BaptistWay Bible Series for April 29: Called to a hard job

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God’s kingdom has no shortage of hard jobs. God himself took on the hardest job when he presented the atoning sacrifice for humanity’s sin. Among the hardest jobs remaining is the proclamation of God’s message of judgment. Such a message never is popular, but it nevertheless is urgent due to the sinful condition of humanity.

The message, however, drives many to harden their hearts against God. Isaiah’s opening message is that God wants to be reconciled with his people (Isaiah 1:16-20). Many people, however, don’t want to reason with God nor hear about pending judgment. They want to live life their way (Isaiah 53:6). God is not about to let sin destroy these people without warning them. This objective is the basis of this chapter.

The Bible’s prophetic message has two basic elements—warning about coming judgment and offering salvation. Sometimes one element is emphasized while the other is implied. Other times both elements are emphasized. Isaiah 6 emphasizes the warning of judgment. Salvation is proclaimed throughout Isaiah, even in chapter 6 where Isaiah receives salvation.

Chapter 6 contains a vision of the enthroned Lord. No sinful human can see the Lord and live (Exodus 33:20; reinforced by the promise in Matthew 5:8). What Isaiah sees symbolizes the Lord’s character, authority and power. In verse 1, the Lord’s throne represents his authority to rule and judge. The Lord’s lofty exaltation emphasizes his absolute authority over all people and all ruling authorities. The Lord’s train represents his presence (also God’s “glory” in v. 3). He fills the temple, signifying his filling of the world (Numbers 14:21; Ephesians 1:23) and his presence among his people.

Verses 2-4 further emphasize the Lord’s authority by featuring the service of the seraphim. These creatures were created to announce the presence of the holy Lord. Due to mankind’s sinful separation from God, people are slow to realize the Lord’s holiness. The seraphim, therefore, announce the presence of the holy Lord with booming voices that cannot be ignored. Holiness means separation from evil. God has separated himself from evil for the purpose of having right relationships with his creatures.

Isaiah models the effect of finding oneself in God’s presence. He is horrified to stand before God because he is sinful. His sin cannot be ignored. Verse 5 contains Isaiah’s confession of sin. It is a cry of fear, the first response of all who stand before God. Nevertheless, fear is the response for which God looks among those who desire to know him.

Verses 6-7 symbolically describe Isaiah’s salvation. Isaiah described his sin in terms of speaking. Therefore, a coal is taken from the altar of incense inside the temple to sanctify Isaiah’s lips. Isaiah’s guilt and now sin are atoned.

Now Isaiah is ready for the Lord’s service. The saved sinner is motivated to communicate God’s message to others. The Lord’s call comes in verse 8 and Isaiah’s immediate response is to volunteer for service. He would do anything for his Savior.

Now the hard job is described to Isaiah. Verses 9-13 use prophetic poetry to describe the general response of people to God’s message of pending judgment. A Hebrew feature in these verses often is difficult for Western society to understand. The Lord knows the general response to his message will be negative. Furthermore, repeated proclamation of this message will be met with hardening. Nevertheless, the Lord intends to warn people repeatedly, to leave them without excuse. One Hebrew way to describe repeated activity in the face of a negative response is to state its “results” as its “purpose.” Thus the result, the hardening of hearts, is stated as if it was God’s purpose. In actuality, or said in positive terms, the Lord wants all to repent and be saved (Ezekiel 18:23; 33:11; John 3:16).

Why do verses 9-10 speak of “hardening” people? God wants his message constantly before people so they must react definitively, either with hardening (callousness, dull ears, closed eyes) or repentance (suggested in v. 10; stated in 45:22; described in 40:3-5). Notice that verses 9-10 have five consecutive “hardening” phrases in this order: ears, eyes, heart, ears, eyes. The “heart” phrase is the central and representative phrase. It is answered by four phrases in the last part of verse 10 that point to repentance. The four occur in the order of eyes, ears, hearts and turning. The last phrase refers to repentance. Because Isaiah’s message is cast in the form of “causing” people to harden, the rhetoric requires a reference to the true remedy as something to be avoided. The message is cast for effect in the opposite terms of the Lord’s true desire: He will keep his message before people hoping they do repent, but knowing that many will only be hardened in their resolve to resist the Lord.

The last three verses answer the question of how long to preach judgment to the people. The answer: until judgment is complete. Verses 11-13 describe complete judgment with images of destroyed cities and exile.

Preaching this negative message was the “hard job” before Isaiah. This job required the motivation of someone who had experienced God’s salvation and had volunteered to preach a message difficult to hear. This hard job still needs volunteers today. Churches speak more often of the gospel, the positive message (see Isaiah 52:7). Even this message can harden hearts. Nevertheless, God is determined to have it proclaimed to people and still calls workers to do so.