Monday, July 16, 2012

Isaiah 6:1


Copyright Ó 2012 J. Neely
Isaiah 6:1

1  In the year [shaneh (in pl. only),] that king [melek] Uzziah [`Uzziyah] died [maveth] I saw [ra'ah] also ['eth] the Lord ['Adonay] sitting [yashab] upon a throne, [kicce'] high [ruwm] and lifted up, [nasa'] and his train [shuwl] filled [male'] ['eth] the temple. [heykal] KJV-Interlinear

1 In the year of King, Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. NASB

In the mid 700's BC, when the king Uzziah was in the process of dying, Isaiah saw this vision. Uzziah was in general, a prosperous king with a lengthy rule of about 50 years or so. Yet in his final days he came down with an illness which forced his confinement until his death.

We immediately have a contrast between the earthly king and the eternal King, Jesus Christ.

Uzziah was a man. Jesus Christ is God. Uzziah was mortal. Jesus Christ is eternal. Uzziah was fragile and subject to the flaws of the human life. Jesus Christ has no flaws, no blemishes, no defects, no weaknesses.

Mans life on this earth is temporary - yours, mine, certainly Uzziah's. Jesus Christ's life is eternal. There never was a time when Christ did not exist, He has always existed since eternity past and will always live forever.

Uzziah had limited knowledge, limited wisdom. Jesus Christ has total knowledge, total wisdom. There is nothing that Christ does not know. Christ is the perfect ruler, the perfect leader, the perfect judge, the perfect provider of everything that everyone will ever need. His resources are infinite and eternal. He can provide anything for everyone.

Uzziah died. Christ will never die. The leaders of men and nations sooner or later die, in fact all men and nations eventually die or cease, but God still lives.

Psa. 146:3
3 Do not trust in princes, In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation. NASB

Psa. 146:10
10 The LORD will reign forever, Thy God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD! NASB

Our eyes in this life are generally focused on that which we can see, but what we should be focusing our attention on is that which we cannot see - our spiritual life and leader.

Uzziah fell from his throne, but Christ's Throne rises above all earthly thrones with higher authority and higher dominion. Jesus Christ is the sovereign over all that exists.

Jesus Christ is God, however this ruler sits on His divine throne. God cannot sit, man sits. Therefore God has to become man in order to be able to sit. Jesus Christ is that God/man, the unique person of the universe.

Isaiah saw 'Adonay,' which carries the meaning of 'sovereign.' The Lord is God, the Lord is Sovereign, or the highest authority in all of existence. The Lord is unique - He is the God/man, the unique person of the universe.

Isaiah saw the unique glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Isaiah clearly saw the Messiah, as a man in the sitting position, thus identifying Jesus Christ.  John quotes this verse.

John 12:41
41 These things Isaiah said, because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him. NASB

He, Jesus Christ, it is He who when, after his resurrection, He sat down on the right hand of God the Father, did only sit down where He had already sat before, John 17:5.

John 17:5
5 'And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.' NASB

So just as man can refuse to recognize Christ now, so too, the angels saw Christ sitting in authority prior to human history. It seems likely that Christ was the object of decision with the angels salvation way back before the time of man, consistent with and just as it is today. Satan obviously rejected Christ's position and authority, because Satan wanted to be like the Most High, God the Father.

Christ was sitting on His Throne in His Temple overseeing His entire domain, the entire universe and beyond. His flowing robes, His influence and power, spread out and into every corner of His domain. There is no part of the universe and beyond, to which He does not have access, influence or control.

Gods authority, and sovereignty, and power are so far beyond our comprehension, that it should be unimaginable that anyone would reject or ignore anything which comes from Him.

Today people stand stiff necked in their arrogance of indifference, hustling to and fro doing whatever it is they do from day to day, generally oblivious to the spiritual realm, that they are wasting in their lives, but one day reality will strike hard and fast and every head will bow, every knee will bend in total and absolute acknowledgment of Him.

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