THE CALL TO SEE WITH PROPHETIC VISION

Isaiah 6:1-13 – Isaiah's Call

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Outline

Isaiah sees a dream of God in the sanctuary and is dispatched as a prophet.

Examination

Scriptural prophets consistently report call dreams, and the portrayal of these dreams takes on a conspicuous abstract structure (see "The Prophetic Call" in Introductory Issues).

Isaiah dates his vision "in the year that King Uzziah passed on," around 738 B.C.E. In the sanctuary, Isaiah sees the Lord- - a figure so massive that simply the sew of his article of clothing fills the sanctuary. As regularly the case, the prophet additionally is acquainted with the brilliant domains, where blessed messengers serve God. The seraphs, most likely winged snake-like animals, unobtrusively spread themselves in God's essence ("feet" [Hebrew regel] may be a doublespeak for privates here, as it now and then is somewhere else in the Old Testament). They sing, without precedent for the Bible, the ceremonial "Blessed, sacred, blessed," which turns into the constant melody of paradise in Revelation 4:8, and is taken from that point into successive use in the congregation's hymnody and ceremonies.

Cleansing Isaiah's "unclean lips"- - an image of his corrupt self- - with a coal from the special stepped area is a type of penance. In the conciliatory framework, God thoughtfully gives a way to consume with extreme heat the transgression and blame of the admirers so they might be reestablished entire to the nearness of God.

Normally, those called to represent God are told to "Proceed to state," as here, or "Proceed to tell." Getting the words right is basic for a delivery person, yet so likewise is getting the fixing, applying the words to the suitable setting. Both imprint crafted by the dedicated dispatcher.

Isaiah's reaction, "Here am I" (Hebrew hinni or hinneni), is the reaction all through the Old Testament of those tended to by God, from Abraham (Genesis 22:1) to Jacob (Genesis 31:11), to Moses (Exodus 3:4), to Samuel (1 Samuel 3:4). It is the dutiful reaction to any individual who calls, when the one called is prepared and willing to be of administration (Genesis 22:7). The sense is something like stating, "Yes! I am available to you." We hear the sense most unmistakably when Mary rehashes it in her reaction to the blessed messenger's annunciation of the coming birth of Jesus: "Here am I, the hireling of the Lord; let it be with me as indicated by your promise" (Luke 1:38).

The message given to Isaiah to convey is one of the most horrendous words in the Bible. Israel's defiance has now brought a judgment that can't be deflected. Things have gone excessively far and they can't be gotten back to - the Assyrian threat is at the entryway, and God's statement will keep on failing to attract anyone's attention as it has done previously. Without a doubt, God says, it should now be so: brains and ears and eyes must be shut so God's judgment will be finished, creating a passing of what presently is, so God can raise up something new (as God does in the second piece of this book). There is no sparing what is- - things have gone excessively far- - yet God can and will make something new.

Isaiah 6:1-13

A Vision of God in the Temple

6In the year that King Uzziah passed on, I saw the Lord sitting on an honored position, high and elevated; and the fix of his robe filled the sanctuary. 2Seraphs were in participation above him; each had six wings: with two they secured their appearances, and with two they secured their feet, and with two they flew. 3And one called to another and stated:

'Heavenly, blessed, sacred is the Lord of hosts;

the entire earth is loaded with his magnificence.'

4The pivots* on the limits shook at the voices of the individuals who called, and the house loaded up with smoke. 5And I stated: 'Poor me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!'

6 Then one of the seraphs traveled to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the special stepped area with a couple of tongs. 7The seraph* contacted my mouth with it and stated: 'Since this has contacted your lips, your blame has left and your transgression is obliterated.' 8Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom will I send, and who will go for us?' And I stated, 'Here am I; send me!' 9And he stated, 'Proceed to state to this individuals:

"Continue tuning in, however don't appreciate;

continue looking, however don't get it."

10 Make the brain of this individuals dull,

what's more, stop their ears,

what's more, shut their eyes,

so they may not look with their eyes,

furthermore, tune in with their ears,

what's more, appreciate with their psyches,

furthermore, turn and be recuperated.'

11 Then I stated, 'To what extent, O Lord?' And he stated:

'Until urban communities falsehood squander

without occupant,

also, houses without individuals,

also, the land is completely barren;

12 until the Lord sends everybody far away,

also, tremendous is the vacancy amidst the land.

13 Even if a tenth part stays in it,

it will be singed once more,

like a terebinth or an oak

whose stump stays standing

when it is felled.'*

The sacred seed is its stump.