Isaiah 6:1

In the year. This was probably 740/739 B.C. The date is obviously an item of importance. In the year that Uzziah concluded his long reign of 52 years the Lord accorded the young man Isaiah a vision confirming his call to the prophetic office and gave him a message of reproof for Israel (PK 305-307; 5T 749, 750). The time was one of peril and crisis. The great Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III had come to the throne in 745, and almost immediately began a series of campaigns that led to the conquest of much of Western Asia (see p. 88). In 745 he marched against Babylonia, in 744 he went against the country to the northeast of Assyria, and between 743 and 738 he made annual campaigns against the northwest. In his annals Tiglath-pileser frequently mentions Azriau from Iauda, generally believed to be Azariah (Uzziah) of Judah, who was evidently the leading spirit in resistance to Assyrian aggression among the countries of the Mediterranean region of Asia. Menahem of Israel is also mentioned. It was in the midst of Tiglath-pileser’s campaigns against the West that Uzziah died. The man who had taken so strong a stand against Assyria was gone. What would now be the fate of Judah? Must all the world fall a prey to Assyrian arms? Because of their sins the professed people of God had forfeited divine protection. Assyrian might appeared invincible, and it seemed to be only a question of time before Judah would be overwhelmed and Assyria would control the world.

The Lord sitting upon a throne. This manifestation of the divine glory took place upon the occasion of one of Isaiah’s visits to the sacred precincts of the Temple (PK 307). God designed that Isaiah should catch a wider vision than merely what he saw taking place about him. God would have him know that in spite of all the might of Assyria, He was still supreme upon His throne and in control of the affairs of earth.

Moses was accorded a similar vision of God (Ex. 24:10). More than a century before Isaiah’s time the prophet Micaiah saw the Lord seated upon His throne, with the armies of heaven standing by Him (1 Kings 22:19). Earlier during the reign of Uzziah, Amos also saw the Lord standing by the altar in the Temple court (Amos 9:1). Later, during the Babylonian captivity, both Daniel (Dan. 7:9) and Ezekiel (Eze. 1:1; 10:1-5) saw visions of the Lord upon His throne, as did John on the Isle of Patmos (Rev. 4:1-6). When perils encompass God’s people and the powers of darkness seem about to prevail, God calls them to look up to Him, seated upon His throne and directing in the affairs of heaven and earth, in order that they may take hope and courage. See Ed 173.

His train filled the temple. At the time he was accorded this vision Isaiah stood in the Temple court praying (PK 307). Before him the doors of the Temple appeared to open, and in the most holy place he saw God Himself seated upon His throne. The Heb. hekal, the word commonly used of the Temple, designates it as the “temple,” or “palace,” of the great King of heaven (see Ps. 11:4; 29:9; Hab. 2:20). The “train” is the garment of God’s infinite glory. John (ch. 12:41) applies this vision to Christ.