiencing God’s forgiveness through faith.
Isaiah 6:8 Isaiah has seen. Now he hears the voice of the Lord.. It is so amazing !! The Lord has needs also!! Isaiah listens in on a possible conversation between members of a triune Godhead. Not only that, but, Isaiah jumps into the conversation with words of service and true volunteerism. More amazing, there is no rebuke. ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ These questions are answered by Isaiah’s reply: ‘Here am I, send me.’
Isaiah 6:9 Before Isaiah has a chance to reconsider, God accepts Isaiah’s answer and tells him, you are God’s man, go and tell.
Isaiah 6:9-10 “Go, and tell this people:
‘Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see wit their eyes; and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and be healed.
This would not be a popular message for Isaiah to present. In this case, God has a message for these people, whether they wanted to hear or not. The heart of this message is that God has spoken about this people’s state of mind, heart and conscience, and even though no one listens, no one cares to listen, everyone intends not to listen, everyone intends not to respond, everybody cares less about what the message is, who speaks the message or how long the message is being spoken, never-the-less, these people of Israel will be held accountable for this message. God wants Isaiah to hold their feet to the fire.
Isaiah 6:10 Isaiah’s question, then, is how long must I be on this-broken-record-kind-of- message? Notice, the question is NOT about how long the judgment will last, as 6:11 mentions that Isaiah is to deliver this message until the following happens:
cities wasted without inhabitants and houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate and the Lord have removed men far away and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.
Isaiah does NOT ask how long this wasting, desolation and forsaking will last. But Isaiah is to keep preaching UNTIL these start to actually happen. Here is a double negative for Isaiah, preach a message that will not be heeded and keep preaching it UNTIL terrible things begin to take place. But, the next verse gives a little light that streams through like a light coming through a crack in a wall on a dark night. It is not much, but it is a whole lot more than nothing.
Isaiah 6:13 One of the big words in the Bible is ‘but’ There will not be total, complete and final destruction. There will be a remnant. There will be a return. Like a tree cut down with only a stump left. Yet, within the stump is life for another time.
Never the less, God’s message for the people, that Isaiah must bring again and again is :
Listen and listen, but you’ll never catch on ! Look and look and you will never see a thing ! (This will) Make their minds dull their ears heavy their eyes closed So that their eyes won’t really see their ears won’t begin to hear their minds will not understand with a result they shall not be converted they shall not be healed
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The above comments give a small window of introduction to this great chapter. The value of this particular chapter is enlarged as we see in the ministry of the Lord, where he brings parts of this chapter into his own teachings and points a ray of light on the audiences which were following him and seemingly giving ear to those very words coming from his mouth.
We might count the number of times this passage ( Isaiah 6) might be found and/or used in the so-called New Testament and specially the Gospel records then draw conclusions or make deductions as to how much more valuable it really might be. But, since the Lord more than likely, repeated his teachings over and over again, in the many different villages and towns, counting should not be considered too important as a tool when making interpretations.
How the writers of the ‘New Testament’ used the ‘Old Testament’ is presently a vast, open area, which has not been totally explored and finalized. But this is really, then, an invitation to explore the Lord’s teaching ministry ( again?), and note particularly how he uses this chapter of Isaiah in his teaching ministry.
Shocking as it may seem to many, the teaching by means of the parables was NOT to make hard doctrine, seem simple. Mark’s Gospel record seems to indicate that the Lord, early on in his ministry began to use parables. That is, from the very first, the Lord faced listeners who were not interested in changing their life style. The great majority were not interested in his teachings. So, as an act of great GRACE, rather than judgment, the Lord used the parable. The grace of the Lord here is unfolded in Mark’s record. The people were given parabolic messages, in order that their knowledge and responsibilities were not piled up needlessly. They already were in the state of mind, where they did not want to change, did not want to repent, did not want anything to do with conversion, did not want forgiveness. So, the Lord, in grace, does not pile up more responsibility upon them. They were responsible for what they already knew and understood. The parables went in one ear and out the other.
In Mark 4:10, the disciples asked of him the parable and there he explains his reasons for using the parable as a teaching tool.
“Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but unto those who are outside, all these things are done in parables, That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
We will deal with each reference here in the Gospels, but since they relate to the same passage in Isaiah, by the same Lord, about the same people, answers, explanations and interpretations can be dealt at one time and will be done after bringing up the other three Gospel references.
A little more light is contributed by Luke, as he records the Lord’s words in 8:8,
And when he had said these things, he cried, “He that has ears to hear, let him hear”.
But, it is with Matthew’s details ( 13:11-17) that we learn about the disciples asking the Lord as to why he taught in parables and his extended and expanded explanation :
Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. Then, the Lord elaborates more on this question. For whomsoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance; but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even what he hath.
More details now follow :
Therefore speak I to them in parables, because they seeing, see not; And hearing, they hear not, neither do they understand.
At this point, the Lord makes reference to Isaiah six.
And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing, ye shall hear and shall not understand; and seeing, ye shall see, and shall not perceive; For this people’s heart is become 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. But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.
In Matt. 13:11, Jesus divides his listeners into two groups. Speaking to his disciples, he states that unto them is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. But, to ‘them’ ( the ‘them’ of 13:10 and 13:11 ) it is not given.
It is unfortunate, in a way, to digress and concentrate on this particular verse, but it has been so abused and misused in the hands of fellow dispensationalists, an attempt must be made to lift the fog of frustrating, unacceptable teaching. Reference is made to the notes found in both the old and new editions of the Scofield Reference Bibles in Matthew 13.
Both editions read this way in their notes, “Such, then, is the mystery form of the kingdom…” (cf OLD- page 1018, NEW- page 1017). To say that the words that Jesus spoke ( ‘the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven’) comes out in English as ‘the mystery form of the kingdom’ is a dispensational tragedy and disgrace. It borders on a foolish kind of eisegesis of the worst sort, a reading into the text, what is not there. This is Swiss Cheese Theology, full of many holes, smelling like Limberger.
Note : While this writer may bring to the attention of the readers unacceptable interpretations, like the one just mentioned, the basic intent of this site is not to bring forward short comings of others ( in this writer’s opinion ), but to bring forward a position that is in closer harmony with the Scriptures, with reasons that draws believers to embrace and champion.
