He Is Still God, He Is Still On The Throne
TEXT:
Isaiah 6:1-8 (NKJV)
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”
4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 So I 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.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said:
“Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.”
8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
“Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?”
Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
Movement #1:
Isaiah 6:1a
"In the year that King Uzziah died..."
There are some things that change everything.
Murray Bowen describes what he calls "nodal" events. There are times when people either enter or leave our lives and depending on how healthy our families are we may not handle it very well. Nodal events can include the birth of a child, a grandparent moving in, a parent losing a job, or a joyful family member no longer being there. Divorce, a career change, the loss of a home, relocating in order to care for the medical needs of a loved one. For better or worse, we may adjust, but it is never the same. There are some things that we learn to live with but they do impact us that we are never the same.
There are also watershed events in our own personal lives, in our families, in our church, and in our nation that determined the trajectory of things for generations. Things like immigration to a new country or experiencing a traumatic event like the Holocaust. We can tend to mark the calendar by these watershed moments.
Where were you the day JFK was assassinated? Where were you the day the Challenger space shuttle exploded? I was in the library at Whittier Elementary School watching the launch on the television monitor. What about September 11? I was riding with my mechanic on I-45, headed to work on a motor for a hydraulic elevator at the mental hospital. Or, do you remember covid-19? Hurricane Harvey?
Each of these events changed our lives in ways that cause us to mark the calendar by them.
Isaiah begins his prophecy by marking the calendar with the death of one of Judah's greatest kings.
Uzziah came to the throne at the age of 16 when his father died. 2 Chronicles 26 records the life of Uzziah. He reigned for 52 years. His long tenure and wise leadership brought stability and prosperity to the nation. He expanded the borders of Israel and their economic influence to places where they had not been since the days of Solomon. He expanded the military might of the little kingdom of Judah. He invented and implemented new weapons to protect his nation and developed agriculture to feed his people.
As long as he sought the LORD he prospered. He was a person that for most of his reign the word that characterized his relationship with God was "seeking." He realized that he had not arrived. As the apostle, Paul said, "This one thing I do, forgetting those things that are behind, I reach for the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil.3:14-14). Jesus said that we should be continually asking, seeking, and knocking. If we are found in a state of asking, we will receive. If we are found in a state of seeking, we will find. If we are continually knocking, the doors will be opened. Uzziah sought God and prospered. There is something about making God a priority in all that we do!
Uzziah also served the LORD all the days of Zechariah who had understanding in the visions of God. Uzziah clothed himself with humility. He recognized that there were some things he did not know. He recognized that he needed help spiritually. We need one another and we need those people who can speak into our lives and tell us what they see God doing. The hardest thing to know is what we don't know that we don't know.
The tragedy of Uzziah's life was that later in life for whatever reason he decided one day that he would go into the temple of God and do one of the jobs that God had designated for the priesthood. When he went into the temple, the priests tried to stop him, but he forced his way. As he did God struck him with a skin disease that kept him out of the temple, away from family and friends, and his job as king for the rest of his life. This is not a struggle for everyone, but for some here today pride may be one of the ways that you are tempted.
The NT letter of 1 Peter tells us that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. The imagery of this language actually has the sense that when we are arrogant that God puts His Armor on and approaches us to do battle. Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Uzziah had a lot right, but his pride was his downfall. And ultimately Uzziah died.
It was traumatic for everyone. Everyone was grieving. Everyone was wondering what might become of their nation. What was going to happen to the economy? What was going to happen with the looming threat of the Assyrians who threatened to conquer Judah? Would the next king be able to manage things as Uzziah had?
In those watershed moments of life, our minds are filled with questions.
What is the war in Ukraine going to result in? Will inflation lead to recession and if so, how long will it last? What about the threat of nuclear war? What about those of us who have long-term symptoms from our thoughts with covid-19? What is next?
"In the year that King Uzziah died..." In the year that... You fill in the blank.
Movement #2:
Isaiah 6:1b
"I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple."
I saw. Often in our moments of deepest distress, God has a way of opening our eyes to see realities beyond what we are usually privy to in our everyday lives.
It was during Hagar's nodal moment when she and Ishmael had to leave the household of Abraham and they thought life was over that God opened her eyes so that she could see a well of springing water that she did not know was there.
It was during Abraham's moment of obedience in offering up Isaac to the LORD that the LORD allowed him to see a ram caught by the horns in the briar that he was able to offer in the place of his son.
It was when Moses had completely given up on his dream of delivering his nation from Egyptian bondage that God appeared to him in the burning bush.
It was when Elizabeth was barren and physically beyond childbearing ability that God appeared to her husband Zechariah as he ministered in the temple burning incense and said Elizabeth is going to have a son. It was while she was still a virgin that God appeared to young Mary and declared that she would be the mother of the Messiah, the Son of God. God can make it happen even when the window of opportunity has closed just as easily as he can before the window is opened. For with God, nothing will be impossible.
It does not matter where you are in life. It may be one of the hardest seasons of your life. If it is, start looking for Him. It may be a great season. Keep looking for Him. You may be in-between. Look for Him!
Uzziah may have stopped seeking God at some point in his life, but Isaiah was still looking. And in the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah said, I saw the Lord!
The Hebrew word used here for Lord is Adonay. It means the Sovereign One. It speaks of His Majesty and Authority. Uzziah may not be on the throne anymore, but there is One Who remains.
Isaiah says that this Sovereign One is sitting enthroned. In numerous places throughout the Scriptures when people catch a visionary glimpse of the heavenly realm they see the LORD seated on a throne. Michiah the prophet saw the LORD seated upon a throne and the hosts of heaven on his right hand and on his left.
Knowing that the Sovereign One is on the throne can give us a sense of stability and security in the midst of things that are shifting and changing. Thrones symbolize stability. The world is changing. Russia continues to attack Ukraine. The nations of the world are picking sides. The G-7 is meeting. The European Union and the United Nations are doing their thing. Nations are flexing their nuclear, military, and economic muscles. There is inflation and the world banks are afraid and they will push us into a recession. But, the writer of Hebrews says that there is One sitting on the throne of Grace Who ever lives to make Intercession for those that come boldly before Him in their time of need! There is a lot to see if you look around, but the One Who you need to see is there is you will just look up!
The throne that HE is sitting on is High and lofty – the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity. With those also that are of a broken and contrite spirit.
In the scene from the movie Rudy Father Cavanaugh: Son, in 35 years of religious study, I have only come up with two hard incontrovertible facts: there is a God, and I'm not Him.
Captain America, “There is only one God ma’am and I’m pretty sure He doesn’t dress like that.”
Letting God be God means that I do not have to stay up at night worried about whether the sun is going to come up tomorrow morning!
Salvation does not come from a political leader. Salvation does not come from a governmental or economic system. Salvation does not come from the observance of religious practice. Salvation comes from the Lord.
Those who had lived through the Great Depression and saw God. There are times in our lives when it is in the moments of greatest difficulty that we actually see God. It was after the trial of Job’s life that he saw God. He saw Him in creation; He saw Him in the whirlwind. God is at work in the world around us.
Theologian A. W. Pink wrote, "As [one] sees the apparent defeat of the right, and the triumphing of might and the wrong … it seems as though Satan were getting the better of the conflict. But as one looks above, instead of around, there is plainly visible to the eye of faith a Throne.… This then is our confidence —God is on the Throne." (The Sovereignty of God, rev. ed. [Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1961], 149–50; emphases in the original)
His train filled the temple! A popular understanding of this text is that ANE kings would take a part of the robes of other kings and add it to the train of their own royal regalia. When they paraded their majesty, the longer the train, the more those watching knew that they had conquered.
Isaiah says that the train of the Lord filled the temple. God has already conquered everything that is against you!
John said that what Isaiah saw was the Glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was born into this world as one of us. He walked faithfully through this world, conquering the devil, the flesh, and the temptations that would overcome us. He died on the cross destroying the authority of the enemy and for our sins. He was buried and rose again on the third day and entered into His Glory! He has conquered it all!
His train filled the temple! What is it that you need from Him today?
Movement #3:
Isaiah 6:2-4 (KJV)
Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;The whole earth is full of His glory!”
4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
I am sure that Isaiah sees more than he expects. When we seek God, there is always more than meets the eye.
When Jacob got ahold of the birthright that his brother despised and through trickery wound up with the blessing he found himself in a hard moment. It was a nodal moment. He had to leave his home under the threat of being killed. He came to a place called Luz. He laid down and went to sleep and dreamed of a ladder whose top reached heaven. The angels were ascending and descending upon the ladder and at the top of the ladder stood the LORD. The LORD talked to him and gave him some promises at that moment. He woke and realized that he had received more than he realized by seeking the LORD. You always get more than you bargain for when you seek God!
Elisha that prophet was unafraid when the Syrian army surrounded him. HIs helped freaked out. Elisha prayed that the LORD would open the eyes of the helper and when he did he saw that the mountains around Elisha were filled with chariots and horses of fire. Oh, God open our eyes to see that you've got this. You've got us like you always do!
This looks a lot like the vision that John sees in Revelation. You know when people read the apocalyptic literature in the Bible they see a lot. Some see more than others. The word throne is found in the NT about 62 times. 47 of those are in the Revelation. Of those 44 refer to the throne of God or those that are around his throne. All the events of the Revelation flow from the throne of God or are controlled or conquered from that throne. God is in control and the angel of the LORD encamps around those that fear Him!
Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD of hosts. The repetition of Holy is the Hebrew way of expressing the superlative. God is Supremely Holy! There is no one like Him! No one! The LORD of hosts means that he is in charge of a larger army than anyone in the world. The kingdoms of this world may amass weapons and wealth, but Isaiah said he saw the LORD and attending upon Him were the fiery seraphim.
Their message was that the whole earth is filled with God's glory. God wanted Isaiah to see things differently than he had before. Isaiah was stressed out, like John on the isle of Patmos, and the LORD said, what better time than in these watershed moments to let them know, that I am still on the throne!
The message of the Holiness and Majesty of the LORD shook the temple. There had been an earthquake in the days of Uzziah, but this was something more! When the kingdoms of this world are threatening we need to pray as they did in Acts 4:
Acts 4:24-31 (KJV)
24 And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:
25 Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
27 For of a truth against Thy Holy Child Jesus, Whom Thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
28 For to do whatsoever Thy Hand and Thy Counsel determined before to be done.
29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,
30 By stretching forth Thine Hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by The Name of Thy Holy Child Jesus.
31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the HOLY GHOST, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
At the end of Isaiah's vision, he is emboldened to speak the truth in spite of all that he sees around him.
