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Here Am I, Send Me
Contributed by Joe Lunsford on Nov 9, 2005 (message contributor)
Summary: A willingness to answer God’s call, even in difficult situations!
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Here Am I. Send Me!
Isaiah Chap. 6
One of the greatest needs of our day is to find spirit filled men and women who are willing to stand before God in prayer…
And from their heart speak the words Isaiah spoke in verse 8… “Here am I. Send me!”
Not just speak them mindlessly out of a heart bent on pleasing self…But to live in such closeness and fellowship with God…And enjoy such personal communion with Him…That we’re unable to hold the words back!
That Living for God…And Serving God…And being Pleasing to God…Mean so much to us…That asking God to use us to accomplish His will comes natural to us!
Have you ever wondered about the circumstances surrounding Isaiah when he spoke those words?
What was it about what the seraphs were saying…And where this vision was taking place that made Isaiah so eager to have God commission him?
Isaiah pretty much runs the gamet of emotions in these 13 verses.
The chapter begins with Isaiah in awe at what he sees in this vision…Then he becomes filled with fear at the realization that he had no business being where he was…
Only to turn around in the next few verses…And cry out for God to commission him and send him out to undeserving Israel.
What brought Isaiah here…And what made him so willing to go?
Perhaps if we can gain an understanding of where Isaiah came from…We can better understand why he was so willing to go.
And in understanding what made Isaiah so zealous for God…Maybe we can gain a better understanding of just where it is you and I need to be.
So…Where did this Isaiah come from?
And what circumstances brought him to receive this vision from God?
International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia says…
Isaiah was the son of Amoz …That he lived in Jerusalem and became court preacher…And that he was married and had two sons:
Nelson’s Bible Dictionary says that…
Isaiah was probably born in Jerusalem of a family that was related to the royal house of Judah…And that he spent his early years as an official of King Uzziah.
Unger’s Bible Dictionary says that…
Isaiah prophesied under the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah…
In which time he called for repentance without success, and consequently had to announce judgment and banishment.
Isaiah had been around royalty all of his life.
In fact…It is believed that he was a cousin to King Uzziah.
He grew up in Jerusalem around the Temple…So Isaiah was no stranger to royalty or religion!
He is credited with having written books on the lives of Kings Uzziah and Hezekiah. (II Chron. 26:22/ II Chron. 32:32 both of which were destroyed)
Unger’s Bible Dictionary says…
Both biographies have been lost, together with the annals of Judah and Israel into which they had been inserted.
He also obviously wrote the one book in the Bible, which bears his name.
Isaiah was a writer…And is celebrated as being the greatest writer in the Old Testament.
In fact the International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia calls Isaiah…The Paul of the Old Testament!
High praise for either man…Wouldn’t you say?
That is just a brief timeline on the beginnings of Isaiah…But enough to allow us to see that Isaiah had a mind for the things of God!
How can we today expect to receive anything from the heart of God…If we don’t have a mind for it?
We allow our minds to focus on work!! We allow our minds to focus on family!! We allow our minds to get carried away by worldly entertainments…
But how often do we allow our minds to just rest and focus on God?!?
Worldly pressures…Business pressures…And financial pressures…All crowd out the Savior!!
Isaiah had a mind for the things of God…And there with a willing heart and an open mind…He received a vision from God!!
King Uzziah died between 739-740 B.C.
2 Chron 26:4-5
And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.
He sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God; and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper.
Uzziah was a good King!! And his death signaled the end of a good era in the history of Israel!!
Because for as good as Uzziah’s reign would be…He would eventually be replaced by his grandson Ahaz…Who was as wicked and as vile as against the God of Israel…As Uzziah had been for Him!!
Here at the death of a good King’s reign…God summons a prophet!!
The time’s are about to get rough!! Things within the palace are about to change…And God needs someone He can depend on to withstand the fiery trials that loom on the horizon!!