From Jennifer: As we gathered for our sixth video, we traveled back in time to the year that King Uzziah died. We visited Isaiah in the temple to experience what the Jews may have been imagining when Haggai told them of God filling the temple with glory, with greater glory (Haggai 2:7-9).
When they thought of glory filling the temple, they may have thought of scenes they heard about when Solomon dedicated the temple in about 950ish BC (2 Chronicles 5:13; 7:1-3). Or maybe they thought of what happened to Isaiah in that same temple in 740ish BC? So, that’s where we spent our time. In the temple with Isaiah in Isaiah 6:1-6. We talked about the privilege it is to “see God.” Isaiah, who was human and sinful, was allowed to see God but the seraphim, the heavenly beings, had to cover their eyes (Isaiah 6:1-2). And then, there’s us. Human, flawed sinful us. Jesus came and dwelt among us. And we “have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only son of the father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). We have seen God’s glory if we have seen Jesus. And, because He is with us, He fills our ordinary lives with His extraordinary glory. When we get a glimpse of His glory, our response should be like the seraphim response in verse three: "Holy, Holy, Holy." Yet, we also saw that when God’s glory comes down, things get shaken up. That’s what happened in the temple in verse four. We discussed the reason for the shaking is the sheer weight of glory. The Hebrew word for glory is kaved which literally means heavy or weight. When you get a taste of God’s glory, you can no longer take Him lightly in your life. Nothing in your life is heavier or greater than Him. Everywhere God’s glory falls there will be a whole lot of shaking going on! It’ll either be an earthquake or a self-quake (Exodus 19:18). And, that’s what happened to Isaiah in Isaiah 6:5. He too was shaken up.
We discussed the three issues that came up when God’s glory fell down. 1. Isaiah said, “Woe is me.” In many ways, he pronounced a curse upon himself. When he saw the glory of God, he saw himself and, compared to the perfection and holiness of God, Isaiah knew he may as well be cursed. Peter had a similar experience when He glimpsed Jesus’ glory. In Luke 5:8 he said, “Depart from me, I am a sinful man.” We determined that when we get in the presence of God’s holiness, His glory, nothing about us is good. Our righteousness is filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). We also acknowledged that to admit this is not to have spiritual low self-esteem. It is just getting a right estimate of who we are. And when we do, it allows us to see how deeply loved and valued we are by God.
2. Isaiah said, “I am undone.” Your Bible may use the word “destroyed” instead of “undone.” It's the same Hebrew word that shows up in Hosea 4:6. We decided we can either become ”undone” because, like Isaiah, we see God and know Him. Or, like the people in Hosea’s day, we are destroyed because we do not know God at all. When the weight of glory falls into our lives, we are crushed. Our self-sufficiency is shattered and we experience a “glorious undone.” Bring it on, Lord! 3. Isaiah said, “I am a man of unclean lips.” Isaiah was a man of oratorical genius—he had golden lips. And, in an oratorical culture, that made him like a rock star. Certainly, he would have had pride in his abilities. Yet, in the presence of God’s glory, He realized his greatest strength was gravel … he was no rock star compared to the Rock. We applied this to us and determined that the place of our greatest strength can be the place of our greatest liability. That’s why we need God to do for us what He did for Isaiah in the temple that day. In Isaiah 6:6-7, God purifies, cleanses, and consecrates Isaiah. The burning coal was placed on his lips—the place of his greatest strength. God also may allow you to feel the greatest heat in the place of your greatest strength. That’s why we should not be surprised when the fiery trials come. Instead, we should rejoice for the chance to participate in the sufferings of Christ so we can be overjoyed when His glory is revealed (1 Peter 4:12-13). We finished up by revisiting the truth that we, today, are the temple of the Holy Spirit. And, sometimes the greater glory shows up in your temple as the fire gets hotter and the burdens get heavier. But, they will never be heavier than the weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). And, it is the weight of glory in each of us that grounds us and keeps us unshakeable even when everything around us shakes (Hebrews 12:26-27).
Oh, sister, aren’t you so thankful He makes us unshakeable? I am! Okay, enjoy your last week of study. I’ll see you next week! Love,
Jennifer Rothschild