Prophets and Kings
by Ellen G. White
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. {PK 303.1}
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 [304] 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. {PK 303.2}
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. {PK 304.1}
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. {PK 304.2}
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. [305] {PK 304.3}
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. {PK 305.1}
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. {PK 305.2}
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. [306] 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. {PK 305.3}
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. {PK 306.1}
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. {PK 306.2}
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 [307] 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? {PK 306.3}
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. {PK 307.1}
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: [308] 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. {PK 307.2}
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. {PK 308.1}
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? {PK 308.2}
His burden of soul in behalf of erring Judah was not to be
borne in vain. His mission was not to be wholly fruitless. [309] 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."
Verses 11, 12. {PK 308.3}
The heavy judgments that were to befall the impenitent,—war,
exile, oppression, the loss of power and prestige among the nations,—all
these were to come in order that those who would recognize in them the hand of
an offended God might be led to repent. The ten tribes of the northern kingdom
were soon to be scattered among the nations and their cities left desolate; the
destroying armies of hostile nations were to sweep over their land again and
again; even Jerusalem was finally to fall, and Judah was to be carried away
captive; yet the Promised Land was not to remain wholly forsaken forever. The
assurance of the heavenly visitant to Isaiah was:
"In it shall be a tenth,
And it shall return, and shall be eaten: [310]
As a teil tree, and as an oak,
Whose substance is in them, when they cast
their leaves:
So the holy seed shall be the substance thereof."
Verse 13. {PK 309.1}
This assurance of the final fulfillment of God's purpose
brought courage to the heart of Isaiah. What though earthly powers array
themselves against Judah? What though the Lord's messenger meet with opposition
and resistance? Isaiah had seen the King, the Lord of hosts; he had heard the
song of the seraphim, "The whole earth is full of His glory;" he had
the promise that the messages of Jehovah to backsliding Judah would be
accompanied by the convicting power of the Holy Spirit; and the prophet was
nerved for the work before him. Verse 3. Throughout his long and arduous mission
he carried with him the memory of this vision. For sixty years or more he stood
before the children of Judah as a prophet of hope, waxing bolder and still
bolder in his predictions of the future triumph of the church. {PK 310.1}
Click here to read the next chapter:
"Behold Your God!"
|
