In wandering around St. Cloud State University's library this evening, I came across some gems in James Hasting's The Great Texts of the Bible series. One particularly interesting exposition was on Isaiah 6 - In the year King Uzziah died.
Here's the principle verse, from Isaiah 6:1 :
"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple."
The emphasis of the exposition is that change, particularly moving OUT of the comfort zone, the familiar, the trusted and the reliable, is often calculated and orchestrated by God to lift our vision UP from the things that are shakable and temporal and unto Him who alone is unmovable and eternal.
In light of the many changes and transitions occurring in both my life and the lives of those close to me in my church family, I found this exposition to be insightful and edifying. Enjoy!
"God never empties places in our homes and hearts, or in the nation or the Church, without being ready to fill them. He sometimes empties them that He may fill them. Sorrow and loss are meant to prepare us for the vision of God, and their effect should be to purge the inward eye, that it may see Him. When the leaves drop from the forest trees we can see the blue sky which their dense abundance hid. Well for us if the passing of all that can pass drives us to Him who cannot pass, if the unchanging God stands out more clear, more near, more dear, because of change.
This accounts for a great many of the dark experiences in life. God puts out our little light that we may see Him the better. When you are looking out the window at night, gazing towards the sky, you will see the stars more clearly if you put out your gaslight. That is what God has to do for us. He has to put out the secondary lights in order that we may see the eternal light. Uzziah has to die, in order that we may see it is God who lives. God has continually to take away our little kings, the weak repositories of our trust, in order to show that we have given a false emphasis to life. He takes away that which we regarded as the keystone, in order to reveal to us the real binding-force in life. I have known Him to come to a nation and take away the King of Commercial Property, because when commercial property reigns, men are too prone to forget the Lord."
At the time of Uzziah's death, "He [Isaiah] anticipated an end; he found a new beginning."
It was then Isaiah saw the Lord "high and lifted up", and it was THAT seeing that precipitated Isaiah's sending.
