Season 6, Podcast 51, Isaiah 6:5-13, “Return from Babylon.”

Season 6, Podcast 51, Isaiah 6:5-13, “Return from Babylon.”

Let’s look at the approximate timeline from the prophet Isaiah to the birth of Christ and finally the Diaspora.

Let’s consider Isaiah’s vision of Jesus Christ in 740 BC to be the beginning of his ministry as prophet of Israel. That would have been at the death of King Uzziah. Isaiah was prophet during the reigns of King Jotham (750-735 BC), King Ahaz, (735-715 BC) and King Hezekiah. (715-686 BC) Though not recorded in the Bible, according to Jewish tradition—supported by the Talmud—Isaiah was martyred by Hezekiah’s son, King Manasseh. He was reportedly hiding in the hollow of a tree and sewn in half. Many prophets suffered death at the hands of wicked kings.

The Northern Kingdom, the Kingdom of Israel, fell about 722 BC to Assyria.

Assyria invades Judah during King Hezekiah’s time, but Jerusalem does not fall.

In 586 BC, almost 100 years after Isaiah’s death, the Babylonians conquer the Kingdom of Judah, destroy the temple, and exile many Jews to Babylon. This is their first exile. In 538 BC Cyrus the Great of Persia allows the Jews to return home and rebuild the Temple.

After the Babylonian Captivity, they were ruled by the Persians  (538-332 BC) Then the Greeks (332-164 BC). After the Maccabean Revolt they had a reprieve from 164-63 BC) Then in 63 BC they were conquered by the Romans.  Pontius Pilate governs Judea during the time of Jesus. After the crucifixion of Christ, the Jews revolt against the Romans (66-73 AD). As prophesied by Christ, The temple is entirely destroyed in 70 AD. The Jews revolt again and in 135 AD The Romans expel the Jews. They go to many parts of the world. It is referred to as the Diaspora which means “dispersion” or “scattering. 

The above is what Isaiah was warning the Jews about, but they didn’t believe him. King Jothan was considered a righteous King and Hezekiah reopened the temple, purged idol worship, and restored Jewish Traditions. Kings Ahaz and Manasseh, however, were very wicked.

We get an insight into Isaiah’s humility. After seeing the Lord, he cries, 

Isaiah 6:5

5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

The Lord purges Isaiah’s sins, a lesson to everyone of his redeeming power. The image is very dramatic emphasizing the importances of the power of the atonement. Also, it illustrates that even before Christ came to earth, he had power to forgive sins. That means that His atonement is retroactive and covers the entire earth from Adam to the end of the world.

Isaiah 6:6-7

6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

7 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.

The image of the seraphim is very curious, clearly highly symbolic; however, being symbolic does not mean that it is not also a literal image. Who can tell what curious things one will see in heaven?

Isaiah 6:2-3

2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

It appears that these heavenly beings stand in the presence of the Lord all the time. They do his bidding. Who better is in a position to cry “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of host.” That is a statement of truth which they feel all the time and clearly can’t resist testifying of it. They too are visionary for from their positions they can see that “the whole earth is full of his glory.”