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Commentary on "Trust Not in Deceptive Words": The Prophets and Worship
Day 3: Monday, August 22, 2011 - The Call of Isaiah
Overview
Today's lesson is written with an eye on the difference between worshiping an invisible God and worshiping a God who can be seen. Through the means of the call of Isaiah, the effect of seeing God's majesty filling the temple and angelic beings prostrating and crying holy, the author stimulates the imagination of the readers in contemplating a hypothetical situation: how would God be worshiped if He manifested Himself in a visible form, in His holy majesty? It's not hard to arrive at the conclusion that Isaiah's reaction is the reaction of all who see God's glory: acute awareness of their own sinfulness, repentance, and consecration for ministry.
Observations
One thing stands strange in the middle of this exercise: God had deliberately chosen to keep His glory away from human eyes, beyond the sanctuary's middle veil. Even the Great Priest on the Day of Atonement didn't see God's glory; a cloud of incense stood in the way of contemplating it. If manifesting His own glory would instantly effect proper worship and repentance, why would God veil His glory? Why not make all the people see His glory and bring them to their knees in repentance? This simple solution imagined by the author of the quarterly seems to escape God's wise judgment.
There is an element that's missing from the picture. Isaiah is represented as one of the many, one Israelite from among a nation of Israelites. What the author forgets is that Isaiah was a moral example as a prophet. He was not at the temple to atone for any moral failure. It's true that Isaiah himself sees as one of his people with unclean lips, but this admission doesn't change the fact that his vision wasn't intended to save people deeply involved in hypocrisy, serving God with their lips while their lives were proving that their confession was a sham. God manifested His majesty to somebody who was a moral hero, to a prophet who stood apart from the moral mess in which his people was involved. God didn't manifest His majesty to Isaiah's comrades and neighbors; instead, He sent Isaiah to them with an appeal to repentance. The moral mess in which Israel was involved required a different procedure, certainly not the solution envisioned in the current lesson.
Also, the author misses a lesson that will bring damage to a favorite theological doctrine he holds dear: the Investigative Judgment. According to this particular Adventist belief that stands at the basis other Adventist doctrines, God is evaluating the believer's sanctification which will result in acceptance or rejection, justification or condemnation. There are allegedly evangelical Adventists who understand that in the final instance it is God's grace, His sacrifice, His righteousness imputed to them that will enable them to pass the judgment. Nevertheless their sanctification, their own righteousness, still plays a significant role. Without a sufficient amount of inner sanctification, a sinner will not pass the judgment, and God will not impute His righteousness if the individual's righteousness is not present. He will not justify the ungodly (Romans 4:5), despite the Bible's affirmation to the contrary.
Isaiah's reaction, however, doesn't leave much hope for a positive outcome at the final judgment. In God's presence, believers are not going to be compared one with another, but they will be compared with the perfect moral holiness of God Himself. Confronted with such a high standard, even the best moral heroes like Isaiah can't see themselves as being other than people of unclean lips. If Isaiah saw himself as being unclean, it doesn't leave much hope for those who think that God will reward those who develop righteousness. In reality, even the best saints are ungodly. Thank God that He imputes His righteousness to those who don't work, to those who are ungodly (Romans 4:4,5).
Copyright 2011 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised August 21, 2011. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
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