ISAIAH - CHAPTER 6 - "I Saw the Lord Sitting upon a Throne"
ISAIAH – CHAPTER 6: 1-8
“I Saw the Lord Sitting upon a Throne”
Tuesday Morning Bible Study
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
6:1: “In the year that King Uzziah died, “I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and two he did fly.”
- In the Year King Uzziah died.
- Isaiah saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up.
- His train filled the temple.
- Above the throne stood the seraphims.
a. Each one had six wings
(1) Two wings covered his face.
(2) Two wings covered his feet
(3) He flew with two wings.
This is a lot of information in two sentences.
- King Uzziah in the earlier part of his reign under the influence of the prophet Zechariah was faithful to God and “Did that which was right in the sight of the Lord”. Then his pride led to his down fall. No matter how much we have done right in the past, we can blow it in one ungodly act. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. (2 Ki. 15:5; 2 Chr. 26: 19-23)
Only the priests were permitted to worship the Lord at the altar of incense. Azariah, the priest with 80 of the priest withstood him. A great earthquake shook the ground and a rent was made in the temple. The bright rays of the sun shone on the King’s forehead and he was seized upon immediately with leprosy.
This great earthquake is spoken of by Zechariah and Amos.
Zechariah is comparing it to the earthquake that will happen at the time of the second coming of Christ.
Zech. 14:5b: “…You shall flee like you fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah; and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with him. It shall come to pass in that day. That the light shall not be clear, nor dark.”
Amos 1:1: “The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.”
After the King was struck with leprosy, the government was turned over to his son Jonathan. Uzziah lived 11-years after being smitten with leprosy.
It is well written by: Dr. Green’s Kingdom of Israel: “That lonely grave in the royal necropolis would eloquently testify to coming generations that all earthly monarch must bow before the inviolable order of the divine will and no interference could be tolerated with that unfolding purpose of God.”
- Isaiah
saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up. Isaiah is just one of many who actually
saw God bodily.
- Adam and Even saw God.
- Cain saw God in visible form.
- God appeared on earth at the time of the tower of Babel, “the Lord came down to see the city and the tower.”
- Abraham was blessed with several appearances of God.
- God appeared to Isaac and confirmed the covenant with him.
- God appeared to Jacob and confirmed the Abrahamic Covenant with him. God wrestled with Jacob bodily. “I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved.” Gen. 35:9: “God appeared unto Jacob again.
- The Lord appeared to Moses as the Angel of the Lord in the burning bush.
- The Lord came down from Mt. Sinai to give the 10 commandments in the sight of all the people.
- The leaders of Israel (74) including Moses and Aaron saw God and ate with Him on Sinai.
- The Lord spoke to Moses face to face. Moses asked to see God’s glory. He was not allowed to see his glory in his face, but God showed him his back parts. The Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with Moses there. God appeared to Moses and all Israel as recorded in Lev. 9: 23-24. The Lord appeared to Moses at his death (Dt. 34: 5-7).
- God came to Balaam at night to instruct him and warn him.
- The donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way and in the vineyard. Then Balaam saw the angel of the Lord.
- Joshua saw God in a visible body.
- God appeared to Israel, to Gideon, to Manoah’s wife; to Manoah and his wife together. He appeared to Samuel. He appeared to Elijah. Zechariah, Ezekiel, Enoch, Noah walked with Him, and received specific instructions from him.
- David saw the Lord. Job saw the Lord. Amos saw the Lord. Stephen saw Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father.
- John saw both God and the glorified Christ.
This list is partial.
This chapter reveals Isaiah’s visitation and commission. In all of the instances when God has appeared to man, there is a call and a commission. There is also an empowerment to fulfill that calling and commission.
- Isaiah had a revelation of God.
- In verses 5-7, he has a revelation of himself in the presence of God.
- Divine cleansing
- A personal call
- A Divine commission.
The vision of the Lord was full of grace and glory. The majesty of the Most High was manifest in the uplifted and occupied throne. “The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all.” (Ps. 103:19) “Your throne, O God is forever and ever.” (Ps. 45:6).
God’s throne has never been vacant and never will be. “Righteousness and Justice are the foundation of Your throne.”(Ps. 89:14) “Clouds and darkness are round about him; righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. (Ps. 97:2) The commission given to Isaiah was to speak a message of Divine judgment. However, it is also the throne of grace whenever we are under attack whether it is health, poverty, or we need council or direction. We are able to approach His throne through the Blood of Jesus as a child of God and submit to His mercy.
Ps. 47:8: “God reigns over the nations; God sits upon His holy throne.”
Isa. 66:1: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is My footstool.”
God’s throne is mobile! It is carried by the cherubim. (Ez. 1: 25-26).
“There was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and let down their wings. Above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness of the appearance of a man above upon it. I saw the color of amber as the appearance of fire about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, It was as it were the appearance of fire round and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about.
This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spoke.”
- His train filled the temple. Besides the appearances of God in the Holy Scripture, the prophets saw God’s shape, other bodily parts and His clothing.
Daniel 7:9: “I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow and the hair of his head like the pure wool; and his throne was like the fiery flame and his wheels as burning fire.”
Rev. 1:13-16: “…one like the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. He had in his right hand seven stars; and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. His countenance was as the sun shines in his strength.”
The majesty of the throne of the Most High is beyond the capability of mere human expression. It is here manifest in Isaiah in the solemn chanting of the seraphim and by the earthquake which made the very foundations of the thresholds tremble.
This is not the same great earthquake that occurred on the day the Lord removed Uzziah from his office.
Isa. 6: 3-4: “The seraphim cried one to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory. The posts of the door moved at the voice that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.”
The revelation of grace shown to Isaiah is as remarkable as that of glory. In answer to the prophet’s cry of need, one of the seraphim bears to him a live coal from the altar, and his sin is expiated. It is a wonderful unveiling of truth about God. The center of all adoring worship, He nevertheless hears the sigh of the sinner in his need, and the song of a seraph’s worship ceases in order that the cry of the sinner may be answered.
Isa. 6: “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. Then one of the seraphims flew unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken from the tongs from off the altar. He laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this has touched your lips. And your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.”
The prophet is thus cleansed and commissioned. “Your guilt is gone. Your sin is forgiven.
Isa. 6:8: “I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
His commission is to prophesy judgment, but also to prophesy the destiny of the Holy Seed.
How long will the spiritual deterioration of Isaiah 1-5 go on? Until the complete devastation of the land the removal of its inhabitants to Babylon were accomplished. Thence a remnant would return and a holy posterity (the Seed of God-Gen. 3:15) would survive in Whom the ultimate hope of God’s people would rest and in Whom the Covenants and promises would be realized. Jesus was the seed of Abraham and David. He is also the seed of King Uzziah.
Mt. 8-9a: Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; Joram begat Ozias (King Uzziah). Ozias begat Joatham.
If you continue reading this next message, you will notice this message has come full circle before our conference by Divine Providence. The Lord had me preach Isaiah 6: 8-13 for three months, Sunday after Sunday, in the year 2001. We have watched as a great falling away has taken place in this nation. At the same time, the Lord has preserved a Holy Remnant in the midst of the falling away. My present calling and commission is to this remnant.
Carolyn Sissom
ISAIAH 6: 8-13:
THE TEREBINTH TREE
(Isaiah 6:13)
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Sunday, February 24, 2013, the Year of Our Lord
On April 20, 2001, I was attending a conference of a large Para-church ministry. This is a Charismatic assembly that has been greatly used by the Lord since the time of the Charismatic renewal. This date would have been a few days after Easter 2001. I believe the vision may have followed the three-month teaching I did on Isaiah 6: 9-10.
During worship at that assembly I saw in the Spirit a hollowed out stump—burned in the center. The Lord said, “Terebinth tree”
Isaiah 6:13: “”But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten; as teil (Terebinth) tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.”
Since that time, this organization, as well as most of the Charismatic movement, has been judged by God and the Holy Seed of that movement is now producing the fruit of the Kingdom of God.
Job 14:7: “For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, then it will sprout again, its tender shoots will not cease though its root may grow old in the earth and its stump may die in the ground, yet at the scent of water it will bud and bring forth branches like a plant.”
In 2001, I preached a message as a result of the vision on the Terebinth Tree, “The Tenth”. The Holy Seed (the elect remnant) is the stump and substance of Israel and the Church which is Spiritual Israel.
The remnant in Isaiah 6:13 is noted to be a tithe. Tithing is in three dimensions: Body, Soul, and Spirit:
- The natural realm is the tithe of our finances.
- The soul realm has to do with the giving of Faith, Love, Joy, Kindness, Goodness, long-suffering, Mercy, Grace, Peace and self to the Lord and each other.
- The Spirit realm has to do with a people who are becoming the tithe of the Lord (Lev. 27:32). This is the Holy Remnant.
In them is the Holy Seed! These are the Bread of God eaten by Him! These will pass through the fire!
The prophet was told that despite all of the earnestness of his prayers, prophecies and sermons, which he had delivered from his lips (which had just been touched by a live coal from the altar); still the people of Israel would persevere in their sins, and therefore would certainly be destroyed.
Isa. 6: 8-10: “I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, whom shall I send, who will go for Us? Then said I, her am I; send me. And he said, Go, and tell this people, hear you indeed, but understand not; and see you indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes less they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert and be healed. Then said I, Lord how long? And He answered, “Until the cities are wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man and the land be utterly desolate.”
Then Isaiah was told that a tenth, a small remnant of people, would be saved but by fire. A remnant would return and a holy posterity (the Seed of God---the royal Seed – Gen. 3:15) would survive in Whom the ultimate hope of God’s people would rest and in Whom the Covenants and promises would be realized. Jesus was the SEED of Abraham and David.
History and the Holy Bible confirm that Nebuchadnezzar (the Assyrian from Babylon) carried away all Jerusalem. Within a year, North Israel was carried away by the Assyrians, within 14 years all the rest of the Northern Kingdom had fallen. Judah (roughly, “a tenth”, one tribe out of twelve) alone was left. Another 145 years, and Judah, too, would be carried away by the Babylonians.
The Terebinth or turpentine tree---here translated the teil tree is an evergreen with the exception that in very severe and inclement weather it loses its leaves; but even then the Terebinth tree is not dead. And so of the Palestinian oak, it loses its leaves every winter, standing naked and bare, without any sign of life, its roots buried in the hard and frozen soil, and its naked branches exposed without a bloom or a bud; yet the substance is in the tree when the leaves are gone.
“Nebuchadnezzar shall cut off all the leaves of the tree of Israel---take away the inhabitants, only a tenth shall be left, and they shall almost be eaten up.
The church of God and the Israel of God shall never be destroyed; they shall be like the Terebinth tree and the oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves; so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.”
It was made clear to Isaiah that his ministry would be remarkably unsuccessful in his own generation, but the very failure was ordained by God. Indeed in God’s eyes, it would be no failure. Paradoxically, his failure to persuade his audience would prove him to be a true prophet.
The effect of truth according to God, who is truth, is to often irritate people and make them wicked; yet the truth must continue to be proclaimed by the Lord’s servants in love and mercy.
I happened upon this prophecy from 2001 this week while cleaning out a closet. The paper it was written on almost ended in the trash with other books and papers, but surely it was the Holy Spirit who stayed my hand and I saved it, filing it in a drawer.
When I was praying over today’s message, the Holy Spirit reminded me of this sermon.
I want to believe since the Lord brought this to my remembrance that the “How Long” Oh Lord will you make the ears heavy and shut their eyes so they cannot hear or see” is over and through the Holy Remnant of the Church we will again experience a great out-pouring of the prosperity of the Holy Seed in turning the heart of this nation and the Church back to God.
First to the Jew
Second to the church
Third to each believer
“What a history is the history of the Jew! He has the seal of God stamped upon his forehead. His is a lineage nobler than any knights or kings. He can trace his pedigree back to the very loins of Abraham and through him to Noah and then to Adam himself. Their history may be read from the first moment even down until now. The Lord has used and continues to use this nation as a stage to play out in the world what He is doing in the affairs of men.
Huge have been the waves that have rushed over the Jewish race! The Roman emperor changed the name of Jerusalem into that of Eliah, and forbade a Jew to go within miles of it. Jerusalem was plowed and left desolate.
Is the Jew conquered? Is he a subjugated man? Is his country seized? No; he is still one of earth’s nobles---distressed, insulted, spit upon; still it is written, “to the Jew first, and afterward to the Gentile.”
They shall be gathered in: Messiah shall come, the Messiah they are looking for---the same Messiah who came once shall come again---when he comes, Jew and Gentile will have equal privileges.
“You chosen seed of Israel’s race,
A remnant weak and small,
You may indeed,
Hail him, who saves you by his grace,
And crown him Lord of all;”
The church will never die,
The gates of Hell will not prevail against it,
Your race shall never become extinct,
The Lord has said it,
The race of Abraham shall endure forever,
And his seed as many generations.
Why is the Jewish race preserved? We have our answer in the text; “The holy seed is the substance thereof.”
Secondly, THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, of which the Jewish people are but a dim shadow, and an emblem.
The Church has had its trials and failures. It had days of persecution and fiery trials of our faith. It has had times of sad apostasy, with an evil heart of unbelief and departing from the living God.
Yet, blessed be God, through all the winters of the church, she still lives and is marching forward into Kingdom dominion and authority with the vision of ruling and reigning with Christ.
Why is it the church is still preserved when there is so much apostasy and dis-obedience? In the midst of her there is a “chosen seed – a Holy remnant”, “who are the substance thereof.”
In my life time, we have seen many times the Holy Spirit moving and hovering over His people. Yet, the corruption, abuse, hypocrisy, politics, religious pride and apostasy is rampant. More and more we are seeing the government of our nation usurping power over the church attempting to impose on us doctrines of demons concerning homosexuality, same-sex marriage, Islam, abortion, etc. etc. We have seen large ministries succumb to these demands in order to receive money for their programs.
The life of a tree Is not determined by the shape of the branches, nor the way it grows, but by the substance. If there is but one holy seed in the church, the church will live. No church can die while it has a holy seed in it, and no church can live that does not have the holy seed, for the holy seed is the substance thereof.
Third is the individual believer. Have you received Christ as your Lord and Savior? If you do not have Christ, then you are not the holy seed; but a dead tree.
The Holy Spirit within the Sons of God is the substance thereof.
This vision given to Isaiah was full of grace and glory. He was blessed with a vision of the throne. The majesty of the Most High was manifest in the uplifted and occupied throne, in the solemn chanting of the seraphim, and by the earthquake which made the very foundations of the threshold tremble. The revelation of Grace is as remarkable as that of Glory. In answer to the prophet’s cry of need, one of the seraphim bears to him a live coal from the altar, and his sin is expiated. It is a wonderful unveiling of truth about God. As the Center of all adoring worship, he nevertheless hears the sigh of the sinner in his need. The song of a seraph’s worship ceases in order that the sigh of the sinner may be answered!
I watched a video this week of the life of Derick Prince. When he received his call, he heard and read this scripture. He said he was a man of unclean lips. He repented, received His Lord and Savior and did mighty exploits for the Kingdom.
Our national past time of watching television makes us a people of unclean lips, eyes and ears. Where is the voice of one crying out to the Lord to cleanse this nation from the sin of blasphemy, homosexuality, perversion, intoxication, same-sex marriage, adultery, fornication, lying spirits and abortion? Death and Hell are riding on their pale horse openly on our television screens. We watch naked people having sex in our living rooms and call it entertainment.
Professing Christians continue to watch unclean spirits on television without any conviction.
Isaiah 6:13: “But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten; as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves; so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.”
Isaiah 6:5: “Then said I, woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries, Inc.
Scripture from K.J.V- I entered into the laborers of a sermon preached by: Carolyn Sissom on April 22, 2001, the Year of our Lord; Principles of Present Truth from Isaiah by: Kelly Varner; C. H. Spurgeon, The Leafless Tree, 3/8/1857.