But yet, &c.— But though there shall yet remain in it a tenth part, even that shall be for a prey. As an elm and as an oak, of which, when they are lopped, the trunk remaineth; so the holy seed shall be the trunk thereof. See Vitringa, and compare Romans 11:19.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, Isaiah had before, at God's command, begun his prophetic employment: a solemn confirmation of it is made in this august vision, as a means to strengthen his faith, and quicken his diligence in the discharge of his important office. The date of the vision is the year in which Uzziah died, after a long and pious reign of fifty-two years; though during the latter part of it the leprosy, under which he laboured, excluded him from the administration, which was lodged in the hands of his son. We have,
1. What the prophet saw; I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, the Lord Jesus Christ, enthroned in the glory which he had with the Father before the worlds were; for to him is this expressly applied, John 12:41 and contains one of the most incontestable proofs of the essential Godhead of our incarnate Redeemer; high and lifted up, exalted above all blessing and praise, infinitely transcending all created excellence; the king eternal, to whom every knee must bow, and every tongue confess: and his train filled the temple, either the bright angelic spirits who graced his presence, or the irradiation which beamed around him: and perhaps it may typically refer to his church on earth, filled with the gifts and graces which, on the day of Pentecost, were so eminently bestowed upon the apostles; by whose preaching a vast accession of converts was quickly made to the church. Above it, or near him, stood the seraphims, the burners, the heavenly hosts, or those emblematic representatives of the ministers of the gospel. Ezekiel 1:13. Each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, as unable to bear the transcendent brightness of the Redeemer's glory; with twain he covered his feet, as in his best services unworthy of God; and with twain he did fly, delighted, ready and swift to obey God's high commands. Thus do Christ's minister's with shame acknowledge their unworthiness to look up to God, and disclaim all merit even from their holiest walk; while, burning with zeal, they are ready to fly at his word to preach his gospel and fulfil his pleasure. Note; (1.) We cannot form ideas of the glory of our Immanuel according to his excellent greatness; it surpasseth knowledge. (2.) Before God, the highest creature stands ashamed; and how much more cause hath man, a sinful worm, to blush and be confounded when he appears before the throne of Jesus. (3.) Burning zeal for God is the character of his faithful ministers. (4.) Delight and cheerful readiness for God's work and will is the way to rise to fellowship with angels.
2. What he heard. One cried unto another, with fervency and unanimity, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts, the triune God, glorious in all his attributes, and especially in his holiness; the whole earth is full of his glory, manifested in all the works of creation and providence, but especially in those of redemption and grace. Thus do God's ministers of flame on earth unite in preaching the one glorious gospel, and giving to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the praise of that holiness displayed in the justification of the sinner's person, and the sanctification of his soul, by the atoning blood of Jesus, and by his efficacious grace.
3. The effect of this cry. The posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, denoting the removal of the temple worship and service; or the powerful effect of the gospel on men's consciences, shaking their vain confidence, and awakening their souls to a sense of sin: and the house was filled with smoke, in allusion to the cloud of incense which covered the mercy-seat on the day of atonement, and intimating God's acceptance of his ministers' services; or signifying the judgments which would come upon the Jewish people, when their city and temple should be destroyed; or, finally, the smoke of the sinner's torment that ascendeth up for ever and ever.
2nd, Struck with the astonishing vision, the prophet is confounded, conscious of his own sinfulness, and inability to stand before this holy Lord God.
1. He laments over himself. Woe is me, a sinful worm, for I am undone, if this holy God be strict to mark what is amiss; because I am a man of unclean lips, defiled in nature, and probably conscious of fear and want of boldness in the delivery of the awful messages with which he was charged; and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, whose iniquities were, to his bitter sorrow, ready to draw down the heavy judgments of God upon them: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts, the Lord Christ, whose perfection of holiness, like the bright beams of day, discovered those spots and impurities which in the dark before he did not perceive. Note; (1.) The more we know of God's purity and perfections, the more shall we discover of our own vileness. (2.) The highest saints of God, who know him best, are most lowly in their own eyes. (3.) A good man not only laments over his own unfaithfulness; but, when he looks around, his heart is grieved with the filthy conversation of the wicked, and he trembles for their approaching ruin.
2. A gracious message is sent him for his encouragement. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, on his humbling confession, having a live coal in his hand, signifying the powerful and lively word of the gospel, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar of burnt-offering, which was the type of the Lord Christ, whose atoning sacrifice alone can procure the sinner's pardon; and he laid it upon my mouth, not to consume his unclean lips, but to purify them from their pollution; and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips, inti-mating the application of the pardoning word of God to the sinner's soul, by which he is enabled to take the comfort of the promise; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged, or expiated, utterly blotted out before God, wiped away from his conscience, and perfectly expiated by the promised sacrifice of Jesus. Note; (1.) God delights to comfort the mourners in Zion; penitent prayers will find an answer of peace and joy. (2.) Nothing can heal the heart broken under sin, but the precious balm of atoning blood applied by faith in the word of promise. It must be this coal from the altar, not strange fire, which can quicken the perishing soul. (3.) They who would speak to God, or for God, with confidence, must first hear him speak to them pardon and peace. (4.) None are so fit or able feelingly to preach to sinners the grace of a Redeemer, as they who have, by experience, tasted the riches of his love to their own souls. (5.) The ministers of God, like burning seraphs, should fly to the relief of the poor and broken-hearted sinner, with the invigorating word of kind consolation.
3. Isaiah offers himself for God's service. God is introduced deliberating on the choice of a messenger, and the prophet is ready to go. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, the Father, speaking with his coequal Son and Spirit, Whom shall I send on this dangerous errand, to reprove a hardened nation, and who will go for us? (Compare John 12:41 and Acts 28:25.) an evidence of the Trinity of the Persons in the unity of the Godhead. Then said I, Here am I; send me: Since God had purged his pollution, he is now ready to undertake any service for his glory, however difficult or dangerous. Note; (1.) None can rightly speak for God, who have not a divine mission from him, and heard his voice teaching their own hearts the truths which they must deliver to others. (2.) The ordination of a minister is a matter of solemn weight, seeing it is (comparatively speaking) so rare to find that zeal for God, that love for men's souls, that acquaintance with the mysteries of godliness, which are such essential qualifications for a preacher of the gospel. (3.) If a desire to glorify God, and a delight to serve him in the gospel of his dear Son, do not engage us as volunteers in the service, exclusive of all worldly prospects, and regardless of all sufferings, it is a horrid profanation to offer ourselves for the ministry, merely because destined by our parents, or to procure a maintenance.
3rdly, Isaiah having offered himself, his service is accepted, and his commission given him, Go; but he is informed, that, though to the majority it would be utterly ineffectual, to a few it would be blessed with success.
1. He is commanded to tell this people, now abandoned to their own hearts' lusts, Hear ye indeed the words of the prophets, but especially of Christ and his apostles, in reference to whose preaching this Scripture is several times quoted in the New Testament, but understand not, either the glories of his person, or his doctrine; and see ye indeed his miracles so great and strange, but perceive not the proof of his divine mission therein contained. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes: God gives them up to judicial hardness and blindness; because they desire not the knowledge of the truth, in judgment they shall be deprived of it, and find that gospel which was ordained unto life, to them a savour of death unto death: lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed, to which the preaching of the word was adapted; or at least might see so far as to make some national reformation, which might avert the judgments that God had resolved to bring upon them for the rejection of his Son, which had filled up the measure of their iniquities; and therefore he left them to a reprobate mind. Note; (1.) The clearest truths of God's word are darkness to the fallen mind; the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God, they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (2.) Wherever the word of God is preached, it serves to harden those who receive it not in the light and love of it. (3.) They who are converted will find the wounds healed which sin had made in their souls, while the impenitent perish in their iniquities.
2. He is informed of the desolations to be accomplished upon them, in answer to his question, How long should these divine judgments upon them continue? even till the whole nation should be destroyed and dispersed, the country depopulated, and utter ruin brought upon them by the Roman sword. Note; (1.) The ruin of men's souls is the necessary consequence of the rejection of the gospel. (2.) Temporal judgments are often the punishment of national sins.