God's Glory Revealed. What You See Next Will Surprise You ⋆ Effie Darlene Barba %

As we come to Isaiah 6, there is a moment in which Isaiah is given a vision of God’s Glory as it is Revealed to Him. This occurs at a time when Israel is suddenly in disarray after a period of great prosperity. There had been two Kings who were considered good Kings at least beginning they were. Now King Amaziah had begun well, but later brought in idol worship. He was killed and his son Uzziah took over the throne. At first King Uzziah followed God; however, he later failed.

Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jechiliah of Jerusalem. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that his father Amaziah had done. He continued to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding through the vision of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him successful. 2 Chronicles 25:3-5 NASB

During that time, Israel became very prosperous. They increased land, strength and money. Then,

When the Magnificence of God’s Glory is Forgotten, Destruction

But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was untrue to the Lord his God, for he entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. Then Azariah the priest entered after him, and with him eighty priests of the Lord, valiant men. They opposed Uzziah the king and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been untrue and will have no honor from the Lord God.” But Uzziah, with a censer in his hand for burning incense, was enraged; and while he was enraged with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, beside the altar of incense. Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous on his forehead; and they quickly removed him from there, and he himself also hurried to get out because the Lord had stricken him. King Uzziah had leprosy to the day of his death; and he lived in a separate house, afflicted as he was with leprosy, for he was cut off from the house of the Lord. And his son Jotham was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land. 2 Chronicles 25: 16-21 NASB.

So often when things are going well, we become complacent about God’s Glory and that is when pride enters our hearts. The more highly we think of ourselves or the false belief that we have accomplished anything good of our own volition positions us to fail. That is precisely what happened to Uzziah. But with him, the whole nation of Judah followed suit. Everything was good, so they forgot about the majesty of God’s Glory and His exalted position in our relationship with Him. When the highly exalted position of God is forgotten, we fail. Sometimes, in our modern world, we so want to make God be on our level. Our friend, our gift giver, and the one who does what we want. When we do that, forgetting His Sovereignty and Glory, we start down the slippery slope.

Yes, He is our friend, but a Powerful, Mighty friend who knows what is best for us. Not our “do whatever we want, buddy, pal” who lets us use and abuse the relationship. He is not the one we want to stay quiet in the corner. Nor do we really want Him agreeing with everything we do. Nor cheering us on no matter what. Instead, He is the one we can trust as the friend who tells us the truth. Out of love, we know He provides us with what we need. Not always what we want.

God’s Glory Revealed and the Order Restored for Isaiah and the Remnant

In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim were standing above Him, each having six wings: with two each covered his face, and with two each covered his feet, and with two each flew. And one called out to another and said,

“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of armies.

The whole earth is full of His glory.” ISAIAH 6:1-3

We can only imagine the scene if we intensely consider the words of Isaiah. Was Isaiah inside the temple when suddenly he saw this vision? Or like John or Ezekiel was he transported to see? We are not told, but he saw the vision of Jesus upon the throne in heaven in all His Glory. The Seraphim, mighty powerful angels always ready to do His bidding—hid their faces and their feet. Why? Humble servitude. They recognized they position before God. They would not act without His command to do so. Declaring “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of armies. They would not go forth to battle the evil, until He says go. He is the Lord of Armies, God’s army of angels. The whole earth is full of His Glory.”

On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets. But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Hebrews 1:1-3 BSB

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 NASB

So how did this restore order? It restored the order of God’s Sovereignty, Justice, Power, and Love. We cannot see God for who He is without noting that His attributes are all equally Glorious. His Justice equal with His love, His Sovereignty equal with His Mercy, and so on with all His attributes. There is not one without the others. He is mighty and powerfully above us and above our comprehension.

Why do they cry, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy”?

Well, there are two reasons for this. One is referencing the trinity. But also, they are before time and space Holy, they are Holy in the Heavenly realm over all the created angelic force, and Holy in their creation of the world. The world was created in perfect Holiness. Justice is perfectly executed by a Holy Creator of the Universe. He has every right to destroy it all, but does not because His equally Holy attribute of love steadies His Hand. It was His choice to choose a means of salvation, paying the price for it Himself. Thus demonstrating His Attribute of Mercy and love.

And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said,

“Woe to me, for I am ruined!

Because I am a man of unclean lips,

And I live among a people of unclean lips;

For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of armies.” Isaiah 6:4-5 NASB

Remember whenever God descended over Mount Sinai? Or inhabited the temple? There was always smoke and fire. When Isaiah saw the Glorious Presence of the Lord on the throne, he recognized the utter insignificance of humanity in comparison to His Majesty. Yet, He chose to love us so much as to purchase our salvation at such a high cost. How is it that we cry out demands of Him? Yet, how often do we just that. And even more so, how often does humanity cry out demands of Him. Or deny Him.

Salvation is of the Lord

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your guilt is taken away and atonement is made for your sin.” Isaiah 6:6-7 NASB

Now only Saved, but Commissioned by God, for God, and to Speak of God’s Glory

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6:8 NASB

Having seen the Glory of the Lord and being saved from his own sin, how could Isaiah not say yes? For those of us who have been given a glimpse of His Glory through salvation, how can we not say yes to His commission? For to know Him as Savior, there are those moments in which His Glory swells deeply within our hearts. A moment of joy so great that we can hardly contain it. We have been given so much, how can we not rush to tell others? Is that not the most important thing we can do?

And what was this Message of God’s Glory?

It was a message to declare even if no one listened. Do you ever feel defeated when people do not listen to you? I do. But that is the mission we are commissioned to. The results are not up to us. They depend on Him and Him alone. Our job is to keep going and not grow weary in well doing. The harvest is His alone. So, many refuse to hear and harden their hearts to Him. They choose to refuse Him. Yet, what a hard message. Isaiah was told they would not respond. That is, only a remnant of hearers would listen and respond. This was the same message Jeremiah was given as well. He would suffer, be cast aside, and his message ignored. But keep preaching the word of the Lord anyway.

And He said, “Go, and tell this people:

‘Keep on listening, but do not understand;

And keep on looking, but do not gain knowledge.’

Make the hearts of this people insensitive,

Their ears dull,

And their eyes blind,

So that they will not see with their eyes,

Hear with their ears,

Understand with their hearts,

And return and be healed.” Isaiah 6: 8-10 NASB

Have you ever noticed, the more the gospel spreads, the larger the number of people who become desensitized to hearing it? More false doctrines continue to arise that confounds the issue. The more they deny it, the farther they walk away from God’s Glory. And so the world spirals into its own humanistic failures, declaring themselves true when all is just a lie.

Furthermore, Imagine, this Same Jesus Entered Jerusalem Riding on a Donkey

Jump forward to John chapter 12 and realize this same Jesus had entered Jerusalem, humbly entering on a colt of a donkey. Not on a white horse or magnificent throne. The people want Him their way. Little did they care about their own sins being forgiven. They wanted Him to just fix my situation here and now. So fixated on their own desires they closed their ears to the truth.

“Now My soul has become troubled; and what am I to say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” So the crowd who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him!” Jesus responded and said, “This voice has not come for My sake, but for yours. Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself.” Now He was saying this to indicate what kind of death He was going to die. The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how is it that You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; also, the one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” These things Jesus proclaimed, and He went away and hid Himself from them. John 12:27-36 NASB

Not Only In Isaiah’s Day, but Again in Jerusalem—They Forgot God’s Glory

They did not recognize God’s Glory, even though it had been revealed in Jesus Christ walking among them. His miracles, His words, nothing mattered to them but what they wanted Him to do then and there. They did not recognize His Glory, though He had demonstrated it so often. They wanted bread today, not the true bread of life. “Give me what I want, never realizing He came to give them what they needed–salvation from their sin.” He came to provide eternal life with Him. They wanted a better life now.

But though He had performed so many signs in their sight, they still were not believing in Him. This happened so that the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke would be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, “He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, so that they will not see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and be converted, and so I will not heal them.” These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke about Him. Nevertheless many, even of the rulers, believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, so that they would not be excommunicated from the synagogue; for they loved the approval of people rather than the approval of God. John 12:37-43 NASB

He blinded their eyes, because they had selfish, self-exalting hearts that believed themselves worthy of receiving everything. They did not see the wickedness of their own hearts. Believing themselves entitled, they demanded He take His throne or be crucified.

Furthermore, John again saw God’s Glory Revealed in Revelation

At first, He saw a throne surrounded by lightning and a rainbow. He seated on the throne looking like precious stones. Surrounding Him were the same creatures with the appearance described of the Seraphim. This time all three persons of the Trinity are present. The Father seated on the throne. Jesus Standing and the Holy Spirit as seven lamps of fire before the throne in Revelation Chapter 4 verse 5. Also chapter 5 verse 6 speaking of the lamb slaughtered as, “having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.” The Holy Spirit is described in multiple parts of Scripture as possessing seven attributes.

Then John later saw this:

He saw God the Father on His throne. Jesus, the Lion like Lamb then took the scroll (the deed to the earth) from the Father’s Hand as The Father handed it to Him. Then Jesus opened the seals, one seal at a time until finally John saw,

And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many crowns; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written: “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” Revelation 19: 11-16 NASB

Back to Isaiah, Perhaps His Question is the Same as ours

Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered,

“Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant,

Houses are without people

And the land is utterly desolate,

The Lord has completely removed people,

And there [g]are many forsaken places in the midst of the land.

Yet there will still be a tenth portion in it,

And it will again be subject to burning,

Like a terebinth or an oak

Whose stump remains when it is cut down.

The holy seed is its stump.” Isaiah 6:11-13 NASB

Now the question is: “What will you do after seeing God’s Glory with the eyes of your heart?”

But For God, The Sorrows that Abound*

By Effie Darlene Barba

I see the sorrows that abound

The depths of pain that do surround

Anger, hate the awful sound

Dear Lord, where are you now?

I need to feel you close somehow

To know this pain, you did allow

Help my eyes to just see You

I need someway to have your view

To see the victory that was won

Upon that cross by your dear Son

For there upon a hill so high

A cross that reached into the sky

Your Son did bleed, and He did die

To save a sinner such as I

Oh, Father dear did you cry?

Were there tears that filled your eye?

As you gazed from up above

Steadied your hand, because of love

You saw beyond the wretched pain

And focused then upon the gain

For human hearts so filled with pride

Desire to rule and cast aside

Their only hope, their one true guide

As evil grows within each heart

They grasp it tight, to ne’er depart

While shouting theirs a brand-new start

That only they can show the way

To bring mankind a better day

So blind they are to never see

Their nothingness can never be

More than the darkness deep within

So, torn and tossed by their own sin

What fools to think they’d ever win

More than the darkness of this life

So filled with pain and self-made strife

That stabs one’s soul with molten knife

Yet still they feel that they are right

That they are all by their own might

And filled with self, reject the thought

Their life is nothing, unless bought

For justice does demand a price

And nothing else could e’er suffice

Except for Christ’s dear sacrifice

And yet they run their hell-bent way

Believing all their tongues do say

It is the truth, their words do slay

This world continues spiraling down

Within their words, they too shall drown

Amid the pain, the bitter strife

That without God makes up this life

Unless they humbly bow their head

Believing all that You have said

Allowing You to reign instead

Unless by faith they do accept

Their feeble hearts are so inept

Until for sin they too have wept

They cannot ever win life’s race

Or gaze upon Your Glorious face

Eternally, to know Your Grace

Whose love by faith our sins erase

Yahweh, Lord the Great I AM

The One True God of Abraham

Jesus Christ, Your Righteous Lamb

How great the pain you must have known!

As Darkness fell—not one light shone

Your wrath for sin poured from your throne

On Your Beloved and sinless son

To Justify each heart You’ve won

For never could you compromise

Your Righteousness or otherwise

If you forgave and no one paid

Your justice would have been enslaved

And righteousness would only fade

So, looking far beyond Your pain

You focused then upon the gain

Tomorrow’s harvest full of grain

Each one You knew would call Your name

You loved so much, you did proclaim

I’ll pay their price for all their sin

While justice, righteousness doth win

I see the sorrows that abound

The depths of pain that do surround

Anger, hate the awful sound

And yet, Dear Lord, I know your near

Safe in your arms, I have no fear

There may be pains sometimes down here

Life may have its ups and downs

The angry mobs with hate filled frowns

My love and joy look past the pain

Because You Are My All, My Gain

DO YOU KNOW CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR AND LORD? He is our only Hope in Life and Death! Our Joy is found in Him.

Therefore if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord: I urge you today. Go to my page titled How to Be Saved by clicking on this link. There is nothing more important than this; because He is the way, the truth and the life. I urge you to seek Him today.

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If God Never Judged His People Would That Be Love?

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. Furthermore, I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. That is except for my own books. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR. Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Please note: This Post only has quotes from the KJV Bible except where otherwise indicated

¹ J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)

BSB (BEREAN STUDY BIBLE)

The Berean Bible and Majority Bible texts are officially dedicated to the public domain as of April 30, 2023.

English Standard Version (ESV)

Common English Bible (CEB)

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