Isaiah 6

6:1 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!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that hehad taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this hastouched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” 8 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.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people: "'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keepon seeing, but do not perceive.’10 Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy,and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

As I read these verses, several things stuck out to me. The seraphim, even without sin, covered their faces and feet from the Lord. They feared and revered God. After seeing this, Isaiah says, "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" He recognizes that he is not worthy to look upon or be seen by the Lord. Then, a seraphim flew to him and put fire to his lips ,and his sin was atoned for. I think this foreshadows the role of Jesus. Now, God tells Isaiah what He wants him to do. When I read what God told Isaiah to say to the people, I asked myself, "Why does God want the people to hear and not understand, etc. and turn and be healed?" Then, while flipping through my Bible, Matthew 13:10-15 caught my eye.

10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “‘You will indeed hear but never understand,and you will indeed see but never perceive. 15 For this people's heart has grown dull,and with their ears they can barely hear,and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.'

Indeed, God was setting up Jesus to speak in parables and be the healer. The only change from Isaiah to Matthew is "turn and be healed" becomes "turn and I would heal them." Jesus is proclaiming that He is the One foretold of in Isaiah.

To hear Todd Agnew sing Isaiah 6, click here.