“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 were standing above Him, each having six wings: with two each covered his face, and with two each covered his feet, and with two each flew. ³ And one called out to another and said,

“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of armies.
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 to 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 armies.”

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 guilt is taken away and atonement is made for your sin.”

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 And He said, “Go, and tell this people:

‘Keep on listening, but do not understand;
And keep on looking, but do not gain knowledge.’
¹⁰ Make the hearts of this people insensitive,
Their ears dull,
And their eyes blind,
So that they will not 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 completely removed people,
And there are many forsaken places in the midst of the land.
¹³ Yet there will still 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 cut down.
The holy seed is its stump.”

Today’s text says: 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 were standing above Him, each having six wings: with two each covered his face, and with two each covered his feet, and with two each flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of armies. The whole earth is full of His glory.”  There is an important message for us in the vision Isaiah saw. Regardless of the circumstances and situations on earth, if we view it from heaven’s perspective, we will see the glory of God over all the earth. Jesus taught us to pray saying: Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Heaven is already fully and completely affected by the finished work of the cross. In heaven there is no sickness and no sin. In the presence of the Holy God, those things simply cannot exist. When God looks from heaven, He sees through the lens of the finished work of the cross. He sees redemption and restoration. That is the perspective from which we too need to see the circumstances of earth.

The text says: 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 to 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 armies.”  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 guilt is taken away and atonement is made for your sin.”  Like Isaiah, the other thing that we will see, when we see the glory of the Holy God, when we are in His presence, is how unworthy we are. Our guilt though has also been taken away. Christ has made atonement for our sin. Hebrews 4:15-16 says:  We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need.   Matthew 27:50-51 says: Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and gave up His spirit.  And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.  John 19:30 tells us what it was that Jesus cried out:  “It is finished!” Because of the finished work of the cross, we are no longer separated from the Holy presence of God and His glory. We can come with confidence and receive mercy and grace for our every need.

The text continues:  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!” And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not understand; And keep on looking, but do not gain knowledge.’  Make the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes blind, So that they will not see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.” If we will go into the presence of the Holy God, we will also receive our instruction; our commission to go and do the Lord’s will. We are not only to pray the way Jesus taught us to pray: ‘Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven...’  We are to be those who are part of the answer to that prayer. Seeing from heaven’s perspective, we are to bring the glory of God to all of the earth. We are to bring the realities of heaven, the finished work of the cross to earth. We are to shake the world with the glory of God because of the finished work of the cross. What is our commission? What will we hear in the presence of God, in the throne room of grace? Habakkuk 2:14 says: The earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.

Jesus says: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved; but the one who has not believed will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”  Amen Lord send me.  Amen.