1625. Isaiah's Vision of Glory

Isaiah's Vision of Glory

Isa_6:1-13

Uzziah's Crumbling Throne (Isa_6:1, f. c).

The Lord's Throne, High and Lifted Up (Isa_6:1, l. c.).

The Coming World Judgment (Isa_6:4).

A Cry of Contrition (Isa_6:5).

A Cry of Cleansing (Isa_6:6-7).

The Blessed Commission (Isa_6:8-9).

The Earth Full of Glory (Isa_6:2-3).

Isaiah's vision of the Lord high and lifted up, and of the earth filled with His glory, has a far-flung message. The vision was not for the day in which Isaiah lived.

In getting the time setting of the sixth chapter of Isaiah we should remember how Isaiah himself, after the vision was completed cried out: "Then said I, Lord, How long? And He answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the 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" (Isa_6:11 and Isa_6:12).

The Scripture just quoted is sufficient to demonstrate that the fulfillment of Isaiah's vision lay in the far distant years.

Of one thing we may be certain, the earth has never yet been filled with the glory of the Lord. It need not surprise us that Isaiah's personal part in this vision; his cry, "Woe is me;" his cleansing with the live coal from off the altar, and his commission, "Go and tell," are just as prophetic as was the vision itself.

Our God frequently used the actions of his prophets as well as their words to set forth coming events.

One other thing should be kept in mind: the whole Book of Isaiah presents many prophecies which have to do with the end times. He tells graphically of the coming of Christ to suffer upon Calvary's Cross, and just as graphically of the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus, and of Israel's future glory.

It is customary to use Isaiah 6, as merely a historical incident, with a message to soul-winners, and a present-day application. We do not criticise this as a matter of application, we insist, however, that the full beauty of the chapter will never be realized until it is seen and interpreted as a marvelous prophecy.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR