主给以赛亚警戒的使命
以赛亚得了洁净以后,就从主得着使命。我们首先看见祂的呼召。主说,“我可以差遣谁?谁肯为我们去?”“我”和“我们”二辞,指明在此说话的乃是三一的;这一位不仅仅是基督,乃是作三一神具体化身的基督。以赛亚的回答很好。他说,“我在这里,请差遣我。”
以赛亚受差遣
以赛亚是由满了神圣荣耀并满了祂圣别里人性美德的基督所差遣。基督的圣别,是基于祂的公义。以赛亚受基督差遣,到一班亏缺了神圣荣耀,触犯了神圣圣别,并败坏了人性美德的人那里去。他受主差遣,好引导以色列在基督那由祂的圣别所托住之人性美德里,彰显祂神圣的荣耀。换句话说,神要以色列人成为圣别的子民,完全从列国分别出来。他们的圣别是基于他们的义。这样,他们才能彰显神的荣耀。
今天,活基督就是彰显神的荣耀;活基督就是要成为公义的。义是神救恩的基础、根基。神的救恩首先称义我们,使我们成为公义的。然后我们就成为圣的、圣别的、分别出来的。自然而然,我们就被带到一个情形里,彰显基督的神圣荣耀,就是活基督。
每一位受差遣者,都是受主差遣作相同的事。第一,神差遣众先知。第二,神差遣祂的儿子。第三,神差遣新约的众使徒。祂差遣些众人,就是要将神所拣选的人带到一种活基督的光景里。祂渴望他们能活公义,显出他们是圣别的子民。这样,他们就彰显基督的荣耀。
主的审判与管教
在九、十节,主嘱咐以赛亚,对他说,“你去告诉这百姓说,你们听是要听见,却不领悟;看是要看见,却看不透。你要使这百姓心蒙脂油,耳听不灵,眼晴闭着;恐怕眼睛看见,耳朵听见,心里领悟,回转过来,便得医治。”这指明百姓无法得着医治和恢复。十一节下半至十三节,主说,“直到城邑荒废,无人居住,房屋空闲无人,地土极其荒凉……”这豫言的警告约在主前七五八年说出,并且在主前六○六年藉着巴比伦的入侵和掳掠得着应验。巴比伦人毁灭了耶路撒冷。
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Isaiah’s Sending – Isa. 6:8-9
Isaiah’s Mission of Warning Given By God
After Isaiah was purged, he received a commission from the Lord. Regarding the Lord’s need, we first have his calling. The Lord said, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?”. The words I and Us indicate that the One speaking here is triune, that this One is not merely Christ but Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God. Isaiah’s answer was very good. He said, “Here am I; send me”
Isaiah’s Sending
Isaiah 6:8-10 shows us Isaiah being sent. He was sent by Christ who is full of the divine glory and the human virtues in his holiness. Christ’s holiness is based upon his righteousness. Isaiah was sent by Christ to a people who were short of the divine glory, were violating the divine holiness and were corrupt in the human virtues. He was sent by the Lord to lead Israel to express Christ’s divine glory in his human virtues held in his holiness. In other words, God wanted Israel to be a holy people, fully separated from the nations. Their holiness is based upon their righteousness, then they could express God’s glory.
Today to live Christ is to express God’s glory. To live Christ is to be righteous. Righteousness is the base, the foundation, of God’s salvation. God’s salvation firstly justifies us, making us righteous. Then we will be holy, sanctified, separated. Spontaneously, we will be brought into the expression of the divine glory of Christ, which is to live Christ.
Every sent one is sent by the Lord to do the same thing. First, God sent the prophets. Second, God sent his Son. Third, God sent the New Testament apostles. He sent them all to bring God’s chosen people into a state of living Christ. He desired that they would live righteousness, showing that they are a holy people, different and distinct from the nations. Then they would express Christ’s divine glory.
God’s Judgment and Discipline
In verses 9 and 10 the Lord gave his charge to Isaiah. The Lord said to him, “Go and say to this people, / Hear indeed, but do not perceive; / And see indeed, but do not understand. / Make the heart of this people numb; / Dull their ears, / And seal their eyes; / Lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, / And their heart perceives and returns, and they are healed.” This indicates that there would be no way for the people to be healed and recovered. In verses 11b through 13 we have the Lord’s answer to Isaiah’s question. The Lord said to him, “Until cities lay devastated, / Without inhabitants, / And houses are without people, / And the land is devastated and a waste…” The foregoing prophetic warning was given in approximately 758 B.C., and it was fulfilled in approximately 606 B.C. by the Babylonian invasion and captivity. The Babylonians devastated Jerusalem and carried away the important people.