Isaiah's Vision of the LORD According to The Voice, in an editorial paragraph preceding Ezekiel Chapter 2, Though God is unseen, from time to time human beings are given the privilege of seeing His glory.
Isaiah 6:1 begins with Isaiah giving us the time in history when he had this vision. He wrote, "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." Isaiah thought that truly he would die, knowing that he was a man of unclean lips, dwelling among people of unclean lips, yet he had seen the King, The LORD of hosts." verse 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 is purged (atoned for).
This purging of Isaiah's lips proves once more that the business of cleansing us from sin is God's alone. Isaiah 43:25 says, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake. Jeremiah 31:34 says, “No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying “know the LORD,” for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. Paul later reiterated all this for us in the New Testament, writing in Hebrews 8:11-12 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying ‘know the LORD,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. As if this wasn’t enough, Paul made a further point in Hebrews 10:16. This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts and in their minds I will write them. 17. then He adds, ‘Their sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more.’
Robes of Righteousness: Cleaned up and dressed up
In Isaiah 64:6, the prophet Isaiah complains to God that “we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags…”
Notice that it is our so-called righteous deeds that are like filthy rags. It is not that we are like filthy rags. God created us a little lower than the angels (Psalm 8:5 and Hebrews 2:7). We are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). It is when we try to approach God dressed in our own clothes of self-righteousness, instead of humbling ourselves before Him and letting Him do the work of making us clean, that we get into trouble.
Note Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with jewels.
Unfortunately, some of us refuse to be “re-dressed” by God. Jesus mentioned such a person in Matthew 22:11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. 12. so he said to him, Friend how did you come in here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
The above passage sound so puzzling. After all, the servants had gone out to the highways, and invited as many people as they could to the wedding. The part that perhaps isn’t obvious is that in those times, a king would offer appropriate wedding garments to his guests. This person must have thought his own clothes were fine.
Note Rev. 3:18-19 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich: and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed…
Note what happened in Zechariah’s vision concerning the high priest Joshua in Zechariah 3:1-4
1. Then
he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the LORD, and
Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. 2. And the LORD said to Satan,
“The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem
The birth of Jesus Christ.
Isaiah's prophecy of the Birth of Jesus is a multi-layered prophecy that did have a partial fulfillment in the birth of a son to Isaiah as a sign to king Ahaz. (See Isaiah 7:14 and Isaiah 8:3-4)
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: (this is Isaiah talking to King Ahaz) Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel (which means God with us).
Nancy Guthrie, In her book called, "The One Year Book of Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament," wrote, "The true final fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy is in Christ alone. Only Jesus could be "God with us."
Isaiah 9:6: For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
The scourging and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 50:6 I gave My back to those who struck Me, And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.
Isaiah 53:4-7 Surely He has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth;
I Peter 2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness-by whose stripes you were healed.
Jesus as a light to the Gentiles
Isaiah 11:10 And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious.
Romans 15:12 And again, Isaiah says: There shall be a root of Jesse; And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, In Him the Gentiles shall hope.
Isaiah 56: 6-7 Also the sons of the foreigner Who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, And to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants-Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And holds fast My covenant- Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices Will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. See Matthew 21:13.
Malachi 1:11 For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; In every place incense shall be offered to My name, And a pure offering; For My name shall be great among the nations, Says the LORD of hosts.
The chief cornerstone to us but a rock of offense to others
Isaiah chapter 8:14 He will be as a sanctuary , But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense To both the houses of
Psalms 118:22 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.
Matthew 21: 42 Jesus said to them, Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD's doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes? 44. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whoever it falls, it will grind him to powder. (Luke 20:17-18, Romans 9:33, and I Peter 2:6-8 are exactly the same.)
