VISION OF THE LORD DURING TIMES OF POLITICAL UPHEAVAL
By: Elder Michael Ivey
"In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.” Isaiah 6:1
Isaiah wrote these words to God's people at a time of great political uncertainty and approaching peril in Judah. King Uzziah ruled as Judah's king for 52 years and was the only ruler Isaiah and at least two generations of God's people in Judah had known. God blessed his reign because he “did that which was right in the sight of the LORD.” (2 Chronicles 26:4) Uzziah's time as king of Judah was marked by internal peace, prosperity and security from enemies.
When Uzziah died Isaiah and likely all Judah feared the uncertainty that accompanied transfer of power to his son and subsequent kings. In the atmosphere of this uncertainty and fear, God by His grace, mercifully allowed Isaiah to glimpse the glory and power of His eternal reign as the King of Kings. He saw the LORD who is forever on His throne and reigns over all in all glory and power. His vision of God, all-glorious and powerful, caused Isaiah to realize his own doubting testimony was a product of “unclean lips.” However, once purged by the impact and significance of God's glory and power, Isaiah was prepared to accurately and honestly prophecy to the LORD's people.
Judah was afflicted with subsequent kings who were less noble than Uzziah, and because of these disobedient rulers and their own disobedience, Judah greatly suffered. Nevertheless, God blest Isaiah to assure God's children with the comforting message of His eternal love for them. The same holds true in whatever peril we face in our present lives: God still reigns and cares for His own!
As God's people today face peril and uncertainty from political divisions, social unrest and upheaval, may we each endeavor to keep “unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3) with God and among ourselves. And may we all thereby be comforted together in the realization that the LORD still reigns “high and lifted up;” that, His glory still fills the house of his abode which is the church; that, His one true church is where the same message of the gospel of peace is faithfully preached by His grace:
“Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.” Isaiah 40:1-2
May we all seek assuring visions of God in which we see "the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.”
(Sept. 26, 2024)
