VI. (1) IN THE YEAR THAT KING UZZIAH DIED. — Probably before his death. Had it been after it, the first year of king Jotham would have been the more natural formula. The chapter gives us the narrative of the solemn call of Isaiah to the office of a prophet. It does not follow that it was written at... [ Continue Reading ]
ABOVE IT STOOD THE SERAPHIMS... — It is noticeable that this is the only passage in which the seraphim are mentioned as part of the host of heaven. In Numbers 21:6, the word (the primary meaning of which is _the burning ones_) occurs as denoting the fiery serpents that attacked the people in the wil... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ONE CRIED UNTO ANOTHER. — So in Psalms 29:9, which, as describing a thunderstorm, favours the suggestion that the lightnings were thought of as the symbols of the fiery seraphim, we read, “in his temple doth every one _say, Glory.”_ The threefold repetition, familiar as the _Trisagion_ of the Ch... [ Continue Reading ]
THE POSTS OF THE DOOR. — Better, _the foundations of the threshold._ The words seem to point to the prophet’s position as in front of the Holy of holies. THE HOUSE WAS FILLED WITH SMOKE. — The vision had its prototype in “the smoke as of a furnace” on Sinai (Exodus 19:18), in the glory-cloud of 1 Ki... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SAID I, WOE IS ME. — The cry of the prophet expresses the normal result of man’s consciousness of contact with God. So Moses “hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God” (Exodus 3:6). So Job “abhorred himself and repented in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6). So Peter fell down at his Lord’s fee... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN FLEW ONE OF THE SERAPHIMS. — In presenting the vision to our mind’s eye we have to think of the bright seraph form, glowing as with fire, and with wings like the lightning-flash, leaving his station above the throne, and coming to where the prophet stood in speechless terror. The altar from whi... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE LAID IT UPON MY MOUTH. — So Jehovah “touched the mouth” of Isaiah’s great successor (Jeremiah 1:9); but not in that case with a “coal from the altar.” That prophet, like Moses (Exodus 4:10), had felt only or chiefly the want of power (“Alas! I cannot speak), and power was given him. Isaiah de... [ Continue Reading ]
ALSO I HEARD THE VOICE OF THE LORD. — The work of cleansing has made the prophet one of the heavenly brotherhood. He is as an angel called _to_ an angel’s work. (Comp. Judges 2:1; Judges 5:23; Malachi 3:1.) He had before seen the glory of Jehovah, and had been overwhelmed with terror. Now he hears H... [ Continue Reading ]
GO, AND TELL THIS PEOPLE, HEAR YE INDEED, BUT UNDERSTAND NOT. — No harder task, it may be, was ever given to man. Ardent dreams of reformation and revival, the nation renewing its strength like the eagle, were scattered to the winds; and he had to face the prospect of a fruitless labour, of feeling... [ Continue Reading ]
MAKE THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE FAT. — The thought is the same as that of the “hardening” of Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 8:19; Exodus 9:34, &c) and that of Sihon (Deuteronomy 2:30). It implies the reckless headstrong will which defies restraint and warnings. So the poets of Greece, in their thoughts as to... [ Continue Reading ]
LORD, HOW LONG? — The prophet asks the question which is ever on the lips of those who are brought face to face with the problems of the world, with the great mystery of evil, sin permitted to work out fresh evil as its punishment, and yet remaining evil. How long shall all this last? So a later pro... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD HAVE REMOVED MEN FAR AWAY. — The words point to the policy of deportation adopted by the Assyrian kings. From the first hour of Isaiah’s call the thought of an exile and a return from exile was the key-note of his teaching, and of that thought thus given in germ, his whole after-work wa... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT YET IN IT SHALL BE A TENTH... — Better, _And though there should be a tenth in it, yet this shall be again devoured_ (_with fire_). What the prophet is led to expect is a series of successive chastisements sifting the people, till the remnant of the chosen ones alone is left. (Comp. the same tho... [ Continue Reading ]