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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>I S A I A H.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. VI.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Hitherto, it should seem, Isaiah had prophesied as a candidate, having
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only a virtual and tacit commission; but here we have him (if I may so
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speak) solemnly ordained and set apart to the prophetic office by a
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more express or explicit commission, as his work grew more upon his
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hands: or perhaps, having seen little success of his ministry, he began
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to think of giving it up; and therefore God saw fit to renew his
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commission here in this chapter, in such a manner as might excite and
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encourage his zeal and industry in the execution of it, though he
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seemed to labour in vain. In this chapter we have,
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I. A very awful vision which Isaiah saw of the glory of God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:1-4">ver. 1-4</A>),
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the terror it put him into
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:5">ver. 5</A>),
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and the relief given him against that terror by an assurance of the
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pardon of his sins,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:6,7">ver. 6, 7</A>.
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II. A very awful commission which Isaiah received to go as a prophet,
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in God's name
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:8">ver. 8</A>),
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by his preaching to harden the impenitent in sin and ripen them for
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ruin
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:9-12">ver. 9-12</A>)
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yet with a reservation of mercy for a remnant,
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:13">ver. 13</A>).
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And it was as to an evangelical prophet that these things were shown
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him and said to him.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Isa6_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa6_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa6_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa6_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Isaiah's Heavenly Vision.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 758.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting
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upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the
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temple.
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2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with
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twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet,
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and with twain he did fly.
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3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, <I>is</I>
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts: the whole earth <I>is</I> full of his glory.
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4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that
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cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The vision which Isaiah saw when he was, as is said of Samuel,
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<I>established to be a prophet of the Lord</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+3:20">1 Sam. iii. 20</A>),
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was intended,
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1. To confirm his faith, that he might himself be abundantly satisfied
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of the truth of those things which should afterwards be made known to
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him. This God opened the communications of himself to him; but such
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visions needed not to be afterwards repeated upon every revelation.
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Thus God appeared at first as a God of glory to Abraham
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+7:2">Acts vii. 2</A>),
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and to Moses,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+3:2">Exod. iii. 2</A>.
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Ezekiel's prophecies and St. John's, begin with visions of the divine
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glory.
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2. To work upon his affections, that he might be possessed with such a
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reverence of God as would both quicken him and fix him to his service.
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Those who are to teach others the knowledge of God ought to be well
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acquainted with him themselves.</P>
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<P>
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The vision is dated, for the greater certainty of it. It was <I>in the
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year that king Uzziah died,</I> who had reigned, for the most part, as
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prosperously and well as any of the kings of Judah, and reigned very
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long, above fifty years. About the time that he died, Isaiah saw this
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vision of God upon a throne; for when the breath of princes goes forth,
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and they return to their earth, this is our comfort, that <I>the Lord
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shall reign for ever,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+146:3,4,10">Ps. cxlvi. 3, 4, 10</A>.
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Israel's king dies, but Israel's God still lives. From the mortality of
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great and good men we should take occasion to look up with an eye of
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faith to the King eternal, immortal. King Uzziah died under a cloud,
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for he was shut up as a leper till the day of his death. As the lives
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of princes have their periods, so their glory is often eclipsed; but,
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as God is everliving, so his glory is everlasting. King Uzziah dies in
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an hospital, but the King of kings still sits upon his throne.</P>
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<P>
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What the prophet here saw is revealed to us, that we, mixing faith with
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that revelation, may in it, as in a glass, behold the glory of the
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Lord; let us turn aside therefore, and see this great sight with humble
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reverence.</P>
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<P>
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I. See God upon his throne, and that throne <I>high and lifted up,</I>
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not only above other thrones, as it transcends them, but over other
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thrones, as it rules and commands them. Isaiah saw not
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<I>Jehovah</I>--the essence of God (no man has seen that, or can see
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it), but <I>Adonai</I>--his dominion. He saw the Lord Jesus; so this
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vision is explained
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+12:41">John xii. 41</A>,
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that Isaiah now saw Christ's glory and spoke of him, which is an
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incontestable proof of the divinity of our Saviour. He it is who when,
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after his resurrection, he sat down on the right hand of God, did but
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sit down where he was before,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+17:5">John xvii. 5</A>.
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See the rest of the Eternal Mind: Isaiah <I>saw the Lord sitting,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+29:10">Ps. xxix. 10</A>.
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See the sovereignty of the Eternal Monarch: he sits <I>upon a
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throne</I>--a throne of glory, before which we must worship,--a throne
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of government, under which we must be subject,--and a throne of grace,
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to which we may come boldly. This throne is high, and lifted up above
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all competition and contradiction.</P>
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<P>
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II. See his temple, his church on earth, filled with the manifestations
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of his glory. His throne being erected at the door of the temple (as
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princes sat in judgment at the gates), <I>his train,</I> the skirts of
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his robes, <I>filled the temple,</I> the whole world (for it is all
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God's temple, and, as the heaven is his throne, so the earth is his
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footstool), or rather the church, which is filled enriched, and
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beautified with the tokens of God's special presence.</P>
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<P>
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III. See the bright and blessed attendants on his throne, in and by
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whom his glory is celebrated and his government served
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>Above the throne,</I> as it were hovering about it, or nigh to the
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throne, bowing before it, with an eye to it, <I>the seraphim stood,</I>
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the holy angels, who are called <I>seraphim-burners;</I> for he
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<I>makes his ministers a flaming fire,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+104:4">Ps. civ. 4</A>.
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They burn in love to God, and zeal for his glory and against sin, and
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he makes use of them as instruments of his wrath when he is a consuming
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fire to his enemies. Whether they were only two or four, or (as I
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rather think) an <I>innumerable company of angels,</I> that Isaiah saw,
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is uncertain; see
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:10">Dan. vii. 10</A>.
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Note, It is the glory of the angels that they are seraphim, have heat
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proportionable to their light, have abundance, not only of divine
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knowledge, but of holy love. Special notice is taken of their wings
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(and of no other part of their appearance), because of the use they
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made of them, which is designed for instruction to us. They had <I>each
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of them six wings,</I> not stretched upwards (as those whom Ezekiel
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saw,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:11"><I>ch.</I> i. 11</A>),
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but,
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1. Four were made use of for a covering, as the wings of a fowl,
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sitting, are; with the two upper wings, next to the head, they covered
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their faces, and with the two lowest wings they covered their feet, or
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lower parts. This bespeaks their great humility and reverence in their
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attendance upon God, for he is greatly feared in <I>the assembly of
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those saints,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:7">Ps. lxxxix. 7</A>.
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They not only cover their feet, those members of the body which are
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less honourable
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+12:23">1 Cor. xii. 23</A>),
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but even their faces. Though angel's faces, doubtless, are much fairer
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than those of the children of men
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:15">Acts vi. 15</A>),
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yet in the presence of God, they cover them, because they cannot bear
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the dazzling lustre of the divine glory, and because, being conscious
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of an infinite distance from the divine perfection, they are ashamed to
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show their faces before the holy God, who <I>charges even his angels
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with folly</I> if they should offer to vie with him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+4:18">Job iv. 18</A>.
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If angels be thus reverent in their attendance on God, with what godly
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fear should we approach his throne! Else we do not the will of God as
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the angels do it. Yet Moses, when he went into the mount with God, took
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the veil from off his face. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+3:18">2 Cor. iii. 18</A>.
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2. Two were made use of for flight; when they are sent on God's errands
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they fly swiftly
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+9:21">Dan. ix. 21</A>),
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more swiftly with their own wings than if they flew on the wings of the
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wind. This teaches us to do the work of God with cheerfulness and
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expedition. Do angels come upon the wing from heaven to earth, to
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minister for our good, and shall not we soar upon the wing from earth
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to heaven, to share with them in their glory?
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+20:36">Luke xx. 36</A>.</P>
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<P>
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IV. Hear the anthem, or song of praise, which the angels sing to the
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honour of him that sits on the throne,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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Observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. How this song was sung. With zeal and fervency--<I>they cried</I>
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aloud; and with unanimity--<I>they cried to another,</I> or one with
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another; they sang alternately, but in concert, and without the least
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jarring voice to interrupt the harmony.</P>
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<P>
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2. What the song was; it is the same with that which is sung by the
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four living creatures,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+4:8">Rev. iv. 8</A>.
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Note, Praising God always was, and will be to eternity, the work of
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heaven, and the constant employment of blessed spirits above,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+84:4">Ps. lxxxiv. 4</A>.
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Note further, The church above is the same in its praises; there is no
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change of times or notes there. Two things the seraphim here give God
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the praise of:--</P>
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<P>
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(1.) His infinite perfections in himself. Here is one of his most
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glorious titles praised: he is <I>the Lord of hosts,</I> of their
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hosts, of all hosts; and one of his most glorious attributes, his
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holiness, without which his being the Lord of hosts (or, as it is in
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the parallel place,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+4:8">Rev. iv. 8</A>,
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<I>the Lord God Almighty</I>) could not be so much as it is the matter
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of our joy and praise; for power, without purity to guide it, would be
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a terror to mankind. None of all the divine attributes is so celebrated
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in scripture as this is. God's power was spoken twice
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+62:11">Ps. lxii. 11</A>),
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but his holiness thrice, <I>Holy, holy, holy.</I> This bespeaks,
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[1.] The zeal and fervency of the angels in praising God; they even
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want words to express themselves, and therefore repeat the same again.
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[2.] The particular pleasure they take in contemplating the holiness of
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God; this is a subject they love to dwell upon, to harp upon, and are
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loth to leave.
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[3.] The superlative excellency of God's holiness, above that of the
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purest creatures. He is holy, thrice holy, infinitely holy, originally,
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perfectly, and eternally so.
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[4.] It may refer to the three person in the Godhead, Holy Father, Holy
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Son, and Holy Spirit (for it follows,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>,
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<I>Who will go for us?</I>) or perhaps to <I>that which was, and is,
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and is to come;</I> for that title of God's honour is added to this
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song,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+4:8">Rev. iv. 8</A>.
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Some make the angels here to applaud the equity of that sentence which
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God was now about to pronounce upon the Jewish nation. Herein he was,
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and is, and will be, holy; his ways are equal.</P>
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<P>
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(2.) The manifestation of these to the children of men: <I>The earth is
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full of his glory,</I> the glory of his power and purity; for he is
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holy in all his works,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+145:17">Ps. cxlv. 17</A>.
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The Jews thought the glory of God should be confined to their land; but
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it is here intimated that in the gospel times (which are pointed to in
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this chapter) the glory of God should fill all the earth, the glory of
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his holiness, which is indeed the glory of all his other attributes;
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this then <I>filled the temple</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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but, in the latter days, the earth shall be full of it.</P>
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<P>
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V. Observe the marks and tokens of terror with which the temple was
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filled, upon this vision of the divine glory,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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1. The house was <I>shaken;</I> not only the door, but even <I>the
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posts of the door,</I> which were firmly fixed, <I>moved at the voice
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of him that cried,</I> at the voice of God, who called to judgment
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+50:4">Ps. l. 4</A>),
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at the voice of the angel, who praised him. There are voices in heaven
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sufficient to drown all the noises of the many waters in this lower
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world,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+93:3,4">Ps. xciii. 3, 4</A>.
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This violent concussion of the temple was an indication of God's wrath
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and displeasure against the people for their sins; it was an earnest of
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the destruction of it and the city by the Babylonians first, and
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afterwards by the Romans; and it was designed to strike an awe upon us.
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Shall walls and posts tremble before God, and shall we not tremble?
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2. The house was <I>darkened;</I> it was <I>filled with smoke,</I>
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which was as a <I>cloud spread</I> upon <I>the face of his throne</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+26:9">Job xxvi. 9</A>);
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we cannot take a full view of it, nor order our speech concerning it,
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by reason of darkness. In the temple above there will be no smoke, but
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everything will be seen clearly. There God dwells in light; here he
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<I>makes darkness his pavilion,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+6:1">2 Chron. vi. 1</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Isa6_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa6_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa6_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa6_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Isaiah's Heavenly Vision.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 758.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>5 Then said I, Woe <I>is</I> me! for I am undone; because I <I>am</I> a
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man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of
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unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of
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hosts.
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6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in
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|
his hand, <I>which</I> he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
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7 And he laid <I>it</I> upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath
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touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin
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purged.
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8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I
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send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here <I>am</I> I; send me.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Our curiosity would lead us to enquire further concerning the seraphim,
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their songs and their services; but here we leave them, and must attend
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to what passed between God and his prophet. <I>Secret things belong not
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to us,</I> the secret things of the world of angels, but things
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revealed to and by the prophets, which concern the administration of
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God's kingdom among men. Now here we have,</P>
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<P>
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I. The consternation that the prophet was put into by the vision which
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he saw of the glory of God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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<I>Then said I, Woe is me!</I> I should have said, "Blessed art thou,
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who hast been thus highly favoured, highly honoured, and dignified, for
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a time, with the privilege of those glorious beings that <I>always
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|
behold the face of our Father.</I> Blessed were those eyes which saw
|
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the Lord sitting on his throne, and those ears which heard the angels'
|
|
praises." And, one would think, he should have said, "Happy am I, for
|
|
ever happy; nothing now shall trouble me, nothing make me blush or
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tremble;" but, on the contrary, he cries out, "<I>Woe is me! for I am
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undone.</I> Alas for me! I am a gone man; <I>I shall surely die</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:22,Jdg+6:22">Judges xiii. 22; vi. 22</A>);
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I am silenced; I am struck dumb, struck dead." Thus Daniel, when he
|
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heard the words of the angel, <I>became dumb,</I> and there was <I>no
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strength, no breath, left in him,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+10:15,17">Dan. x. 15, 17</A>.
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Observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. What the prophet reflected upon in himself which terrified him:
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"<I>I am undone</I> if God deal with me in strict justice, for I have
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made myself obnoxious to his displeasure, <I>because I am a man of
|
|
unclean lips.</I>" Some think he refers particularly to some rash word
|
|
he had spoken, or to his sinful silence in not reproving sin with the
|
|
boldness and freedom that were necessary--a sin which God's ministers
|
|
have too much cause to charge themselves with, and to blush at the
|
|
remembrance of. But it may be taken more generally; <I>I am a
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|
sinner;</I> particularly, <I>I have offended in word;</I> and who is
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there that hath not?
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+3:2">Jam. iii. 2</A>.
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We all have reason to bewail it before the Lord,
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|
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(1.) That we are of unclean lips ourselves; our lips are not
|
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consecrated to God; he had not had the <I>first-fruits of our lips</I>
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|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:15">Heb. xiii. 15</A>),
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|
|
and therefore they are counted common and unclean, <I>uncircumcised
|
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lips,</I>
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+6:30">Exod. vi. 30</A>.
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Nay, they have been polluted with sin. We have spoken the language of
|
|
an unclean heart, that evil communication which corrupts good manners,
|
|
and whereby many have been defiled. We are unworthy and unmeet to take
|
|
God's name into our lips. With what a pure lip did the angels praise
|
|
God! "But," says the prophet, "I cannot praise him so, for <I>I am a
|
|
man of unclean lips.</I>" The best men in the world have reason to be
|
|
ashamed of themselves, and the best of their services, when they come
|
|
into comparison with the holy angels. The angels had celebrated the
|
|
purity and holiness of God; and therefore the prophet, when he reflects
|
|
upon sin, calls it <I>uncleanness;</I> for the sinfulness of sin is its
|
|
contrariety to the holy nature of God, and upon that account especially
|
|
it should appear both hateful and frightful to us. The impurity of our
|
|
lips ought to be the grief of our souls, for by our words we shall be
|
|
justified or condemned.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That we dwell among those who are so too. We have reason to
|
|
lament not only that we ourselves are polluted, but that the nature and
|
|
race of mankind are so; the disease is hereditary and epidemic, which
|
|
is so far from lessening our guilt that it should rather increase our
|
|
grief, especially considering that we have not done what we might have
|
|
done for the cleansing of the pollution of other people's lips; nay, we
|
|
have rather learned their way and spoken their language, as Joseph in
|
|
Egypt learned the courtier's oath,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+42:16">Gen. xlii. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
"<I>I dwell in the midst of a people</I> who by their impudent sinnings
|
|
are pulling down desolating judgments upon the land, which I, who am a
|
|
sinner too, may justly expect to be involved in."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. What gave occasion for these sad reflections at this time: <I>My
|
|
eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.</I> He saw God's
|
|
sovereignty to be incontestable--he is the King; and his power
|
|
irresistible--he is the Lord of hosts. These are comfortable truths to
|
|
God's people, and yet they ought to strike an awe upon us. Note, A
|
|
believing sight of God's glorious majesty should affect us all with
|
|
reverence and godly fear. We have reason to be abased in the sense of
|
|
that infinite distance that there is between us and God, and our own
|
|
sinfulness and vileness before him, and to be afraid of his
|
|
displeasure. We are undone if there be not a Mediator between us and
|
|
this holy God,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+6:20">1 Sam. vi. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
Isaiah was thus humbled, to prepare him for the honour he was now to be
|
|
called to as a prophet. Note, Those are fittest to be employed for God
|
|
who are low in their own eyes and are made deeply sensible of their own
|
|
weakness and unworthiness.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The silencing of the prophet's fears by the good words, and
|
|
comfortable words, with which the angel answered him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:6,7"><I>v.</I> 6, 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
One of the seraphim immediately flew to him, to purify him, and so to
|
|
pacify him. Note, God has strong consolations ready for holy mourners.
|
|
Those that humble themselves in penitential shame and fear shall soon
|
|
be encouraged and exalted; those that are struck down with the visions
|
|
of God's glory shall soon be raised up again with the visits of his
|
|
grace; he that tears will heal. Note, further, Angels are ministering
|
|
spirits for the good of the saints, for their spiritual good. Here was
|
|
one of the seraphim dismissed, for a time, from attending on the throne
|
|
of God's glory, to be a messenger of his grace to a good man; and so
|
|
well pleased was he with the office that he came flying to him. To our
|
|
Lord Jesus himself, in his agony, there <I>appeared an angel from
|
|
heaven, strengthening him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+22:43">Luke xxii. 43</A>.
|
|
|
|
Here is,
|
|
|
|
1. A comfortable sign given to the prophet of the purging away of his
|
|
sin. The seraph <I>brought a live coal from the altar,</I> and touched
|
|
his lips with it, not to hurt them, but to heal them--not to cauterize,
|
|
but to cleanse them; for there were purifications by fire, as well as
|
|
by water, and the filth of Jerusalem was purged by the <I>spirit of
|
|
burning,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+4:4"><I>ch.</I> iv. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
The blessed Spirit works as fire,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+3:11">Matt. iii. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
The seraph, being himself kindled with a divine fire, put life into the
|
|
prophet, to make him also zealously affected; for the way to purge the
|
|
lips from the uncleanness of sin is to fire the soul with the love of
|
|
God. This live coal was taken from off the altar, either the altar of
|
|
incense or that of burnt-offerings, for they had both of them fire
|
|
burning on them continually. Nothing is powerful to cleanse and comfort
|
|
the soul but what is taken from Christ's satisfaction and the
|
|
intercession he ever lives to make in the virtue of that satisfaction.
|
|
It must be a coal from his altar that must put life into us and be our
|
|
peace; it will not be done with strange fire.
|
|
|
|
2. An explication of this sign: "<I>Lo, this has touched thy lips,</I>
|
|
to assure thee of this, that <I>thy iniquity is taken away and thy sin
|
|
purged.</I> The guilt of thy sin is removed by pardoning mercy, the
|
|
guilt of thy tongue-sins. Thy corrupt disposition to sin is removed by
|
|
renewing grace; and therefore nothing can hinder thee from being
|
|
accepted with God as a worshipper, in concert with the holy angels, or
|
|
from being employed for God as a messenger to the children of men."
|
|
Those only who are thus purged from an evil conscience are prepared
|
|
<I>to serve the living God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+9:14">Heb. ix. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
The taking away of sin is necessary to our speaking with confidence and
|
|
comfort either to God in prayer or from God in preaching; nor are any
|
|
so fit to display to others the riches and power of gospel-grace as
|
|
those who have themselves tasted the sweetness and felt the influence
|
|
of that grace; and those shall have their sin taken away who complain
|
|
of it as a burden and see themselves in danger of being undone by
|
|
it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The renewing of the prophet's mission,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
Here is a communication between God and Isaiah about this matter. Those
|
|
that would assist others in their correspondence with God must not
|
|
themselves be strangers to it; for how can we expect that God should
|
|
speak by us if we never heard him speaking to us, or that we should be
|
|
accepted as the mouth of others to God if we never spoke to him
|
|
heartily for ourselves? Observe here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The counsel of God concerning Isaiah's mission. God is here brought
|
|
in, after the manner of men, deliberating and advising with himself:
|
|
<I>Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?</I> God needs not either
|
|
to be counselled by others or to consult with himself; he knows what he
|
|
will do, but thus he would show us that there is a counsel in his whole
|
|
will, and teach us to consider our ways, and particularly that the
|
|
sending forth of ministers is a work not to be done but upon mature
|
|
deliberation. Observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Who it is that is consulting. It is the Lord God in his glory,
|
|
whom he saw upon the throne high and lifted up. It puts an honour upon
|
|
the ministry that, when God would send a prophet to speak in his name,
|
|
he appeared in all the glories of the upper world. Ministers are the
|
|
ambassadors of the King of kings; how mean soever they are, he who
|
|
sends them is great; it is God in three persons (Who will go for us? as
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+1:26">Gen. i. 26</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>Let us make man</I>), Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. They all concur,
|
|
as in the creating, so in the redeeming and governing of man. Ministers
|
|
are ordained in the same name into which all Christians are baptized.
|
|
|
|
(2.) What the consultation is: <I>Whom shall I send? And who will
|
|
go?</I> Some think this refers to the particular message of wrath
|
|
against Israel,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:9,10"><I>v.</I> 9, 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
"Who will be willing to go on such a melancholy errand, on which they
|
|
will go in the bitterness of their souls?"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+3:14">Ezek. iii. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
But I rather take it more largely for all those messages which the
|
|
prophet was entrusted to deliver, in God's name, to that people, in
|
|
which that hardening work was by no means the primary intention, but a
|
|
secondary effect of them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+2:16">2 Cor. ii. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Whom shall I send?</I> intimating that the business was such as
|
|
required a choice and well-accomplished messenger,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+49:19">Jer. xlix. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
God now appeared, attended with holy angels, and yet asks, <I>Whom
|
|
shall I send?</I> For he would send them a <I>prophet from among their
|
|
brethren,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+2:17">Heb. ii. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note,
|
|
|
|
[1.] It is the unspeakable favour of God to us that he is pleased to
|
|
send us his mind by men like ourselves, whose terror shall not make us
|
|
afraid, and who are themselves concerned in the messages they bring.
|
|
Those who are workers together with God are sinners and sufferers
|
|
together with us.
|
|
|
|
[2.] It is a rare thing to find one who is fit to go for God, and carry
|
|
his messages to the children of men: <I>Whom shall I send?</I> Who is
|
|
sufficient? Such a degree of courage for God and concern for the souls
|
|
of men as is necessary to make a man faithful, and withal such an
|
|
insight into the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven as is necessary to
|
|
make a man skilful, are seldom to be met with. Such an interpreter of
|
|
the mind of God is one of a thousand,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+33:23">Job xxxiii. 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
[3.] None are allowed to go for God but those who are sent by him; he
|
|
will own none but those whom he appoints,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+10:15">Rom. x. 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is Christ's work to put men into the ministry,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+1:12">1 Tim. i. 12</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The consent of Isaiah to it: <I>Then said I, Here am I; send me.</I>
|
|
He was to go on a melancholy errand; the office seemed to go a begging,
|
|
and every body declined it, and yet Isaiah offered himself to the
|
|
service. It is an honour to be singular in appearing for God,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:7">Judges v. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
We must not say, "I would go if I thought I should have success;" but,
|
|
"I will go, and leave the success to God. Here am I; send me." Isaiah
|
|
had been himself in a melancholy frame
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
full of doubts and fears; but now that he had the assurance of the
|
|
pardon of his sin the clouds were blown over, and he was fit for
|
|
service and forward to it. What he says denotes,
|
|
|
|
(1.) His readiness: "Here am I, a volunteer, not pressed into the
|
|
service." <I>Behold me;</I> so the word is. God says to us, <I>Behold
|
|
me</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+65:1"><I>ch.</I> lxv. 1</A>),
|
|
|
|
and, <I>Here I am</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+58:9"><I>ch.</I> lviii. 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
even before we call; let us say so to him when he does call.
|
|
|
|
(2.) His resolution; "<I>Here I am,</I> ready to encounter the greatest
|
|
difficulties. <I>I have set my face as a flint.</I>" Compare this with
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+50:4-7"><I>ch.</I> l. 4-7</A>.
|
|
|
|
(3.) His referring himself to God: "Send me whither thou wilt; make
|
|
what use thou pleasest of me. Send me, that is, Lord, give me
|
|
commission and full instruction; send me, and then, no doubt, thou wilt
|
|
stand by me." It is a great comfort to those whom God sends that they
|
|
go for God, and may therefore speak in his name, as having authority,
|
|
and be assured that he will bear them out.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Isa6_9"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa6_10"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa6_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa6_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa6_13"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Judicial Blindness Threatened.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 758.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but
|
|
understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
|
|
10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears
|
|
heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and
|
|
hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and
|
|
convert, and be healed.
|
|
11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the
|
|
cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man,
|
|
and the land be utterly desolate,
|
|
12 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> have removed men far away, and <I>there be</I> a
|
|
great forsaking in the midst of the land.
|
|
13 But yet in it <I>shall be</I> a tenth, and <I>it</I> shall return, and
|
|
shall be eaten: as a teil-tree, and as an oak, whose substance
|
|
<I>is</I> in them, when they cast <I>their leaves: so</I> the holy seed
|
|
<I>shall be</I> the substance thereof.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
God takes Isaiah at his word, and here sends him on a strange errand--to
|
|
foretel the ruin of his people and even to ripen them for that ruin--to
|
|
preach that which, by their abuse of it, would be to them a savour of
|
|
death unto death. And this was to be a type and figure of the state of
|
|
the Jewish church in the days of the Messiah, when they should
|
|
obstinately reject the gospel, and should thereupon be rejected of God.
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|
These verses are quoted in part, or referred to, six times, in the New
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|
Testament, which intimates that in gospel time these spiritual
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|
judgments would be most frequently inflicted; and though they make the
|
|
least noise, and come not with observation, yet they are of all
|
|
judgments the most dreadful. Isaiah is here given to understand these
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|
four things:--</P>
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|
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<P>
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|
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|
1. That the generality of the people to whom he was sent would turn a
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|
deaf ear to his preaching, and wilfully shut their eyes against all the
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|
discoveries of the mind and will of God which he had to make to them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Go, and tell this people,</I> this foolish wretched people, tell
|
|
them their own, tell them how stupid and sottish they are." Isaiah must
|
|
preach to them, and they will <I>hear</I> him indeed, but that is all;
|
|
they will not heed him; they will no <I>understand</I> him; they will
|
|
not take any pains, nor use that application of mind which is necessary
|
|
to the understanding of him; they are prejudiced against that which is
|
|
the true intent and meaning of what he says, and therefore they will
|
|
not understand him, or pretend they do not. They <I>see indeed</I>
|
|
(for the vision is made plain on tables, so that he who runs may read
|
|
it); <I>but they perceive not</I> their own concern in it; it is to
|
|
them as a tale that is told. Note, There are many who hear the sound of
|
|
God's word, but do not feel the power of it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
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|
2. That, forasmuch as they would not be made better by his ministry,
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|
they should be made worse by it; those that were wilfully blind should
|
|
be judicially blinded
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
|
|
|
|
"They will not understand or perceive thee, and therefore thou shalt be
|
|
instrumental to <I>make their heart fat,</I> senseless, and sensual,
|
|
and so to <I>make their ears</I> yet more <I>heavy,</I> and to <I>shut
|
|
their eyes</I> the closer; so that, at length, their recovery and
|
|
repentance will become utterly impossible; they shall no more <I>see
|
|
with their eyes</I> the danger they are in, the ruin they are upon the
|
|
brink of, nor the way of escape from it; they shall no more <I>hear
|
|
with their ears</I> the warnings and instructions that are given them,
|
|
nor <I>understand with their heart</I> the things that belong to their
|
|
peace, so as to be converted from the error of their ways, and thus
|
|
<I>be healed.</I>" Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The conversion of sinners is the healing of them.
|
|
|
|
(2.) A right understanding is necessary to conversion.
|
|
|
|
(3.) God sometimes, in a way of righteous judgment, gives men up to
|
|
blindness of mind and strong delusions, because they would not
|
|
<I>receive the truth in the love of it,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Th+2:10-12">2 Thess. ii. 10-12</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>He that is filthy let him be filthy still.</I>
|
|
|
|
(4.) Even the word of God oftentimes proves a means of hardening
|
|
sinners. The evangelical prophet himself makes the heart of this people
|
|
fat, not only as he foretels it, passing this sentence upon them in
|
|
God's name, and seals them under it, but as his preaching had a
|
|
tendency to it, rocking some asleep in security (to whom it was a
|
|
lovely song), and making others more outrageous, to whom it was such a
|
|
reproach that they were not able to bear it. Some looked upon the word
|
|
as a privilege, and their convictions were smothered by it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+7:4">Jer. vii. 4</A>);
|
|
|
|
others looked upon it as a provocation, and their corruptions were
|
|
exasperated by it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. That the consequence of this would be their <I>utter ruin,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:11,12"><I>v.</I> 11, 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
The prophet had nothing to object against the justice of this sentence,
|
|
nor does he refuse to go upon such an errand, but asks, "<I>Lord, how
|
|
long?</I>" (an abrupt question): "Shall it always be thus? Must I and
|
|
other prophets always labour in vain among them, and will things never
|
|
be better?" Or, (as should seem by the answer) "Lord, what will it come
|
|
to at last? What will be in the end hereof?" In answer to this he is
|
|
told that it should issue in the final destruction of the Jewish church
|
|
and nation. "When the word of God, especially the word of the gospel,
|
|
had been thus abused by them, they shall be unchurched, and
|
|
consequently undone. Their cities shall be uninhabited, and their
|
|
country houses too; the land shall be untilled, <I>desolate with
|
|
desolation</I> (as it is in the margin), the people who should
|
|
replenish the houses and cultivate the ground being all cut off by
|
|
sword, famine, or pestilence, and those who escape with their lives
|
|
being removed far away into captivity, so that there shall be a great
|
|
and general forsaking in the midst of the land; that populous country
|
|
shall become desert, and that glory of all lands shall be abandoned."
|
|
Note, Spiritual judgments often bring temporal judgments along with
|
|
them upon persons and places. This was in part fulfilled in the
|
|
destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, when the land, being left
|
|
desolate, enjoyed her sabbaths seventy years; but, the foregoing
|
|
predictions being so expressly applied in the New Testament to the Jews
|
|
in our Saviour's time, doubtless this points at the final destruction
|
|
of that people by the Romans, in which it had a complete
|
|
accomplishment, and the effects of it that people and that land remain
|
|
under to this day.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. That yet a remnant should be reserved to be the monuments of mercy,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
There was a remnant reserved in the last destruction of the Jewish
|
|
nation
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:5">Rom. xi. 5</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>At this present time there is a remnant</I>); for so it was written
|
|
here: <I>But in it shall be a tenth,</I> a certain number, but a very
|
|
small number in comparison with the multitude that shall perish in
|
|
their unbelief. It is that which, under the law, was God's proportion;
|
|
they shall be consecrated to God as the tithes were, and shall be for
|
|
his service and honour. Concerning this tithe, this saved remnant, we
|
|
are here told,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That they shall return
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:13,10:21"><I>ch.</I> vi. 13; x. 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
shall return from sin to God and duty, shall return out of captivity to
|
|
their own land. God will turn them, and they shall be turned.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That they shall be eaten, that is, shall be accepted of God as the
|
|
tithe was, which was meat in God's house,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+3:10">Mal. iii. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
The saving of this remnant shall be meat to the faith and hope of those
|
|
that wish well to God's kingdom.
|
|
|
|
(3.) That they shall be like a timber-tree in winter, which has life,
|
|
though it has no leaves: <I>As a teil-tree and as an oak, whose
|
|
substance is in them even when they cast their leaves,</I> so this
|
|
remnant, though they may be stripped of their outward prosperity and
|
|
share with others in common calamities, shall yet recover themselves,
|
|
as a tree in the spring, and flourish again; though they fall, they
|
|
shall not be utterly cast down. <I>There is hope of a tree, though it
|
|
be cut down, that it will sprout again,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+14:7">Job xiv. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
(4.) That this distinguished remnant shall be the stay and support of
|
|
the public interests. <I>The holy seed</I> in the soul is the substance
|
|
of the man; a principle of grace reigning in the heart will keep life
|
|
there; he that is <I>born of God</I> has <I>his seed remaining in
|
|
him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+3:9">1 John iii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
So the holy seed in the land is the substance of the land, keeps it
|
|
from being quite dissolved, <I>and bears up the pillars of it,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+75:3">Ps. lxxv. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:9"><I>ch.</I> i. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
Some read the foregoing clause with this, thus: <I>As the support at
|
|
Shallecheth is in the elms and the oaks, so the holy seed is the
|
|
substance thereof;</I> as the trees that grow on either side of the
|
|
causeway (the raised way, or terrace-walk, that leads from the king's
|
|
palace to the temple,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+10:5">1 Kings x. 5</A>,
|
|
|
|
at the gate of Shallecheth,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+26:16">1 Chron. xxvi. 16</A>)
|
|
|
|
support the causeway by keeping up the earth, which would otherwise be
|
|
crumbling away, so the small residue of religious, serious, praying
|
|
people, are the support of the state, and help to keep things together
|
|
and save them from going to decay. Some make the holy seed to be
|
|
Christ. The Jewish nation was <I>therefore</I> saved from utter ruin
|
|
because <I>out of it, as concerning the flesh, Christ</I> was to come,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+9:5">Rom. ix. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Destroy it not, for that blessing is in it</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+65:8"><I>ch.</I> lxv. 8</A>);
|
|
|
|
and when that blessing had come, it was soon destroyed. Now the
|
|
consideration of this is designed for the support of the prophet in his
|
|
work. Though far the greater part should perish in their unbelief, yet
|
|
to some his word should be a savour of life unto life. Ministers do not
|
|
wholly lose their labour if they be but instrumental to save one poor
|
|
soul.</P>
|
|
|
|
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