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IIN HIS SERVICE

GOD COMMANDS A MESSAGE OF JUDGMENT

WHEN THE GOSPEL NO LONGER PERFORS ITS TRANSFORMING WORK

BY Aldwyn Lake

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GOD COMMANDS A MESSAGE OF JUDGMENT Isaiah 6:1-10 (NASB) 1 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." INTRODUCTION In this sixth chapter of Isaiah we have been presented with an aspect of true worship to God. There is no other place in the Bible where this is more clearly presented. The aspect that I am referring to is that of revelation and response. Wherever and whenever God is truly worshipped these two things must be present, God revealing Himself or making Himself known and the correct response to Him by those to whom He is revealed. That is what is occurring here.

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THE REVELATIONS AND RSPONSES God first revealed Himself sitting on His throne lofty, exalted and holy, as the supreme sovereign and righteous ruler of the whole earth. In response to that revelation Isaiah humbles himself, bowing in Gods presence and acknowledges that he is exceedingly sinful, utterly unholy and unfit to worship the true and living God. He honestly confesses this in His presence saying, Woe is me; I am ruined. The second aspect of Gods revelation is His mercy. God shows to Isaiah that He is merciful and ready to forgive where there is true repentance. Since Isaiah made the right response to the first revelation, God makes this second revelation. He reaches out to Isaiah the sinner, not with fire of punishment and destruction but with that of cleansing, atonement, satisfaction, forgiveness and reconciliation. Isaiah responded by receiving the mercy of God and as such he was forgiven. God continues this revelation of His mercy by making it known to him that this is what was done, for the angel who was Gods agent of salvation said to Isaiah, this has touched your lips, Your iniquity has been taken away and your sins have been forgiven. Gods work took immediate effect and Isaiah was made fit to be in Gods presence and fit to worship Him. It is important to note that Isaiah made the correct response to Gods extension of mercy and we must not think that this is the obvious and only response that a person can or would make. Oftentimes sinners give a negative response to Gods mercy and reject it, turning away from the offer of salvation. Those of us who are involved in witnessing for God in presenting the gospel to sinners, will know that this is a common experience. People reject the Gospel and Gods offer of salvation. But, Isaiah did not, he made the correct response to Gods offer and as a result he received the salvation. The third revelation that God made is that He has work to be done and that in His grace, He is prepared to employ the services of His subjects to work with Him. Here again Isaiah, in an expression of worship, makes the correct response to

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work. He gives himself totally and unconditionally to God to be used by Him in His work by saying, Here am I; send me. We can put all these together and say true worship to God is God revealing whom He is to His creatures and in response they bow or surrender all that they are to Him; waiting to receive from Him; and having received, they rise from there to serve Him with all that they are and with all that they have been given.

ISAIAHS ASSIGNMENT From verse 9 to verse 10 of this chapter, God reveals to Isaiah the work that is to be done and its nature. The passage reads: 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." In these verses God is doing three things. The first is that God gives Isaiah a message. The second is that God tells Isaiah his job is to take that message to His people. And, the third is that God shows that Isaiahs work is part of His broader and more involved programme. We may say that this is an unusual job that was given to Isaiah. THE MESSAGE Isaiah was to preach the word of Gods salvation to the people and the reason for this was that there was hope for them in Gods salvation only. As such, they needed to hear it; they needed to see their condition and they needed to understand what Gods salvation was all about. The people needed to be made aware of where they had gone wrong, of the way back to God and of the consequences of their disobedience. They needed to be told that God would forgive and deliver if they repented.

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That is the message that Isaiah had to take to the people. But, he also had to say to them Keep on listening, but do not perceive; keep on looking, but do not understand. He was to say to them keep on listening to the message but do not come to a knowledge of your state, standing or condition in Gods presence. This is what do not perceive means; and, it is actually a command. He was to command them to listen and command them not to perceive. He was also to say to them, Keep on looking but do not understand. They were to keep on looking at what God was doing and at their condition but they were not to understand what it all meant. These were commands also. He was to command them to keep looking and also command them not to understand what they were seeing.

THE JOB Isaiahs work was not to enlighten the people but it was to put them in darkness. This is how God states it: "Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim. Isaiahs ministry was not one of deliverance, although he preached a message of deliverance. It was one of condemnation and judgment for God said, in giving instructions to Isaiah, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed." In Gods broader programme His intention was not for His people to return to Him and be healed but it was for their judgment and condemnation, although the message preached was one of Gods salvation. How do we know that the message was of Gods salvation? We know this because of what is written in Isaiah chapter 28 verses 5 and 6 and verses 9 to 13. Speaking of the work of the Lord in the midst of and on behalf of His people Isaiah says: 5 In that day the LORD of hosts will become a beautiful crown and a glorious diadem to the remnant of His people; 6 A spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment, a strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate.

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9 "To whom would He teach knowledge, and to whom would He interpret the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just taken from the breast? 10 "For He says, ' Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line, a little here, a little there.'" 11 Indeed, He will speak to this people through stammering lips and a foreign tongue, 12 He who said to them, "Here is rest, give rest to the weary," and, "Here is repose," but they would not listen. 13 So the word of the LORD to them will be, " Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line, a little here, a little there," That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared and taken captive. Isaiah 28:5-13 (NASB)

THE PROGRAMME As is see here, Gods message was not a complex one, and it was not presented in a way that made it difficult or impossible to understand either. It was presented in a way as if little children were being taught. Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line, a little here, a little there. It was repeated over and over in a simple and systematic manner, and time was taken to explain and to make it clear. But they would not listen, they would not take heed. Eventually they would stumble backward, be broken, snared and taken captive.

APPLICATION This is an important lesson and message for us today and the importance of it should also come across most strongly to us because that message that was given to Isaiah has been repeated five times in the New Testament. Jesus Christ in speaking to the people of His day said that this scripture was also fulfilled with respect to them. They were hearing the word of God, they were reading it every Sabbath but they could not see or understand its fulfillment in their time. His words in this regard have been repeated in the four Gospels. And the apostle Paul

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during his ministry said the same thing of the Jews in the book of Acts, several years after. We must take warning and observe whats happening with us in our time lest we find ourselves repeating the mistakes of those who went before us. We must examine ourselves to see if we have stiffened our lips, folded our arms and have taken a stand; not with God but against Him. Gods people in Isaiahs day had been in rebellion against Him for such a long time, that eventually they had reached the point of no return and they did not know it. God had reached the point where the only actions He could take were punishment and destruction; there was no longer an avenue for restoration and as such the preaching of the Gospel did not have any transforming effect upon those who heard it. May God keep us from reaching there, even we who are called by His name. Isaiahs ministry was not one of reconciliation or restoration. It was one of hardening. Hence we read: "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."