Isaiah 6: 4 - 5
We have so "tamed" our Lord. I wonder why? As you study and explore the Old Testament, there never seems to be a cavalier, ho-hum encounter with God. I wonder if the truth of a personal relationship with God (and it is true!) has led us away from the awesome otherness of the living God? Movies of the "Bruce Almighty" genre, while entertaining, have contributed to making it seem as if God is our "buddy". Passages like Isaiah 6 cure that image very quickly!
The holiness of God shook the temple (verse 4) ... and the holiness of God still shakes our world. As I meditate on this verse, I must ask myself if I truly believe that. Or have centuries of the dailiness of living dulled my senses to that reality? Perhaps that could be our prayer today, "Lord we acknowledge that you are all holiness. Your glory surrounds us. We acknowledge that You hold the very foundations of our world together. And it is Yours to hold them steady or to shake them. We take refuge in the shadow of Your wings."
Receiving a vision of the person of God always allows us to get a true vision of ourselves. And it is never a pretty picture! Connect this Isaiah passage to Luke 5: 4 - 8. Luke tells us about a time when Jesus was in Peter's boat teaching the people standing on the shore of the lake. When He finished He told Peter to cast his net out. Peter balks. They had already been fishing all night and had caught nothing. He knew fish ... he knew their patterns ...he knew this lake. But out of respect for Jesus, Peter does it. So many fish were suddenly there that their nets began to break. Peter realized something "other" was going on. And his response is classic - verse 8: "But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying, 'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!'" He saw the otherness. Isaiah saw the otherness. And both saw themselves. Isaiah cries out that he is unclean. Peter cries out that he is sinful. Seeing God allows us to see ourselves. And that is a good thing - in the same way that a mirror provides really good feedback! Have you looked closely enough into the person of God to be able to see yourself? If not, why not? Is it too painful? Too discouraging? Never fear ... remedy is available. Before you close your Bible today ... read again verses 6 & 7. We will talk more of that miracle tomorrow.
May you see God's holiness today ...
Homeschool moms are notorious for chasing rabbits! Today I did a little background digging on King Uzziah. From 2 Chronicles 26, I learn the following:
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* He rebuilt the military and restored the internal security that had languished under previous kings
* He waged war against the Philistines, Arabs, Meunites, and received tribute from the Ammonites
* His power and fame spread as far as Egypt
2 Chronicles 26:4-5 tells us that 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." Sounds like a pretty good guy!
But after he had amassed this excellent track record, pride became Uzziah's downfall. He entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar -- a role reserved for the priests. Accosted by a group of 81 priests (a brave move, considering the supreme power kings wielded in those days!), he flew into a rage. He was stricken with leprosy, and Scripture tells us he died a leper, excluded from his own palace and from the temple of the LORD. During that time his son Jotham had charge of the palace and governed the people. He was buried near (not with) his fathers -- an outcast even in death.
Back to 2 Chronicles 26:5. "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." The events which incurred Uzziah's leprosy and subsequent death would have been fresh in Isaiah's memory as he wrote this week's passage. I am reminded of the passage in Leviticus 10 where God says "By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, and before all the people I will be honored." Doesn't it make you wonder about this Zechariah, faithfully, quietly mentoring the young king in the early years... and under whose influence Uzziah may have fallen after Zechariah was no longer around?
I hear Isaiah saying, humbly, from deep within his being, "Lord, I don't want to go there -- in attitude or action!" What follows is yet another instance of a fallen human being who trades "being right" (which we can never do) for "wearing righteousness." One way or another, God's ultimate goal is just that: making us holy!