The Lodestar

The Lord is invisible and will remain so until we behold him on the shores of eternity in our glorified bodies. However, the Bible contains many passages that offer glimpses of his glory, power, and presence. Besides this passage (Isa 6:1— 13), the prophets Ezekiel and the apostle John had glimpses of divine glory, but none were complete, since God is beyond human grasp.

This vision changed the course of Isaiah’s life, transforming his view of society, politics, and religion and setting him at loggerheads with the godless majority.

Was Isaiah physically in the Jerusalem Temple when he had this vision, or did he see the Temple as part of the vision while being elsewhere? The evidence suggests that the vision occurred in an unspecified location rather than inside the Temple. The mention of the Temple, thresholds, and altar is a red herring that leads us to imagine a Temple setting for the vision. But the Temple and its parts are only part of the setting.

The Lord is seated above the Temple; the temple was far below his throne so that the edges of his robe (“train of his robe”) filled the Temple. In other words, the temple is too small to contain the fringes of the Lord’s robe. The Temple appears in the vision, but as something that shakes at the sound of the heavenly choir singing “Holy, Holy, Holy” (Isa 6:4). The altar need not be the one in the Temple; it could be a heavenly one. However, even if it is the altar in the Temple, it is still part of the vision.

The worshippers came to worship the Lord in the Temple, but the vision convinced the prophet that the Lord was beyond the four walls of the sacred structure. The Temple cannot contain him, a truth that its builder, King Solomon, acknowledged at its inauguration: “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27).

Isaiah’s mission as the Lord's spokesperson stems from the vision that the Lord is far beyond the Temple and any human institutions. He transcends the most elegant cathedral in the world. No eloquent hymn can describe him. We are waiting for the moment when we can stand in his presence and witness the fullness of his glory.

(Also, read the author’s book, THE PRINCE AND THE EMPEROR: SELECTED THEMES FROM THE BOOK OF ISAIAH, available on Amazon globally in Kindle and paperback.)

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