Season 6, Podcast 50, Isaiah 6:1-4, “The Holy Temple.”

Season 6, Podcast 50, Isaiah 6:1-4, “The Holy Temple.”

King Uzziah died around 740 BC which marks the year that Isaiah saw Jesus in vision which came at the beginning of his ministry.

Isaiah 6:1

1 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.

This establishes Isaiah’s special mission. He is a personal witness of Jesus Christ. Everything in his mission is influenced by this singular event. Like the Twelve Apostles who are called by Jesus to be his witness a little over 740 years later, he is witnessing for Christ. 

Another significant thing that occurs in his vision is the purpose of The Temple. Christ is seen sitting high upon a throne in his temple. That defines the symbolic purpose of temples. Thy are The House of the Lord. We are reminded of this in the Story of Jacob, later known as Israel, who lived around 1900-1700 BC, approximately 1000 years earlier. Jacob was also a witness of Jesus Christ.

Genesis 28:10-17

10 And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran.

11 And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.

12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

13 And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;

14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.

17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

Key phrases are, “Surely the lord is in this place.” And “This is none other but the house of God.” The Children of Israel carried the Tabernacle across the desert to provide a house of God. King Solomon built a temple, The House of God, which replaced the Tabernacle. The Arc of the Covenant which contained the Tablets upon which the Lord wrote the Ten Commandments was placed in the Holy of Holies in Solomon’s temple.

1 Kings 8:10-13

10 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord,

11 So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.

12 Then spake Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

13 I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever.

John the Revelator, a personal witness of the resurrected Lord, also saw in vision the throne of God which was the New Jerusalem.

Revelation 21:1-3

1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.