Crisis of Leadership
(All Bible texts are in the NKJV Bible unless otherwise indicated)
Sabbath Afternoon
Memory Text: Isaiah 6:1
Isaiah Called to Be a Prophet
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne,
high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.
Sunday – The King Is Dead. Long Live the King!
Isaiah 6:1
Isaiah Called to Be a Prophet
6 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne,
high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.
Read 2 Chronicles 26
2 Chronicles 26:16
The Penalty for Uzziah’s Pride
16 But when he was strong his heart was lifted up, to his destruction, for
he transgressed against the Lord his God by entering the temple of the Lord
to burn incense on the altar of incense.
2 Chronicles 26:18
18 And they withstood King Uzziah, 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 are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have
trespassed! You shall have no honor from the Lord God.”
2 Chronicles 26:21
21 King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He dwelt in an
isolated house, because he was a leper; for he was cut off from the house of
the Lord. Then Jotham his son was over the king’s house, judging the people
of the land.
Isaiah 6:5-7
5 So I said: “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 my eyes have
seen the King, The Lord of hosts.” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me,
having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the
altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has
touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.”
Luke 18:14
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the
other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles
himself will be exalted.”
Isaiah 1:6
6 From the sole of the foot even to the head, There is no soundness in it,
But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; They have not been closed or
bound up, Or soothed with ointment.
Monday - “Holy, Holy, Holy” (Isa. 6:1–4)
Isaiah 6:1-4
Isaiah Called to Be a Prophet
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne,
high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it
stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with
two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another
and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of
His glory!” 4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who
cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
Exodus 25:8
8 And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.
Exodus 40:34-38
The Cloud and the Glory
34 Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the
Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the
tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of
the Lord filled the tabernacle. 36 Whenever the cloud was taken up from
above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward in all their
journeys. 37 But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey
till the day that it was taken up. 38 For the cloud of the Lord was above
the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all
the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.
Read Ezekiel 1
Daniel 7:9, 10
Vision of the Ancient of Days
9 “I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was
seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like
pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire; 10 A
fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands
ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The
court was seated, And the books were opened.
Read Revelation chapters 4 and 5
Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, pp. 303-309 (second
highlight below).
Chapter 25—The Call of Isaiah
The long reign of Uzziah [also known as Azariah] in the land of Judah and
Benjamin was characterized by a prosperity greater than that of any other
ruler since the death of Solomon, nearly two centuries before. For many
years the king ruled with discretion. Under the blessing of Heaven his
armies regained some of the territory that had been lost in former years.
Cities were rebuilt and fortified, and the position of the nation among the
surrounding peoples was greatly strengthened. Commerce revived, and the
riches of the nations flowed into Jerusalem. Uzziah's name “spread far
abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong.” 2
Chronicles 26:15. This outward prosperity, however, was not
accompanied by a corresponding revival of spiritual power. The temple
services were continued as in former years, and multitudes assembled to
worship the living God; but pride and formality gradually took the place of
humility and sincerity. Of Uzziah himself it is written: “When he was
strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed
against the Lord his God.” Verse
16. The sin that resulted so disastrously to Uzziah was one of
presumption. In violation of a plain command of Jehovah, that none but the
descendants of Aaron should officiate as priests, the king entered the
sanctuary “to burn incense upon the altar.” Azariah the high priest and his
associates remonstrated, and pleaded with him to turn from his purpose.
“Thou hast trespassed,” they urged; “neither shall it be for thine honor.” Verses 16, 18.
Uzziah was filled with wrath that he, the king, should be thus rebuked. But
he was not permitted to profane the sanctuary against the united protest of
those in authority. While standing there, in wrathful rebellion, he was
suddenly smitten with a divine judgment. Leprosy appeared on his forehead.
In dismay he fled, never again to enter the temple courts. Unto the day of
his death, some years later, Uzziah remained a leper—a living example of the
folly of departing from a plain “Thus saith the Lord.” Neither his exalted
position nor his long life of service could be pleaded as an excuse for the
presumptuous sin by which he marred the closing years of his reign, and
brought upon himself the judgment of Heaven. God is no respecter of persons.
“The soul that doeth aught presumptuously, whether he be born in the land,
or a stranger, the same reproacheth the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off
from among his people.” Numbers
15:30. The judgment that befell Uzziah seemed to have a restraining
influence on his son. Jotham bore heavy responsibilities during the later
years of his father's reign and succeeded to the throne after Uzziah's
death. Of Jotham it is written: “He did that which was right in the sight of
the Lord: he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done. Howbeit
the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burned incense
still in the high places.” 2
Kings 15:34, 35. The reign of Uzziah was drawing to a close, and
Jotham was already bearing many of the burdens of state, when Isaiah, of the
royal line, was called, while yet a young man, to the prophetic mission. The
times in which Isaiah was to labor were fraught with peculiar peril to the
people of God. The prophet was to witness the invasion of Judah by the
combined armies of northern Israel and of Syria; he was to behold the
Assyrian hosts encamped before the chief cities of the kingdom. During his
lifetime, Samaria was to fall, and the ten tribes of Israel were to be
scattered among the nations. Judah was again and again to be invaded by the
Assyrian armies, and Jerusalem was to suffer a siege that would have
resulted in her downfall had not God miraculously interposed. Already grave
perils were threatening the peace of the southern kingdom. The divine
protection was being removed, and the Assyrian forces were about to
overspread the land of Judah. But the dangers from without, overwhelming
though they seemed, were not so serious as the dangers from within. It was
the perversity of his people that brought to the Lord's servant the greatest
perplexity and the deepest depression. By their apostasy and rebellion those
who should have been standing as light bearers among the nations were
inviting the judgments of God. Many of the evils which were hastening the
swift destruction of the northern kingdom, and which had recently been
denounced in unmistakable terms by Hosea and Amos, were fast corrupting the
kingdom of Judah. The outlook was particularly discouraging as regards the
social conditions of the people. In their desire for gain, men were adding
house to house and field to field. See Isaiah
5:8. Justice was perverted, and no pity was shown the poor. Of these
evils God declared, “The spoil of the poor is in your houses.” “Ye beat My
people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor.” Isaiah
3:14, 15. Even the magistrates, whose duty it was to protect the
helpless, turned a deaf ear to the cries of the poor and needy, the widows
and the fatherless. See Isaiah
10:1, 2. With oppression and wealth came pride and love of display,
gross drunkenness, and a spirit of revelry. See Isaiah
2:11, 12; 3:16,
18-23; Isaiah
5:22, 11, 12. And in Isaiah's day idolatry itself no longer provoked
surprise. See Isaiah
2:8, 9. Iniquitous practices had become so prevalent
among all classes that the few who remained true to God were often
tempted to lose heart and to give way to discouragement and despair. It
seemed as if God's purpose for Israel were about to fail and that the
rebellious nation was to suffer a fate similar to that of Sodom and
Gomorrah. In the face of such conditions it
is not surprising that when, during the last year of Uzziah's reign,
Isaiah was called to bear to Judah God's messages of warning and
reproof, he shrank from the responsibility. He well knew that he would
encounter obstinate resistance. As he realized his own inability to meet
the situation and thought of the stubbornness and unbelief of the people
for whom he was to labor, his task seemed hopeless. Should he in despair
relinquish his mission and leave Judah undisturbed to their idolatry?
Were the gods of Nineveh to rule the earth in defiance of the God of
heaven? Such thoughts as these were crowding through
Isaiah's mind as he stood under the portico of the temple. Suddenly the gate
and the inner veil of the temple seemed to be uplifted or withdrawn, and he
was permitted to gaze within, upon the holy of holies, where even the
prophet's feet might not enter. There rose up before him a vision of Jehovah
sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, while the train of His glory
filled the temple. On each side of the throne hovered the seraphim, their
faces veiled in adoration, as they ministered before their Maker and united
in the solemn invocation, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole
earth is full of His glory,” until post and pillar and cedar gate seemed
shaken with the sound, and the house was filled with their tribute of
praise. Isaiah
6:3. 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!
“Woe is me!” he cried; “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.” Verse
5. Standing, as it were, in the full light of the divine
presence within the inner sanctuary, he realized that if left to his own
imperfection and inefficiency, he would be utterly unable to accomplish
the mission to which he had been called. But a seraph was
sent to relieve him of his distress and to fit him for his great mission. A
living coal from the altar was laid upon his lips, with the words, “Lo, this
hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin
purged.” Then the voice of God was heard saying, “Whom shall I send, and who
will go for Us?” and Isaiah responded, “Here am I; send me.” Verses
7, 8. The heavenly visitant bade the waiting messenger, “Go, and tell
this people, “Hear ye indeed, but understand not; And see ye indeed, but
perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, And make their ears heavy,
and shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their
ears, And understand with their heart, And convert, and be healed.” Verses
9, 10. The prophet's duty was plain; he was to lift his voice in
protest against the prevailing evils. But he dreaded to undertake the work
without some assurance of hope. “Lord, how long?” he inquired. Verse
11. Are none of Thy chosen people ever to understand and repent and be
healed? His burden of soul in behalf of erring Judah was not to be borne in
vain. His mission was not to be wholly fruitless. Yet the evils that had
been multiplying for many generations could not be removed in his day.
Throughout his lifetime he must be a patient, courageous teacher—a prophet
of hope as well as of doom. The divine purpose finally accomplished, the
full fruitage of his efforts, and of the labors of all God's faithful
messengers, would appear. A remnant should be saved. That this might be
brought about, the messages of warning and entreaty were to be delivered to
the rebellious nation, the Lord declared: “Until the cities be wasted
without inhabitant, And the houses without man, And the land be utterly
desolate, And the Lord have removed men far away, And there be a great
forsaking in the midst of the land.” Verse
11, 12.
Tuesday – New Personality (Isa. 6:5–7)
Isaiah 6:5-7
5 So I said: “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 my eyes have
seen the King, The Lord of hosts.” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me,
having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the
altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has
touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.”
Leviticus 16:2
2 and the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just
any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is
on the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy
seat.
Leviticus 16:12, 13
12 Then he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar
before the Lord, with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine, and bring
it inside the veil. 13 And he shall put the incense on the fire before the
Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the
Testimony, lest he die.
Isaiah 6:4
4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out,
and the house was filled with smoke.
Exodus 33:20
20 But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”
Judges 6:22, 23
22 Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the Lord. So Gideon said,
“Alas, O Lord God! For I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face.” 23
Then the Lord said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not
die.”
Leviticus 16:21
21 Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over
it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their
transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the
goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable
man.
Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 308, see third
highlight of Monday’s EGW quotation.
Numbers 31:23
23 everything that can endure fire, you shall put through the fire, and it
shall be clean; and it shall be purified with the water of purification. But
all that cannot endure fire you shall put through water.
Leviticus 6:12
12 And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be
put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the
burnt offering in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace
offerings.
Read Isaiah 6
Isaiah 6:8
8 Also 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 6:3
3 And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”
Wednesday - Royal Commission (Isa. 6:8)
Isaiah 6:8
8 Also 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.”
Jeremiah 1:4-10
The Prophet Is Called
4 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 5 “Before I formed you in
the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a
prophet to the nations.” 6 Then said I: “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot
speak, for I am a youth.” 7 But the Lord said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a
youth,’ For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command
you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you
to deliver you,” says the Lord. 9 Then the Lord put forth His hand and
touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in
your mouth. 10 See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the
kingdoms, To root out and to pull down, To destroy and to throw down, To
build and to plant.”
Read Ezekiel chapters 1 to 3
Read Exodus 34
Read 1 Kings 19
Read Isaiah chapters 1 to 5
Read Psalm 73
Psalm 73:17
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end.
Hebrews 4:14-16
Our Compassionate High Priest
14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the
heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do
not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in
all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come
boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to
help in time of need.
Hebrews 10:19-23
Hold Fast Your Confession
19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of
Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the
veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God,
22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure
water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for
He who promised is faithful.
Read Revelation 5
Revelation 5:6
6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four
living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it
had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven
Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
Thursday - Appalling Appeal (Isa. 6:9–13)
Isaiah 6:9-13
9 And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not
understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ 10 “Make the heart of this
people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with
their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And
return and be healed.” 11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered:
“Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, The houses are
without a man, The land is utterly desolate, 12 The Lord has removed men far
away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. 13 But yet
a tenth will be in it, And will return and be for consuming, As a terebinth
tree or as an oak, Whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed
shall be its stump.”
Matthew 13:13-15
13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see,
and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 And in them the
prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and
shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; 15 For the
hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And
their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear
with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So
that I should heal them.’
2 Peter 3:9
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but
is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all
should come to repentance.
Ezekiel 2:5
5 As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse—for they are a
rebellious house—yet they will know that a prophet has been among them.
Ezekiel 3:16-21
Ezekiel Is a Watchman
16 Now it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the Lord
came to me, saying, 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house
of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from
Me: 18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no
warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life,
that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require
at your hand. 19 Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his
wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you
have delivered your soul. 20 “Again, when a righteous man turns from his
righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him,
he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin,
and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his
blood I will require at your hand. 21 Nevertheless if you warn the righteous
man that the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely
live because he took warning; also you will have delivered your soul.”
Isaiah 6:11-13
11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered: “Until the cities are
laid waste and without inhabitant, The houses are without a man, The land is
utterly desolate, 12 The Lord has removed men far away, And the forsaken
places are many in the midst of the land. 13 But yet a tenth will be in it,
And will return and be for consuming, As a terebinth tree or as an oak,
Whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be its
stump.”
Exodus 4:21
21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do
all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will
harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.
Exodus 8:15
15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did
not heed them, as the Lord had said.
Exodus 8:32
32 But Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also; neither would he let
the people go.
Exodus 9:34
34 And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased,
he sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart, he and his servants.
1 Corinthians 10:13
13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God
is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able,
but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be
able to bear it.
Friday: Further Study
Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, pp. 306, 307 (see first
highlight in Monday’s EGW quotation).
Isaiah 1:19, 20
19 If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land; 20
But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword”; For the
mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Read Job chapters 1 and 2
Read Psalm 37
Read Psalm 73
Read Isaiah 6
Leviticus 16:30
30 For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you,
that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.
Leviticus 23:29, 30
29 For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut
off from his people. 30 And any person who does any work on that same day,
that person I will destroy from among his people.