Here am I, but please send them

Isaiah 6.1-8 (NRSV)

A Vision of God in the Temple

¹ In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty, and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 

² Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 

³ And one called to another and said,

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”

⁴ The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. 

⁵ And I said, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

⁶ Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 

⁷ The seraph touched my mouth with it and said, “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” 

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!”

Introduction：

The passage we just read comes from the book of Isaiah chapter 6, which is usually entitled “Gods calls Isaiah” in the Bible. This chapter has 13 verses. But in view of the time, I just read the first eight verses. Having said that, for the purpose of exegesis, the last five verses should not be overlooked. If you have a Bible with you, you would know that this chapter 6 is about the time when David’s kingdom had already been divided into two for long. The twelve tribes were split, with ten tribes forming the northern kingdom of Israel, and the southern kingdom of Judah consisting of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. King Uzziah of the southern kingdom, Judah, reigned for 52 years, from the age of 16 until his death at 68. In the history of the kingdom of Judah, compared to other kings, King Uzziah was definitely a good one. If we also read the Second book of Chronicles 26:4-5, it says, “He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.”

But a king is only human. No matter how well he ruled, he would pass away eventually. Yet after half a century of wealth, power, and prosperity due to the reign of King Uzziah, the Kingdom of Judah suddenly lost a devout, exceptionally capable king. At the same time, the powerful Assyrian Empire was experiencing a resurgence. Around 745 B.C.E. — three years before King Uzziah's death —a brilliant yet ambitious king appeared in Assyria. His name is Tiglath-Pileser III, who was preparing to lead his armies to sweep through and subjugate all the small states and even kingdoms nearby.

In such circumstances, if you were a Judean (a citizen of Judah) at that time, what would you think? There is no doubt that everybody was in fear. Why? Because they were afraid of the outbreak of war. It could happen at any moment, and at that time, there were no civil aviation. In case of war, no one could escape at once.

For those who are familiar with the Bible, you would know that Isaiah chapters 7 and 8 talk about the kingdom of Judah, where the prophet Isaiah lived, was at the time of King Ahaz, the grandson of King Uzziah. At that time, the northern kingdom of Israel, together with Aram, joined their military forces to invade Judah. It is because Judah had all along refused to join them to resist Assyria. Hence, in order to avoid Judah from playing “Judas” (shoot their back) when Israel and Aram defended against Assyria from the north, these two countries decided to strike first. In fact, either one of them alone would have been a serious threat to Judah's safety. Now both of them were going hand in hand, Judah was basically dying.

This chapter 6 that we read today, in which Isaiah has a vision and receives his commission, should be read as a section of the “Isaiah Memoirs,” the book written when the prophet Isaiah was old. Or it can be seen as a flashback, from the perspective of Isaiah in his later years, recalling his days in the temple when he received the vision and calling from God. Thereafter, in the following several decades, as the kingdom of Judah steadily declined, he had painstakingly carried out the mission given to him, step by step.

When the old prophet Isaiah looked back, recalling the calling to him in the temple, what did it mean to him? What did it mean to the Israelites when this book was written up? And what does it mean to us of today? 

Reflection 1: King Uzziah died? The Lord is sitting on the throne

First of all, have we noticed where the prophet Isaiah saw the vision? Right, in the temple. So, why was he in the temple? The scripture doesn’t tell us directly but we can make a good guess — I’m guessing that as King Uzziah had died, and the prophet was worried about his country and his people, so he visited the temple to pray.

So in this vision in the temple, the Scripture says that Isaiah saw the Seraphs. Generally speaking, would there be any lively Seraphs moving around in the temple? I guess “No”, right? So this is called a vision - in this vision, Isaiah saw the heavenly scene with God seated on His throne in heavenly court. That highlights the role of the prophet: Simultaneously he was connected to both the heavenly and earthly realms. On the one hand, he served in the temple, lived among the people, and on the other hand, he received messages from God, perceived the will of God, and convey those messages to the people around them. Today, who takes up this role? Only pastors and evangelists? Not only them. In fact, every Christian has this mission to witness the gospel through words and actions, communicating the will of God to the surrounding people.

Back to the Scripture - we usually think that that Seraphs / Seraphim are “angels.” Based on Hebrew word, “Saraph” translates literally to “burning”. Some scholars consider that Seraphs are actually related to the “fiery serpents” mentioned in Numbers 21:6 and Deuteronomy 8:15. However, as the scene here (in Isaiah) is in the heavenly court, not at an altar - if there were two fiery serpents near the altar, it would be well understandable, and even convenient, as it’s much easier to have a lighter to make a fire ~ But since the scene here is the heavenly court, I tend to think that the Seraphim are more like “divine beasts.” According to Ancient Near Eastern culture, The armrests and footstools on both sides of a king’s throne were often carved with reliefs / images of creatures that had wings and the faces of wild beasts. In the ancient times, kings were often believed as the earthly manifestations of gods, or as the adopted offspring of the deities. Therefore, they were believed to have dominion over the earth, including control over all strange beasts, both heavenly and earthly. Likewise, when a king travelled in a chariot, the sides of the vehicle would also likely be decorated with these strange but powerful beasts.

So why do the Seraphim sing to one another, “Holy! Holy! Holy! is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory”? In the context of temple sacrifice, ‘holy’ means setting apart, belonging to God; and if referring to God, “holy” means being separated from this world, not belonging to humanity, but exclusively the realm of God. “Holy, Holy, Holy” is a praise to God, because God is worthy of this praise. And “Holy, Holy, Holy” is describing “the LORD of hosts.” “The LORD of hosts” is a military nomenclature, which is very likely connected to the historical context at that time – King Jeroboam II of the northern kingdom (Israel) and King Uzziah of the southern kingdom (Judah) died one after another within ten years (753 & 742 BCE?). That means almost at the same time, both kingdoms lost their respective political leaders who had reigned these two places for long. Meanwhile, the neighboring great power, Assyria, had a great king —a military strongman Tiglath-Pileser III. 

It was at this time that the prophet Isaiah saw in the vision that the “LORD of hosts” was in the temple in Jerusalem AND also in the heavenly court, seated on His throne. This vision represents that the sovereign ruler over all the earth is the Lord our God but not any king on earth. God is neither a deity of our imagination nor a deity restricted inside the temple as the pagan gods. Our God is a living God; He is involved in the earthly affairs. When people see the state of the world and feel anxious or even hopeless, God is still in control and has His plan.

“The whole earth is full of his glory!” In the Old Testament, when the glory of God fills a place, it represents that God is manifest there, signifying His presence and His accompany. There are some differences between “presence” and “accompany”. “Presence” is like looking down from on high, descending to the human realm —carrying a sense of overlooking all creation while also ruling over the earth; “accompany,” on the other hand, emphasizes walking alongside people so that they do not feel alone. The glory of God fills the Temple in Jerusalem, revealing His presence and accompany at the same time. Just like at the time when the LORD appeared on Mount Sinai to those Israelites who escaped from Egypt, “the Lord of hosts” appeared before prophet Isaiah now. It shows that even though King Uzziah passed away, there is nothing to fear. What is truly concerning is whether the people of this place, the kingdom of Judah, really know who was the God with whom they have a covenantal relationship? Were they listened to and obey God the Lord?

Dear Brothers and sisters, today, for all of us, whether in our personal circumstances, in this country, or in this world, is there anything that makes you to have the feeling that something you've always relied on has suddenly disappeared? Are there changes that make you feel lost about what lies ahead, and even causing you to wonder what kind of attitude a Christian should possess to face the future? Sometimes I would reflect that today, as a Christian, apart from going to church service and gatherings, and besides saying grace before meals, for the things that we always carry in our hearts, the things that we have kept seeking, is there any difference between Christians and non-Christians? “Holy, holy, holy!” is our praise to God but – have we set apart ourselves and consecrated to Him? Are we, like the people of the kingdom Judah, only focused on the death of King Uzziah and failed to see God — and fail to see the One who is always in control of all things and watches over us?

Reflection 2: “Send me!” Get ready then

Although God is always willingness to “be present” and “to accompany” with us, it does not mean that we are always ready to meet Him. In this passage of the book of Isaiah, it makes use of the imagery of God’s appearance (theophany) — possibly based on the revelation of God to Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai during the Exodus. For example, Exodus 19:16: “On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, as well as a thick cloud on the mountain and a blast of a trumpet so loud that all the people who were in the camp trembled.” Note: What did God instruct Moses at that time? In verse 21: “Go down and warn the people not to break through to see the Lord; otherwise many of them will perish.” In other words, according to ancient Israelite understanding, if a person was not prepared to encounter the holy God, they could not stand in His presence but death!

In fact, after the Ten Commandments were given, the people said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Later, after the Tabernacle was completed, a cloud and the glory of God filled it. Exodus 40:34 states, “The cloud covered the Tabernacle, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle,” signifying that God had come among the Israelites.

When we compare these scriptural traditions, we can reasonably infer that the passage of today about Isaiah’s calling is alluding to the Exodus passage we just mentioned. If not allusion, at least, we can say that the ancient readers of the book of Isaiah would have been familiar with the two scenes of thunder and lightning at Mount Sinai and the cloud covering the Tabernacle. Thus, when the prophet Isaiah saw God’s presence in the temple, his first reaction was, “Woe is me! I am lost!” which is actually a very “standard” reaction.

In Exodus 20:20, Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin.” It's clear that God’s coming isn’t to destroy His people but to teach them to fear Him. When God is willing to be present among humans and dwell with them, and people are willing to draw near to Him and serve Him, they would soon recognize that they are sinners and not worthy to draw near to or serve God. And even if a person is willing to fear God and not want to sin, as Isaiah said, he is “a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips.” Humankind, living in this sinful world, cannot by his own power to become holy and qualified to get close to God and serve Him. But for the election by God, cleansing us, nobody is qualified to serve Him.

Therefore, having the opportunity to serve God is neither a personal right nor a responsibility that we are forced to bear. It’s a grace. To receive this grace, we need to prepare ourselves — with a willing heart and taking practical steps. Meanwhile, we also need to wait for the guidance of the Lord. Let God prepare us, and renounce anything unclean.

Let us think a bit deeper: Why did God make considerable efforts and let Isaiah see the vision, to convince Isaiah that the Lord was still sitting on the throne, and to strengthen his faith in such critical circumstances? Why did God convince Isaiah that he was cleansed and accepted by God, and made Isaiah ready and willing to carry out his calling? Was it too complicated? Actually, all these were necessary because the content of the call, as set out in verses 9-13, is not about the world affairs or international politics, but about the audience that Isaiah was going to preach to: The general public of his country, the people of Judah — a rebellious people who constantly rejected God. It turns out that the ultimate challenge of the calling to Isaiah is not about preparing himself and facing himself. It is about preparing his heart to a long-term ministry of a group of people who didn’t appreciate Isaiah. They rejected God’s word and did not give a listening ear and yet, they called themselves “the people of God.” By now, we can understand why God arranged Isaiah to experience the vision in the temple, and to confirm his identity and mission as a prophet.

Dear Brothers and sisters, in this day and age, in this place, of course everyone’s circumstances are different. Whether you feel it is a peaceful, prosperous time or a stormy, turbulent period as at the time when King Uzziah passed away, we all worship the same God and have the same Jesus as our Savior, Christ, and King. We share the same goal: To love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Whatever our circumstances, we must value our identity and mission as Christians. Our Christian lives are not only about making ends meet; we also need to spend time and thought to reflect and prepare ourselves. We need to be ready; to be sent by God into the world to witness the Gospel. Hopefully, when God calls us, we shall answer “Here am I, send me!” but not “Here am I, but please send them!”

May God our Lord grant us the strength and renew our hearts. Amen.