Isaiah 6:1-4

The Inaugural Vision, Isaiah 6:1-4.

[This could not be an inauguration of Isaiah to the prophetic office, for that he had filled during Uzziah’s reign, (see Isaiah 1:1,) and probably the last preceding four chapters (2-5) are records of some of his previous publications. It seems more properly the inauguration of a new and fearful period in Judah’s theocratic history; marking the crisis of hopelessness, the nation’s utter giving over, at the close of good Uzziah’s reign. The divine Presence is in the holy of holies, and a herald is called for, and the prophet answers. His message (Isaiah 6:9-13) announces that such is now the state of Judah’s mind that all preaching will harden the heart, and that the sentence of long desolation is now pronounced, its execution certain, its duration for ever, except for a remnant which will return from the banishment and produce the Messiah.]