A King on His Throne (Isaiah 6:1-7)
The setting
Isaiah 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
I want to first draw out attention to the historical setting. All of this takes place in the year 740 B.C. when king Uzziah died.
King Uzziah was a good king who served Judah for 52 years. However, near the end of his life he fill into the sin of pride and illegally burned incense in the HOly of HOl's which caused God to strike him with leprosy (2 Kings 15:5)
The death of this beloved king represented a time of uncertainty for the nation, and for Isaiah personally. The reson I think this is worth noting is because I think we could use the same word to describe our present circumstances.
"uncertain"
- How would we describe the political landscape of our nation? Uncertain. We are uncertain who we can trust, we are uncertain of the information we are given.
- How would we describe the economic status of our nation? Uncertian. We have no ability to predict anything
- How would we describe the social fabric of our nation? Uncertain. We are uncertain of how to communicate with our neighbors and family members, and so we walk on eggshells around each other
Isaiah, during all this uncertainty saw a vision. What did he see? He saw Jesus setting on the throne!
Isaiah 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
Now, how do we know that this Jesus? Well, the Apostle John applies this text to Jesus in John 12.
John 12:41 "These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him."
John is quoting Isaiah 6 and saying that it was Jesus whom Isaiah saw setting on the throne high and lifted up.
It is my belief that our lost and dying world needs to see more than anthing is the vision that Isaiah saw. Jesus setting on the throne. And not just the lost world, Christian need to have continually put before our eyes Jesus setting on the throne high and lifted.
So much so that if we might be able to say,
- "in the year the Joe Biden was elected president I saw Jesus setting on His throne high and lifted up"
- "in the year that the economy crashed, I saw Jesus setting on His throne high and lifted up"
- "in the year I lost my husband, I saw Jesus setting on His throne high lifted up"
So, we must ask ourselves, what does I mean to have this vision of Jesus setting on the throne high and lifted up?
- To see Jesus as King of the universe
- To see Jesus as Holy
- To see Jesus as a Savior
Jesus is the king of the universe
Isaish's vision of Jesus on the throne indicates that Jesus is the King of the universe. The fact that the throne is described as "high and lifted up" points to the authority and superiority of Jesus.
The authority of Jesus
"There is a throne in heaven, and the LORD God sits upon it as the sovereign ruler of the universe! This is central fact of heaven; that there is an occupied throne in heaven. God does not sit on a chair in heaven. Anyone might sit on a chair. But sovereign kings sit on thrones, judges sit on thrones. Those with proper authority and sovereignty sit on thrones 1 ."
David Guzik goes to say... "The bottom line of atheism or materialism is that they believe there is no throne: there is no seat of authority or power all the universe must answer to . The bottom of humanism is that there is a throne - but man sits upon it. But the Bible makes it clear that there is a throne in heaven, and no fallen man sits on the throne, but the Lord GOD is enthroned in heaven."
We're tempted to say to point to this or that present circumstance and "if Jesus is on the thron, what about that?"
Here I would point you to the end of His earthly ministry when the Roman soldiers to nail HIm to the cross, it appeared as if they were in control, it appeared as if they had sized the authority from Jesus. But that is only how it appeared.
John 10: 17-1817 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
- Jesus, in allowing Himself to be crucified displayed His authority over death Romans 1:4 "And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit holiness, by the resurrection of the dead"
- Jesus, in allowing Himself to be crucified declared His victory over Satan! Speaking of the Cross Work of Jesus Paul writes, Colossians 2:15 "And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it"
The superiority of Jesus
Isaiah 6:1 "In the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord setting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple"
Here we see the death of a king contrasted with the life of a King who can't die.
Even the best of men is at best a man, who is subject to failure and disappointment.
When we look at king Uzziah we see that he was a good king, who served for a long time, 52 years. However, he wasn't perfect, in fact he made had a terrible lapse in judgement at the end of his life which cost him dearly.
We read in 2 Kings 15:5 how that because of his pride he offered incense in the temple which ws something only a priest was allowed to do, and that God judged him by giving him leprosy.
When we read stories like this in the BIble, we say to ourselves, "what was he thinking, how could he make such a huge mistake?" The answer is simple, he was a man, and men do dumb things.
This is why Jesus is better
When we put our eyes on human leaders, we will find ourselves in the gripe of anxiety and uncertainty, why?
Because they will always fail usl. Either they will fail morally and lose our respect or they will grow old and die.
Jesus, on the other hand will neverlet you down,he will never wtong you or leave you, which is why Jesus is Superior.
Jesus as Holy
Isaiah 6:2-3 "2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory"
The word "seraphim" means "burning ones" this a reference to I guess a kind of angel. THis is the only place in the Bible where these beings are talked about. They exist to sing praises to God and to serve Him. These angles, who are sinless and pure and have lived for eons are in the presence of God and are in awe of His holiness.
They see the Lord's glory and cry to one another what they see "holy, holy, holy is the Lord of host." The topic of their song is "indescribable holiness."
When the Old Testament writers say that God is holy, what they meant was that He was completely beyond everything that is created or in other words, God is transcendent.
The Old Testament is full of imagery like this, for instance the Psalms often the image of GOd being on a hill that's beyond our reach.
Psalms 24:1-3 The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.2 For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods. 3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?
Psalms 99: 2-32 The Lord is great in Zion; and he is high above all the people. 3 Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy.
A.W Tozer captures this idea of otherness and separateness one he said
" We must not think of God as the highest in an ascending order of beings, starting with the single cell, and going on up from the fish to the bird to the animal to man to angel to cherub to God. Gos is as high above an archgel as above a caterpillar, for the gulf that separates the archangle from the caterpillar is but finite, while the gulf between God and the archangel is infinite. 2"
Holiness as moral purity
Holiness also has the idea of moral purity, God is not only above and beyond us, but He is also morally pure. Unger's Bible Dictionary says this
" By the holiness of God is not implied that He is subject to some law or standard external to Himself, but that all moral law and perfection have their eternal and unchangeable basis in His own nature."
God is the ground for all moral goodness; something is good only when it refects the nature and character of God.
The angels recognize God's holiness, and they cover their eyes with the wings because the beauty, majesty and holiness of God is too much for them to look on.
They cover their feet; Andrew Davis suggest that we think about what the Lord said to Moses as he appeared to him in the flames of the burning bush. He said, "Take off you sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground" (Exodus 3:5) So, there it is, it is holy Heaven, and they are covering their feet.
Thrice Holy
The Hebrew language uses repetition to express a superlative and a totality. For instance, in 2 Kings 25:15 when it says "gold, in gold, and silver, in silver" you will otice the word "in" is italicized meaning it is not in the original. The literal translation is, "gold, gold". The point here is that it is "pure gold" and "pure silver"
This is the only place in the Old Testament where something is raised to the power of three. The point here is that the Divine holiness is so far beyond human language and understanding that something must be invited to express it.
Jesus as savior
Isaiah 6:4-7 4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because 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.6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
As a result of the vision of the holiness of Jesus Isaiah begins to sense his own singulness and cries out judgment on himself.
The word "woe" was a term used for prophetic judgement which was used throughout chapter 5 "A true vision of God's holinesds always results in conviction of sin on the part of us sinners. 3 "
Isaiah see's God's holiness and rightly decalres "I deserve judgement." Jesus is holy, but He is also gracious, instead condemning Isaiah Jesus purifies him.
Isaiah 6:6-7 6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
The live coal taken from alter represents propitiation, forgiveness, cleaning, reconciliation, and salvation. It is a symbol of imputed righteousness. In the gospel God meets us at the point of our need, we are confronted with our singulness and then shown mercy.
Our takeaway
What does it mean to have avision of Jesus in our everyday lives?
- To trust the fact that Jesus is king of the universe, in other words, He's in control
- To trust the fact that Jesus is holy, in other words, the decisions that Jesus makes are right and just
- To trust the fact that Jesus is gracious, in other words, Jesus love you
1 David Guzik Commentary of Isaiah
2 A.W Tozer "The knowledge of the Holy" page 70
3 Andrew Davis " Exalting Jesus in Isaiah" page 52