This
brief chapter has wonderful treasures of knowledge in store if you take some
time to soak in the meaning of its verses. In typical Isaiah fashion, it has a
dual meaning. At the surface level, Isaiah is recounting the circumstances of
his own calling as a prophet, when the Lord (Jesus, appearing in spirit form
prior to His birth as a representative of the Father) appears in glory to
Isaiah in the temple and purifies and otherwise prepares him for the
challenging task of going among a largely unbelieving people to preach the
gospel of warning and repentance.
But
the chapter’s heart (verses 8-13) refers not only to Isaiah’s role, but more
significantly to Christ’s own acceptance of his role as the Messiah, the
Savior. Take a moment to ponder. In verse 8, “Whom shall I send?” And then,
“Here am I; send me.” Yes, at one level, this is Isaiah agreeing to be the
mouthpiece of the Lord, similar in some ways to the calling of the boy prophet
Samuel in the Old Testament account in the temple in Shiloh (1 Samuel 3). But
more profoundly, this is Isaiah relating the circumstances of Jesus accepting
the role of Savior directly from the Father before the creation of the world at
an initial council of premortal spirits in heaven (other parts of
which—including Lucifer’s rebellious role—are recounted elsewhere in the
scriptures, including Isaiah 14:13, Job 38:7, Revelation 12:7, and several latter-day
references). In other words, “Send me as the person to accomplish the task of
sinless sacrifice amid rejection by my own people.”
In
that context, Isaiah comes back to the familiar theme of the rejection of God
and His message by his own covenant people—the people of Israel. This idea has
occupied much of the writings of Isaiah and of Nephi to this point, and is
retold in a succinct, powerful way so that we better understand the unfortunate
nature of a people whose ears become “heavy” and hearts “fat” and eyes “shut”
when presented with the truth (verses 9-10). To clarify, the Lord is not
instructing Jesus or Isaiah to harden the hearts of the Israelites, but only to
present them with a choice. The people have their agency, and therefore they
alone are responsible for rejecting the opportunity given to them to draw
nearer to God by changing their lives.
However,
the mercy and love of God’s plan is found in the theme of scattering and
regathering. In the promise that His covenant people will have another chance.
Prophets, including the Messiah, will come among the Jews and other children of
Israel until their cities have become desolate (verses 11-12), but a remnant
will return. As Isaiah poetically writes in verse 13, it will be like the tree
losing its leaves but retaining its capacity to regenerate at a later time.
Now,
back to explaining a few passages that may seem difficult to understand. First,
to locate the time of this prophecy, King Uzziah of Judah died around 740 B.C.
(verse 1). Second, Isaiah’s vision of the Lord probably cannot be described
sufficiently through words, but to have some better understanding, it appears
as though the vision came to him while he was carrying out some priestly duty
at the temple in Jerusalem (probably in the “holy of holies”). Seraphim are
angels (or messengers) of the Lord. Since they are people (in premortal or
resurrected form), the reference to wings appears to be metaphorical in
describing the seraphim’s capabilities. Third, verses 4-7 describe how the
Lord’s presence makes the temple shake, as well as how the Lord and His angel
help Isaiah with his feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness by (probably
metaphorically) putting a hot coal to his lips. Having the coal pressed to his
lips is a sign of special emphasis on Isaiah being able to speak the pure words
of divine truth. Many, many imperfect people chosen to act for the Lord have
confessed to Him they don’t feel equal to the task, but this image is a reminder
that the Lord indeed has great power to ensure that we can succeed in carrying
out His work.
No comments:
Post a Comment