“Here am I. Send me!”

Isaiah 6 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

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.”

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:

‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.’ ¹⁰ “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.”

¹¹ Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered,

“Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate, ¹² “The Lord has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. ¹³ “Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, And it will again be subject to burning, Like a terebinth or an oak Whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump.”

In today’s text, Isaiah saw in a vision: … 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. 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.”    What he saw as a vision, and his response to it, should be our reality. He saw a vision of the heavenly realm. We are called to live and walk in the heavenly realm. He saw the train of His robe filling the temple. We are the temple of God. He fills us. Isaiah responded that he was ruined because he saw his unrighteousness compared to God’s holiness. From the place we see and observe the world, having the presence of the Holy God of heaven with us and in us, we should, like the seraphim, see the glory of God in all that we see. The text says:  And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out.    How much more do we who have the living God with us and in us, have the power to shake heaven and earth, at the declaration and exaltation of the Lord, His holiness and glory? 

In Matthew 16:13-19 we see an account where Jesus describes the power we have in and through Him.      He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”   With the knowledge and understanding; with the revelation that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, we have the power and the authority to change the circumstances of earth, to become like heaven. We have the power to loose the glory of God and the realities of heaven into the circumstances of earth. We have the authority to bind up the evil and darkness on earth, entering through the gates of Hell. Even those gates, the very entry ways of evil into the earth, cannot stand against us.  Romans 8:31-32 says:   If God is for us, who is against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?  

Isaiah recognized his sinfulness in the presence of the holy God of heaven. The text says:  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.”    We, when we recognize our sinfulness, are forgiven by the sacrifice of Christ. Hebrews 4:14-16 says: Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  We need to remember that the Lord sits on a throne of grace and also on a throne of judgment. It is the throne of grace that we come boldly to. If we come in judgment of others, rather than in grace, we too will be judged. When, because of God’s grace, we bring the circumstances of other people before the throne of grace, there is help for every need.

The text says: 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 was called and commissioned as a prophet of the Lord, to carry the message of the Lord to the people. We too have been called and commissioned by the Lord. In Mark 16:15 Jesus says:   “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. “     Like Isaiah, we can and should respond to God, saying: “Here am I. Send me!”    We are not responsible for the outcome or the response of the people to our message. Isaiah was told:   “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.”    We do though have more than the call and the commission to speak the words of the Lord. We have been given the keys to the kingdom of heaven and the authority to bring the realities of heaven to earth.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus, the Christ; precious Holy Spirit;  Here am I. Send me!  Thank You for Your grace by which I am forgiven. Thank You for dwelling and abiding with me and in me, that I might not only see the glory of God filling the whole earth, but I might also bring the glory and the grace of God to the earth. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.   Amen.