06 Mar Isaiah’s visit to The LORD’S ENT Clinic

Did u know that prophet Isaiah, not just Isaiah; the great prophet Isaiah had to get some cleaning done at the Lord’s ENT clinic. Yep!! It seems he could not hear very well.

No kidding!!!!
Isaiah was a prophet during the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. This is said in Isaiah 1: 1 “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”

But if this is true, why then in Chapter 6:7, do we read this “And he (Seraphim) touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

So, what happened then…? “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”
Oh! Oh!!! So till then, Isaiah could not hear God?

Hmmmm, Kinda!!! . . . After the cleaning at Lord’s clinic; Isaiah could hear God’s mind crystal clear. The Lord cleansed his lips. This cleansing process made him mature enough to understand what God intended to do and not what he desired to do for God.

Isn’t that cool? At this juncture, Isaiah was ready to go and did you know what he was expected to do???

It was a simple task. God had a message to be conveyed to His people, Isaiah was expected to go and say it.

That’s really simple. So, what was the message?

God wanted to tell the people: “Be dumbos!” or in other words, “Remain as dumb heads!!!”

WHAT?????
Really!!!. . . Isaiah 6: 9-10 (ESV) Say to 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 blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Come on! If I understand the above mentioned passage correctly, then riddle me this. Did God want Isaiah to tell the people to remain dumbos and not turn to God’s ways? This is unbelievable! This is not the way our compassionate Father talks. I would rather read that passage again:

Isaiah 6: 9-10 (MSG) Go and tell this people: “‘Listen hard, but you aren’t going to get it; look hard, but you won’t catch on.’ Make these people blockheads, with fingers in their ears and blindfolds on their eyes, So they won’t see a thing, won’t hear a word, So they won’t have a clue about what’s going on and, yes, so they won’t turn around and be made whole.”

Oh boy!!! That’s true. God wanted Isaiah to tell the people to remain as dumb heads.

I now totally agree; if this is what the Lord wanted to convey, Isaiah needed a mature understanding of God’s voice. No wonder Isaiah had to undergo that special cleaning at the ENT clinic with coal and fire in his lips to clear the wax in his ears.

Was Isaiah really ready to go and tell this to the people? Did he not question God back?

Let’s read on . . .

Isaiah asked “How long, O Lord?”
. . . WHAT???
So, Isaiah agrees to tell this message, really??? Is that all that he asked?
Oh yes! That’s all that Isaiah asked (Is. 6: 11a).

The response from the Lord makes my heart feel even more heavy . . .

“Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, and the Lord removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak”
The Lord definitely sounds highly irritated and frustrated with His people and Isaiah was there to listen to Lord’s agony. No cross questions; no intervening comments or arguments; just listening to the Lord.

Hah!!! It must have been a pleasure for Isaiah to just listen to the Lord.
And the key message is in the last verse of Chapter 6; “Every tree a stump; a huge field of stumps. But, there’s a holy seed in those stumps.”
Today, in our daily newspapers we read of the corrupt world, filled with selfishness, ego, agony, hatred, and a world with no fear for God. This is exactly the type of people that existed during the time of Isaiah. To them, God uses Isaiah to convey that the wicked may remain wicked and perish but a few stumps with the holy seed must be preserved.

Can each one of us be ready to visit the Lord’s clinic every single day; just to sit silently at His feet for a few hours to listen to what the Lord wants us to do, rather than what we intend to do for Him.

We plan and put in a lot of efforts but the yield looks small; God only desires for the few holy stumps. Are we ready to accept that message and be sincere in preserving those stumps?

Though many things which happen in today’s world, look disastrous and make us feel depressed, the Lord is well informed of these scenarios. All He expects us to do is to sit silently in His presence and be ready to execute His plan.

So, let’s just visit Lord’s ENT clinic, undergo checkup and cleaning, clearing the wax in our ears and simply execute the LORD’s master PLAN every day of our lives.

Anitha Wesley

This article is Anitha Wesley’s paraphrase of the message shared by Mr Shyam Winston in UESI TN Greater Chennai Region’s Council.