Isaiah, the greatest prophet, appeared at a time when the northern kingdom collapsed under the blows of Assyria and Jerusalem itself saw the army of Sennacherib drawn up before its walls. In the year that Uzziah, king of Judah, died, Isaiah received his call to the prophetic office in the Temple of Jerusalem. The vision of the Lord enthroned in glory stamps an indelible character on Isaiah’s ministry and provides the key to understanding his message. The majesty, holiness and glory of the Lord took possession of his spirit and, conversely, he gained a new awareness of the human pettiness and sinfulness. The abyss between God’s sovereign holiness and man’s sin overwhelmed the prophet. Only the purifying coal of the seraphim could cleanse his lips and prepare him for acceptance of the call: “Here I am, send me!” Chapter 1, verse 27 “Zion shall be redeemed by judgment and her repentant ones by justice.” is the key to the whole Book of Isaiah. Zion’s defiant persistence in sin has demanded a divine judgment, by which her survivors will be cleansed and will return to God in justice. Jerusalem becomes more than just the capital of the Davidic kingdom. It is the place which God chose to become the center of the world’s life-supernaturally the highest of the mountains, to which the nations will come, the source of the divine law and the divine blessing of peace for the whole world. New life is his promise! After the opening section, Isaiah, reechoes the theme of absolute allegiance to God, of obedience to his laws and shows the consequences of failure.
Isaiah, the greatest prophet, appeared at a time when the northern kingdom collapsed under the blows of Assyria and Jerusalem itself saw the army of Sennacherib drawn up before its walls. In the year that Uzziah, king of Judah, died, Isaiah received his call to the prophetic office in the Temple of Jerusalem. The vision of the Lord enthroned in glory stamps an indelible character on Isaiah’s ministry and provides the key to understanding his message. The majesty, holiness and glory of the Lord took possession of his spirit and, conversely, he gained a new awareness of the human pettiness and sinfulness. The abyss between God’s sovereign holiness and man’s sin overwhelmed the prophet. Only the purifying coal of the seraphim could cleanse his lips and prepare him for acceptance of the call: “Here I am, send me!” Chapter 1, verse 27 “Zion shall be redeemed by judgment and her repentant ones by justice.” is the key to the whole Book of Isaiah. Zion’s defiant persistence in sin has demanded a divine judgment, by which her survivors will be cleansed and will return to God in justice. Jerusalem becomes more than just the capital of the Davidic kingdom. It is the place which God chose to become the center of the world’s life-supernaturally the highest of the mountains, to which the nations will come, the source of the divine law and the divine blessing of peace for the whole world. New life is his promise! After the opening section, Isaiah, reechoes the theme of absolute allegiance to God, of obedience to his laws and shows the consequences of failure.
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