Chapters 5 and 6

Why do we have preachers? The previous lessons on Isaiah fairly well answer this. We have seen the terribly upset conditions in Judah which have led to the great religious apostasy. We have also seen that religion ruins a nation and brings it down into the dust and causes it to be judged by God. In chapter 5 we have God’s case against Judah stated once more; in chapter 6 we have the calling of Isaiah. Chapter 5 is the reason we have preachers; chapter 6 gives us the perspective of calling a minister.

We have already seen something of Isaiah’s ministry but from chapter 7 we will begin to study the tremendous impact that Isaiah had in his day. In fact so great was the impact of Isaiah and similar prophets that the terrible judgments that God was about to bring upon Judah were postponed for almost a hundred years. This is, of course, one good reason why we have ministers, for when ministers fulfill their responsibility in the dissemination of the Word of God it is possible to postpone and even to permanently remove judgment against nations. Of course, we need today men who are in the ministry who are born again, who know the Word of God and can teach it.

Chapter 5, God’s case against Judah

The first seven verses are actually the lyrics to a song, they are in lyrical, poetical form.

Verse 1 – the “well-beloved” is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the God of Israel. He will later on be called exactly that. “I will sing concerning” the Lord Jesus Christ. Immediately we have a principle: No man can be in the ministry unless he has his eyes on the Lord. Any person who is disappointed in people has it coming to him because no one is ever told in the Word of God to get his eyes on people. We are to have our eyes on the Lord. One of the prerequisites for the ministry is occupation with the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a principle here for us: all believers today are in the ministry, they are serving the Lord. And we can have the most wonderful time of fellowship with people and we can enjoy people but we must never put people before the Lord because as soon as we do we are in trouble.

“a song concerning my well beloved touching his vineyard.” The vineyard is Israel, specifically the kingdom of Judah where Isaiah is going to minister.

“in a very fruitful hill” – i.e. the land of Canaan which is the land of promise.

Verse 2 – “He fenced it” .Here is God’s marvellous grace in raising up the nation of Judah. The word “fencing", of course, is protection. While Judah is a small nation it is protected from satanic forces.

“gathered out the stones” – the stones referred to the original inhabitants of the land. “planted it with the choicest vine” – the choicest vine is doctrine. You can’t have a nation designed to serve God unless they have doctrine. You cannot serve God unless you know doctrine. Knowing doctrine is the prerequisite to production.

“and built a tower in the midst of it” – the tower is protection from the enemies round about. God has built a tower in our nation. We are protected by the grace of God, we are not protected by any far-sighted policy of a politician.

“also a winepress” – the expectation of production, of fruit. In other words, He has given doctrine and when God has provided doctrine and protection and provision, He expects production. The winepress is to provide production.

“he looked at” – he expected, or He waited for it to bring forth; “that it should bring forth grapes”; “and it brought forth wild [stinking] grapes” – the production of apostasy and religiosity.

Verse 3 – “ And now O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.” The Lord Jesus Christ is now calling upon the people of the land to sit as the jury and actually judge themselves. He is going to bring out in the seven woes the indictment which He has against them. In this judgment you have to understand that God in grace has provided, so in verse four we have again a reference to the provision of grace.

Verse 4 – “What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?” In other words, I have provided everything. The answer to the question is, Nothing.

Verse 5 – Judgment for the failure in production. “And now go to [and now I pray, lit.]; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up.” God says He is going to judge the kingdom of Judah. He is going to remove their protection. If this judgment is fulfilled it means that the Assyrians, the Samarians, the Syrians, the Egyptians, the Hittites, etc. will pour into the land and destroy it. We should understand that Judah is a very wealthy land and because they are a prosperous nation the other nations envy them. The desire to plunder and take away the wealth of Judah. And just as Isaiah is beginning his ministry this discipline is hanging over Judah. But because of the ministry of this one man the judgment will be postponed for about a hundred years.

“eaten up” – it shall be invaded; “break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down” – a reference to the times of the Gentiles which began with the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC when Nebuchadnezzar took the city and destroyed it completely, and took the inhabitants into captivity. And it continues down to the present time and will continue until the second advent of Christ. So we have a prophecy at the end of verse 5 which is the characteristic of the land until Christ returns. Always a Gentile will control.

When the Jews went back after the Babylonian captivity it was the Persians who controlled the land, not the Jews. They were there because the Persians permitted them to be there. Then it was Alexander who spared them and who controlled them. With the death of Alexander it was the Syrians in the north and the Egyptians in the south – the Seleucidae and the Ptolemies who fought back and forth for this piece of land. And then finally the Romans came along controlled the land until finally the Jews came to the point where they were judged once again and, under Titus, the legions of Rome broke into Jerusalem and again the Jews were scattered. From then on some one beside the Jews always controlled the southern part of the land. The Jews are in the land in unbelief but there is no bona fide Jewish kingdom until Christ returns to the earth and personally reigns. Any Jewish kingdom that is established is not fulfilling scripture. God says the Jews are going to be scattered and they will be scattered. The fact that we have a few million Jews in the land of Palestine does not in any way detract from the principle that the Jews are scattered and will be scattered and continue in their scattered condition until Christ brings them back.

Verse 6 – And I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor digged; but there shall come up briars and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no more rain upon it.” The diggers are the spiritual leaders; the pruners are the judges, the kings and the political leaders. The briars and the thorns are the religious leaders who infiltrate and who lead the Jews astray – describing the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin, the briars and the thorns.

The parable is declared to be a parable and is so explained in verse 7 – “For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he waited for judgment [justice], but behold oppression; he waited for righteousness, but behold a scream [of those who were maltreated].”

Starting at verse eight and going through verse twenty-three we have six woes. These six woes amplify the condition of the land. When we get through the sixth woe we are going to see the land is in terrible condition. This is why God is about to judge it. And yet this judgment will be held up because of the ministry of the prophet Isaiah.

And then we will have an answer to the question: Why preachers? Because an effective biblical ministry in a national entity preserves that national entity from destruction. When Isaiah began his ministry in Judah the response was so wonderful that one tenth of the people responded to the gospel resulting in Judah being spared for nearly a hundred years.

The six woes, 8-23

The first woe, verses 8-10, against business life which is against Jesus Christ. Now there is nothing wrong with the idea of business as far as the principle of conducting business is concerned. It is a legitimate activity within a national entity. The Bible very clearly declares that a national government has no right to try to limit business in any way or to interfere. It does not have a right to regulate business and to dictate to business how business will be conducted. At the same time there is the principle that business must have some responsibility to its own national entity.

Verse 8 – In this case we have a case of business failing to recognise its own moral responsibility to those in a national entity. “Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, that there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the land!” Apparently Judah has gone in for some really big business.

Verse 9 – “In mine ears saith the Lord of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate,” – this is why “houses” are used as the principle here. Apparently there had been a tremendous building program, they had joined house to house. We have this fantastically prosperous concept. But these same houses which are now occupied in great prosperity are going to be desolate – “even great and fair, without inhabitant” .

Here will be the condition in a future day of judgment.

Verse 10 – “For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath [seven and a half gallons]” .In other words, if business ignores its responsibility to the people then it will be judged. And there are two ways in which business can be judged. First of all the people will rebel. The greater the empire you develop economically the more you have as an individual a responsibility to others. And if you will not do not fulfil it, who will step in and do it? The Government! When you have the Government stepping in then you have people who know nothing about business and nothing about responsibility. You end up with the socialist swing and then you are in serious trouble.

“and an homer shall yield an ephah.” An homer is eight bushels and an ephah is three pecks. In other words, eight bushels shall yield three pecks of produce. This represents failure.

So why do we have preachers? So the economy won’t fall apart. Preachers should have the ear of the people and in the realm of business activity they must be faithful to the Word of God in proclaiming what the Word of God declares is the only hope for a country in the economic realm. And, of course, they must be anti-socialist.

Verses 11-17, the second woe: against social life. “Woe to them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink.” One of the first characteristics of an alcoholic is having to have a drink as soon as he gets up. One of the first problems in the social life of the nation is alcoholism.

Verse 12 – “ And the harp and the lute and the tabret [Heb. word for fire – tophet,a drum].” A tabret was a drum which was used to drown out the screams of the children who were offered to the god of fire under the religion of Baal.

“and wine are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the Lord” – in other words, alcoholism has become an escapism, along with the music, and they actually have no interest in spiritual things.

“neither have they considered the operation of his hands” – the work of the Lord and the operation of His hands include, of course, the concept of the work of the Lord on the cross plus the doctrine.

Verse 13 – “Therefore my people are gone into captivity.” This anticipates their future judgment when Nebuchadnezzar will take them into captivity.

“because they have no knowledge” – they go into captivity because they have no knowledge. There is no verb in the original and when you leave the verb out of the Hebrew language it is emphasised. It should be: “no knowledge.” No doctrine.

“their honourable men are famished, their multitude dried up with thirst.” What they need is doctrine. The honourable men are the leaders, they are hungry for something, they don’t know what it is – it is doctrine – and the people at large are thirsty for the Word but they just simply do not know.

Verse 14 – “Therefore hell [the grave] hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth among them, shall descend into it.” When this invasion takes place all of these people who have been depending on human prosperity and expediency are going to be swallowed up by the grave.

Verse 15 – “The mean man [successful man] shall be brought down, the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled”.

Verse 16 – “But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God the Holy One shall be sanctified in righteousness.” If the Lord can’t be honoured through the response to His Word then He has an alternative, and His alternative is judgment.

Now what is going to happen to the land? Verse 17 – “Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones [rich ones] shall strangers eat. The land is going to be so desolate after this judgment that it will only be good for sheep to derive benefit from. It isn’t fit for human beings any more. And foreigners or strangers shall use the pastures of the wealthy ones. The wealthy will no longer have their wealth, they will be dead or be in captivity.

The third woe is found in verses 18 and 19. “Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope.” The third woe is against religion and we have a picture of the oxen drawing the cart. In this analogy the cart is religion as it existed in Judah. The ones who draw the cart are the religious teachers. The cart is the falsehood of religion and in verse 19 we have what the religious people are saying. They are saying three things.

Verse 19 – “That say, Let him make speed, and hasten to his work.” They challenge God to come and judge them. If there really is a God, they say, and He is going to judge us, judge us now. Secondly, they challenge God to do something that they can see and admire – “that we may see it.” Thirdly, they ask Messiah, the Holy One of Israel, to come, but they ask in derision – “and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!” Let Messiah come, we’d like to see it, we’d like to know about it.” The principle is that religion always mocks, always attacks, sometimes subtly and sometimes quite obviously. Religion is always attacking the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 20, the fourth woe. This is a woe against rationalisation. “Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Three fields of rationalisation.. The first is in the field of morality, “good for evil, evil good.” The second is in the field of observing the changes that take place in a day, “dark light and light dark.” The third one is a change in the taste buds and so on, “bitter sweet and sweet bitter.” It is possible with something you can see, something you can think and something you can taste, to make something the opposite to what it really is. (The communists have discovered this). A nation is always on its way down when it starts to rationalise.

The fifth woe, Verse 21 – against egocentricity and egomania. “Woe to them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Here is another sign that a country is going down. They get proud.

Verses 22 and 23, the sixth woe – against those in places of leadership and responsibility. “Woe to them that are mighty [military leader] to drink wine, and men of strength [political leaders] to mix strong drink” .

Verse 23 – “Which justify the wicked for a reward” – For a bribe they will let the guilty off. They have distorted and perverted justice. When a nation starts to go down the drain its system of justice from the highest court to the lowest court is subject to the distortion and perversion and bribery. “and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him” – they obscure the truth. Religious leaders obscure the truth.

A judgment of Israel, verses 24,25. Again we have a repetition of judgment.

Verse 24 – “Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff [stubble and chaff are used in the Word for unbelievers], so their roots shall be as rottenness.” Most nations are destroyed from within. When they become rotten from within then they fall from outside pressures. Judah destroyed itself. Even though they were invaded from without it was the inner corruption which ruined it. “their blossoms shall go up as dust” – instead of having something that blossoms out and is beautiful they have dust. “because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts” – notice this is the second great “because.” The first “because” was because they have no knowledge. Now notice: “because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts” – the Word of God as it then existed.

“they have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.” Why preachers? Because preachers have the responsibility of teaching the Word and without the teaching of the Word a nation is on its way to destruction. And when the Word is despised that is the root of the whole matter. All the politicking in the world isn’t going to do the job. The job can only be done by the Word, not by parties of people. Nations are not kept intact just by groups of people; nations are kept intact by God. And when a nation will give heed to the Word of God it is amazing how they become big and they spread out and become a great empire, e.g. England in the 19th century. What makes a great nation? The Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the grace of God. A great nation isn’t made just simply by the movement of peoples and politics and so on. Behind it all there has to be something to give it fibre, to hold it together, and to make it something that is really wonderful, and that is the Word of God.

Why preachers? For the survival of national entities is the principle here. There are other reasons too – so that people might spend eternity in the presence of God.

Notice why they are going to be destroyed, why they are rotten at the roots. If the root is rotten the tree won’t stand, the bush won’t blossom. And what causes the rottenness at the root? Again, at the end of verse 24 – “because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.”

Verse 25 – “Therefore [because they have despised the Word] is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them, and the hills did tremble, and their carcasses were thrown in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still [stretched out still in discipline].” Why? Because they ignored the Word of God.

Chapter 5:26-6 – Israel in the fifth cycle of discipline

Israel was called the vineyard because Israel was the first missionary nation. That is why we have the parable of the vineyard. There was only one way that man could sin in the dispensation of innocence and that was through his volition. Man was in status quo innocence and he didn’t have an old sin nature. Therefore the only possible way that man could sin was through his volition and the issue in the dispensation of innocence was good versus good. Since it was impossible for man to sin until he became a sinner the only issue that he faced was good versus good – or negative volition. To gain knowledge of good and evil was something he didn’t have and he was forbidden to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Then we have the dispensation of conscience and the issue was good versus evil. Both of these issues continue to exist at the present time. Then we have a third dispensation, the dispensation of nations or human government which came to a screeching halt with the first united nations organisation – and one worldism. At this point God came down and destroyed the first united nations building.

Now before that time, from the creation of Adam to the destruction of the first united nations building man spoke one language. God divided the peoples up into nations geographically but it didn’t work. They still spoke the same language and that is how the first united nations organisation got together – through one language. With the judgment of the tower of Babel you have a remarkable change – many languages, nations divided by linguistic barriers. And consequently up to this point, for the first two thousand years of the human race, you have one language and you have no missionaries. Believers were witnesses. This was the age of witnesses only because there was only one language. Now starting with the dispensation of Israel you have many languages and this is the beginning of missionary activity. The difference between a witness and a missionary is very simple: a missionary is a believer who witnesses in a foreign language which he has to learn; every believer is not a missionary but every believer is responsible for giving out the gospel. So when you establish nationalism on the basis of languages you immediately set up barriers to evangelism. And Israel is the vineyard in Isaiah 5:1-7 because Israel was the first base of operations for missionary activity. As the base Israel failed completely – with few exceptions, like in the days of Moses when the world was completely evangelised through the exodus of Israel. Then we have the Church Age which began on the Day of Pentecost and now the local church is the base of missionary operation.

Israel is depicted in Isaiah as the vineyard because when you own a vineyard you expect it to produce – first of all grapes, and then wine. And God expected Israel to produce. God made them the base for missionary activity and you can always distinguish the base for missionary modus operandi because the base is the custodian of divine truth. And the nation Israel was the custodian of divine truth in the Old Testament form. The Church is now the custodian of divine truth and we have both the Old and the New Testaments in writing. So actually the Church, made up of believers only, has a twofold responsibility: individually every believer is responsible for witnessing for Christ; collectively the Church is responsible for sending our missionaries into the harvest field, and only certain people are called to be missionaries. One of the great tests as to whether a person is a missionary or not is whether he has the divinely bestowed ability to learn a foreign language or whether he has the training or the tenacity – a missionary is someone who evangelises in a foreign language. As far as evangelism is concerned the responsibility of the Church is twofold: personal witnessing followed by missionary activity.

In Isaiah 5:1-7 Israel is pictured as the base of operations for missionary activity between the destruction of the first united nations building and the Day of Pentecost. And, as a matter of fact, the nation Israel still has seven years to fulfil missionary activity. And when the Church is removed from the world, immediately we are negative as far as a base is concerned and during the period of the Tribulation once again the Jews will be responsible for missionary activity. Revelation chapter seven gives us the great story of missionary activity in the Tribulation. There will be 144,000 Jews who are scattered all over the world, speaking all of the languages of the world, who will be missionaries and will evangelise in the Tribulation. There are two types of evangelism in the Tribulation; personal witnessing and missionary activity. All missionary activity will be conducted in the human race by born-again Jews – 144,000 Jews, plus Moses, plus Elijah.

The parable was explained in verse seven. Why preachers? Why did Israel need prophets? Because Israel needed someone who was able to challenge them with regard to their missionary activity and responsibility. Why did Israel need prophets? Because Israel was infiltrated by corruption from within and by enemies from without, and their only hope was centred in the Lord Jesus Christ

and the canon of scripture as it then existed. The second reason for prophets: because of the internal condition of the kingdom of Judah – verses 8-23, apostasy of every kind.

In verses 24 and 25 God will judge Israel, if Israel persists. That is why we have the Church. The Church is the direct result of Israel’s failure. Now the responsibility for witnessing belongs to every believer in the body of Christ and the responsibility for thrusting forth missionaries belongs collectively to the local church where apostasy does not exist.

The future of Israel, verses 26-30

Even though Israel is going to be judged in the Chaldean invasion, and even though Israel is going to be judged after their return and restoration after the seventy years of Babylonian captivity, and even though Israel is going to be judged by a third dispersion which is still in existence today [beginning with the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD and will continue until the second advent of Christ], Israel has a future. Those who are born again have a future and the judgment of Israel, mentioned briefly in verses 24 and 25, does not preclude the future of Israel which is now described in verses 26-30. Here is a picture of the regathering of Israel at the second advent. It is a description of how Jesus Christ will personally regather Israel, and this passage plus many others like it absolutely outlaws any attempt on the part of the Jewish people to gather their entire nation together in one spot – Palestine.

Remember: God will never again permit all Jews to be in one spot in this world until He returns to fulfil the four unconditional covenants. The fact that Jews are scattered throughout the earth means that the Jews can never be regathered until God is ready to fulfil those covenants. And He cannot fulfil them until David’s greater Son returns to the earth and reigns personally, and He will not do so until the second advent of Christ. Therefore, any event to get all Jews into Palestine at the present time is nothing short of Satanic. The return of the Jews to the land is to return in unbelief and it is Satanic in nature.

Verse 26 – “And he will lift up an ensign to the nations.” The Jews are scattered throughout the nations of the world. An ensign means a royal standard and the royal standard is the standard of the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the standard of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this standard will not be raised until Christ returns to the earth [1]– “from afar, and will hiss [hiss means a special call, a whistle to call an assembly] unto them from the end of the earth.” Only Jesus Christ can bring back Jews from the ends of the earth. “and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly.” When our Lord sets up the standard in Jerusalem at His return, and when He calls [hiss] for them [He calls the assembly], then notice how the Jews will scramble and they will all come back to Palestine.

Verse 27 – “None shall be weary [the word “weary” means more than physical weariness, it means discouragement. One of the reasons is that they are trying to bring in the Millennium by their own energy of the flesh and it can’t be done] nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep [they have boundless energy]; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed [they don’t stop for rest], nor the latchet of their shoes be broken [they move with such ease and facility that they don’t even break their shoe laces in rapid movement].”

Verse 28 – “Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent [Military preparation; they are ready for anything]; their horses hoofs shall be counted like flint [in other words, they will come in such great masses that, as in the ancient world when cavalry would move over rocky ground and the horses hoof would strike the ground and, as it were, make sparks], and their wheels like a whirlwind [i.e. the chariots]” In other words we would say that their automobiles are lined up end to end along the highway.

Verse 29 – “Their roaring shall be like a lion [they have great power. The lions roar is a sign of power], they shall roar like young lions [young and vigorous]: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and they shall carry it away safe and none shall deliver it.” In other words, they shall have great power.

Verse 30 – “And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and light is darkened and the heavens thereof” – a description of something that happens just at the second advent, a change in the atmospheric conditions.

Even though the Jews are under judgment at the present time – exception, Jews who are born again and have a part of the body of Christ. Even though they are dispersed, God has turned their cursing into blessing because many Jews have found Christ as saviour and are in union with Christ, and therefore are no longer Jews but members of the body. In the future Israel will be there. The four unconditional covenants will be fulfilled at that time.

Inasmuch as the greatest need of the individual or a national entity is Christ, God has raised up prophets in the Old Testament and preachers in the New Testament to declare the issues: to thrust forth missionaries, to call nations to the cross, to disseminate doctrine, to add life and spiritual vigour to a national entity.

The call of the preacher, 6:1-13

Every call isn’t as unusual as this but you must remember that the canon of scripture wasn’t completed and this is the way Isaiah was called. But even though we have some unusual things in a vision the principle remains the same. The principle will be twofold: 1. A recognition of what the Lord is and occupation with Him; 2. A recognition of what people are and a concern for them.

To know what people are you can’t help but be concerned for them; when you know what the Lord is you can’t help but want to serve Him. You have to have both and both of the ingredients will be found in this passage.

Verses 1-4, Isaiah’s vision. “In the year that king Uzziah died.” Uzziah is the same as Azariah. Many of these people had two names; later on all of the kings of Judah had two names. One was a Chaldean name and the other was a Jewish name. The Chaldeans kept conquering them and giving them new names. Uzziah was a fine king who went sour and God disciplined him. The reason he went sour is the reason all believers can go sour, if they do, and that is because he ignored the Word of God. The fact that Uzziah ignored the Word of God is mentioned in 2 Chronicles 26:16-21. He failed to follow the instructions of the Word and he tried to usurp the functions of the priesthood. Now he was a king, he was not a priest, and in this case he disobeyed the Word of God with the result that he became a leper. And he remained a leper for the last fifteen years of his life. Isaiah’s call came in the year that king Uzziah died.

“I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.” Here is the vision of the Lord Jesus Christ. No man can function as a minister unless he has his eyes on Christ, for if one is not occupied with the person of Christ and one does not have his focus on the Son of God, then he is either: 1. Engaged in self-pity and feeling sorry for himself, or 2: He has his eyes on people and is therefore disappointed, or 3: He has his eyes on things and therefore is frustrated. And no minister can afford to be egocentric or frustrated or disappointed. And here is the cure: occupation with the person of Jesus Christ.

It says here, he saw the Lord. Jehovah can apply to the Father, to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. The fact that he said he saw immediately indicates which member of the Trinity this is. Only the second person of the Trinity is ever visible to man. Therefore we know that he saw Jesus Christ – John 1:18; 6:46; 1 Timothy 6:16; 1 John 4:12. These passages tell us that Jesus Christ is the only manifest member of the Trinity.

There are two principles in this vision: 1. No man can be a prophet or a preacher unless he is born again; 2. No man can be a prophet or a preacher unless he is occupied with the person of Jesus Christ.

He says he “saw the Lord sitting upon the throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple” .In other words He was in the heavenly temple in the divine headquarters.

“And above it [above the throne] stood the seraphim: each had six wings; with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he did fly.” The passage doesn’t tell us how many seraphim there were but we know from Revelation that there were four. Jesus Christ has always had an angel who has been the attendant in His throne room. The original attendant was Lucifer, son of the morning who was also a seraph. He was both a cherub and a seraph, and was the most beautiful creature that God ever made. And when Lucifer fell through negative volition and tried to create a counter kingdom, there were four angels which took his place. In Revelation they are called the four beasts [living creatures]. Seraphim is plural – “im” is the Hebrew plural. The word “seraph” means to burn, and the resultant meaning in the angels means an angel which is filled with light. This angel is said to have six wings because this angel is a seraph, in contrast to other types of angels. The seraph is one of the high types of the angelic creation and a seraph is simply an angel filled with light. And the angel himself is transparent so the light comes through, a very beautiful creature.

By the way, the word “seraph” is used in another way. In Numbers 21:6 the name “seraphim” is used for the fiery serpents, because of their poison. In other words, Satan himself used the serpent. The angel of light indwelt the serpent to tempt the woman and became an angel of darkness in the operation. So the fiery serpents of Numbers 21 are also called seraphim.

Who are these seraphim that Isaiah saw? They are the four living creatures of Revelation 4:6ff. They replaced Satan around the throne. Just like Satan, they are both seraphs and cherubs. We know this from comparison of Revelation chapter four with Ezekiel chapter one, and they are identified with the cherubim of Ezekiel 10:1-14 and 10:15.

Verse 6 – And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” What does it means that the whole earth is full of his glory? This is the devil’s world and wherever the devil has touched something it doesn’t have the glory of God stamped on it. Where can the whole earth be filled with the whole glory of God? The seraph himself is the first key. He has a transparent exterior but inside he is filled with light that shines through. And we now have a lower creature, a born again individual. Name: Isaiah. And inside of him now is light, he is born again, he has the Word of God, he is the receptacle of divine revelation in his day. And the very things that God gave him by way of divine revelation are recorded line by line and verse by verse in the book of Isaiah. And the glory of God is the Word of God and the very light of God is now reduced to writing. “The whole earth is filled with his glory” is a reference to the Word of God. Now the Word of God falls into two parts: the living Word, Jesus Christ, and the written Word, the canon of scripture.

Remember that the Word of God is called several interesting things. In 1 Corinthians 2:16 the Word of God is called “the mind of Christ” .In Hebrews chapter 3 verse 7 the Word of God is called the voice of the Holy Spirit. Christ is the glory of God, the Holy Spirit is the glory of God, and “the whole earth is filled with his glory” is a reference to the fact that the Word of God existed in the earth at that time, and in every day thereafter, and in every day before. There never has been a time, there never will be a time when God’s revelation is not in existence in this world. This is the devil’s world but the glory of God is the Word of God. Therefore, as believers take the Word of God into the frontal lobe and give it out, here is the earth filled with the glory of God.

This tells us something else: God is never without His witnesses. Isaiah was in Judah, Palestine, but throughout the world there were others who had divine revelation and were giving it out in two fields: evangelism [souls saved] and teaching [believers edified]. And the principle: No man can be a preacher, no man can be a prophet, no man can serve the Lord without the glory of God, i.e. the Word of God.

“Holy, holy, holy, is often taken for the Trinity, and that may be true. But we have no way of actually proving it. The singular pronoun in “the whole earth is full of his glory” leads to the belief that this is not the Trinity but a reference to one person in the Trinity. “His” is a singular pronoun referring to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 4 – Israel has a sense of false security and it is illustrated by the rattling of the door posts of heaven. “And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.” Now the voice of the one who cried is a cherub and the cherub is mentioning Jesus Christ, and he mentions Him under three words, Holy, holy, holy, the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” And the very mentioning of Jesus Christ caused the posts of the door of the heavenly temple to shake.

Now let’s establish some facts. First of all this temple is in heaven where Jesus Christ is seated. The door posts are in heaven and built by the Lord Himself, and therefore they are firmly in place. They are built as solidly as is possible to imagine anything being built. They are fastened perfectly in place. The door posts are inanimate objects and yet inanimate objects in heaven shake at the very name and the glory of the Lord Jesus, whereas the Jews down on earth in Isaiah’s day were ridiculing the Lord’s name. And if the door posts in heaven which are inanimate objects can shake and the Jews are not shaking, then there is something wrong with the Jews. That is why they need a preacher, a prophet. Because at the very name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father – and, as far as Israel is concerned, it isn’t so. The Jews have disintegrated because of religion and as a result they have social and economic breakdowns, they have injustices. So when the seraph spoke of God’s perfect holiness, the door posts of the temple, though inanimate objects, they shook. This in contrast to Israel whose apostasy and idolatry and whose prosperity have given them a false sense of security, and God is about to pull the rug right out from under them; they’re going to be dangling right in the air. And while the holiness of the Lord Jesus Christ does not frighten apostate Israel it causes the door posts of the temple to shake. And this is God’s way of declaring His attitude toward the antipathy and the apathy of Israel.

Isaiah for the first time sees the nation in which he lives from the divine viewpoint. He already sees some of the divine viewpoint obviously from the first five chapters in which he has thoroughly roasted the Jews of his day. But now everything that he has said is very meaningful to him because he now has a vision of the Lord in contrast to Israel. Israel is low down; the Lord is high and lifted up.

Anyone who goes into the ministry to be a preacher or an evangelist or a missionary, has missed the boat until he has this perspective – the majesty, the holiness, the glory, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the people on this earth who need it.

What is Isaiah getting in his call to the ministry? He is beginning to see the tremendous deep need in his own country. Why? A need which is so obvious from this vision. The door posts rattle and shake at the very name of the Lord Jesus Christ and yet the people of Judah do not rattle and shake – they will when the Chaldeans come. Isaiah is going to awaken them.

Why does He say, Woe is me? Because he is a Jew in Judah and up until now he hasn’t been shaking either. When he says, Woe is me, he is shaking for the first time. He sees the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 5 – “Then said I.” Here is his response. “Woe is me!” We have seen six woes in the previous chapter; here is the seventh woe. And the seventh woe is the perspective of occupation with Christ. It should be translated: “Woe me!” There is no “is” in the Hebrew. The omission of the verb shows that he was under the great pressure of this vision. “for I am undone; because I a man of unclean lips.” Why is he a man of unclean lips? Has he been using profanity? Has he been gossiping and maligning, etc? He is a man of unclean lips because he hasn’t been declaring Christ. He has just seen the Lord in all of his glory and here is something to talk about. He has seen the majesty of the Lord and it is so tremendous and so marvellous that he wonders: Why, up until now, have I never shook like the posts in the doors of heaven? Because I haven’t seen this glory before but now I have seen it. So “I a man of unclean lips” .And then he recognises the next principle: “And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” Why? Because they talk about everything but Christ. And whenever there is religion there is gossip, there is slander, there is maligning, all of the sins of the tongue. Notice that after mentioning all of the problems of Judah he suddenly gets down to a basic sin. And why is the basic sin, the sin of the tongue? Because the tongue is the revealer of what you have in the mind. And for the first time he sees the people, not in the sense of overt sin and activity, but in the sense of what they are thinking. He can’t read their mind but he knows what they are thinking by what they say. And they are not talking about the Lord, and when the name of the Lord is mentioned they do not shake like the posts of the gate of the temple in heaven.

Now why does he say these things? “For mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” He has seen Jesus Christ. This is something he saw after his salvation; he comes to a realisation. Now how could we have this vision of Christ? Well, you can’t have it through experience. This vision comes to us today from an absorption and perception of the Word of God. Vision today is confined to the Word of God. And when you get to know the Word of God and the grace of God, and when you see the grace of God, then you see the majesty of God the Son. And when you see the majesty of God the Son you say with Isaiah, Woe is me! I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Now there is a call to the ministry.

But before actually enter into the Lord’s service, what has he done? What has he done when he said, “I am a man of unclean lips”? That is confession of sin – 1 John 1:9. He has just rebounded. And how do we know that he has just rebounded? What sin did he confess of his own? The sin of his tongue. His tongue had not been used to the glory of God. And so he has just rebounded, and how do we know that he is forgiven?

Verse 6 – “Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar.” The altar speaks of the cross; the basis of all cleansing is the cross. The reason that we can be cleansed by 1 John 1:9 is because of 1 John 1:7 which is the cross – “The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses from all sin.”

Verse 7 – “And he laid it on my tongue” – the thing he confessed. He confessed a sin of the tongue and he was cleansed from that sin of the tongue right then and there. He was cleansed, not burned, by fire. Fire speaks of judgment; our cleansing comes through the judgment of someone else. Where is that coal located? At the altar. The altar speaks of the cross and we are cleansed because of what Christ did on the cross.

“Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and they sin purged.” No one can serve the Lord unless he is cleansed and the only way he can be cleansed today is by 1 John 1:9. Service for the Lord is impossible apart from rebound, so rebound is not a license to sin, rebound is a means of serving the Lord.

Verse 8 – Now he hears the Lord speak but this time when he hears the voice of the Lord, notice he doesn’t see the Lord. This is probably the Father speaking. “And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” You see the Father does the sending; “who will go for us?” Now you have the Trinity. “Us” refers to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And this is the first time that Isaiah is ready to go. He isn’t ready until he is cleansed, until rebound. Now Isaiah has had a vision of the Lord and the need of people. Secondly, he has been cleansed and now he is ready. Up until this time he is not even ready. And so the Lord could say this a thousand times and until Isaiah had rebounded he wasn’t ready. Just as the Lord can say the same thing today a thousand times and you can’t respond until you are in fellowship.

Principle: No one can yield to the will of God until he is first of all in fellowship. Yieldedness is not a means of cleansing; yieldedness is not a means of the filling of the Spirit; 1 John 1:9 is the means of yieldedness, just as 1 John 1:9 is the means of the filling of the Spirit.

“Then said I, Here I [no verb]; send me.” He can say that now, and this is the first time he can say it. He can’t say it until he is cleansed.

Verse 9 – “And he said, Go, and tell this people.” No prophet, no preacher can go and tell the people until he is in fellowship. “Hear ye indeed, but understand not.” What kind of a message is this? Isaiah is going to do a great deal of preaching but they are not going to understand.

“see ye indeed but perceive not.” Isaiah is going to spell it out in the chapters that come but most of the people are not going to perceive or understand. Only one tenth of the people of Judah will respond to the message of Isaiah.

Verse 10 – “Make the heart of this people fat [prosperous], and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes” – your preaching is going to shut their eyes – “Lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their mind, and be converted, and be healed” .

Verse 11 – “Then said I, Lord, how long? How long will I have to preach to people who will not hear, who will not understand, and who will go to sleep on me? “And he answered, until the cities be waste without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate.” In other words, until the Assyrian invade, the Syrians invade, the Chaldeans invade – until these things happen and there is nothing left around you but desolation and ruin.

Now here is a principle: Isaiah is man who is going to preach when things are tough. There will be three great invasions of the land and Isaiah will preach, preach, preach until everything is destroyed around him. He will go right on preaching because even though the land around him is destroyed and the people die his ministry is a ministry of salvation and is a ministry that has eternal results. Even though fortresses are destroyed and houses are ruined and people die and the armies are devastating in their invasion, all of these things together cannot stop the eternal effectiveness of this man’s ministry who lived in the dark days of Israel.

That should tell us something. Even though nations fall around us, even though terrible things come to pass on this earth, our responsibility is to declare Christ. And people will respond. And even if you have only a tenth of the people in some areas those one tenth will live in the presence of the Lord forever and they will be a part of a kingdom which cannot be destroyed.

Verse 12 – “And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land"– the moving men far away are people going into captivity.

Verse 13 – “But yet in it shall be a tenth [these are the ones who will respond to the Word of God] in it, “ Isaiah was one of the greatest preachers who ever lived and yet the response was never more than a tenth. He was not to be discouraged. “and it [they] shall return.” The tenth shall return to the land of Palestine when Christ returns and at that time that one tenth who are saved in the day of Isaiah’s ministry will inherit the land which cannot be destroyed.

“and they shall be eaten as a terebinth [tree], and as an oak, which when felled there is only a stump; so the holy seed is the substance thereof.” In other words, while nine tenths of the tree is going to be hacked off, one tenth of the people will survive, and just as the stump of a tree survives when the rest is hacked off, this stump will come back with Jesus Christ, the root shoot, who is declared in Isaiah eleven to grow out of the stump of Israel and the nation will in the eternal future [these people who respond to his ministry] will live in the presence of the Lord forever.

---

[1] The word standard means a guidon around which is a rallying point. The Jews are scattered all over the world, the Lord puts the guidon in the ground and they are assembled. Cf. Isaiah 11:1-16.