Post by Nephi –
Earlier, I identified three witnesses who had seen the Savior Himself, one was myself, one my brother Jacob and the third, Isaiah.
In this blog, I wish to relate the story of Isaiah’s call to be a prophet in the which he saw our Redeemer.
About 140 years before our family left Jerusalem King Uzziah died. He had reigned over the kingdom of Judah for only 27 or so years. In that year, Isaiah received a vision of the Lord and told to call Israel to repentance. I love how Isaiah described his vision so I use some of his own words.
“I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphim; each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I: Wo is unto me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips; and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.”
“Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar; And he laid it upon my mouth, and said: Lo, this has touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.”
Jacob reminded me that since I delight in plainness, I might want to clarify the imagery Isaiah uses.
I’m not sure if Isaiah saw the Lord in His heavenly temple or in the temple in Jerusalem, but for me it doesn’t matter. The train would certainly be the hem of the Lords royal garment. Seraphim’s are angelic beings and the wings are representative of their power to move and act. The glory of God is symbolized by smoke.
Next, I love the way Isaiah expresses feeling of unworthiness in the presence of the Lord. “Wo is unto me, I am undone.” As glorious as it is to be in the presence of the Lord, you know of your unworthiness before Him. Again, I don’t know if the charred portion of a burnt offering is from the great alter representing the Atonement or if it is from the incense alter symbolizing purification. Either way, when the coal touches Isaiah’s lips, he is cleansed of his sins, preparatory to his prophetic calling. That is an experience I hope you someday may experience. Not necessarily being called as a prophet, but knowing you are cleansed of sin. Nothing on this earth brings more peace than to know you can stand before the Redeemer cleansed of your sins.
Although Isaiah was being called and commanded to call wicked Israel to repentance the Lord extended a question “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” To such a question, Isaiah, exercising his agency responded, accepting the call, “Then I said: Here am I; send me.” The Lord’s command followed Isaiah’s acceptance of his call. “Go and tell this people—Hear ye indeed, but they understood not; and see ye indeed, but they perceived not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes—lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted and be healed.”
Though you may perceive this as a command to lull the people away and put them to sleep, it is simply a declaration of how the people will receive the Lord’s admonishment from Isaiah. This rejection naturally will result in a punishment wherein the Lord tells Isaiah what will happen and how long it will last. “Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate; And the Lord have removed men far away, for there shall be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. But yet there shall be a tenth, and they shall return, and shall be eaten, as a teil–tree, and as an oak whose substance is in them when they cast their leaves; so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.”
Again, we see the prophecy of a scattering, destruction and a gathering and restoration. The people of the earth and the children of Israel have and will always be given ample warning of the consequences of rejecting the Lord and His servants. Imagine how Isaiah would have felt, having been forgiven of all his sins, being called to cry repentance to God’s children and being told they would reject his teachings and therefore they would be condemned for it.
(Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 16:1 – 13)
