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Men of the Old Testament: Isaiah – Isaiah 6  In 490 B.C. the Greek and Persian armies met to do battle. As the story goes after the Greeks routed the Persians and sent them back into their ships a runner named Pheidippides was sent from the field of battle back to the city of Athens to announce "Nenikēkamen!" (which means “we were victorious”). The distance from the city near the battle, Marathon, to Athens was 25-26 mile. Most historians believe that Pheidippides run, unlike the battle of Marathon, was probably more fiction than fact, but the story has persisted and gave birth to the modern race of the marathon. Fact or fiction, the idea of sending a runner to give word after battle was common in the ancient world. If you were one of these runners bringing good news no doubt the run was not as difficult. However, if you were a runner announcing defeat or a retreat your journey would not be nearly as pleasant a trip. In many ways the prophet Isaiah was like one of these runners announcing gloom and doom. His most common statement was that of Isaiah 24:3, “The land will be completely laid waste and totally plundered. The LORD has spoken this word.” Isaiah’s ministry was one that would be largely unpopular during his lifetime. prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah, (or Azariah), Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, and Manasseh. All in all he might have ministered for over four decades proclaiming an unwanted message. While the Bible does not record his death, tradition says that he was sawn in half by the vile king Manasseh, that is a pretty severe reaction to an unwanted message. Knowing what we know of Isaiah makes chapter 6 of Isaiah all the more important. The prophet knows the spiritual state of his people, and yet he still volunteers to be God’s messenger. He was under no false pretenses that he was taking a popular message to holy people. Isaiah knew exactly what he was getting into. Yet, it was Isaiah’s vision of God that convinced him that he bear God’s message, even if that message was one of bad news, and forthcoming destruction of his homeland. Sometimes we shrink from telling people an unpopular message. We let a thousand excuses cloud our minds and we neglect to be God’s messengers to those who need the message we have. Bookstores and sermons are full of ways to fix this, and many of those solutions are worth investigating. Maybe, however, what we really need is to get a glimpse of God, His holiness, and His character.. That will solve more than just about anything else. Questions for Discussion/Reflection 1. What do the actions of the angels in Isaiah 6 tell us about God? 2. What should the words and actions of Isaiah tell us about ourselves? 3. What do God’s words have to say about human beings? Further Study on Isaiah Bible Dictionary Entries for Isaiah Bible.org Introduction to Isaiah Staff Writer: Aaron Sharp |
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