Isaiah 6:8 Kommentar

Hitherto, it should seem, Isaiah had prophesied as a candidate, having only a virtual and tacit commission; but here we have him (if I may so speak) solemnly ordained and set apart to the prophetic office by a more express or explicit commission, as his work grew more upon his hands: or perhaps, having seen little success of his ministry, he began to think of giving it up; and therefore God saw fit to renew his commission here in this chapter, in such a manner as might excite and encourage his zeal and industry in the execution of it, though he seemed to labour in vain. In this chapter we have, I. A very awful vision which Isaiah saw of the glory of God (Isa 6:1-4), the terror it put him into (Isa 6:5), and the relief given him against that terror by an assurance of the pardon of his sins (Isa 6:6, Isa 6:7). II. A very awful commission which Isaiah received to go as a prophet, in God's name (v. 8), by his preaching to harden the impenitent in sin and ripen them for ruin (v. 9-12) yet with a reservation of mercy for a remnant, (v. 13). And it was as to an evangelical prophet that these things were shown him and said to him.

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 6 This chapter contains a vision of the glory and majesty of Christ, the mission and commission of the prophet, and the destruction of the Jews. In the vision may be observed the time of it, and the object seen; who is described by the throne on which he sat, Isa 6:1 and by his ministers about him; and these, by their name, by their situation, by their wings and the use of them, and by their employment, Isa 6:2 and by the effects their crying to one another had upon the place where they were, Isa 6:4 and next follows the effect the whole vision had on the prophet, which threw him into great distress of mind; and the relief he had by one of the seraphim, and the manner of it, Isa 6:6 upon which a question being put, concerning sending some person, the prophet makes answer, expressing his readiness to go, Isa 6:8 when a commission is given him, and the message he is sent with is declared, Isa 6:9 whereupon he asks how long it would be the case of the Jews mentioned in the message he was sent with; and he is told it would continue until the utter destruction of them, Isa 6:11 and yet, for the comfort of him and other saints, it is intimated that there would be a remnant among them, according to the election of grace, Isa 6:13.

Also I heard the voice of the Lord,.... The Targum renders it, the voice of the Word of the Lord, as if it was the second Person, the Word, that was heard speaking; but it seems rather to be the voice of the first Person, the Father: saying, Whom shall I send? to the people of Israel, to reprove them for their blindness and stupidity, and to threaten them, and foretell unto them their ruin and destruction; intimating that it was a difficult thing to pitch upon a proper person; and that there were but few that were fit to go on such an errand: this is spoken after the manner of men; otherwise the Lord knew whom to send, and whom he would send; and could easily qualify anyone he pleased, and send with such a message: and who will go for us? not directing his discourse to the seraphim, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi; as if he consulted with them: for who of all the creatures is the Lord's counsellor? but to the Son and Spirit, who it is certain were concerned in this mission; for the following words were said when Isaiah saw the glory of Christ, and spake of him, Joh 12:41 and they are expressly attributed to the Holy Ghost in Act 28:25 the Septuagint and Arabic versions, instead of "for us", read "unto this people"; and the Targum is, "whom shall I send to prophesy? and who will go to teach?'' then said I, here am I, send me: for he who before thought himself undone, and unworthy to be employed in the service of God, now having a discovery and application of pardoning grace, freely offers himself to God: this shows the true nature and effect of an application of pardon; it gives a man freedom and boldness in the presence of God, and stimulates to a ready and cheerful obedience to his will, and engages him with the utmost alacrity in his service; so far is the doctrine of free and full pardon by the blood of Christ from being a licentious doctrine.

When Isaiah had seen the Lord seated high upon a lofty throne, what does he say? “Woe is me, because I am in sorrow; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people that has unclean lips.” Pay attention to his exact words: Woe is me because of my unclean lips. After that, what does he tell us? Because his lips are soiled, one of the seraphim is sent to him, and the seraph taking a burning coal from the altar touches with it Isaiah’s lips and tongue and purifies his mouth. Then what does the seraph say? “See,” he said, “now that this has touched your lips, your tongue is cleansed.” Then immediately, what does the Lord say? “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” O divine secrets of Scripture! As long as Isaiah’s tongue was treacherous and his lips unclean, the Lord does not say to him, Whom shall I send, and who shall go? His lips are cleansed, and immediately he is appointed the Lord’s spokesman; hence it is true that the person with unclean lips cannot prophesy, nor can he be sent in obedient service to God. “With fiery coals of the desert.” Would to heaven this solitude were granted us, that it would clear away all wickedness from our tongue, so that where there are thorns, where there are brambles, where there are nettles, the fire of the Lord may come and burn all of it and make it a desert place, the solitude of Christ.

It was not with temerity and arrogance that the prophet promised his own conscience that he would go, but with fidelity, for his lips were cleansed and the iniquity of his sins washed away and purified. When the Lord had said to Moses, therefore, “Come, I will send you to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt,” he too responded with humility, not contempt, saying, “I beg you, Lord, to send another because I am not worthy,” or as we read in Hebrew, “Send him whom you were about to send,” for he who had been educated with all the wisdom of the Egyptians had heard nothing about the cleansing of his lips. Isaiah also offered himself for ministry by the grace of the Lord with which he was cleansed, not by his own merit. But others think that Isaiah offered himself because he thought that the message to be announced to the people was favorable, because he heard, “Go and say to this people: ‘You will hear with your ears and not understand, you will see and not recognize.’ ” Subsequently, therefore, when the voice of the Lord had said to him “Cry,” he did not cry immediately but inquired, “What shall I cry?” Jeremiah also, to whom it had been said, “Take this cup and make all the nations to whom I will send you drink from it,” willingly accepting the cup of punishments to give to the enemy nations that they would drink and vomit and fall, later heard, “Go and first make Jerusalem drink from it,” to which he replied, “You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived.” This observation pertains to the Hebrews, but we acknowledge that others were obedient, not impetuous, in offering themselves to be sent by the Lord.

(Verse 8.) And I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? And I said: Here am I, send me. Because both us and all the other interpreters have translated it, the Hebrew phrase Lanu (), which means 'for us,' is put by the LXX to this people, which is not at all found in the Hebrew. But when it is said in the person of God, 'for us' is to be understood in that sense in which it is read in Genesis: Let us make man in our image, and likeness (Gen. 1:26), to indicate the sacrament of the Trinity. For just as we read in the Gospel, when the Lord says, 'I and the Father are one' (John 10:30), and we refer this to the unity of nature, namely, that we are one in essence, but to the diversity of persons, the Trinity governs as commanded by the Lord. However, the Lord does not specify whom to go forth, but presents the listeners with an option, so that the will may obtain the reward. And the Prophet does not promise to go forth by presumption and the arrogance of his own conscience, but by confidence: because his lips have been cleansed, and iniquity has been removed, and sin has been purified. Therefore Moses also, to whom the Lord said: Come, I will send thee to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt (Exod. III, 10), and he said: I beseech thee, Lord, I am not eloquent, send whom thou wilt (Exod. IV, 13), answered not with contempt, but with humility, because he had not heard anything from his purified lips, who had been educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. And Isaiah, not by his own merit, but by the grace of the Lord, by which he was purified, offered himself to the service. But others think that Isaiah offered himself because he thought that he had good news to announce to the people. But because he heard, 'Go, tell this people: You shall indeed hear but not understand, you shall indeed see but not perceive' (Isaiah 6:9), therefore, in the following passages, when the voice of the Lord said to him, 'Cry out,' he does not immediately cry out, but he asks, 'What shall I cry?' The prophet Jeremiah, to whom it had been said, 'Take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand and drink to all the nations to which I send you' (Jeremiah 25:15), willingly receiving the cup of sufferings, so that he might offer it to the opposing nations, for them to drink, and vomit, and fall down; after he heard, 'Go and first offer it to Jerusalem,' he replied, 'You have deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived' (Jeremiah 20:7). This is the observance of the Hebrews. However, we say that it is not a matter of rashness, but of obedience, to offer oneself to be sent by the Lord.

224. And I heard the voice of the Lord. Here the authority of the minister is shown from his charge of office, and concerning this he does three things. First, the consent of the one to be sent is sought; hence he says, whom shall I send, in which the authority on the part of the sender is noted: and how shall they preach unless they be sent? (Rom 10:15). And who shall go? The will of the one who is sent, for us, acquisitively, that he may not seek vain honor and may not seek profit; conversely: for all seek the things that are their own not the things that are Jesus Christ's (Phil 2:21). I send, in which the unity of essence is noted, for us, in which the plurality of persons is noted. 225. Second, the subservience offered by the prophet is set out: and I said: lo, here am I, send me, below: and I do not resist: I have not gone back (Isa 50:5). But it seems that this would be presumptuous, because Moses declined his office: who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? (Exod 3:11); and I said: ah, ah, ah, Lord God: behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child (Jer 1:6). And to this is to be said, as Gregory says in his Book of Pastoral Rule (and in the Gloss at the beginning of Jeremiah): each arose from the root of charity: for the one [Jeremiah] for the love of God did not wish to lose the solace of contemplation; the other [Isaiah] for the love of neighbor wished to be sent that he might be useful; and nevertheless, the one did not decline the command pertinaciously, nor did the other offer himself until he was cleansed and sought for.

Jeremiah, in the spirit of prophecy, seeing the Chaldeans on their march, bids his people set up the usual signals of distress, and spread the general alarm to betake themselves to flight, Jer 6:1. Then, by a beautiful allusion to the custom of shepherds moving their flocks to the richest pastures, Jerusalem is singled out as a place devoted to be eaten up or trodden down by the armies of the Chaldeans, who are called up against her, and whose ardor and impatience are so great that the soldiers, when they arrive in the evening, regret they have no more day, and desire to begin the attack without waiting for the light of the morning, Jer 6:2-5. God is then represented as animating and directing the besiegers against this guilty city, which sinned as incessantly as a fountain flows, Jer 6:6, Jer 6:7, although warned of the fatal consequence, Jer 6:8. He intimates also, by the gleaning of the grapes, that one invasion should carry away the remains of another, till their disobedience, hypocrisy, and other sins should end in their total overthrow, Jer 6:9-15. And to show that God is clear when he judgeth, he mentions his having in vain admonished and warned them, and calls upon the whole world to witness the equity of his proceedings, Jer 6:16-18, in punishing this perverse and hypocritical people, Jer 6:19, Jer 6:20, by the ministry of the cruel Chaldeans, Jer 6:21-23. Upon this a chorus of Jews is introduced expressing their fears and alarm, Jer 6:24, Jer 6:25; to which the prophet echoes a response full of sympathy and tenderness, Jer 6:26. The concluding verses, by metaphors taken from the process of refining gold and silver, represent all the methods hitherto used to amend them as wholly ineffectual, Jer 6:27-30.

VISION OF JEHOVAH IN HIS TEMPLE. (Isa 6:1-13) In . . . year . . . Uzziah died--Either literal death, or civil when he ceased as a leper to exercise his functions as king [Chaldee], (Ch2 26:19-21). 754 B.C. [CALMET] 758 (Common Chronology). This is not the first beginning of Isaiah's prophecies, but his inauguration to a higher degree of the prophetic office: Isa 6:9, &c., implies the tone of one who had already experience of the people's obstinacy. Lord--here Adonai, Jehovah in Isa 6:5; Jesus Christ is meant as speaking in Isa 6:10, according to Joh 12:41. Isaiah could only have "seen" the Son, not the divine essence (Joh 1:18). The words in Isa 6:10 are attributed by Paul (Act 28:25-26) to the Holy Ghost. Thus the Trinity in unity is implied; as also by the thrice "Holy" (Isa 6:3). Isaiah mentions the robes, temple, and seraphim, but not the form of God Himself. Whatever it was, it was different from the usual Shekinah: that was on the mercy seat, this on a throne; that a cloud and fire, of this no form is specified: over that were the cherubim, over this the seraphim; that had no clothing, this had a flowing robe and train.

I . . . us--The change of number indicates the Trinity (compare Gen 1:26; Gen 11:7). Though not a sure argument for the doctrine, for the plural may indicate merely majesty, it accords with that truth proved elsewhere. Whom . . . who--implying that few would be willing to bear the self-denial which the delivering of such an unwelcome message to the Jews would require on the part of the messenger (compare Ch1 29:5). Here am I--prompt zeal, now that he has been specially qualified for it (Isa 6:7; compare Sa1 3:10-11; Act 9:6).

When Isaiah had been thus absolved, the true object of the heavenly scene was made apparent."Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Behold me here; send me!" The plural "for us" (lânu) is not to be accounted for on the ground that, in a case of reflection or self-consultation, the subject also stands as the object in antithesis to itself (as Hitzig supposes); nor is it a pluralis majestatis, as Knobel maintains; nor is the original abstract signification of the plural hinted at, as Meier thinks. The plural is no doubt used here with reference to the seraphim, who formed, together with the Lord, one deliberative council (sōd kedoshim, Psa 89:8), as in Kg1 22:19-22; Dan 4:14, etc.; just as, from their very nature as "sons of God" (b'nē Hâ-elohim), they made one family with God their Creator (vid., Eph 3:15), all linked so closely together that they themselves could be called Elohim, like God their Creator, just as in Co1 12:12 the church of believers is called Christos, like Christ its head. The task for which the right man was sought was not merely divine, but heavenly in the broadest sense: for it is not only a matter in which God Himself is interested, that the earth should become full of the glory of God, but this is also an object of solicitude to the spirits that minister unto Him. Isaiah, whose anxiety to serve the Lord was no longer suppressed by the consciousness of his own sinfulness, no sooner heard the voice of the Lord, than he exclaimed, in holy self-consciousness, "Behold me here; send me." It is by no means a probable thing, that he had already acted as a messenger of God, or held the office of prophet. For if the joy, with which he offered himself here as the messenger of God, was the direct consequence of the forgiveness of sins, of which he had received the seal; the consciousness of his own personal sinfulness, and his membership in a sinful nation, would certainly have prevented him thereto from coming forward to denounce judgment upon that nation. And as the prophetic office as such rested upon an extraordinary call from God, it may fairly be assumed, that when Isaiah relates so extraordinary a call as this, he is describing the sealing of his prophetic office, and therefore his own first call.