Isaiah Survey of the Old Testament: The Prophets Fall 2005

Judgment of the Nation (Chapters 1 – 40)

The Pride of Israel & Judah (Chapters 1 – 5)

God's Case Against His People (Chapter 1)

The first five chapters of Isaiah serve as a summary of the entire book. These chapters stand-alone in what Baylis calls a “mini-book,” capturing all the major themes of Isaiah.

In chapter 1 God calls on all of heaven and earth to hear is case against his people (1:2). His people do not know Him (1:3), and they have abandoned Him, despised Him, and turned away from Him (1:4). Therefore God is justified in bringing judgment against His people (1:5-9).

God then calls upon His people, not to be more religious, but to repent of their sins. Israel was a very religious nation, giving sacrifices unto the Lord (1:11) and celebrating the festivals and the Sabbath (1:13-14). But they hated justice (1:12) and were violent people (1:15b). Instead of more religious ceremony, God calls on His people to repent, stop doing evil and start seeking justice fro the widow and the orphan (1:16-17).

If His people did repent, then Yahweh promised to forgive them of their sins and bring them prosperity in the land (1:19). If they did not repent, they would be conquered militarily (1:20).

"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool. "If you consent and obey, You will eat the best of the land; "But if you refuse and rebel, You will be devoured by the sword." Truly, the mouth of the LORD has spoken. (Isaiah 1:18-20)

Isaiah 53 will detail the mechanism of this forgiveness as it comes through the death and suffering of the coming Messiah.

The Restoration of the People

While judgment would come to God's people, Isaiah tells of a time of restoration. In Isaiah 4, those who survive the judgment will return to the Lord and will be made holy (4:3). In an allusion to the Exodus, the Lord will then come and dwell over Zion in the form of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (4:5). In those days, God will dwell on Zion, the mountain of Yahweh, reigning over all the nations of the earth in a time of great peace and prosperity (2:1-4). Therefore, Isaiah calls upon Israel to “walk in the light of Yahweh” (2:5) now rather than wait until this restoration.

Isaiah 59-66 provide details to this time of restoration, including a description of the return from exile (chapter 60) and the creation of a new heaven and new earth (65:17-24)

God's Judgment of the Proud

Isaiah condemns Judah's military, judicial, religious and civic leaders (3:2-4), for they have exploited the poor (3:14-15). Isaiah also condemn the arrogant and materialistic women of Jerusalem (3:16-17). Because they have oppressed the humble, God will humble the proud (2:11-17).

In chapter 5 Isaiah tells the parable of the vineyard. God planted a beautiful vineyard, and surrounded it with a hedge and a protected it with at watchtower. However, the vines only produced worthless grapes. So God decided to tear down the hedges and the watch tower and allow the land to be laid to waste (5:1-7). The men of honor and important and the arrogant will be humbled (5:13-15) as God brings judgment against His people through military defeat (5:26-30).

Isaiah will speak of the of the condemnation of the proud in great detail in chapters 7-28.

The Humility of Isaiah (Chapter 6)

The Holiness of God

The Vision of Isaiah

Early in his life, Isaiah had served as a chronicler for King Uzziah. Isaiah probably had enjoyed working for this king. But then ,the king died, and Isaiah would realize a change in career as God takes this court historian and turns him into the most renown of the literary prophets.

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. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory." And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. (Isaiah 6:1-4)

Here we get a glimpse into the throne room of God. This is a truly awe-inspiring scene with God, high and exalted sitting on a throne, his robe filling the temple. Angels are shouting the character of God in a loud rumble that shakes the throne room of heaven. The singular characteristic attributed to the Lord is his holiness.

You will note what the angles sing is holy, holy, holy. It's not just Holy. It's not even Holy, Holy. They proclaim "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts". They do not sing, "Love, Love, Love, is the Lord of hosts," even though we know that God is Love. They do not sing "Justice, Justice, Justice, is the Lord of hosts," even though we know that God is Just. Instead they sing Holy, Holy, Holy. [1]

I would suggest to you that Holiness is the attribute with which God wants to be primarily identified. It is the characteristic shouted in the throne room of God. That being the case, we should take God's holiness very seriously. We should take the time to understand what it means to be Holy.

Through this experience, Isaiah comes to understand this importance of God's holiness. This is demonstrated throughout his writings, as his favorite title for God is “the Holy One of Israel.”

Importance of Holiness

We see glimpses into the throne room of God in two occasions: Isaiah 6 & Revelation 4:8. In both cases, the attribute of God proclaimed in the throne room is God's holiness. Holiness is the attribute with which God wants to be primarily identified.

(Revelation 4:8 NIV) Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."

Given that holiness is the one attribute shouted by the angels in the throne room of heaven, we should take God's holiness very seriously.

The Bible says that God is holy, holy, holy. Not that He is merely holy, or even holy, holy. He is holy, holy, holy. The Bible never says that God is love, love, love, or mercy, mercy, mercy, or wrath, wrath, wrath, or justice, justice, justice. It does say that He is holy, holy, holy, the whole earth is full of His glory. [2]

Holiness Defined

So what is Holiness? Outside of church, the only times a modern speaker would use the word would be to say something like, "Holy Cow," or "Holy Smokes," or my personal favorite, "Holy Moley." But what is holiness? Holiness is one of those religious terms we hear all the time but sometimes struggle to define. We can use synonyms such as sacred, consecrated, and hallowed. But these terms have the same stuffy old feeling as holy. Holiness, as amplified in scripture, seems to encompass three things:

Holiness Means to Be Set Apart

God is unique. He has no rivals or competition [3]. He is unsearchable, incomprehensible, incomparable, great, wonderful, and exalted [4].

( Exodus 15:11 NIV) Who among the gods is like you, O LORD? Who is like you-- majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?

In our house, we have a Red Plate. Around the outside of the plate are the words, "You Are Special Today." In our house, on a special occasion, or after someone has done something important, they get to eat off the Red Plate on the dinner. So, for birthdays, Mother's Day, or some other special day, we dig out the Red Plate. We don't use it every day. It is reserved, set apart, for special occasions. Because of its special-ness, we keep it in a different cabinet than the rest of the dishes. We don't run it through the dishwasher, but we wash it by hand. It's a special plate. To the extent that holiness means that something is set apart, our Red Plate is holy. It is set apart, different from the rest of the dishes.

When we say that God is holy, we are saying he is set apart, different, and more special than anything else is.

Let me give you another example. In 1999 we visited Washington D.C. and saw Arlington National Cemetery. At the gate to the cemetery there is a sign which says, "this is Hallowed Ground, our Nation's most sacred shrine." That sign was saying Arlington Cemetery is holy. There was something different about visiting Arlington. All the museums, the monuments, most of those places were busy places with people talking and running around. But at Arlington, people were silent or whispering. People stood in front of the graves and were respectful. Why? This cemetery was hallowed. It was not an ordinary place. It wasn't a park or a shopping mall. It was special, a place to be honored.

When the angles sing Holy, Holy, Holy, they mean God is special. God is not just like any other being. God is set apart. He is holy. He is not to be treated like just anyone else or to be thought of in “everyday” terms. He is holy.

Holiness Means To be morally pure

But God's holiness is more than just being separate and without comparison. It also encompasses the idea of purity. Holy things are pure and clean. There is no evil or wickedness.

(Habakkuk 1:13 NKJV) You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness.

To say that God is pure and perfect means does not merely mean that God doesn't have any imperfections. In the same way that being healthy is not merely the absence of illness, God's purity is not just the absence of imperfection. Holiness means that God is absolutely perfect.

God's holiness means God is righteousness. But righteousness does not merely mean that God does what is right. Rather, righteousness means that whatever God does is right. Righteousness itself is defined by God's character. He is the standard of all that is good and right.

If righteousness is defined by anything other than God's character, then God would be subject to a standard outside himself. If God were subject to a standard outside himself, then he would not be that set apart, special being. He would not then be holy.

When the angles sing Holy, Holy, Holy, we mean that God is pure and that all righteousness is defined by who God is.

Holiness amplifies all of the other attributes of God

Finally, holiness is not merely just another attribute in a long list of attributes. It is the attribute proclaimed by the Seraphim in heaven. As such, holiness becomes a synonym for God himself.

It is the attribute by which all His other attributes are qualified. God's love is a holy love. God's justice is a holy justice. His mercy is a holy mercy. His power is a holy power. His Spirit is the Holy Spirit. [5]

Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.

The Response of Isaiah

When we contemplate God's holiness, what should our response be? Isaiah's response is a good example of what our response will be if we truly understand truly experience His holiness.

(Isaiah 6:5 NKJV) So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts."

Isaiah became aware of His own sinfulness, especially related to his speech. When confronted with the transcendent purity of God, his impurity was readily apparent. Furthermore, he became aware of His people's sinfulness. But mostly, he became aware of his fate. He understood that his lack of holiness doomed him ("Woe is me, for I am undone!").

(Isaiah) was not impressed with his "significance." His "self-esteem" was not enhanced. Just the opposite took place. His vision of the holiness of God caused Isaiah to lament his utter sinfulness. If God was holy, Isaiah saw he was not. [6]

When confronted with God's holiness, our response is humility. Humility is seeing God for who He is. But it is also seeing myself for who I am not. If we truly understand God, and therefore understand ourselves and our meaning and purpose, we will be humble people.

Humility, in my opinion, is the foundational character trait of the Christian. To become a Christian, it requires that we first humble ourselves and admit our need for a savior. But it should be a trait that becomes more and more evident the closer we are to God. I have become convinced that spiritual maturity is not so much that we sin less and less, but rather that we become more and more aware of how sinful we really are.

The Purpose of His Vision

Fortunately God does not leave Isaiah in his doomed, woeful state. God, in his holiness, takes the initiative to forgive, to purify and purge Isaiah of his sin so that he can be a used by Him.

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven." (Isaiah 6:6-7)

He then volunteered to proclaim God's message

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!" (Isaiah 6:8)

But God warns him that the message would not be well received.

He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.' "Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed." (Isaiah 6:9-10)

The awesomeness of God's holiness did two things for Isaiah. First, it made Him aware of His own ruined state, and His incredible need for God's mercy. Second, it helped Him to continue to persevere through prosecution, knowing that the fear of God and His holiness was greater than the fear of men and their rejection of Him.

In a culture that tells us that the way to find meaning is to look inside yourself, to pull yourself up by your bootstraps, humility seems like a foolish, weak, unempowered character trait. But God tells us that the way up is down, that when we humble ourselves, we will be lifted up [7]. This is the foundation of the Christian life… humility based on a true understanding of God's holiness.

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