later experience, as he looked back upon fruitless labors. But that the story is the description of a real and vital experience we cannot doubt. It makes clear to us the source of, that enthusiasm which the passing years transformed into stern and patient determination. In the year that King Uzziah' died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim:2 each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he 5 covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, "Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of hosts; The whole earth is full of his glory." And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice Io of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, 15 20 "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, Jehovah of hosts."3 Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a hot stone in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: and he touched my mouth with it, and said, "Lo, this hath touched thy lips; And thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin removed."4 1 (790-739 B.C.): For the biblical account of the reign of Uzziah or Azariah see II Kings 15:1-7. The death of the king from leprosy, a disease which the Hebrews always regarded as a visitation of the displeasure of Jehovah, would make a strong impression upon a man of Isaiah's type of mind. That he should be found in the temple, absorbed in contemplation and adoration of the holy character of Jehovah, that out of this there should arise an overpowering conviction of duty for himself, and that he should describe his experience, even to himself, in terms of a vision-all this is but natural for a man of Isaiah's deep piety and mystical temperament. 2 Seraphim: This is the only use of the term in either the Old or the New Testaments. There are other allusions in Isaiah to a "fiery flying serpent" which suggest the conclusion that the seraphim of this vision were glowing dragon or serpent forms with wings as described. 3 Have seen the king: The glory of his vision overwhelmed Isaiah with a sense of humiliation, and also of fear, for he recalled the old tradition that, "No man may look upon the face of Jehovah and live." 4 Thy sin is removed: Burned away by the heat of the stone. 25 30 35 40 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." And he said, "Go, and tell this people, Go on hearing, but understand not; Go on seeing, but perceive not. 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 their heart should understand and they be healed again." Then said I, "Lord, how long?" And he answered, "Until cities be waste without inhabitant, And houses without man, and the land be left a desolation, And the forsaken places be many in the midst of the land. 2 It also shall in turn be burnt, like the terebinth, and like the oak, Whose stock remaineth when they are felled." A Demand for Reform The first effect upon the prophet of this vision of holiness was to make still more abhorrent to him the sham and paltriness of the national life, and to strengthen in him the belief that the God of whom he had had a vision would not long bear with such a people. In the menacing Assyrian he saw the instrument of Jehovah's 1 Make the heart, etc.: These imperative commands state rather a great law-that unheeded warnings leave men more callous than before, until their power to heed is lost completely. With the experience of Amos and Hosea behind him Isaiah saw little probability that the people of Judah would listen to his message, or that the destruction of the nation would be less complete than that of a tree when the stump is burned. Can we overestimate the courage of a man who would undertake so hopeless a task? 2 Terebinth: A tree common in Palestine, but somewhat less so than the oak. wrath descending in punishment upon his people. But to Isaiah punishment was an instrument of reform, not an act of vengeance. He felt that the nation was not to be utterly destroyed, but to be regenerated. Faith and hope were ever his strongest allies. Never despairing, he threw himself into a fight for moral and religious reform, seeking to startle the nation from its fancied security, and to make a remnant of the people fit to survive the destruction which he so clearly foresaw. The following selection will serve to illustrate this early campaign of Isaiah against the social evils of his day. I For, behold, the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, Doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah stay and staff, The whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, The mighty man, and the man of war; 5 The judge, and the prophet, and the diviner, and the elder: The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, And the expert charmer, and the skilful enchanter. And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. And the people shall be oppressed, one by another, and each by his neighbour: 10 The child shall behave himself proudly against the old man, and the base against the honourable. When a man shall take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying, "Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, And let this ruin be under thy hand." In that day shall he lift up his voice, saying, 15 "I will not be a healer; For in my house is neither bread nor clothing: Isa. 3:1-15 (Am. Standard Rev. Ver., by permission). This passage enumerates all the different classes of leaders in commercial, social, and religious life. It pictures them swept away, and superseded by inexperienced and childish leaders, whose only qualification for their position is the fact that they can afford to possess the necessary garments of state. For Jerusalem is ruined,' and Judah is fallen: Because their tongue and their doings are against Jehovah, 20 To provoke the eyes of his glory. Their respecting of persons doth witness against them; Happy is the righteous, for it is well with him: 25 For they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! it is ill with him: For what his hands have done shall be done unto him. As for my people, children are their oppressors, 30 O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, Jehovah standeth up to contend, 35 With the elders of his people, and the princes thereof: "It is ye that have eaten up the vineyard; The spoil of the poor is in your houses: Isaiah Pronounces the Doom of Israel Isaiah tells us that he undertook his work in the year that King Uzziah died. Jotham,3 Uzziah's son, succeeded to the throne. Perhaps in his reign, but certainly in the early years of that of his son Ahaz, the combined armies of Northern Israel and Syria 1 For Jerusalem is ruined: This is not a lament over a city already fallen, but a picture of disaster so imminent as to make the prophet's words bring trembling to the hearts of his hearers. 2 Lines 21, 22: "Anyone who looks can see their sin." It can no longer be hidden. The leaders are the most conspicuous sinners of all. Upon them rests the responsibility of having led the nation astray. 38. 3 Jotham (739-735 B.C.): For the biblical account of his reign see II Kings 15:32 4 Ahaz (735–715 B.C.): For the biblical account of his reign see II Kings 16:1–20. invaded Judah, carrying dismay to the hearts of king and people. The prophet seized upon this opportunity to impress his message of moral and social reform, proclaiming that the wickedness of both Israel and Judah was the cause of their misfortunes. War he declared to be but the expression of Jehovah's chastening anger. 'The Lord sent a word against Jacob, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, 5 That say in pride and in stoutness of heart," "The bricks are fallen, but we will build with hewn stone: Therefore Jehovah will raise up enemies against him, 10 The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; And they shall devour Israel with open mouth. But his hand is stretched out still.3 Yet the people turn not unto him that smiteth them, 15 Neither seek they Jehovah of hosts. Therefore Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail, For they that lead this people cause them to err; And they that are led of them are destroyed. 20 Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over their young men, Neither will he have compassion on their fatherless and widows: For every one is profane and an evil-doer, And every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, 25 But his hand is stretched out still.4 Isa. 9:8-10:4; 5:26-30. 2 Lines 1-5: Samaria had already suffered greatly, having been compelled to pour her treasure into the coffers of Tiglath-pileser, the king of Assyria. The words "stoutness of heart" well expressed the persistence with which these Palestinian cities held to their hope of renewed prosperity. 3 Lines 13, 25: Note the impressive sternness of these lines which constitute a refrain appearing at the end of each strophe. Strophe 2: As it was in Judah, so in Samaria, it is the leaders whom the prophet arraigns. |