Isaiah 6
[SUP]7 [/SUP]And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
[SUP]8 [/SUP]Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
[SUP]9 [/SUP]And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
[SUP]10 [/SUP]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.
[SUP]11 [/SUP]Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,
[SUP]12 [/SUP]And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.
[SUP]13 [/SUP]But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: 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.
[SUP]7 [/SUP]And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
[And he laid it upon my mouth] Margin, 'And he caused it to touch my mouth.' This is the more correct rendering. It was a slight, momentary touch, sufficient merely to be a "sign or token" that he was cleansed.
[Thine iniquity is taken away] That is, whatever obstacle there existed to your communicating the message of God to this people, arising from your own consciousness of unworthiness, is taken away. You are commissioned to bear that message, and your own consciousness of guilt should not be a hinderance. To understand this, it should be remembered that "fire," among the orientals, has been always regarded as an emblem of "purifying." Thus the Sabeans, the followers or Zoroaster in Persia, worshipped "fire," as the emblem of a pure divinity; see Mal 3:2-3; compare Matt 3:2. Every minister of the gospel, though conscious of personal unworthiness and unfitness, should yet go freely and cheerfully to his work, if he has evidence that he is called and commissioned by God. "Is purged." Is purified, is removed - t-kupaar from kaapar, "to cover, to overlay;" then to make an atonement for, to expiate, to cover sin, to pardon it, to affect or to procure forgiveness; and then to purify in general, to make whole; compare the note at Isa 43:3. This does not mean, that the fire from the altar had any physical effect to purify him from sin, but that it was "emblematic" of such a purifying; and probably, also, the fact that it was taken from the altar of sacrifice, was to him an indication that he was pardoned through the "atonement," or expiation there made. The Jews expected pardon in no other mode than by sacrifice; and the offering on their altar pointed to the great sacrifice which was to be made on the cross for the sins of human beings. There is here a beautiful "union" of the truths respecting sacrifice. The great doctrine is presented that it is only by sacrifice that sin can be pardoned; and the Messiah, the sacrifice himself, is exhibited as issuing the commission to Isaiah to go and declare his message to people.
(from Barnes' Notes, in Public Domain via E-Sword.)
[SUP]8 [/SUP]Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
Jesus’ ( Yeshua’s) atoning death on the cross serves as our burning coal. Our sin is purged; and, we are prepared for service. When faced with the opportunity to serve; we should, like Isaiah, say ‘Here am I; send me’.
Isaiah answers the call not out of compulsion but out of freedom. His eager response rushes from heart and lips clensed of human impurity.
[SUP]9 [/SUP]And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Hear ye indeed, but understand not - Hebrew, In hearing, hear; i.e., Though ye hear the prophet's warnings again and again, ye are doomed, because of your perverse will (John 7:17), not to understand. Light enough is given in Revelation to guide those sincerely seeking to know, in order that they may do, God's will; darkness enough is left to confound the willfully blind (Isa 43:8). So in Jesus’ ( Yeshua’s) use of parables
(Matt 13:14).
See ye indeed - Hebrew, see in seeing; 'though ye see again and again' yet, etc.
(from Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary in Public Domain via E-Sword)
[SUP]10 [/SUP]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.
Make the heart of this people fat {See note at: Ex 4:21, Is 8:16 }
make their ears heavy; and shut their eyes {See note at Ex 4:21 }
lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. This is exactly the result God desires. Perhaps God is thinking that if they will not come to that result in obedience; he will try to redirect their rebellion.
[SUP]11 [/SUP]Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,
[How long] The prophet did not dare to pray that this effect should not follow. He asked merely therefore "how long" this state of things must continue; how long this message was to be delivered, and how long it should be attended with these painful effects.
[Until the cities ...] They will remain perverse and obstinate until the land is completely destroyed by divine judgments. Still the truth is to be proclaimed, though it is known it will have no effect in reforming the nation. This refers, doubtless, to the destruction that was accomplished by the Babylonians.
[The houses without man] This is strong language, denoting the certain and widespread desolation that should come upon the nation.
(from Barnes' Notes, in Public Domain via E-Sword.)
How long shall this spiritual blindness and unwillingness to repent endure? The question is wrung from the prophet by his compassion for the people. The answer is given in verses 11-13. The perseverance of unbelief will continue until national disasters have swept away the idolatrous majority and enabled the Remnant, the indestructible spiritual Israel to flourish and blossom under God’s care.
(from Rabbi J. H. Hertz commentary on Isa 6:11 Pentateuch and Haftorahs (page 303) Soncino Press London 1937)
12 And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.
12 And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be many forsaken [places] (or much forsaken) in the midst of the land.
many forsaken וְ
רַבָּה הָעַזוּבָ֖הo(
וְרַבָּה ) many (
הָעַזוּבָ֖ה) passive participle being used as an adjective [places] English demands that the modified noun be stated; but Hebrew lets it be understood unstated.
13 But
yet in it shall
be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: 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.
13 But
though (or if) in it [ ] a tenth, remains, again it shall be consumed: as a
terebinth, or as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.
Though a tenth remains When the ten tribes of Israel are taken captive, Judah will remain. The tribes of Benjamin and Judah and part of the tribes of Reuben and Levi, which made up the kingdom of Judah were about a tenth of the total population of Israel and Judah combined. Israel (Northern Kingdom) was deported in c. B.C. 722; while Judah (Southern Kingdom) remained until c. B.C. 597; though the 70 years of captivity are dated from 606 B.C., when Nebucadnezzar conquered Pharaoh Necho, and took Jehoiakim and his retinue captive.
again it shall be consumed Judah would be taken captive by Nebucadnezzar.
As a tree casts its leaves in autumn and revives in spring; so a remnant of Israel and Judah would revitalize Israel. Fulfilled in 1950-1957 A.D.