kjv@Isaiah:6:1@ In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
kjv@Isaiah:6:2@ Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
kjv@Isaiah:6:3@ And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
kjv@Isaiah:6:4@ And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
kjv@Isaiah:6:5@ Then said I, 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 mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
kjv@Isaiah:6:6@ Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
kjv@Isaiah:6:7@ And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
kjv@Isaiah:6:8@ Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
kjv@Isaiah:6:9@ And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
kjv@Isaiah:6:10@ Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
kjv@Isaiah:6:11@ Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,
kjv@Isaiah:6:12@ And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.
kjv@Isaiah:6:13@ But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.
The prophet did not have to be told that he was dirty, he knew by looking into glory, seeing the Lord on His throne, His long train filling the temple, angels and seraphim singing all around. The guilt/shame was sensed in His lips. The words going out, the appetite going in, the gestures of affection are all in the lips. It would be wise for us to consider his physical awareness of sin as we consider ours in light of the Lords full glory.
It is amazing how differently Jerusalem will be viewed and treated in the age to come. How many centuries has it been hated and trampled. Yet it is the sign of His covenant. When He finally glorifies it it will be truly glorified. Other peoples will bring from their treasure to make it the delight of nations.
We wee the nations serving Israel and the Israelites being special priests to them. There is a definite order and social/religious structure in this new kingdom.
It may seem odd that there is such a focus on singular objects, Jerusalem and Zion in the age to come. Surely the focus will be on the Lord, but, the tangible proof of that focus will be these symbolic things. That the Lord has done this, that it is now viewed by others as He had said it would is the proof of His commitment. That we would come to do this in this manner is then proof of ours.
I cannot explain how a Hebrew today would be able to explain away the fact that their Lord was found by another people and not them because of their rebellion. It is said so and has been said all along. How does one explain this passage if it doesn't say what it says. It is not as if we went out seeking to replace them as the apple of His eye, it is that sought us out and found us because they wouldn't listen.
