The Wednesday Word
THE GREATEST SPEECH GOD EVER MADE: Part 1
by D.G. Miles McKee
Hebrews 1:1-2, “God … Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son…”
History is riddled with wonderful and mighty speeches – Consider the Gettysburg address or any of the moving speeches Churchill made during the Second World War.
God is also a speech maker. He made many speeches through the ancient Hebrew prophets.
Yes, He spoke by the prophets but His finest speech was made in the person of His son … the God/man … the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ’s whole life was an articulate speech announcing to us exactly what God was like.
Indeed, the greatest speech God ever made about Himself was on that day 2000 years ago when our Master was impaled on a Roman gibbet. Unfortunately, we can become so familiar with this event that we cease to be amazed by it.
But what an astonishing speech Christ Jesus made at the cross! Isaiah the prophet had a vision of this event and was stunned.
To get the backdrop, read John 12: 38-41. Verse 41 says, “These things said Esaias, when he saw His glory, and spoke of Him".
There were two occasions when Isaiah saw the Lord.
The first was in Isaiah 6:1-7. We read, “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.”
Let’s look at these verses,
V1 After 52 years on the throne Uzziah had died. This must have ushered in a time of national instability. The king is dead! But amid the crisis, Isaiah “saw the Lord.” The King was dead, but Isaiah entered the temple and saw another king. The ultimate king who sat forever upon His throne – The Throne of glory, the Throne of government and the Throne of grace.
V2 the Seraphims – covered their faces.
They couldn’t look directly at Him.
Moses was like this… the glory of God was too intense for any human being (see Exodus 33), therefore, He was only allowed to see the Lord’s back. Yet, when He came down from the mountain, his face frightened the people – He had to wear a veil. Just the reflected glory of the Lord’s back was devastating to the people.
V3 Holy, Holy, Holy – this characteristic, 'Holy’ was repeated for emphasis. The Bible never says God is love, love, love or God has mercy, mercy, mercy or Justice, Justice, Justice, or even wrath, wrath, wrath. But He is characterized by intense holiness.
In Isaiah 6:4 the doorposts moved. Doorposts can’t hear, see or speak but they had the good sense to move when God showed up in His temple.
And they weren’t the only thing shaking! When Isaiah saw the living God the reigning monarch of the Universe in all His holiness, He cried out ‘WOE IS ME!’
The word ‘WOE’ sounds a bit old fashioned. But it is the critical word here. ‘Woe’ means ‘absolute despair!’ or “I’m undone” or – I’m disintegrated.” In the silent movies we often encounter the poor young girl chained to the railway track with the train coming straight for her. She could say with all-honesty, “Woe is me.”
Well, that’s what Isaiah said when he saw the Lord. This man was a respected godly man – a paragon of virtue. But in the brief second, he was exposed to the gaze of the thrice holy God he felt spiritual annihilation.
Remember now in John 12 41 we read … “These things said Isaias, when he saw His glory, and spake of Him.”
According to this, in the Temple that day, Isaiah saw Jesus!
But more about that next week
And that’s the Gospel Truth!
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