August 26, 2009
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Isaiah 6 by Pastor Don
We did a quick read through of Isaiah 6 to begin the Bible study.
Isaiah 6:1-3 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!”
There is a time line in this chapter. It occurs in the year King Uzziah died. We can tell from Chronicles and Kings that this occurs in 740 BC.
There are Seraphim. This gives us a picture about what Heaven’s like. What is on earth has a semblance in Heaven. There are lions on earth, and in Heaven there is a semblance of a lion in Heaven. There are combinations and parts that are greater than on earth. These Heavenly creatures have intelligence.
Seraphim protect God. It is not a lower creature, but a supernatural power.
Those in the occult give us images of creatures like cupid, who seem harmless, but these are not true creations.
God created a great many creatures with great power. They can, if need be, destroy cities in a moment.
The Seraphim speak – they are not an angel, not an animal, but a created being. They said the words of praise, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.”
Isaiah 6:4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
The whole building was shaken and the house was filled with smoke. Our expectation is that everything should be what we think it should be. We don’t think about the symbols around us and that can get us in trouble.
Isaiah 6:5-6 So I said: “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 my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar.
There are more than one Seraphim.
Isaiah 6:7-8 And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.” Also 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.”
The famous line, “Here I am send me.” Also notice that God is expressed in plural – US. We don’t have the dominance that God has of separating the spiritual from the physical, we are carnal in nature. We don’t have the power God did to remain fully human and fully divine. Jesus was fully human but unlike us, He did not sin. Those in the Old Testament who worked in the Temple had to purify themselves so that they could handle the vessels of the Lord. In the New Testament, we are the vessels of the Lord.
Isaiah 6:9-10 And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ “Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed.”
God is making a negative determination, and binding them from being able to move to a positive position. Jesus quotes this passage when He explains why He speaks in parables. We hear and understand and He will heal. But those who refuse to come to Him, the words go over their heads, and they do not understand, the door is closed. We say God is Lord, and here He is saying, “I’m done with you.” God is patient. You have to disqualify yourself from receiving His blessing. This is a heart message. God gave the people 1000′s of years and then after repeated rebelion, God removes his hand of covering. They brought this on themselves by their rebelion and disobedience.
Right now we are living in a period where people feel they have an entitlement. We know what we want. Many people in the Church and outside of the church feel that they can do what they want and there will be no consequences. Then when consequences come, we look for someone to blame. This desire for entitlement, when our desires are not met, end up making us work ourselves into a tizzy. As a result of your actions and reactions, you can be bombarded with guilt, but if the person you are warning about their actions has a problem it is not your fault if they chose to disregard your warnings. God sure gave the Israelites plenty of warnings.
While we were reading these passages Pastor Don passed around the local Woodstock Newspaper that showed us a picture of the Woodstock 40 year celebration and the symbol of Woodstock – the peace symbol.
Pastor Don told us that we think this is a harmless symbol symbolizing peace, love, etc. But if you look at it, it is an inverted cross with its arms broken, a symbol of the devil, and has nothing to do with peace. A whole generation marched under this, and all we have to do is look at the fruit of the Woodstock generation to see what it produced, death, destruction, a nation in crisis. [Heather's comment: I looked up more about the origin of the peace sign and this is what I found
PEACE SYMBOL or a BROKEN UPSIDE-DOWN CROSS: Like many simple symbols, it meant different things at different times. Some call it Nero's cross, linking it to the notorious Roman emperor who persecuted Christians. Centuries later, it was recognized as an old Norse Rune. After WW2 (1939-1945), it was found on the tombstones of some of Hitler's SS troops and labeled 'The Dead Man Rune.' Revived in the sixties by hippies and others who protested nuclear weapons, Western culture, and Christian values, it became a worldwide symbol of a new age of global peace and earth-centered unity. But many heavy metal rock fans would agree with Nero and have used it to mock Christ and His followers. http://www.crossroad.to/Books/symbols1.html This gives the meaning behind many other symbols.]
Isaiah 6:11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered: “Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, the houses are without a man, the land is utterly desolate,
How long until they are brought to the point where they hear and don’t understand – there will be destruction before we can hear again.
Isaiah 6:12-13 The LORD has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. But yet a tenth will be in it, and will return and be for consuming, as a terebinth tree or as an oak, whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be its stump.”
There will be a remnant of Jews. God is not shutting down His plan and process. So often we can love the plan, but not the process.
Then we started talking about oak trees. If there is an oak tree cut down and a stump remains, very soon after it is cut down we begin to see five or six smaller oak trees growing out of that stump. Oaks grow back. So the whole nation is not cut down. There will be a remnant, returning. And the Holy Seed is it’s stump. Israel will be cut down, will go through the process, but 1/10 will remain.
Pastor Don reminded us that God made a covenant with Israel for eternity. If God violated any part of that covenant, we couldn’t trust Him. We are not forsaken. (On In His Name’s Ministry site, check out Pastor Don’s book with that same name – Not Forsaken) God is faithful. The Bible tells us that God has set His word above Himself. God can’t change anything He has even said He has placed His Word above His Name. Psalm 138:2b For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.
All the ancient civilizations are gone, but the Jew remains.
Someone reminded us that the root is the tree.
The terebinth tree grew in Turkey where Abraham came from. It is a resilient wood. Rachel’s idols were cut from the terebinth tree.
Holiness of God.
Isaiah 6:5 So I said: “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 my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”
Isaiah was a holy man of God. God chose him to be His prophet. Yet when Isaiah was near God, he became aware of how unclean he was. God provided a way for Isaiah to be made pure.
We need to begin to do something ourselves, for we are a generation that thinks we are entitled to things. Our generation walks around thinking that we are all that. In our generation we believe that if we want to qualify all we have to do is change the criterion. But that does not work in God’s economy.
An example was given of a high jump, where the bar is set at a particular point – say the standard of 6’4″. If it is ascertained that that would eliminate most of the competition and someone without telling anyone moves the bar down to 5’9″ but makes people believe it is 6’4″, then those who jumped and supposedly made it would be disqualified. People would not qualify even before the first jump. For whoever set the bar at the lower level did not consult the judges.
We cannot compare ourselves with others and then determine that we are better than them, for the only one that we can compare ourselves to is God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and when we use them for a comparison we fall short. Those who are in sin are not going to judge themselves by the Truth, and when they are disqualified they will be mad at the judge. If you know you can’t jump 6’4″ then confess it and tell the truth. Go to Jesus and say, “I am not entitled to this, I am not in position, can you wash me as white as snow?” Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Man’s perceived intellectual superiority makes him feel that he can figure a way to make it work. Man thinks he can build a tower to touch Heaven (Babel). We accept mediocrity. An example is the TV show, American Idol - and some of those who are considered great on that show, but compared to real greatness they pale. There is a big difference between greatness and setting up an idol. We make people stars, even if their singing is not great, but we admire their boldness.
Isaiah 6:8 Also 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’s holiness was not enough to qualify him to be in the presence of the Lord. The reality is that God can measure us up at any time He wants. No one is perfect, but if there is enough character to work with, God can use us. We can be called even if we are at the bottom of the bottom. Don’t forget, God used a donkey.
Matthew 20:14 Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.
God was speaking, and this is in the parable of the vineyard owner who hires workers, and gives those who first came on the job the same wages as those who were hired at the last hour of the day. It is God’s prerogative how He chooses to reward workers.
There are many who have been in church 40 years and seen no miracles, but that doesn’t mean that God cannot use someone new to the faith and give them a miracle. The sovereign will of God is that He is God and He can use whom He chooses, when He chooses.
If God chooses an arrogant people who assume they are righteous, we cannot compare ourselves and wonder why He didn’t choose us. If God is not using us, there may be a reason. The Spirit can use us if we are humble and say, “I don’t care if you use me or somebody else, as long as your word gets out.” Don’t let our ego get in the way.
We can’t judge by education, influence, or ability.
There is a commonality of Spirit. God can let someone else say something, and it portrays the same truth, even if he isn’t saying it the same way you would say it – truth is truth. If no one else is saying it, you may be wrong.
God will bring back a new revelation that is an old revelation. You should come to church and go “aha!” If you are not gaining revelation from God and His Word you are not spending enough time in the Spirit.
Matthew 20:14 Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.
God can give me what He wants to give me. And we have the right to want what is mine.
Matthew 20:15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’
Do we covet somebody else’s gift?
Matthew 20:16 So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.
We then spoke about the different names that God uses for power.
Exusia -which means authority
Dunamis – which means dynamite power.When the Bible was translated, those who translated it wanted to be faithful, but there was always a bias based on whether a person believed in charismatic gifts or not. Those who did not believe in charismatic gifts would translate a passage as exusia – which is authority even if it was dunamis. And when the English word authority is used, it does not portray that power that God gives us.
We all have the Holy Spirit, and that does give us authority, but it also gives us power to operate in the gifts. In the book of Acts, when the Holy Spirit came on you, you were endued with explosive, dynamite power.
John the Baptist baptized Jesus with the Holy Spirit AND Power.
Jesus was led by the Power of the Spirt.
When we are born again, the Spirit of God gives us authority to be a Child of God. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit gives us dynamite power.
In verse 16, God tells us that the last shall be first, and the first last. This is a parable of the Kingdom of Heaven, and in this parable the vineyard owner hired people the 1st, 3rd, 6th, and 9th hour, but payed everyone the same pay, whether they worked a whole day, 1/2 day, 1/3 day or one hour.
In the Church this is also true. When the rapture comes some will have been in the church all their lives, others who are raptured may have only been in the church one minute. Someone reminded us of the thief on the cross.
Pastor Don pointed out that all will get the crown of salvation, but those who spend more time in serving the Kingdom will earn other rewards. Those who serve in the Church in righteousness and truth all the time, and those saved in the last hour will get the same crown of salvation. Jesus is generous. In the last days as the earth gets worse, the will be a harvest. The Johnny Come Latelies and those who have worked hard for the Kingdom will all be raptured.
Yet, those who do not make the rapture will go will go through the tribulation – and during that time will serve the Lord, even dying for Him. They will be the last, and they will receive the greater reward than the Bride of Christ.
But then Pastor Don pointed out that he wants to go up with the first group, for we don’t know how we will survive the tribulation – we think we will stand fast for Christ, but when the real suffering comes will we really stand for Christ?
Matthew 20:17-19 Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.”
It is right after this parable that Jesus tells the disciples about the cross. This was Jesus’ last hours, and it is true, many are called, few are chosen. Jesus was willing to do God’s will, even though it involved the pain of the Cross.
Romans 8:28-30 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
This passage refers to those who are called according to God’s purpose.
Romans 11:29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
God doesn’t change His mind – the same as God will not change His mind about the Jews.
Our rewards will be based on what Christ did, not on what we did.
Praying this blesses you!
Heather
