When God Stops Speaking - Isaiah 6 & 7

If you’ve ever caught yourself saying, “I don’t want to hear that,” this message lands close to home. We sit with a sobering reality from Isaiah: a heart can resist God so long that hearing becomes harder, humility becomes optional, and pride starts to feel normal. Pastor Carl challenges us to stop fighting the direction of the One who leads us to good pasture and to let the Lord take the reins for real.

From Isaiah 6, we step into the throne-room vision where God’s glory fills the temple and the seraphim cry, “Holy, holy, holy.” Even these powerful beings cover their faces and feet in reverence, and their worship shakes the foundations. That scene exposes what pride can’t survive: the holiness of God. Isaiah immediately confesses his sin, calling out his “unclean lips,” and we talk about why our words reveal our hearts and why genuine repentance is more than a moment of emotion.

Then grace breaks in. A live coal from the altar touches Isaiah’s mouth and his guilt is taken away, pointing us to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that cleanses, purifies, and makes prayer acceptable before God. Only after cleansing does Isaiah hear the call, “Whom shall I send?” and respond, “Here I am, send me,” even when the assignment is heavy and the people are hard-hearted.

We also move into Isaiah 7 and the real-world fear around King Ahaz as nations plot war, showing how God speaks into political chaos with a clear command: do not fear, trust Me. The episode ends by lifting our eyes toward Isaiah’s promised new heaven and new earth, where God’s justice outlasts the headlines. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.

Come On Up is the radio ministry of The Mountain Cross in Waynesville North Carolina. To learn more about us please visit: TheMountainCross.com. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Welcome to Come On Up, the radio ministry of the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

They keep hardening their hearts, refusing to see, refusing to listen. I'm not going to hear, I don't hear, I don't hear, I don't hear. If we keep doing that, God's gonna give us what we want. This is a heavy message. If you don't want to hear from God, fine. God says, I'm gonna deafen your ears because they're deaf already. If you're gonna harden your heart against me, I'm gonna seal it. Oh, how we need to be humble before the Lord.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

Oh, how dangerous pride is. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we should turn over the reins to Him. Why do we constantly try to go our own way? We pull at our bridles, trying to get God to steer us certain directions. We gallop when He's told us to walk, or we try to buck off our rider, who's trying to lead us to good pasture. In today's message, Pastor Carl exhorts us to humble ourselves. Let God take the reins once and for all and throw aside our pride. Even when we think we know best, we never do. Let God lead you. And now, here's Pastor Carl.

SPEAKER_02 1:34

The train of the robe filled the temple. His glory, his authority, his protection, his power was all over. And today, where does the Lord dwell? What do we call the temple today? Of course, we have the temple in heaven, but we are called the temple of the Holy Spirit, aren't we? God dwells in us. His authority dwells in us. The train of his robe flows through us. Are we letting him? Are we allowing him to have that authority? Are we allowing him to have that protection in our lives to provide us the protection that we need? So that's just the beginning of the vision, and already Isaiah is shaking a little bit. But then in verse 2, above it stood Seraphim. Seraphim, this type of angel that's only described here. There's some other angels that are called cherubim that are described in other areas of the word as well. Some commentators say they're the same thing, some say they are different. The word for seraphim has this idea of fire involved with it too. This is the fire of God's judgment. The angels of fire that come and minister for the Lord, to the Lord, and do the work of the Lord. And each of these seraphim had six wings. Two he covered his face, and two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. So these powerful, angelic creatures that stand before the Lord, not having rebelled against God like a third of the angels had. The chief cherub, the cherub that covers, you remember that guy? His name is Lucifer. He wanted to exalt himself to become God. And so he rebelled and took a third of the angels with him. These are the cherubs that stand before the Lord and cry out, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. But even these mighty beings stand there with two wings to cover their face. Because they're standing before the glory of God. And they have a good, healthy fear of the Lord. It's not about them, it's about the glory of God. So they humble themselves. They cover their feet because where they go is holy ground. Where they're standing is holy ground. And they don't want to presume to go their own way, but they want to humble themselves before the Lord. What's the difference between these seraphim before the face of God and Uzziah and his example of puffing himself up and going into the altar and into the Holy of Holies? Or trying to go into the Holy of Holies. There's a difference, isn't there? And with two he flew. These seraphim were called to go. And when they were called to go, they went. They flew off to it. How quick are we to obey the word of the Lord? When he tells us to do something, do we do it? Or do we hold back and say, Yeah, I will. Um, I will. Pretty soon, yeah, I will do it. They did it amazingly quickly. And verse 3, and one cried to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. So they would sing to each other. They would sing in unity. It's going to be a glorious choir, and that we're going to be part of when we see the Lord face to face. Do you realize this? It's going to be beautiful, amazing, powerful. Did you notice in verse 4? And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke, the Shekinah glory of God resonating. It wasn't the Lord's voice that shook, it was the seraphim crying out. These powerful beings. Just wait till the Lord speaks. Then it'll really shake you, right? And so in verse 5, Isaiah said, Woe is 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 my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts. There's no room for pride when we stand before the Lord. He missed it. But Isaiah, in my book, he's a pretty godly guy, right? He followed the Lord, he heard the Lord, he declared the word of the Lord. But even he, in this scene, is cut to the heart and humbled and says, I am a man of unclean lips. And why does he talk about his lips? Well, one of the most important things he does is speak the word of the Lord. And he said, My lips are unclean. I'm speaking the word of the Lord, but I shouldn't be doing this. I'm standing in the presence of God and He's holy and He's righteous, and these creatures are humbling themselves before the Lord, and they're so much bigger and greater than I. He's just overwhelmed. We studied a little while ago when Jesus said, you know, it's not what goes in your mouth that defiles you, but what comes out. Out of your mouth speaks what are the issues of your heart. Out of your heart, your mouth speaks. And it just shows us how fallen we are. No matter how good you've been, no matter how many great things you've done for the Lord, Isaiah realized his fallness. And he realized that he stood naked before the Lord. But there was an answer. And one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. Again, these are one of these fire ministers, the seraphim. They're getting a hot coal from the fire. And he touched my mouth with it, and he said, Behold, this has touched your lips, your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is purged. Sometimes you've got to burn away your sin, right? But to understand this a little more, you have to understand what was the coal in that altar of incense. That coal was from the sacrifices that had been made. And they eternally burned. They kept burning. We kept adding, the priests would keep adding coals from the sacrifice to this to continue. And those coals, when put into whatever that container was called again, would create the incense which represents the prayers of God's people, which are accepted before the Lord because they're coming from a pure sacrifice. You following me so far? Jesus was the Lamb of God that took away the sin of the world. And representing his blood and his sacrifice on the cross in the holy of holies in the temple in heaven is an altar. And there are coals in that altar that are burning that represent the sacrifice that Jesus did. Which means, are you applying the sacrifice of Jesus to your life? The angel, the seraphim, took a coal from that and touched the lips of Isaiah. Jesus' sacrifice makes us clean. Jesus' sacrifice burns away the impurities in our lives. And that can hurt, can't it? But for Isaiah, he took that and he celebrated it. And as soon as that happened in verse 8, also I heard the voice of the Lord. The Lord started speaking. As soon as Isaiah was made clean and purified, the Lord says, Whom shall I send and who will go for us? Interesting, the Lord says, us, doesn't he? Who will go for us? Who will go for the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit? The same us that were involved in creation in Genesis. Behold, Israel, our God is one God. Yet He's a magnificently glorious God who's manifest in three persons. That's the doctrine of the Trinity. And here it is in the Old Testament. And Isaiah said without hesitation, here I am, send me. Almost like a fourth grade student in the school. Ooh, ooh, I got the answer. I'll do it. I'll do it. Let me do it. Let me do it. And what did the Lord say? Ah, that's great. Come on, let's do it. And in a few minutes, I'm going to tell you what you need to do. But I just, it was so great that you would actually come and humble yourself before. He didn't say any of that, did he? Isaiah said, Send me. And God said, Here are the marching orders. He said, Go and tell this people, keep on hearing but do not understand, keep on seeing but do not perceive. Make the heart of this people dull and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and return and be healed. I've got a heavy message for you, Isaiah. Can you go tell them? You need to tell them this. Because if they remember their Bible stories, they remember the heart of Pharaoh when Israel, when the Hebrews were slaves in Egypt, and I was going to set them free. And I sent my messenger to Pharaoh. And Pharaoh continually hardened his heart and did not receive the message. Because he hardened his heart over and over and over again. I ultimately hardened his heart so it can never be softened again. Tell these people that they're in that same place. They keep hardening their hearts, refusing to see, refusing to listen. I'm not going to hear. I don't hear. I don't hear. I don't hear. If we keep doing that, God's going to give us what we want. This is a heavy message. If you don't want to hear from God, fine. God says, I'm going to deafen your ears because they're deaf already. If you're going to harden your heart against me, I'm going to seal it. Oh, how we need to be humble before the Lord. Oh, how dangerous pride is. Then I said, Lord, how long? When will you do this? And he says, Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, the houses are without men, and the land is utterly desolate. The Lord has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. But a tenth will be in it and will return and will be for consuming. Even that tenth that will remain will be destructed, as a terabinth tree or as an oak whose stump remains when it's cut down, so the holy seed shall be its stump. But even in that, there's hope. The stump has not been removed. There's a possibility of growth once again. But the Lord is telling Isaiah, there will be a time where I'm going to remove people out of their land. The promised land that I've given the people because they refuse to listen and obey, they will be removed. You keep preaching this message until that happens. Or at least that's when it's going to happen. So between now and then, preach it. Maybe, just maybe, some will repent and turn to me. It takes us to chapter 7. And now it came to pass in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, Uzziah's grandson, king of Judah, that Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Ramaliah, the king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to make war against it, but could not prevail against it. Do you remember how the kingdom of Israel was set up? The Israelites, whose king was God, wanted a king for themselves. All the other nations have kings. Why can't we have a king? And so God gave him Saul, this powerful, mighty, handsome man who did not walk in the ways of the Lord. His authority was taken from him and given to somebody else who was not related to him, David, who was a man after God's own heart, the Bible declares. He wasn't the most godly guy, was he? He had some big issues that he had to deal with. The Lord had to deal with him with. But he did have a humble heart. He did want to do God's will. He did fight against his flesh, and he did suffer for the mistakes that he made. But overall, he was known as a man who was after God's own heart. And he was promised that in his line the Messiah would come, and the throne of David would be established forever. Jesus is in the line of David. And he is the king of kings that will sit on the throne of David forever and ever and ever. So after David, Solomon became king. You remember that? Solomon, the wisest guy that there ever was, he asked for wisdom so that he could govern his people well. But he became full of pride too, and he didn't exercise his wisdom, and he didn't end very well. And then we had Jeroboam and Rehoboam. Rehaboam was his son who took over the throne, and Jeroboam was another guy who wanted to become king. And there was a big division. And after that time there was a split. And there was a northern kingdom that was created called Israel, and a southern kingdom that was created called Judah. And ever since they didn't really work together very well, they were at odds with each other. And the northern kingdom was represented by a number of kings that did not do right in the sight of the Lord. In fact, they were all evil. There might have been one or two, or maybe three in a row that were related, but most of the kings became kings by conquering and killing the existing king in the northern kingdom. In the southern kingdom, all the kings were in the line of David. They were all related, except for one queen that came along, who happened to be the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, who came over and married the king of the son of the king of Israel. And when he died, she declared herself to be king or queen. When she died, their son took over, and the line continued with David. So in the northern kingdom, you have all these people that are not part of the line of Messiah, that are really forsaking God, that are creating their own gods from different areas, and there was no family line in the kings of Israel. They were defeating each other and so forth. In the southern kingdom, you had a lot of good kings, and you still had a lot of bad kings. You had a lot of good kings that became bad kings, like Uzziah. Ahaz here is a pretty bad king. So he's a bad king, and we got bad kings in the north making deals with other kings in the area, the king of Syria, which Ahaz actually was trying to make a deal with, but instead the guy in the north made a deal with him, and they wanted to bring together, come and defeat the southern kingdom and come and take over Jerusalem. Now it's interesting when we look at some of the names of these people, we get a little bit more of an idea of what he's talking about, or the perception that they're trying to put on themselves. Rezin. Rezin, the king of Syria. The word rezin means firm, stable, a prince. He sounds like a noble person. Keep that in mind, he sounds like. They acted like it, his name says it, but they didn't live up to it. Pekka, the son of Rimalia, means open-eyed. He could see everything that was happening, with an implication that uh the Lord gave him vision to what was going on. But as we look at the picture, he was not seeking the Lord. He thought he could see, but in reality he was blind to what God was doing. Ahaz, the king of Judah, the southern kingdom, he's possessing, the possessor. He has grasped, and he's sitting in this position of authority. Which kind of describes who he is too. He does not acknowledge that God gave him this position, but he earned it. He fought for it. He was put in that position because of him and his strength and the things that he did. So in verse 2, it was told to the house of David. The house of David is another way of saying the southern kingdom. And he was speaking to Ahaz, not because of who Ahaz was, but because of the line that Ahaz was in. If he knew it or not, he was representing the line of David. And so God was talking to David and this line of kings. And he said to Ahaz, as the house of David, serious forces are deployed in Ephraim. Ephraim is one of the names of the tribes of Israel, which a lot of times is used just to describe the whole nation of Israel. So when we talk about Ephraim, we're talking about the northern kingdom. So his heart and the heart of his people were moved as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind. God was telling the king of Jerusalem, the king of the southern kingdom, Ahaz, that they're coming to get you. And he was scared. And all the people were scared. And then the Lord said to Isaiah, Go now and meet Ahaz, you and Sherah, Jashub, your son, at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool on the highway of the Fuller's field. He's given him a specific place to go at a specific time to talk to a specific person. Which shows us again this is historic and not just the story from the Bible. So the Lord is telling Isaiah to take one of his sons, Sheer Jazhub, which means a remnant shall return, with an implication of they will be converted. His name declares what will happen after the people will be taken captive. A remnant will come back. Take him and go talk to Ahaz. Because I need to straighten out Ahaz. But I need to tell him I'm with him if he wants me to be. Say to Ahaz, take heed and be quiet. Do not fear or be faint-hearted for those two stubs of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of resident Syria and the son of Remalia. Don't fear these guys. They're just tales of smoking fire brands. It's what's left over. It's not a hot firebrand, it's just the smoke that's coming. He's just insulting them. They think they're something, but they're nothing. When Ahaz knew they were a whole lot stronger than he was, they had greater armies, greater power, greater influence. He knew in the worldly perspective that he was in trouble. But God said, They're nothing. Don't fear. Do you trust me? Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Ramaliah have plotted evil against you, saying, Let us go up against Judah and trouble it. Let us go make a gap in its walls to ourselves and set a king over them, the son of Table. Now who's Table? I've never seen that word before. Well, apparently it's a secret code in the Bible, and that's another thing for you to go study. Where did this come from? And it's also a play on words. This the word Table means God is good. And if you vary it a little bit, which you'll see a lot in the Hebrew, there'll be these names that mean one thing, and you change it just a little bit, it'll mean something totally different. Table, his name means God is good. But if you twist it just a little bit, it means good for nothing. We want to take over the southern kingdom, we want to get rid of Ahaz, and we want to put Table in. And apparently Table is actually Ramalia, which is, you know, the son of Ramaliah, who is uh this other guy that we were talking about, Pekah.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

Thanks for listening to today's lesson from the book of Isaiah here on Come On Up. You're hearing from Pastor Carl at the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina. Now, the book of Isaiah ends with a section that prophesies a new heaven and a new earth, which will come to replace the world that we currently know as it passes away. All of the promises and prophecies that God has made through the prophet Isaiah will come to their ultimate conclusion in this new kingdom. Death and evil will be no more, and goodness and justice will flow like a river. When we look at the world around us right now, it seems like chaos has already won. We can see live images of war, inequality, and sadness in just a few clicks, and it can seem like things will never get better. But Isaiah reminds us to look past the chaos that is right in front of us and fix our eyes on God's promises. That's how we can stay afloat when everything around us feels like it's collapsing. Well, if you want to join a group of believers who are looking together towards the new kingdom, we'd love to invite you to join us here at the Mountain Cross. We meet on Sundays at 10 a.m. at the Smoky Mountain Cinema. For more information, you can visit us online at themountaincross.com. There you will also find our How to Know God page, where you will learn more about how you can belong to the kingdom of God. Thanks for joining us today. Come on up to the mountain with us again next time as we seek to learn more from the Lord through His Word. Come on Up is sponsored by The Mountain Cross, a Calvary Chapel fellowship.