Year 2, Week 2, Day 1 Bible Reading Observations

Year 2, Week 2, Day 1

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Isaiah 4-6

Today’s reading continues Isaiah’s words to Judah. With judgment and devastation as a backdrop, Isaiah 4 introduces another glimpse of the glorious future as God will raise up a branch: “In that day the branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel” (Isaiah 4:2). Isaiah is not suggesting that Judah would escape judgment, but that the judgment would have a purifying effect. What Isaiah introduces here in reference to a branch, will be further developed as his prophecies continue. Isaiah 5 is known as the Song of the Vineyard. Despite language of a future hope, Isaiah circles back around to press into Judah their present situation. Isaiah describes Judah as a vineyard: “Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill” (Isaiah 5:1). But this well-loved vineyard would be condemned: “And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down” (Isaiah 5:5). A series of strong woes or curses against Judah finishes out Isaiah 5. Isaiah 6 is a short autobiographical account, in which Isaiah describes how he was called to be a prophet: “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple” (Isaiah 6:1).

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading was the description of as well as the nature of Isaiah’s calling. Isaiah first described his vision of the LORD: “Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke” (Isaiah 6:2-4). Above the LORD there were six-winged angelic creatures who antiphonally sang back and forth to each other. The LORD being acknowledged as thrice holy is meant to underscore His absolute holiness in the most emphatic way that language can describe it. Mention of a threshold suggests that Isaiah is at the entrance of the LORD’s throne and while he does not come any closer, he has seen and felt all that he needs to grasp before the presence of God.

Isaiah is not so much struck by his insignificance in the presence of the LORD, but his own sinfulness: “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 6:5). Isaiah certainly makes mention of the sinfulness of the entire nation, but what he is most struck by is his own filth. As the holiness of the LORD is being extolled by the angelic creatures, Isaiah is particularly struck by the sinfulness of his speech. We should recognize the strong irony that a man called by the LORD to speak words, is struck by the unclean lips that he has to carry out his mission. In fact, he realizes that he is cursed and lost. In the previous chapter, Isaiah spoke no less than six “woes” on Judah. Now the next “woe” is on himself. Isaiah has pronounced judgment on Judah, but now in the presence of the LORD, he pronounces judgment on himself. What he saw in regard to the LORD, left him devastated.

But one of the angelic beings performs a work on Isaiah: “Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth ” (Isaiah 6:6-7a). While Isaiah realized his own condemned cursed state, the angelic being serves as a minister of blessing. Perhaps the blazing hot coal somewhat symbolizes the blazing hot fire of God’s holiness, which could have resulted in Isaiah being struck down; nevertheless, becomes the means of salvation and cleansing as the angelic being explains: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for” (Isaiah 6:7b).

It is in this context that Isaiah receives his commission: “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” (Isaiah 6:8a). Isaiah gladly accepts: “Then I said, “Here I am! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8b). Then Isaiah is provided additional details of his work: “Go, and say to this people “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed” (Isaiah 6:9-10). What an intriguing assignment: Isaiah is to prophesy to the Israelites, calling them to hear but not understand, to see but not perceive. In other words, they will reject Isaiah’s message. But their rejection will reveal the hardness of their hearts, the deafness of their ears, and the blindness of their eyes. The Israelites would be spiritually incapacitated as a sign of their judgment. And Isaiah’s work was to continue until the judgment was complete, which was to be almost everyone but a small remnant: “And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.” The holy seed is its stump” (Isaiah 6:13). The promised “stump” would be a light of hope.

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe