This lesson is about a judgmental prophecy; Isaiah 6. The purpose of this two part series is to show that despite a severe warning from God to Israel He does not act immediately. He is gracious and provides opportunity for them to repent and turn back to Him. Israel failed to heed the warning; ignored the further opportunity and eventually the judgment fell.

Isaiah 6 is featured in four significant settings in the Gospel and Acts period and it is very important we know them to accurately understand the New Testament, dispensationally. The Lord pronounces judgment of Israel in the Gospels and Acts from Isaiah 6 but the judgment did not fall upon them immediately. Just as in the past the Lord gave them further opportunity to repent and turn back to Him, so in the Gospel and Acts, Israel was given an extended time period to seek the Lord.

When Isaiah wrote his prophecy, divided Israel was deep into spiritual adultery. They had turned away from the Lord and apostasy was widespread with little faith in the land of Promise. The Lord had faithfully sent His messengers to Israel but they did not see or hear and eventually He told Isaiah to speak words of judgment.

Here is the passage to be considered:
Isa 6:1  In the year that King Uzziah died I then saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple.
Isa 6:2  Above it stood the seraphs; each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
Isa 6:3  And one cried to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of Hosts; the whole earth full of His glory.
Isa 6:8  And 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!

Isa 6:9  And He said, Go, and tell this people, You hear indeed, but do not understand; and seeing you see, but do not know.
Isa 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 hearts, and turn back, and be healed.

This vision came to Isaiah in the year King Uzziah (Azariah) died, around 650BC. This King of Judah was a good King until the Lord made him very powerful. He became prideful and was stricken with leprosy when He entered the Temple to burn incense.

Uzziah tried to perform a duty of the priests which the Lord had strictly forbidden. He would have thus combined the office of King and Priest but only the Lord Jesus will combine both these offices as foretold in the character of Melchizedek and the prophecy of Zech. 6:12-13. Uzziah’s actions remind us of the antichrist who goes into the Temple (2Thess.2) and is destroyed when the Lord returns and the whole earth is full of His glory.

We read about King Uzziah in the following passages, 2Kings14:21-22, 15:1-7 and 2Chronicles 26.

Unlike David before him, Uzziah was unrepentant and became isolated from the people and the Temple until the day he died.  Uzziah represented Israel for just as Uzziah had been unrepentant, so the nation had manifested the same attitude and were under judgment of dispersion. The Lord had spoken to them through miracles, powers and prophets but for the most part they were stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, see Ex.32:9, Deut.9:6-7 and 10:16-17.

In the year the usurper King Priest died, Isaiah saw the real King Priest in the Temple and the “whole earth full of His glory”. While this prophecy was one of judgment, the Lord was seen in glory which glory would come to pass despite Israel’s unfaithfulness. The Lord keeps His promises and Israel will be that great and mighty nation one day.

The Lord gives Isaiah a message for Jerusalem and Judah as per Isaiah 6:9-10. Isaiah realized that this was a declaration of judgment from the Lord upon His people and immediately asks the question:
Isa 6:11  Then I said, Lord, how long? And He answered, Until the cities are wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land laid waste, a desolation,
Isa 6:12  and until Jehovah has moved men far away, and the desolation in the midst of the land is great.

The Word of God tells us that the Lord is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger and rich in mercy” (Ps.103:8, Neh.9:17 et al). In the prophecy of Joel, even as the Lord’s northern army is ravaging Israel, He calls upon them to repent and turn back to Him, see Joel 2. This invitation had been in operation from the beginning of their history;
Deu 30:1  And it shall be when all these things have come on you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and when you shall call them to mind among all the nations where Jehovah your God has driven you,
Deu 30:2  and shall return to Jehovah your God and shall obey His voice according to all that I command you today, you and your sons, with all your heart, and with all your soul,
Deu 30:3  then Jehovah your God will turn your captivity. And He will have compassion on you, and will return and gather you from all the nations where Jehovah your God has scattered you.

This call to repent was in operation even as Isaiah wrote the words of chapter 6. Even though the Lord spoke through Isaiah of pending judgment, the Lord did not immediately bring this prophecy to bear upon them. Further time was given for both kingdoms to turn back to the Lord. This they did not do and therefore the Northern Kingdom was carried away by the Assyrians 40 years after this, and the Southern Kingdom was taken captive to Babylon 170 years later. The judgment of this prophecy eventually fell and Israel of the Gospel and Acts period knew this historic fact.

In the Gospels the Lord comes to His people, Israel. Will they listen to Him? Will they show a different heart, one that yearns to hear the Word of God? We already know the answer (Matt.21:28-41) but let us not read what we know into the events of the Gospel time.

He came to them with all the credentials the prophets spoke about (see Deut.18:15-18 and Isaiah 35) but for all this they did not listen. Please read Matt.4:23-25, 9:35, 10:5-8 and Luke 10:1-11. When the Lord stood up to read in His home town synagogue He read Isaiah 61:1-2a for indeed it was “the acceptable year of the Lord”. The Kingdom Israel hoped for had arrived for the KING was in their midst. All Israel had to do was repent and accept Him but they did not see and listen.

In Matt.12:22 the Lord healed one who was blind and dumb and the people asked, “Is not this the Son of David?” The Pharisees accused the Lord of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub (the Prince of the dunghill, or demons). Please read down through the rest of this chapter 12, noting verse 28. In the next chapter and as a result of this hardness of heart to plain statements of power, The Lord announces Isaiah 6 against the rulers of Israel;
Mat 13:13  Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not; nor do they understand.
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which said, "By hearing you shall hear and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see and shall not perceive;
Mat 13:15  for this people's heart has become gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and they have closed their eyes, lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them."

The judgment that Isaiah 6 warned about did not fall on the Leaders but the Lord turns from speaking plainly to speaking parables which conceal the truth, not make it plainer. One dumb and blind had been made well, and instead of seeing and speaking for God as they were supposed to be doing, the truth was obscured from Israel’s leaders. If the Kingdom of God had arrived as the Lord said it had (Matt.12:28, Lk.17:21) then faith in the same One who restored sight and speech would restore the Kingdom. Even though the Lord spoke in parables, the opportunity remained for them to turn to Him for it was still the acceptable year of the Lord, (compare Hebrews 4:7).

Isaiah 6 occurs again in John. The Rabbis taught that only Messiah could heal one born blind and this is exactly what the Lord did in John chapter 9. At the bottom of that chapter the Lord speaks of sight and blindness. In chapter 11 the Lord raises Lazarus from the dead and many of the Jews believed in Him, John 11:43-45. The leaders acknowledged that the Lord did many signs yet they plotted His death and the death of resurrected Lazarus as well, John 11:46-51 and 12:10.

In John chapter 12 we have the crowds seeking and thronging the Lord because of the signs He had done (Jn.12:9, 12-13, 17-18, & 29). Yet it is apparent that the crowd was only after the show for the Lord goes on to say:
Joh 12:37  But even though He had done so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in Him,
Joh 12:38  that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he said: "Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?”
Joh 12:39  Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:
Joh 12:40  "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them."
Joh 12:41  These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke about Him.

The very fickle crowd which cried out Psalm 118:26 as the Lord entered Jerusalem was the same crowd which within a few hours was crying “away with Him”. When Pilate called the Lord a just person, they responded with “let His blood be upon us and our children”, Matt.27:24-25.

John 12:40 is another announcement of the prophecy of Isaiah 6 but just as in the past, judgment of that prophecy did not fall immediately. Further opportunity was provided for them. Israel saw but did not see they heard but did not understand but they were not cast aside and dispersed among the nations at that time.

During the later days of the Lord’s ministry, as the leaders and the people rejected their Messiah and put Him to death, Isaiah 6 was upon them but not enacted fully. Israel was not cast off and scattered at the cross. Israel did not cease to be God’s people as they witnessed the fulfillment of Passover before their eyes.

Next lesson we shall look again at the Acts period and the Isaiah 6 announcements there. 

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