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Isaiah
SabbathSchool Lesson Begins
Bible Study Guide - 1st Quarter 2021
Lesson 2January 2-8
Crisis of Leadership (Vision of
Christ’s Kingship Conferred)
Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week’s Study: Isa. 6:1-4, Isa. 6:5-7, Isa. 6:8, Isa. 6:9-13. Memory Text:“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”(Isaiah 6:1, NKJV). When asked by one of his disciples about the ingredients of good government,
Confucius answered: “ ‘Sufficient food, sufficient weapons, and the confidence of
the common people.’ ‘But,’ asked the disciple, ‘suppose you had no choice but to dispense with
one of those three, which would you forego?’ ‘Weapons,’ said Confucius. His disciple persisted: ‘Suppose you were then forced to dispense with one
of the two that are left, which would you forego?’ Replied Confucius, ‘Food. For from of old, hunger has been the lot of all men,
but a people that no longer trusts its rulers is lost indeed.’ ” — Edited by Michael
P. Green, 1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker
Books, 1989), p. 215. People do, indeed, want strong, trustworthy leadership. When a soldier was
signing up for a second term of duty, the army recruiter asked why he wanted to
re-enlist. “I tried civilian life,” he said, “but nobody is in charge out there.” This week, we will look at Judah’s crisis of leadership and the sad results
that followed. Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath,
January 9. The King Is Dead. Long Live the King! Isaiah 6:1 talks about the death of King Uzziah. Read 2 Chronicles 26 and then answer
this question: What is the significance of King Uzziah’s death? Isaiah says that in the year king Uzziah died, in his 52nd year
of reign in 743 BCE, he had a vision. It was during the three year resistance
of Arpad running from 744 to 740 BCE as William Shea has shown in an article he
published on these events. The kings’ death is a side comment and has nothing pivotal to do with the
rest of the chapter. It is a marginal note. The title above for Sunday is
relevant and that is the only relevancy. But, Isaiah may not have had that in
mind at all. We will see later why in the chapter. The death of Uzziah is no
different than most of the kings of Israel or Judah which created leadership
crisis whenever on died. It was the same in the Ancient Near Eastern
surrounding nations around Israel in those days and earlier. Even today
leadership problems are there when one leader steps out and another is to take
his place. . Gane feels in his description of these events that “In this time of crisis,
God encouraged Isaiah by showing the prophet that He was still in control.”
Nothing can be further from the truth than this. The vision does not take place
of things on earth but events in heaven. They do not take place in the time of
Isaiah but invite Isaiah to a period near the Second Coming of Christ. Read carefully 2 Chronicles 26:16. In what ways does
each one of us face that potential for the same thing? How can dwelling on the Cross
protect us from that pitfall? “Holy, Holy, Holy” (Isa. 6:1-4) Isaiah wrote in panels and in vv. 1-4 he
describes this vision: “I saw the Lord [Christ or Lord Almighty v. 3] sitting
on a throne lifted up” (v. 1b). Christ will receive the throne from the Father
(Luke 1:32-33) and the timing of that event is after the seventh angel sounded
(Revelation 11:15). The moment of this vision cannot be 1844 which is the
beginning of the heavenly Yom Kippur
or Day of Atonement and cannot be
2013 since Christ is not King but High-Priest. When the Door of Mercy closes and His High-priestly role is done, then He
will receive the Kingship and be King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But not until
then. Thus, the scene of Isaiah is just after Christ received the Kingship,
just after the completion of the heavenly Investigative
Judgment. Angels were covering His Glory and said that the whole earth is
full of His glory. During the Investigative
Judgment the earth is not yet full of the glory of the Lord. It is a
heavenly Sanctuary scene. It is not in history since there never was a time,
except in unfallen Eden, when the glory of the Lord filled the earth. The
foundations shook and the heavenly Sanctuary was filled with what appeared to
Isaiah as smoke (v. 4). Where is the Lord in this vision? (See Isa. 6:1.) Why would the Lord make an appearance to Isaiah here, as opposed to anywhere
else? See Exod. 25:8; Exod. 40:34-38. Ezekiel, Daniel, and John were in exile when they received their visions in
Ezekiel 1; Daniel 7:9, 10; and Revelation 4, 5. Like Isaiah, these prophets received information
and perspective related to the prophetic actions and events to come in God’s
corridor of events in future unto the Hell event. God may choose any part of it
to present to the prophet and it may have no relation to his own history at
all. It has to do with the salvation history of the remnant and faithful and
served as a navigation what is to come. We do not get anywhere in Isaiah 6 the
idea that he was sad that there are no leader in Israel or Judah. “As Isaiah beheld this revelation of the glory and majesty of his Lord, he
was overwhelmed with a sense of the purity and holiness of God. How sharp the contrast
between the matchless perfection of his Creator, and the sinful course of those
who, with himself, had long been numbered among the chosen people of Israel and
Judah!” — Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 307. The transcendent holiness of God, emphasized in Isaiah’s vision, is a basic
aspect of his message. God is a holy God, and He demands holiness from His people,
a holiness He will give to them if only they will repent, turn from their evil ways,
and submit to Him in faith and obedience. All of us have been in discouraging situations,
where from outward appearances all seemed lost. And even if you didn’t get a vision
of the “glory of the Lord,” as did Isaiah here, recount the ways in which the Lord
was able to sustain you and your faith during this crisis. What have you learned
from these experiences that you could share with others? New Personality (Isa. 6:5-7) At the sanctuary/temple, only the high priest could approach the presence of
God in the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement and with a protective smokescreen
of incense, or he would die (Lev. 16:2, 12, 13). Isaiah saw the Lord, even though he was not the high priest, and he was not
burning incense! The temple filled with smoke (Isa. 6:4), reminding us of the cloud in which God’s glory appeared on the Day of Atonement
(Lev. 16:2). Awestruck and thinking he was finished (compare Exod. 33:20; Judg. 6:22, 23), Isaiah cried out with an acknowledgment of his sin and the sin of his people
(Isa. 6:5), reminiscent of the high priest’s confession on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:21). Isaiah saw an event that is going to start in 1844 but which is going to
end shortly before the Second Coming. When Christ receives His Kingship, He is eager
to come and get the saints, eager to Resurrect. It is at this point, as Isaiah’s
eyes sees the King, the Lord of Hosts (v. 5d) that he felt his utter
inabilities. “Woe is me, for I am cut off
[Egyptian loanword dm(t) meaning cut with a knive], for I am a man of
unclean lips” (v. 5a). Isaiah is a saved sinner. He is not living in sin for he
is saved from sin. But, no-one can come in the presence of the Almighty and
feel the same. Even the saints, perfect in character will during the Time of Jacob’s Trouble feel unworthy
since the Holy Spirit will separate from them. They will also experience the “cut-off”
anxiety that Christ experienced in Gethsemane. The Lord sitting on the throne
(v. 1) is the King, the Lord of Hosts(v. 5d). He has not yet left the temple
for the Second Coming. At this point, feeling his utter unworthiness and be in the
presence of the All-Worthy Christ, a seraphim flew to him and touched his mouth
“your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven” (v. 7). This has nothing
to do with the Daily Salvation process in the Priestly System of the Temple and
Tabernacle described by Moses, it has nothing to do with the work of Christ in
the Priestly area of the Holies before 1844 or even the work of Christ in the
Holy of Holies during the Day of Atonement period between 1844 until the Door of Mercy closes. This is the
typical action that all the saints will receive during the Time of Trouble. It is their perfection. Atonement is completed,
Christ is no longer High-Priest but has become the King and thus this action
will take place then at the beginning of the Time of Trouble short period. “Standing, as it were, in the full light of the divine presence within the
inner sanctuary, he realized that if left to his own imperfection and inefficiency,
he would be utterly unable to accomplish the mission to which he had been called.”
— Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 308. Why did the seraph use
a live, or burning, coal from the altar to cleanse Isaiah’s lips? Isa 6:6, 7. Gane said that “the seraph explained that through touching the prophet’s lips
his guilt and sin were removed (Isa. 6:7). The sin is not specified, but it need not be limited to wrong speech, because
lips signify not only speech but also the entire person who utters it. Having received
moral purification, Isaiah was now able to offer pure praise to God.” Gane then explains that incense is used for purification but in the case
of Isaiah 6 it is different. “But in Isaiah 6, the seraph applies the coal to Isaiah
rather than to incense.” It is different because it has nothing to do with the
earthly sanctuary. It is the heavenly sanctuary scene here. Read prayerfully Isaiah’s response (Isa. 6:5) to his vision of God.
How do we see in it an expression of the basic problem, that of a sinful people
existing in a universe created by a “Holy, holy, holy” God? (Isa. 6:3, NRSV). Why was Christ on
the cross the only possible answer to this problem? What happened at the Cross that
solved this problem? Royal Commission (Isa. 6:8) “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying,
Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me” (Isa. 6:8). Having been purified, Isaiah immediately responded to God’s call for a representative
whom He could send out on His behalf. In New Testament terms, Isaiah would have
been called an apostle; that is, “one who is sent.” Interestingly enough, the book of Isaiah does not begin, as do some other prophetic
books, with the prophet describing his prophetic call (compare Jer. 1:4-10, Ezekiel 1-3). In other words, he must have already been
called to be a prophet, even before the events of chapter 6. The Bible does show
that a divine encounter can encourage a prophet even after the ministry began (Moses:
Exodus 34; Elijah: 1 Kings 19). In contrast to other examples, too, where God
tells people they are to be prophets, in Isaiah 6 the prophet volunteers for a special
mission. It appears that chapters 1-5 of Isaiah represent conditions at the time
when Isaiah was first called, after which God jump-started his ministry by encouraging
him at the temple and reconfirming his commission as God’s prophetic spokesman. When the angel spoke in verse 8 it introduce a
new project intended for the historical period that Isaiah and all the saints
until the time of the end will endure: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for
Us?” It was a call to cooperation with heavenly beings in evangelism. Isaiah
signed up and expressed his willingness (v. 8). God encouraged Isaiah at
His temple. Is there evidence elsewhere in the Bible that God’s sanctuary is a place
of encouragement? Psalm 73 (see Ps. 73:17), Heb. 4:14-16, Heb. 10:19-23, Revelation 5. What do these texts tell us? Not only does God’s sanctuary throb with awesome power; it’s a place where
weak and faulty people such as we can find refuge. We can be reassured by knowing
that God is working to rescue us through Christ, our High Priest. John also saw Christ represented as a sacrificial lamb that had just been slaughtered,
its throat slit (Rev. 5:6). This was not a pretty sight. The description makes the point that although
Christ was raised from the dead and has ascended to heaven, He continually carries
the Cross event with Him. He is still lifted up in order to draw all people to Himself
at His altar. How have you found encouragement by entering God’s
heavenly temple, by faith, in prayer? Hebrews 4:16 invites you to approach
God’s throne boldly to “receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (NRSV).
If someone were to ask you how you have found grace and mercy in your time of need,
how would you respond? Appalling Appeal (Isa. 6:9-13) When God recommissioned
Isaiah, why did He give the prophet such a strange message to take to His people
(Isa. 6:9, 10)? Lest we should think that Isaiah heard wrong or that this message is unimportant,
Jesus cited this passage to explain why He taught in parables (Matt. 13:13-15). The angel speaking knew that as long as the
Great Controversy is lurking on earth, which is the period from Isaiah’s day
until the Second Coming, “keep listening but you do not perceive, keep seeing
but you do not understand” (v. 9). Satan “will cause to make the heart of these
people insensitive” and “their ears are caused to make dull” and “their eyes is
caused to make dim” (v. 10). It will be continuously from Isaiah’s day to the
time of Jesus (John 12:39-41). It will be all the way to the church of Laodicea’s
condition as the seventh and last church before the Eschaton as Revelation
3:15-18 indicates. Do what you want to do, evil included lest (pen) you see
with your eyes and hear with your ears, understand with their hearts and return
and be healed, says Isaiah (v. 10d-g). If they are so obstinate to do evil they
will be kept in evil although conversion can bring healing. Isaiah desires the
touching of his lips event for everyone. He wishes to see the Almighty more. He
wishes that time to fast-forward soon and so he asked the question Daniel also
asked after the long Daniel 11 vision and the Resurrection in Daniel 12:1: How
long? (v. 11). The angel answered that the Time
of Trouble near the Eschaton shortly before the Second Coming will be “cities
devastated without inhabitants. Houses are without people” due to excessive
migrationism (v. 11b-c). “The Lord has removed men far away” (v. 12) which is
indicative of the call in Revelation that the saints must leave the cities and
move to the countryside and elsewhere for safety. There are many forsaken
places (v. 12b). There will be about 10% staying in the cities but it will also
burn with persecution “will again be burning” (v. 13b). When a terebinth or an
oak is felled a stump remains “which in the remaining of the felling in them”. It
is a symbol of the saints during the Time
of Trouble or Great Persecution
that is the “holy seed fallen from it” meaning, the rest of the evil people
suffers but the holy seed, 10% remains unharmed. With these ideas in mind,
how do we understand God’s role in hardening Pharaoh’s heart? In Exodus 4:21, God says, “but I will harden his heart” (NRSV). This is the first
of nine times when God said He would harden Pharaoh's heart. But there were also
nine times when Pharaoh hardened his own heart (for example, see Exod. 8:15, 32; Exod. 9:34). Clearly Pharaoh possessed some kind of free will, or he would not have been
able to harden his own heart. But the fact that God also hardened Pharaoh’s heart
indicates that God initiated the circumstances to which Pharaoh reacted when he
made his choices, choices to reject the signs God had given him. Had Pharaoh been
open to those signs, his heart would have been softened, not hardened, by them. In your own experience with the Lord, have you
ever felt a hardening of your heart to the Holy Spirit? Think through what caused
it. If you didn’t find that concept frightening then (after all, that’s part of
what having a hard heart is all about), how do you view it now? What is the way
of escape? See 1 Cor. 10:13. Further Study: “Iniquitous practices had become so prevalent among all classes that the
few who remained true to God were often tempted to lose heart and to give way to
discouragement and despair. It seemed as if God’s purpose for Israel were about
to fail and that the rebellious nation was to suffer a fate similar to that of Sodom
and Gomorrah. In the face of such
conditions it is not surprising that when, during the last year of Uzziah’s reign,
Isaiah was called to bear to Judah God’s messages of warning and reproof, he shrank
from the responsibility. He well knew that he would encounter obstinate resistance.
As he realized his own inability to meet the situation and thought of the stubbornness
and unbelief of the people for whom he was to labor, his task seemed hopeless. Should
he in despair relinquish his mission and leave Judah undisturbed to their idolatry?
Were the gods of Nineveh to rule the earth in defiance of the God of heaven?” —
Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, pp. 306, 307. Discussion Questions: 1. If a skeptic or an atheist were to challenge you with the question, “How can
you show that your God is in charge?” what would you answer? 2. If God is in charge, why do innocent people suffer? Does Isaiah 1:19, 20 mean that in the
present life only good things are supposed to happen to God’s faithful people
and only bad things happen to those who rebel? Compare with Job 1, 2; Psalm 37;
Psalm 73. Can we reconcile our understanding of God’s character with the bad that
happens to people? Do we need to? 3. In Isaiah 6, why are there so many connections to the Day of Atonement? Consider
the fact that on this yearly judgment day God purified His people by cleansing sin
from loyal ones (Lev. 16:30) and purging out the
disloyal (Lev. 23:29, 30). Summary: At a time that
the king died it happen that Isaiah got a vision of Christ receiving Kingship
after the seventh trumpet in Revelation just before His Second Coming. He
received glory. This is the time that people must live perfect without a
Mediator in heaven. Isaiah felt his utter inadequacy. Who will not? But there
is hope and now it is necessary for Isaiah to return from vision to the stark
reality of history through corridors until this time but with evangelism
explaining this to all.
(The graphics here displayed is totally
from www.ssnet.org. The Transformation is by
dr. Koot van Wyk from Kyungpook National University Sangju Campus, South
Korea).