Isaiah's Call and Mission

INTRO

As we continue the study of Isaiah, remember he was speaking into the Southern Kingdom of Judah, more specifically, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and the city of Jerusalem. The prophets were really good at assessing their current situation. At this point in Isaiah’s language and time frame is roughly 740 to 680 B.C. and the countdown had begun for the Messiah to come. Isaiah also alluded to Christ’s second coming. But as we discussed yesterday, Isaiah also talked about the millennial period. Isaiah released the visions God gave him. We find our one word for this book, Immanuel, which means “God with us,” as found in Isaiah 7:14. In this, there will be judgment. In chapter 1 we saw it was God vs. the children of God. In chapter 2, Isaiah talked about the millennial blessing. From Isaiah 2:6—4:1, the prophet talked about judgment. From Isaiah 4:2–6, he returned to the millennial blessing.

TEACHING

Isaiah 5:1-2: Isaiah included a song about judgment. In his book, Mark Copeland said, “the Beloved planted a vineyard, and He got wild grapes.”¹

Isaiah 5:3–7: The Lord’s judgment was promised; God was going to get rid of the vineyard. He would remove its hedges, tear down its walls, and stop rain from falling on it so it would be consumed, trampled, and left as a wasteland (vv. 3–6). Ultimately Isaiah was talking about the Babylonian captivity. Although God wanted the best for His people, they chose something else (v. 7). Isaiah’s message is true for us today. God wants the best for us; He wants to pour into us. But so many times, we choose our own route without even consulting the Lord. We haven’t seen a national move of God in our lifetime—have we become a wasted vineyard?

Isaiah 5:8–25: Isaiah gave out six woes, which Warren Wiersbe categorized as: covetousness (vv. 8–10); drunkenness (vv. 11–17); carelessness (vv. 18–19); deception (v. 20); pride (v. 21); and injustice (vv. 22–25).² These things led to their physical bondage, and they can lead to our spiritual bondage. Israel rejected God’s word (v. 24), so God’s anger burned against them (v. 25). God’s hand was raised and ready to strike—He was always ready to bring about this judgment.

Isaiah 5:26–30: Isaiah then said all the nations would come to invade the Israelites’ land and clean house. God was going to hit a pause button and send the nation into a time-out—70 years of captivity.

Isaiah 6:1–8: Isaiah established his credibility by describing his experience of seeing a vision of God (v. 1). His experience can be compared to Paul’s experience described in 2 Corinthians 12. After reigning 52 years, leprosy caused Uzziah’s death in 739 B.C. When he died, the Lord released a prophetic word through Isaiah. MacArthur suggested, “The prophet became unconscious of the outside world and with his inner eye saw what God revealed to him.”³ He described how the seraphim looked and what they said (vv. 2–3). This vision can be compared to Revelation 4:8. The praise of the seraphim caused the walls to shake and the temple to fill with smoke (v. 4). Isaiah realized the difference between his unworthiness and God’s worthiness (v. 5). Job 42:6 describes the same image. In Luke 5:8, Peter described the same mentality.

When we are confronted with the presence of God, how do we respond? Judah had lost their understanding of the holiness of God, so Isaiah was given this vision. One of the seraphim used tongs to take a glowing coal from the altar (v. 6). MacArthur said this was the altar of incense in heaven described in Revelation 8:3–5.⁴ The seraphim touched Isaiah’s lips with the glowing coal, cleansing Isaiah of wickedness and atoning for his sin (v. 7). MacArthur suggested this verse did not describe an experience of salvation but a spiritual cleansing for a special service to the Lord.⁵ This was important because God was giving Isaiah His words to release to His people. God asked out loud who He could send to take care of His children (v. 8), and Isaiah responded, “Send me.” The Lord wanted to hear Isaiah’s response—and He wants to hear our response to Him too.

Isaiah 6:9–13: God gave Isaiah a message for the people who left Him and Isaiah asked how long he would have to speak it (vv. 9–11a). God’s call on Isaiah’s life was to share a message that would get rejected. God said Isaiah would speak this message until the cities were ruined, desolate, and uninhabited because the people had been driven away (vv. 11b–12). Again, Isaiah was right back to speaking about the coming Babylonian captivity. But God concluded with just a little bit of hope. He promised a remnant would remain—a tenth of the people would remain in the land (v. 13). The holy seed represented “the faithful remnant in Israel who will be the nucleus who hear and believe.”⁶ The Israelites would believe that Immanuel would come, and that God would use the remnant to return to the land and reestablish what God started.

CLOSING

This covers Isaiah 5 and 6, and we’ll continue tomorrow.