“Whom shall I send, who will go for Us?..Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation

Isaiah 6:1-9 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Isaiah’s Vision

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. ² 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. ³ And one called out to another and said,

“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts,
The whole earth is full of His glory.”

⁴ And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. ⁵ Then I said,

“Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. ⁷ 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’s Commission

⁸ 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!” ⁹ He said, “Go, and tell this people:

“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” That should be the perspective of the believer. We are to walk in the presence of God, to abide and dwell in His presence. If we do that, then like the seraphim, we will see the world from a heavenly perspective and we will see the glory of God in the earth.

Let’s look at Isaiah’s response to see God. He says: “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”   Isaiah lived under the old covenant, still many years before Jesus came to deliver men from their sinful nature. He knew what God said to Moses, who God spoke directly to:

 Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” ¹⁹ And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” ²⁰ But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” ²¹ Then the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; ²² and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”

“No man can see Me and live” That’s what Isaiah knew to be true. For Moses, God his him in the cleft of a rock, covering Him while He passed by. The Lord allowed Moses to see His back. The back of the Lord holds the evidence of His suffering and sacrifice for mankind. God and Jesus Christ the Lord are not subject to time as we know it. Jesus is the lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world. Even in the day of Moses and Isaiah the way to God was prepared through Christ. To them it was the hope and promise of His coming. By faith they both received evidence of His redemption. Moses saw the back of the Lord. As for Isaiah, the text says:

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. ⁷ 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 was cleansed of his iniquity by a coal taken from the flames of the sacrifice in the presence of God. There is no need for ongoing sacrifice in heaven. Those eternal coals burn with the cleansing power of the cross of Christ.

We live on this side of the cross of Christ, under the new covenant He established. We no longer need to fear the presence of God. We are told to: draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16) Through Christ, we can walk, abide and dwell in the presence of God.

We know the faithfulness of Moses. He led God’s people through the wilderness to their inheritance, the Promised Land. In the text we see the response of Isaiah: ⁸ 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!” ⁹ He said, “Go, and tell this people…  Isaiah become one of the greatest prophets calling both his and future generation to hear the words of God, speaking often about the Messiah who was coming.

The question remains; What will our response be? For we, who are privileged to see the glory of God through Christ, we who are to draw near to Him with confidence, the confidence that we are redeemed and restored in and through Christ; How will we respond? The question is no longer, , “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” To us, Jesus disciples, He says:

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. ¹⁷ These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”  

If Jesus is Lord, how can the response be anything but; Yes Lord.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, because of what You have done, because You have  redeemed, restored, called, equipped and empowered me, in Christ I say yes Lord.  Amen.