“In the year of King ‘Uziyahu’s death I saw Adonai sitting on a high, lofty throne! The hem of his robe filled the temple. S’rafim stood over him, each with six wings — two for covering his face, two for covering his feet and two for flying. They were crying out to each other, “More holy than the holiest holiness is Adonai-Tzva’ot! The whole earth is filled with his glory!” (Isaiah 6:1-3).

Setting the scene

The king has passed away. This was a king who ruled during a period of such spiritual decline that an enormous earthquake, which is referenced by three prophets, had been seen as judgement over Judea’s apostasy. It was the same king who, in his pride, had burnt incense in the temple, an act restricted to priests and had been struck down leprosy. It was because of this leprosy that his son Jotham had to step in as regent during his final years.

The land is well governed and has an efficient infrastructure. It is also wealthy and comfortable, but beneath the beautiful façade, Judea has departed from God’s will. This is not obvious to the natural eye. Most of the population would describe themselves as God’s people; upright individuals – but the rot is there. Self-indulgence has replaced service and there are the first stirrings of alarm over the rise of Assyria. But the people are under a false sense of assurance, telling themselves the government has got everything under control. “We are comfortable and free”, they say to themselves, “let’s just carry on living as before”.

Here I am, send me

This is the background to Isaiah’s vison – and what a vision it is! It is remarkable in that across the first five chapters, Isaiah has been very much an observer, pointing out the faults and flaws of the people. Yet now, when he is granted this awesome vision of Almighty God in all His holiness – so much holiness that the physical temple cannot contain Him, and all the while the mantels are shaking and smoke is filling the temple – at this very moment, the truth of the matter hits Isaiah square between the eyes. He is part of the problem.

At this very moment, the truth of the matter hits Isaiah square between the eyes. He is part of the problem.

His immediate response is one of repentance: “Woe is me for I am a man with unclean lips, and I live amongst a people of unclean lips”. Yet just as immediate as his repentance is the response of grace. An angel, one of the highest order of heavenly beings, flies to him with a live coal from the altar and touches his mouth to cleanse him. Isaiah is immediately set right with God and hears him question; “Who shall I send”? In his restored state, Isaiah’s first thought is to serve and he says; “Hineni”; “‘Here I am’ send me”.

Turning our backs on God’s laws

I am deeply struck by the similarities that we see in modern day Great Britain. Over the last 75 years, since the end of World War II, Britain has grown comfortable, with our standard of living increasing steadily over time. However, at the same time our nation has slipped further and further away from our Judeo-Christian heritage. Secular philosophy has resulted in all forms of liberal legislation being passed. To give a few examples:

1951’s Witchcraft Act legalised the occult and led to an increase in acts of spiritual darkness across the nation.

1967 saw the passing of the Abortion Act which heralded a tsunami of innocent blood being shed in the nation, with unborn babies sacrificed on the altar of inconvenience.

Also in 1967 the UK Parliament passed the Sexual Offences Act which legalised homosexuality and ushered in the mindset that has brought us into this age of woke. Now let’s be clear; homosexuality is no more, or less, sinful that adultery, fornication or false business dealing. But in the eyes of God the act of sexual union is so precious that it is reserved for the sanctity of marriage, and anything that breaches that is sin.

This was followed by 1973’s Matrimonial Causes Act, which set the course of the easing of divorce and was the fundamental cause behind the shifting of marriage from a covenantal relationship to a contractual one.

In a way Isaiah’s vision has parallels with the spiritual awakening of Martin Luther. The Augustinian priest’s particular vision of God’s holiness led him to challenge the practice of ‘indulgences’, and his ‘Ninety-Five Theses’ in 1517 paved the way for the Protestant Reformation.

The need today

Today, in the third decade of the 21st century, I would suggest we are facing a similar scenario to that of Isaiah 6. Over the last 18 months we have been assailed by COVID-19, designated a pandemic, although it ticks no previously designated pandemic criteria, and has led to the biggest removal of personal freedoms ever known in the Western world. The debate over inoculations threatens to introduce segregation on a par with Nazi Germany’s treatment of the Jewish people. Meanwhile, in the far East, Chinese generals are calculating whether or not they would emerge victorious from a nuclear war.

COVID-19, designated a pandemic, ticks no previously designated pandemic criteria, and has led to the biggest removal of personal freedoms ever known in the Western world.

At this time do we not need an all-surpassing vision of God’s holiness? And do we not, like Isaiah, need to realise that we are part of the problem and that in the death, burial & resurrection of Jesus Christ our sins have been paid for. Our response should surely be, like Isaiah, “Here I am, send me”.

What our nation – indeed, the entire Western world, and not least our Western Church – needs right now is a vision of God’s all-surpassing holiness. This will undoubtedly set in motion the shedding of the self-indulgences of modern life and enable us to begin a life of radical holiness that honours God first and last.

We also need to set aside the sin that so easily encompasses us and embrace a personal reformation that will spread through every part of our lives and affect everything we touch, to the glory of His Great Name.