ISAIAH CHAPTER 6

OBSERVATION STAGE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The purpose of the observation stage is to maintain focus on the text at hand within the normative rules of language, context and logic . .This limits the observer to the content offered by the book of Isaiah. This will serve to avoid going on unnecessary tangents elsewhere; and more importantly, it will provide the framework for a proper and objective comparison with passages located elsewhere in Scripture.

Remember that something elsewhere may be true, but in the text at hand it may not be in view.

I) [Isa 6:1-13]:

A) (1-4) IN THE YEAR THAT KING UZZIAH DIED, ISAIAH, IN A MANNER OF A VISION, SAW THE LORD SITTING ON A THRONE, HIGH AND LIFTED UP, THE TRAIN OF HIS ROBE FILLING THE TEMPLE. SERAPHIM STOOD ABOVE THE THRONE, EACH HAD SIX WINGS: TWO EACH COVERING FACE AND FEET; TWO FOR FLIGHT. ONE CALLED OUT TO ANOTHER, 'HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD OF HOSTS, THE WHOLE EARTH IS FULL OF HIS GLORY.' THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE DOORWAYS SHOOK AND THE TEMPLE WAS FILLED WITH SMOKE

B) (6:5-10) IN HIS VISION, ISAIAH, IN THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD IN THE TEMPLE, SAID, "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 MY EYES HAVE SEEN THE KING, THE LORD OF HOSTS." WHEREUPON A SERAPH FLEW TO ISAIAH WITH A LIVE COAL IN HIS HAND FROM THE ALTAR AND THEN TOUCHED ISAIAH'S MOUTH WITH IT AND DECLARED HIS INIQUITY WAS TAKEN AWAY AND HIS SIN PURGED [HEBREW: LIT., ATONED FOR]. WHEN THE LORD THEN ASKED, "WHOM DO I SEND? AND WHO GOES FOR US?" ISAIAH ANSWERED, "HERE AM I, SEND ME," DEMONSTRATING THAT HE HAD EXPRESSED A MOMENT OF FAITH ALONE IN THE LORD'S PROVISION OF AN ATONING SACRIFICE FOR SINS. SO THE LORD SAID, "GO, AND HAVE IT TOLD TO THIS PEOPLE, 'HEAR... HEAR, AND YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND, AND SEE... SEE AND YOU DO NOT KNOW. MAKE THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE FAT... THEIR EARS HEAVY... SHUT THEIR EYES.... LEST THEY SEE, HEAR AND UNDERSTAND AND RETURN AND BE HEALED." THIS WAS THE TIME WHEN ISAIAH REALIZED HIS GRAND PURPOSE BEFORE THE LORD, ALBEIT IMMEDIATELY AFTER HIS INIQUITY WAS TAKEN AWAY AND HIS SIN PURGED

C) (11-13) ISAIAH WAS READY TO TELL THE PEOPLE WHATEVER GOD WANTED HIM TO SAY, BUT HE WANTED TO KNOW HOW LONG HE WOULD BE REQUIRED TO DELIVER SUCH A TERRIBLE MESSAGE OF HORRIFIC JUDGMENT TO WHICH THE PEOPLE WOULD BE UNRESPONSIVE, EVEN CALLOUS, AND SUFFER SO SEVERELY. THE LORD INDICATED TILL THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE HAD BEEN DESTROYED / TAKEN INTO CAPTIVITY TO A FAR AWAY LAND, EVEN AFTER A TENTH RETURNED YET TO BE DESTROYED. BUT A REMNANT WILL REMAIN AS A HOLY SEED.

CONTINUE TO ISAIAH CHAPTER 7