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WHO   SHALL I SEND?

Isaiah 6:1-13

Key Verse 6:8

WHOM SHALL I SEND?

Isaiah 6:1-13

Key Verse 6:8

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!" 

This passage exhorts us to put trust in the Son of God who is the “holy seed” referred to in v. 13. Living in a difficult generation, Isaiah was frustrated in a number ways. Yet, as he checked into the Lord’s temple, he saw a vision of the Lord. This vision enabled him to see the hope of God’s redemption which continues to shed its light in and through Jesus Christ. Let us think about how the Prophet Isaiah became a source of hope in one of the most frustrating moments of God’s redemptive history.

First, in the year that King Uzziah died (1a)

Look at verse 1. ^“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple…” This verse says that the vision came when Uzziah died. The expression, “In the year that King Uzziah died,” explains the reason why the day of Isaiah was particularly frustrating. As we know, sooner or later, all people die. So the mere fact that a king died should not be that much of a big deal. But it was not so with the death of King Uzzaiah. How so? 

2 Chronicles 26:16-21 answers the question. “But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the LORD followed him in. They confronted him and said, ‘It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the LORD God.’ Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the LORD's temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the LORD had afflicted him. King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house—leprous and excluded from the temple of the LORD. Jotham his son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land.” Let us notice the statement, “his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God…” 

Uzziah, the best citizen of Israel, became proud, was unfaithful to the Lord, got struck with leprosy, and died. Uzziah’s downfall came in four steps: first, he became proud; second, he became unfaithful to the Lord; third, he became leprous; and fourth, he died. 

The tragic event that struck Uzziah reminds us of Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” This has been the problem of all sinners including Adam.  

It is interesting to note that the Lord God struck Uzziah with leprosy for his spiritual pride and unfaithfulness to the Lord. When you think about it, the Lord God also struck Miriam with leprosy for exactly the same problem, that is, her spiritual pride and in her pride becoming unfaithful to the Lord (i.e., her speaking against Moses, the servant of God). (Numbers 12:1-11) The truth that leprosy has something to do with one’s spiritual pride and unbelief of the Lord can further be understood by the way in which the Lord God healed General Naaman. At this moment, I would like to encourage everyone to open the Bible and read 2 Kings 5:1-13. Here, it is interesting to note that it was only after General Naaman had curbed his pride and gone down to the River Jordan, humbly dipped his body in the water—not once or twice, but seven times, that he came to be completely healed of leprosy. When he came to see Elisha, he proved to be a proud sinner. Being a gentile, dog-like sinner, he did not know even who the God of Israel was. He remained so proud that he became angry with Elisha, for Elisha even did not come out of his house and say hello to him; Elisha simply asked him to go and dip his body in the body of water seven times. But upon receiving an earnest plea from a slave girl, Naaman curbed his pride. The servant girl’s sincere plea generated in him faith in the Lord. As he combined his humility with faith in the Lord and obeyed the words of Elijah, he received complete healing. He was no longer frustrated. He was filled with the joy of life. You know, the joy of “salvation” is never a vague experience. Imagine the joy of General Naaman with his fresh new skin as fine as that of a young boy! How joyful must he have been! 

But in his spiritual pride, King Uzziah became unfaithful to the Lord. Then he suffered from leprosy. How frustrating must he have been? Then in deep frustration he died of leprosy. 

Let us stop for a moment and think about the disease called leprosy. What is leprosy? It is a disease caused by a special bacterium. Being a disease caused by a bacterium, leprosy is a disease whose essential character is “unclean”.  A bacterium is a tiny organism, mostly single-celled. The Lord God gave it a special ability to degrade a variety of organic compounds. God gave it a fabulous ability to make the tissues of one’s skin decompose. Once upon a time, after cosmetic surgery, it was reported that Michael Jackson’s nose was decomposing. They said his nose was crumbling down. But latest news reports indicate that his nose line still looks alright. But if your nose becomes leprous, it is really going to lose its shape. Sooner or later, the skin around the nose will be like a rotting banana. 

Again, 2 Chronicles 26:19 says, “But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God…” His pride coupled with his unfaithfulness to the Lord resulted in his leprosy which in turn led him to solitary confinement, and then to a tragic death. Leviticus 13:1-3 and 14:1-8 teach us that leprosy is a type of sin. It reveals the terrible nature of sin, which causes man’s inside and outside to be unclean, and thereby makes one’s whole person totally barren and unfruitful. King Uzziah’s case then leads us to come up with a spiritual equation that is working in the spiritual world with mathematic precision: pride plus unfaithfulness to the Lord equals a fatal disease called sin. We know chemical equations such as H2O which equals water. (Two atoms of Hydrogen attached to one atom of Oxygen makes one water molecule.) And water cleans what is unclean. Similarly, a spoon of pride coupled with an ounce of unfaithfulness to the Lord makes a bowlful of sin. And sin is a fatal disease. Leprosy is merely a skin disease which breaks out on a physical level. But the spiritual disease called sin makes man unclean not only in his physical existence but in his spiritual existence. It renders one’s entire person unacceptable before God and before men. It is this sin which makes a man, a family, a society, a nation, and certainly the whole world unclean. It is the source of frustration. It is the root cause of all irritation. 

Isaiah chapters 1-5 indicate that in the day of Isaiah people, both men and women, young and old, students and teachers, political leaders and citizens on the street, became so corrupt that as Isaiah looked at the situation, he became thoroughly frustrated. In deep frustration he cried out in Isaiah 1:3-6, “Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him. Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness—only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil…” And whatever happened to Uzziah can happen and is happening to people of every generation. Make no mistake about it. 

Second, I saw the Lord seated on a throne (1b-4)

Look at verses 1b-3. “I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’” This passage describes another king, the heavenly one. Overall this passage talks about the perfect beauty of God’s kingdom where God is the King. He rules his kingdom in his infinite glory. This perfection in beauty stands in strong contrast with the life here on earth where imperfect humans such as King Uzziah are ruling. 

With the perfect beauty of God’s kingdom in mind, let us think about the description of his kingdom in more detail. Firstly, let us think about the Lord seated on a throne. The passage mentions two thrones, one here on earth, and another in God’s kingdom. This passage then tells us that it is still the Lord who is also reigning. His throne is high and exalted. This description shows us that the Lord’s throne is superior to any earthly one in order and glory. The train of his robe filling the Lord’s temple indicates that the Lord is a person, and that he rules in the context of a temple. One may ask, “Oh, if God is the king of the universe and is still ruling, why is there so much wickedness in this world? Where is his ruling?” We find an answer to this question right in the place where the Lord God revealed himself. Where did he reveal himself to Isaiah as the ruler of the universe? It was at the Lord’s temple. This temple foreshadows the church which is the body of Jesus Christ. Just as in the day of Isaiah, so also in our own generation the Lord God rules in the hearts of those who put trust in Jesus Christ. The church is the kingdom of God here on earth. Each time a man sincerely repents of his sins, believes in Jesus, and receives him as Lord and Savior, as he asks the Lord God for the gift of the Holy Spirit, God gives him the Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit is the Lord God ruling in a man’s heart. It is through the indwelling Spirit of God that God rules his people. The seraphs were calling to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty.” Here the word “holy” is repeated three times. This repetition refers to God’s perfection, especially in his morality and spirituality. The title, “the Lord Almighty,” reflects his infinite power to provide for his creation. The expression, “the whole earth is full of his glory,” shows us that if we had the spiritual eyes to see, even as fallen and cursed as it is, still this world is filled with Gods’ glory. Despite man’s rebellion in his goodness, still the Lord sustains the universe and everything in it, in accordance with his infinitely great love and power. 

Look at verse 4. “At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.” Seraphs are angelic beings. Hebrews 1:14 says, “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” This passage gives us an insight as to why the seraphs did what they did, that is, for educational purposes. At that particular moment, God sent angels to do what they did, not for God himself but for his children. God wanted to teach us an important message through their example. What is the message? What did God want us to learn? The message is very clear: we must fill our hearts with songs of praise, praising God’s name. And the lyrics of our songs of praise should be, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. The whole earth is full of his glory.” 

When we think about the vision Isaiah saw, we can see that it became manifested on four levels. The first level is God’s throne; the second level is the Lord’s temple; the third level is the voices; and the fourth level is the doorposts and threshold. These four levels (or stations, if you will) correspond to the channel in which the Lord God allows his blessings to flow from his side to our side, from his sphere (which is the sphere of his spirituality) to our sphere (which is both spiritual and physical). The Lord God also established this channel of blessings inside of us. For example, he establishes his throne inside of each believer who receives Jesus as Lord and Savior. He then works in and through his children. His blessings flow from inside out. And it comes through the voices. The voices then come out of our mouth which is the doorpost and threshold of our body. One may think that one’s mouth is just mouth. A physician may think that this mouth is just an opening to a cavity like a water faucet hooked up to a plumbing system. Or a romantic woman may think that her mouth, with a set of lips, is a means for kissing and falling in love with her prince charming. But from a Biblical standpoint, our mouth is a contact point where God meets the world! It is the place where God causes his ideals to be manifested! 

For example, yesterday around 10 p.m., my wife Rebekah became a little bit upset with me, because I keep too many animals in my backyard, so that the little backyard grew almost into an animal farm. And she does not like an animal farm. She wants everything “clean”. She wants her living environment clean inside and outside. So while we were seated outside, pointing at the whole mess, she said to me, “I want you to get rid of all the animals except birds. Then clean the whole area. You always say, ‘I love you.’ If you love me, do what I want you to do.” So what did I do? I woke up around 3 a.m. I got rid of the chickens and rabbits. Then I did a major clean up. What is my point? My point is this: using her mouth which is her doorpost, she expressed into voice God’s ideal that man’s living compound must be kept clean inside and outside. Her voice shook the doorpost of her temple which is her body. The voice not only touched my eardrums, but also my heart. And as a result, her living environment became a lot cleaner than before. 

When you think about the vision Isaiah saw, it represents the exact remedy to the exact problem Isaiah had. It is God’s prescription for the problem of all the people of Isaiah’s days – the problem of young and old, men and women, leaders and followers. And it is complete and the only viable remedy to the problem of sin which degraded an otherwise blessed nation into a cursed nation. 

Today, I would like to ask everyone who has any reason to despair with himself or with anyone around him, to seriously think about the vision Isaiah saw and deeply pray how this vision can help him to turn an otherwise frustrating environment into an absolutely blessed one, the one fully blessed by God. Remember the four steps: throne, temple, voice, and doorpost. Remember also what Jesus said in Luke 19:22, “I will judge you by your words....” What we say with our mouth is very important. And we must say words that are consistent with God’s loving character, the words which reflect God’s infinitely great love and power. And let us not be angry with anyone, for being angry with a child of God is being unfaithful to the Lord. 

Third, Woe to me, I am ruined (5-7)

Let us then think about how the Lord God removed from Isaiah’s heart the root of his frustration, that is, his own sin problem. Let us read verses 5-7. “‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.’ Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.’” Isaiah realized his sin when he came to know the true nature of God who is worthy of constant praise. He realized that he committed the sin of complaining, the sin of not fully giving thanks to God for all of his worth, as fully as the seraphs sang. Complaining is one of the great sins. One commits this sin for he does not know fully how great God is. The Bible says that God is a good God. Therefore complaining is one of the greatest ways to misrepresent God’s name. 

The Lord God forgave Isaiah of his sin. With the live coal from the altar one of the angels touched Isaiah’s lips and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” The live coal is symbolic of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and his fire. Speaking of the baptism of the Spirit with fire, John the Baptist said in Matthew 3:11, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” 

Isaiah’s experience at that moment marked a turning point for Isaiah as a servant of God. He no longer lived as his own man. Rather he lived his life with God’s dimension. He saw everything and everyone with God’s perspective. God sees the end from the beginning, all according to God’s perfect plan of redemption for all peoples on earth of all generations. The messages Isaiah wrote down in the book of Isaiah reflect the vision of God he saw at the temple. He was changed from a man who always has in his mind the things of men, to a man who always has in his mind the things of God. Because he always had in his mind the things of God, with this vision from God, he could live as a source of hope for all peoples in all generations. 

Fourth, who will go for us (8-13)? 

Look at verse 8a. “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’” The Lord’s voice shows us that the Lord is eager to send someone to the people living on this planet earth. Why does he want to send someone? The answer is obvious. He desires to see his kingdom come in the hearts of all peoples on earth. When Jesus came, in the Lord’s Prayer Jesus expressed the same desire for us when he asked us to pray to the Father saying, “Our Father in heaven. Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come as it is in heaven.” Here, the five words, “as it is in heaven,” are critical in understanding his will for us. In the kingdom of God, the joy of heaven, the perfect joy, is the order of the day. But in this fallen world which is yet to be redeemed, instead of joy, sorrows and despair mark the order of the day. The Lord God has compassion on us. In order to help people receive what the Lord God has in mind, the Lord desires to send someone from among us. Isaiah was one of them. 

How did Isaiah respond to God’s calling? Look at verse 8b. “And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’ It is surprising to see that Isaiah responded to this call immediately. He did not even give it a second thought. What prompted him to respond with such great enthusiasm? We can find an answer to this question from what he went through at the Lord’s temple. He experienced the joy of salvation which followed immediately after the forgiveness of his sins. After having all of his sins forgiven, his soul rejoiced. Having experienced personally the infinitely great bliss that is true of God’s kingdom, he had a deep, compassionate heart for those who do not know the blessedness of the kingdom of God. In a sense, he is similar to the four lepers who said in 2 Kings 7:9, “We're not doing right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let's go at once and report this to the royal palace.” 

What did the Lord then say to Isaiah? Let us read verses 9-13 responsively. Some of this passage is hard to understand. But the point is simple. The point of the message comes from two important expressions: 1) holy seed; and 2) stumps. Here, the “holy seed” refers to Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. The stumps refer to those who put trust in the Lord Jesus. The basic idea of the message is that although the majority of the people of Israel would reject God, the Lord God did not completely abandon his people. Rather, out of the line of the faith of Abraham and David, he would send the holy seed, which is another nickname for the Messiah. As the Lord promised, about 2000 years ago, the Lord God sent Jesus. Jesus then invited several disciples to himself. He served them dearly. He established them as his apostles. He sent them out to the world saying, “Make disciples of all nations.” They obeyed the command. Through their faith and obedience, many came to believe in Jesus. We are the products of their services. 

In our own generation, then, his will remains the same as the will he had in the days of Isaiah. He desires that his kingdom come in the hearts of all peoples on earth. In this hope, we are holding the Fall Bible Conference. Let us pray that we would invite students in the name of Jesus, the holy seed. In order to share this vision of God, we plan to hold the Fall Bible Conference from October 22-24 here at the Downey Center. With Isaiah’s enthusiasm, let us invite more than 70 new students, so they would receive God’s healing and experience the joy of salvation! 

One word: Who will go for us?

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