In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isaiah 6:1-3) When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. 37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. (John 12:37-38, 41)
If you had a vision of God, what do you think you would see? How would you describe God? In the year that the human king stopped obscuring the view, Isaiah saw the True King of Israel. He sees God seated on a throne because He rules – really. He is sovereign over everything and does as He pleases when He pleases. He is ‘high’, indicating His position over all, and He is ‘lifted up’, showing that all acknowledge His superiority. To those who thought He could be contained in a Temple it would have been a shock to learn that just the hem of His robe fills up the whole Temple. The ‘burning ones’, the Seraphim, are supernatural creatures that hover around His throne adoring His holiness. Holiness is God’s superlative glory and glory is God’s beautiful holiness on display. They constantly sing of the Beauty of God’s perfection to each other. But why doesn’t Isaiah describe the One on the Throne? What does He look like? Who is this Lord? Who is the One on the throne who will preside over Isaiah’s uncleanness being removed? Who is the One who will commission him to go and preach to a people who won’t listen? Actually, who did Isaiah see? Meet Jesus in the Old Testament. It was Jesus Christ the True God and Ruler over all who Isaiah saw – according to John 12. Jesus Christ is the Sovereign Ruler, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is worshiped and adored by all the angels as Hebrews 1 tells us. Isaiah 53 tells us that Jesus, the Servant of God, will be ‘high and lifted up’ a reference to both His glory and His suffering on the cross! Jesus is the One who cleanses His people from their uncleanness. If you were to see God in a vision it would be Jesus you would describe. PRAY asking God to give you a fresh vision of the glorious Jesus. Jesus said: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”