Isaiah 6:8-10 (NIV)

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? ”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
9 He said, “Go and tell this people:
“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
10 Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Reflection:

What kind of calling is this? To go and preach to those who won’t listen? The declaration of verses 9-10 on first reading feels harsh, as though a willing and soft-hearted people were turning into a hardened people. But that is not the case; rather, it is a declaration of what has been the spiritual state of Israel throughout — they have been an unwilling and obstinate people. We actually see in His sending Isaiah out to preach to such people, that God is one who persists in pursuing a hardened people. So why go and preach to hard-hearted people? Because the Lord says so. The extent of God’s love is revealed in this, that God would love and pursue those who are not receptive, who neither desire nor listen to Him.

Responding to the Transmission:

At one time, were we not also hard? We didn’t seek the Lord, we didn’t desire Him, and we were unwilling to listen. But in His unrelenting kindness and mercy, God drew us to Himself. Let’s reflect with thankfulness on the kindness and mercy of our God, who would pursue hard-hearted people such as us. And in the ways God calls us to go and preach, may we do so with God’s heart. May there be a shift in the way we view hardened acquaintances, co-workers, and friends – as we receive the Lord’s heart of compassion for them.

Isaiah 6:4-7 (NIV)

4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for. ”

Reflection:

What a vision! The seraphim were speaking and declaring with such strength that the doorposts and thresholds shook. The sight and sound of the seraphim worshiping and praising the holy Lord was so powerful that Isaiah suddenly sees his utter unworthiness. He is a prophet but his lips are unclean: “Woe to me! I am ruined!” What is to be done? A seraph burns away the guilt and sin from the mouth of Isaiah, and Isaiah is no longer to speak mere worldly things. Isaiah was cleansed so that he could shift to speaking God’s word.

Responding to the Transmission:

How can we possibly speak of things that are holy and true? We are men and women of unclean lips, and we live among a people of unclean lips. But may we see the Lord, may we see ourselves, and may we confess this. May the Lord take us from speaking mere worldly things to now speaking His words.

Isaiah 6:1-3 (NIV)

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. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”

Reflection:

Most of us have never lived under the rule of a king. We don’t know what it means to have a king, serve a king, and trust a king to rule over us. In some ways, we look at kings as an outdated form of leadership. But to Isaiah and Israel, a great king like Uzziah was directly blessed by God - a strong leader who won many battles, someone they really trusted in. So to see Uzziah die tragically left them feeling confused and helpless. But Isaiah saw the Lord, high and exalted on His throne. Thrones are for those with proper authority and sovereignty. So, as Yahweh sits high and exalted above all things, the vision emphasizes His true kingship. Uzziah had sinned and was banned from the temple. Yahweh, on the other hand, is the Lord whose robe was so great and majestic it filled the temple. Isaiah’s vision opened up his mind and heart to see the true king.

Responding to the Transmission:

Let’s pray for a shift to the true King in our hearts and minds. We worship the Holy Lord Almighty who sits enthroned, whose robe fills the temple. May we see and worship this King and may this King rule over us.

2 Chronicles 26:1-23 (NIV)

Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. 2 He was the one who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after Amaziah rested with his ancestors. 3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jekoliah; she was from Jerusalem. 4 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. 5 He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success. 6 He went to war against the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod. He then rebuilt towns near Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. 7 God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabs who lived in Gur Baal and against the Meunites. 8 The Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, because he had become very powerful.
9 Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate and at the angle of the wall, and he fortified them. 10 He also built towers in the wilderness and dug many cisterns, because he had much livestock in the foothills and in the plain. He had people working his fields and vineyards in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil.
11 Uzziah had a well-trained army, ready to go out by divisions according to their numbers as mustered by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer under the direction of Hananiah, one of the royal officials. 12 The total number of family leaders over the fighting men was 2,600. 13 Under their command was an army of 307,500 men trained for war, a powerful force to support the king against his enemies. 14 Uzziah provided shields, spears, helmets, coats of armor, bows and slingstones for the entire army. 15 In Jerusalem he made devices invented for use on the towers and on the corner defenses so that soldiers could shoot arrows and hurl large stones from the walls. His fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful.
16 But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the LORD followed him in. 18 They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the LORD God.”
19 Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the LORD’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. 20 When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the LORD had afflicted him.
21 King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house —leprous, and banned from the temple of the LORD. Jotham his son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land.
22 The other events of Uzziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 23 Uzziah rested with his ancestors and was buried near them in a cemetery that belonged to the kings, for people said, “He had leprosy.” And Jotham his son succeeded him as king.

Isaiah 6:1 (NIV)

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.

Reflection:

“In the year King Uzziah died” - What did the death of King Uzziah mean to Isaiah? To Israel? 2 Chronicles shows King Uzziah started as one of the great kings of Israel – one who was favored by God. But his pride led to his downfall. The year King Uzziah died was a bitter and confusing time for Isaiah and for Israel. God had obviously blessed King Uzziah, and the people put their trust in him. But the one who had lived in obedience to God in his earlier years came to a miserable end. King Uzziah’s death was a painful reminder to Isaiah of Israel’s own hopelessness.

Responding to the Transmission:

What do we do when those we trust fail us and we become disillusioned? For Isaiah, he saw the Lord. Rather than leading to discouragement or despair, may these moments be opportunities for a shift in our life. May we see that we, and those we have trusted, are merely human and instead shift our eyes to the Lord.
What disappointment or disillusionment are we struggling with today? Let’s spend some time praying that we would go from merely seeing the world in its weakness and failures to seeing the Lord.