“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.” Isaiah 6:1
Dear Ones:
Isaiah penned the aforementioned words some time around 700 B.C. If we go to the book of Revelation, we discover that the vision of God is remarkably the same in that there is a throne, and One sitting upon it. Almost 800 years separated the two men’s writings, but the vision, or reality, does not change. The question that we must ask ourselves has two parts: First, why does God reveal Himself in this way to Isaiah, and to John? And secondly, why does He wait eight hundred years to give the consistent vision?
To the first aspect of the question, we must answer: God, in His sovereign wisdom, KNEW that the time had come for the revelation of Himself in this way, so as to “lift up” Isaiah, the nation of Israel, and even the entire world, from the mediocrity and melancholy of self-centeredness and sin. Why do we say this? I believe that it was Wesley who said that a nation, or people, will never rise higher than what is preached in the pulpit. In one respect, the “preacher” sets the standard for faith by the vision he conveys. It is only as the vision of God, in His sovereignty and power is revealed, that faith will rise to appropriate Him. An application of this truth and reality is found in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians: “And my speech, and my preaching, was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in DEMONSTRATION of the Spirit, and of power.” (1 Cor. 2:4) Here is the “vision,” that revelation of the presence and power of the Spirit of God. Paul goes on to say, “That your faith should NOT stand in the wisdom of men, but in the POWER of God.” (v.5) What is he saying here? A vision of the power of God is essential for true faith to appropriate the life of Christ, in its resurrection power.
The answer to the second aspect of the question has to do with timing. Why? In the book of Hebrews, chapter 13, verse 8, we read: “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” With respect to the vision of God on His throne, and this in His power and glory, there is NO variableness, nor shadow cast by turning. It is the same forever. God is the same. Christ is the same. The power of God is the same. Isaiah would rise up to be one of the principle authors of Scripture, God giving to mankind through him one of the greatest books ever written. How could this be done? It is first and foremost by a vision of the eternal God, high and lifted up. It is in the elevation of God in that vision, His eternal uniqueness and holiness, that the bedrock is laid for faith, to believe Him for His words to the world. Through what God would give to Isaiah to write down, as permanently real as His existence, God would speak to the world, now for about three thousand years, lifting up, and enriching the souls of men. He would bring them to a place of faith, where the could receive of His goodness and grace, thus rising out of the mud of sin and sadness, to know the Life Divine, that of Christ by the Spirit.
So, what does it mean to “peer into the eternal?” It means to trust the Spirit of God to reveal the things freely given to us of God. Essential to that is the understanding of who God truly, and eternally, is. Secondly, it means to believe God, with respect to such a revelation of God to the heart, to strengthen us to appropriate Him, to abide in Him, to receive all everyday from Him, that we might have that which is heavenly to give to a lost and dying world. We know from Scripture that we can do nothing in and of ourselves, that is, without God. It is also correspondingly true, that we can do “ALL things THROUGH Christ who strengthens us.” Peering into the eternal is seeing God on His throne, a throne of grace to the believer, where he can come, and must come, to receive mercy, and FIND grace to help in time of need. The eternal, unchanging realities of God in Christ by the Spirit, are revealed to us that we might believe,and receive, TODAY His fullness and blessing, for His glory.
Dear Father, give us to look beyond the temporal and that which is passing away, and decaying, to see Thee TODAY, seated upon Thy throne, with Christ at Your right hand. Strengthen our hearts to “seek those things which are above” in Christ, that something of heaven will be known on this earth, in and through us. We thank and praise Thee, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad