Monday: “Holy, Holy, Holy”
Isa: 6:1-4
Notice what was happening here in the first four verses of Isaiah 6. The king dies during great political turmoil (the Assyrians are on the warpath). For Isaiah, it could have been a fearful time when he was not sure who was in control.
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And then—what happens? While taken in vision, Isaiah gazed upon the blazing glory of God upon His throne, heard the antiphony of shining seraphim (“burning ones”) calling out the words “holy, holy, holy,” felt the resultant seismic shaking of the floor beneath him, and peered through swirling smoke as it filled the temple. It must have been a stunning experience for the prophet. For sure, Isaiah now knew who was in control, despite outward events.
Where is the Lord in this vision? (See Isa: 6:1.) Why would the Lord make an appearance to Isaiah here, as opposed to anywhere else? See Exod: 25:8; Exod: 40:34-38.
Ezekiel, Daniel, and John were in exile when they received their visions in Ezekiel 1; Daniel 7.9-10; and Revelation 4, 5. Like Isaiah, they needed special comfort and encouragement that God was still in charge, even though their world was falling apart. (Daniel and Ezekiel were captives in a pagan nation that had destroyed their own, and John had been exiled to a lonely island by a hostile political power.) No doubt, these visions helped give them what they needed to stay faithful, even during a crisis situation.
“As Isaiah beheld this revelation of the glory and majesty of his Lord, he was overwhelmed with a sense of the purity and holiness of God. How sharp the contrast between the matchless perfection of his Creator, and the sinful course of those who, with himself, had long been numbered among the chosen people of Israel and Judah!” — Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 307.
The transcendent holiness of God, emphasized in Isaiah’s vision, is a basic aspect of his message. God is a holy God, and He demands holiness from His people, a holiness He will give to them if only they will repent, turn from their evil ways, and submit to Him in faith and obedience.
| All of us have been in discouraging situations, where from outward appearances all seemed lost. And even if you didn’t get a vision of the “glory of the Lord,” as did Isaiah here, recount the ways in which the Lord was able to sustain you and your faith during this crisis. What have you learned from these experiences that you could share with others? |
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I thank Jesus for patiently teaching me to trust Him in everyday crises.
Just recently, I moved into my new home. It was very cold (last Friday and Sabbath). When I returned home from work on Friday the water didn’t run when I turned it on. That was a crises for me.
The next day (Sabbath), I told the Lord out loud that I needed my water. Isaiah 65:23, 24 was brought to mind so I said, Father, I belong to You, I’ve done all I can. You heard me before I called. That was the end of my prayer.
The Holy Spirit impressed me with the thought, “You asked, go see.” I went to turn on my water and it came on full blast, and the hot water was hot. What was a crises to me was God giving me the opportunity to see Him work outside of my ability.
He does this for us all.
What a beautiful story of God's care, Nanci!
This makes me think of Revelation 4:8 where the 4 living creatures do not rest day or night saying, "Holy, holy, holy!" If we take this literally, saying the same 3 words all day and night forever sounds tedious. But if we flush out the scene, from the viewpoint of God's throne (Rev 4:6) and with many eyes (Rev 4:8) symbolically looking at all the compass points of existence, there is and never will be any end to the stories of how amazing God's care is for Earthlings and all His creation! It's a love relationship that is never boring as each new moment there are tokens of love through all eternity. There are many ways to share about God's involvement with us and in the end, in every language, it all reduces to some rendition of...
Worthy of worship. Worthy of worship. Worthy of worship.
A theophany is an appearance of God. More precisely, it is a visible display to human beings that expresses the presence and character of God. Examples include the thunderous display at the top of Mount Sinai (Exodus 19); the burning bush (Exodus 3); appearances to Abraham (Gen 15:1; 17:1; 18:1), Isaac (Gen 26:2), and Jacob (Gen 28:13); the cloud of fire in the wilderness (Ex 14:19; 40:34; Num 9:15-23); Isaiah's vision (Isa 6); Ezekiel's vision (Ezek 1); and John's vision of God on his throne (Rev 4-5).
Why does the LORD give these encounters with Him to His people? I believe it is to reassure His people that He exists and is All Mighty and All Powerful, He is not just a figment of people's imagination.
Then best of all one of the partners in the Triune Godhead - The Word, The Son of Man, Immanuel, Jesus, - became a human and walked and talked with His people.
Now the Holy Spirit comes and dwells in our hearts to reassure us no matter what happens in this world He will help and guides us through the good and bad times and reminds us that soon Jesus will return to take us to be with Him in a perfect world forever, if we allow the Holy Spirit to change our character to be like Him now.
Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art Holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest. And after I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. Rev 15:4-5
“Holy, Holy, Holy”
Ques- In the bible, when anyone sees the Holy One sitting on a throne in the temple what does it means or signifies?
Here Isaiah saw heaven opened and the Lord sitting in the temple, he saw himself as a wretched no body whose mouth is so dirty and wicked. He cried out woe, woe, woe I am undone. The bible says to us what comes out/proceed out of a human mouth and further says the tongue is poisonous. Fire signifies cleansing. His mind had to be cleanse to do the work ahead of him.
After cleansing, the question is- how can the Lord use us to carry the message forward.
Hymn- Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God almighty, early in the morning my song shall rise to thee. This hymn acknowledged that I remember and worship the Lord the first thing in the day and cont throughout the day despite what may occur.
# 661. Holy, holy, holy, Holy is the Lord. This hymn is calling human to acknowledge the Lord as the exalted one, worthy of our praise and complete devotion. He alone is Holy.
In the earthy sanctuary Moses was never shown/told to build a throne. Reason why not? Actually, in the most holy place there was no seat and the Priest had to be walking and moving to officiate. The bells rang all the time with the string attached to his foot. The music stopped for sometime, the Priest is dead.
The message was- who will go for Us. This was a difficult thing to do to a stubborn and rebellious nation. But by the power of Jesus it can be accomplish even death comes.
Lyn,
You are correct there was no seat for the priests, but the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant between the angels was where the LORD's presence was, so it can be considered as His throne.
Here we are in a time of worldwide discontent, but look at God sending this message, at this time, to remind His people that He is still in charge. Hallelujah to our God and King!!!
I do not believe that our material minds can fully understand the meaning of the word ‘holy’ or ‘holiness’; its place of origin is found in the celestial, spiritual powers. I can only deduce that true holiness is pureness which excludes everything impure, touched by sin.
1Cor.13:12KJV – “For now we see through a glass, darkly(or, in a riddle); but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”
There comes a time where we are fully re-instated as part of the Creator’s Holiness, ‘where our lips will not have to be touched by an amber from the altar, were our iniquities are fully taken away and our sin purged’ – Is.6:6,7KJV.
I think that ‘Holiness’ is the only aspect for which mankind’s plan of Salvation has been formulated. His children, made in His/Their Image, lost their unity/oneness/holiness with the Father. Man in his fallen spiritual and material state cannot inherit the celestial Kingdom of God; this implies that something drastic has to occur to change him; this is not a partial change, it is a fundamental change which effects the essence of man's being.
KJV dictionary definition of holiness:
The state of being holy; purity or integrity of moral character; freedom from sin; sanctity.
Applied to the Supreme Being - holiness denotes perfect purity or integrity of moral character, one of his essential attributes.
1Peter1:14-16KJV – “…But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation(interaction); because it is written, Be ye holy (ye shall be holy) for I am holy.”
Rom.3:20-23KJV – (v.23)”For all have sinned, and come short of the Glory(holiness) of God.” We cannot come out of the darkness into the Light by our own strength. The way for our Salvation has been fully prepared for us; but we are called to walk its Path of Light by Faith as we are protected/covered by the Father’s righteousness imparted to us through the faith of Christ Jesus.
The basic tenet of our Faith is Love - expressed heavenly holiness -. We have been loved by the Father and Son, we love/honor the Father and Son with all our heart and soul and share their imparted love/righteousness with our fellow man.
Isaiah 5:4KJV – In the capacity of His Holiness, the Father’s Love has done all He could do to prepare the way – it is up to us to remain faithful and apply what we believe to be the Truth, the Light and the Way toward being holy as He is holy.
Brigitte- We as humans are called to live holy as He, Jesus is Holy. But how can one live holy as Jesus if we dont understand/know what it meant to be holy, or what does holiness means.
On the day of atonement the High Priest was the only one who can enter the Most Holy Place. He was going to meet with a Holy Father and he himself had to be holy. Do you thought he told the Lord, I don't know what it meant to be holy so I came anyhow? His very clothing had to be holy and things used for certain celebrations had to be holy.
Throughout the bible we are called to be holy e.g Ex 19:5-6; Lev 20:26, 21:7; 1 Peter 2:9.
When Jesus comes to call his children home we have to be holy while we are alive and living in this evil world. Rev 22:11.
Is holiness unattainable, no. The Lord will never call none to do something that is impossible.
Lyn - Yes, we know based on the dictionary definition and on writings/examples from the Scripture what is meant by the 'word' holy, but to fully experience and appreciate the *state of being* holy, we will have to wait until we are part again of the holiness of the new creation. They were called - you *shall* be, but they were not.
1 Peter 1:16 Says “You must be holy because I am holy.”
What does Holy mean?
It means "likeness of nature with God" because you are "different from the world." (Strong's Concordance)
God doesn’t steal, we don’t steal.
God doesn’t lie, we don’t lie.
God doesn't covet, we don’t covet.
Yes, David - and I believe that it goes deeper than the acts of the law, it will be a state of being; I believe that God IS holy(ness) in essence. We are informed that we are called to one day be(come) holy in essence as He is in order to be able to be in His presence.
Without us being in this state of 'holiness' we cannot meet God, because He is holy. Until that time, we remain holy through the righteousness of God by faith, expressing the right(eous) acts of kindness inspired by the love of God in our life.