bility. He well knew that he would encounter obstinate resistance. As he realized his own inability to meet the situation, and thought of the stubbornness and unbelief of the people for whom he was to labor, his task seemed hopeless. Should he in despair relinquish his mission, and leave Judah undisturbed to their idolatry? Were the gods of Nineveh to rule the earth, in defiance of the God of heaven? Such thoughts as these were crowding through Isaiah's mind as he stood under the portico of the temple. Suddenly the gate and the inner veil of the temple seemed to be uplifted or withdrawn, and he was permitted to gaze within, upon the holy of holies, where even the prophet's feet might not enter. There rose up before him a vision of Jehovah sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, while the train of His glory filled the temple. On each side of the throne hovered the seraphim, their faces veiled in adoration, as they ministered before their Maker, and united in the solemn invocation, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory," " until post and pillar and cedar gate seemed shaken with the sound, and the house was filled with their tribute of praise. 13 As Isaiah beheld this revelation of the glory and majesty of his Lord, he was overwhelmed with a sense of the purity and holiness of God. How sharp the contrast between the matchless perfection of his Creator, and the sinful course of those who, with himself, had long been numbered among the chosen people of Israel and Judah! "Woe is me!" he cried; "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 13 Isa. 6: 3. mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."" Standing, as it were, in the full light of the divine presence within the inner sanctuary, he realized that if left to his own imperfection and inefficiency, he would be utterly unable to accomplish the mission to which he had been called. But a seraph was sent to relieve him of his distress, and to fit him for his great mission. A living coal from the altar was laid upon his lips, with the words, "Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.' Then the voice of God was heard saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" and Isaiah responded, "Here am I; send me. 66 99 15 The heavenly visitant bade the waiting messenger, "Go, and tell this people, "Hear ye indeed, but understand not; And make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, and hear And understand with their heart, The prophet's duty was plain; he was to lift his voice in protest against the prevailing evils. But he dreaded to undertake the work without some assurance of hope. "Lord, how long?"" he inquired. Are none of Thy chosen people ever to understand, and repent, and be healed? His burden of soul in behalf of erring Judah was not to be borne in vain. His mission was not to be 14 Isa. 6:5. 15 16 Isa. 6: 9, 10. 17 Isa. 6: 11, wholly fruitless. Yet the evils that had been multiplying for many generations could not be removed in his day. Throughout his lifetime he must be a patient, courageous teacher, a prophet of hope as well as of doom. The divine purpose finally accomplished, the full fruitage of his efforts, and of the labors of all God's faithful messengers, would appear. A remnant should be saved. That this might be brought about, the messages of warning and entreaty were to be delivered to the rebellious nation, the Lord declared, "Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, And the land be utterly desolate, And the Lord have removed men far away, The heavy judgments that were to befall the impenitent, war, exile, oppression, the loss of power and prestige among the nations, all these were to come, in order that those who would recognize in them the hand of an offended God, might be led to repent. The ten tribes of the northern kingdom were soon to be scattered among the nations, and their cities left desolate; the destroying armies of hostile nations were to sweep over their land again and again; even Jerusalem was finally to fall, and Judah was to be carried away captive; yet the promised land was not to remain wholly forsaken forever. The assurance of the heavenly visitant to Isaiah was: "In it shall be a tenth, And it shall return, and shall be eaten: 18 Isa. 6: 11, 12. As a teil tree, and as an oak, Whose substance is in them, when they cast So the holy seed shall be the substance thereof." "9 20 This assurance of the final fulfillment of God's purpose brought courage to the heart of Isaiah. What though earthly powers array themselves against Judah? What though the Lord's messenger meet with opposition' and resistance? Isaiah had seen the King, the Lord of hosts; he had heard the song of the seraphim, "The whole earth is full of His glory;"" he had the promise that the messages of Jehovah to backsliding Judah would be accompanied by the convicting power of the Holy Spirit; and the prophet was nerved for the work before him. Throughout his long and arduous mission he carried with him the memory of this vision. For sixty years or more he stood before the children of Judah as a prophet of hope, waxing bolder and still bolder in his predictions of the future triumph of the church. 19 Isa. 6:13. 20 Isa. 6: 3. "BEHOLD YOUR GOD!"-26 IN Isaiah's day the spiritual understanding of mankind was dark through misapprehension of God. Long had Satan sought to lead men to look upon their Creator as the author of sin, and suffering, and death. Those whom he had thus deceived, imagined that God was hard and exacting. They regarded Him as watching to denounce and condemn, unwilling to receive the sinner so long as there was a legal excuse for not helping him. The law of love by which heaven is ruled, had been misrepresented by the arch-deceiver as a restriction upon men's happiness, a burdensome yoke from which they should be glad to escape. He declared that its precepts could not be obeyed, and that the penalties of transgression were bestowed arbitrarily. In losing sight of the true character of Jehovah, the Israelites were without excuse. Often had God revealed Himself to them as one "full of compassion, and gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy |