Day 198. Isaiah 4-6

Isaiah's oracles—his prophetic utterances—veer back and forth—often very abruptly--between words of condemnation and hope. Obviously they were delivered at various times and in a variety of circumstances. The promise of a purified and glorious Jerusalem over which the presence of the LORD will hover in cloud and fire and (4:2-6) is followed hard by words of condemnation in the famous "Love-song of the Vineyard" (chapter 5). The love-song is actually a parable in which the prophet tells how his "beloved" carefully planted and loved a vineyard, which he assiduously tended in the hope that it would produce grapes. But having done all that he can, the beloved is disappointed when it bears only "wild grapes" (5:2)—inedible and useless. So in his regret and anger he determines to break down the wall of the vineyard and make it a waste. Then comes the interpretation of the parable—the "beloved" is God, and "the vineyard of the
LORD of hosts is the house of Israel" (5:7), from whom "he expected justice but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry."
The only fruit Israel produces is injustice and hypocrisy. The prophet bitterly condemns those who "call evil good, and good evil" and "deprive the innocent of their rights" (5:23). And for their offenses and stubborn disobedience the LORD's anger is "kindled against his people" (5:24), and he has resolved to send a foreign enemy to ravage the land—"he will whistle for a people at the ends of earth. Here they come, swiftly speedily" ((5:26). The word picture the prophet paints of the ruthless invaders is a chilling one. We feel the inevitability of their approach in this remarkable passage (5:27-30), and "the light grows dark with clouds"
Then in chapter 6 we hear one of the greatest stories of spiritual transformation in all of literature—the Isaiah's account of his vision of God in the temple. It takes place "in the year that King Uzziah died" (6:1). Uzziah had ruled Judah for a generation, and the year of his death would have been a time of national uncertainty and unease. Then at that crucial moment the prophet Isaiah, worshipping in the Jerusalem temple, sees a vision of the Lord, enthroned on high, attended by "seraphs" (6:1-2). These appear to be winged serpents or dragons, and they sing "Holy, holy, holy!" to the LORD who is so utterly different and apart from all of his creation that nothing else can be compared to him. (The song of the seraphs is echoed in the Book of Revelation (4:8) by the eternal hymn of the "living creatures" of the same kind who hover around the throne of the Almighty.)
The prophet's vision is accompanied by an earthquake—a not uncommon occurrence in that part of the world—that makes the pivots of the doors of the temple squeal and shake. Smoke-- clouds of incense--fill the temple, and reveal the LORD's presence at the same time it hides his face, which none can see and remain alive (see Exodus 33:20). The vision is overwhelming in power and majesty and the prophet is crushed by a sense of shame and cries out-- "Woe is me!" He feels not only his own shame in the presence of such purity, but also a painful sense of the sinfulness of the "people of unclean lips" among whom he dwells. (An experience of the divine always makes human beings feel their own unworthiness—remember the reaction of the disciples when Jesus stilled the storm.)
But in response to the prophet's cry one the winged creatures flies to him holding a live coal from the altar with tongs and touches it to his lips, symbolically cleansing him and enabling him to speak the painful message he is about to be given. Then he hears the voice of the LORD asking for a volunteer—"Whom shall I send?" And the prophet replies—"Here am I; send me" (6:8). It is the response of Samuel (1 Samuel 3:4) and Mary (Luke 1:38), and of all who respond in obedience to the call to do the difficult things God asks of us.
And Isaiah's call is to do among the most difficult things of all—to fail. He is to warn Israel of the terrible approaching fate, but they will not heed his warning. He will call them to repentance, but they will not repent. God has already made "this people dull" (6:10) so they will not "turn and be healed." It is too late for reconciliation, the doom of Jerusalem is sealed, the vineyard will be uprooted, but the prophet is to preach repentance nevertheless. The people will go into captivity, and "vast [will be] the emptiness in the midst of the land" (6:12). It will be cut down like a tree, and the only hope will be "its stump" (6:13)-- the new growth that will appear unexpectedly from its utter destruction.