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Episode 641: In this episode, we dive into a discussion of Isaiah chapter 6. We reflect on the dramatic vision Isaiah had in the year King Uzziah died, where he saw the Lord on His throne surrounded by seraphim. This moment of divine revelation leads Isaiah to recognize his own sinfulness and unworthiness, prompting a powerful discussion about the nature of repentance and God's cleansing grace.
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You're listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun in practical ways. Hey, everybody, happy Monday. Well, top of the morning to you in the morning to you, Yeah. Is that Scottish or Irish? I think that's Irish. Well that was the best Irish accent I can do. That was an actual attempt at a No, it wasn't. I was just saying top of the morning to you. I don't think I could actually do one. Yeah, I can't even think. Yeah, but did you know I just found out I'm Irish. This is my second saint Patti's day as an Irishman. Well that's not true. Well it is for me. Yeah, well it's the second one that you were aware that. Yeah. Yeah. I grew up my whole life thinking I was finished, and it turns out all of our people came I'm all Scot's, Irish and Welsh. Wow, that's it. Yeah, and partly Swiss. Well I am German and Italian? Really, yes, I never saw that coming. Yeah. Yeah, I'm like fifty percent Italian and like forty eight percent German and two percent French. Wow. We yeah, just a little bit well, there you go. So this is a special day for me personally. It's all I'm saying. St. Patrick's St. Patty's Day. Wow, I can go to the bars and no, I'm. Not that guy. Yeah, not that guy. So today our segment from Dez says, let's ask Chat GPTY is now Chat GPT loves you. You know that, right? AI loves you and they never lie to you. Yeah? Right? Yeah? Have you are you aware that sometimes AI hallucinates it makes stuff up? What do you mean? Yeah, it's not always true. It'll make stuff up if it can't find the answer for real. Yeah, it doesn't want to give you a wrong answer, So does make stuff up, So you got to verify everything it says. Oh, well, that's disappointing. I know you're going to start rewriting your messages. Yeah. I've never used a chat GPT in my life. Okay, So anyways, here's what does said. It says it's Saint Patrick's Day. So let's ask chat GPT funny questions about Saint Patrick's Day and pick some of your favorites to share with us. So, just before you walked in the studio, Yes, I asked Chat TPT, tell me some things I don't know about Saint Patrick's day amaze me. Oh wow. And it said here are some fascinating and lesser known facts about Saint Patrick's day that just might surprise you. First of all, and this is the most scandalous Okay, Saint Patrick wasn't Irish? What? And I looked it up because I didn't believe it really. Yeah, despite being the patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick was actually born in Rome and Britain, possibly Scotland or Wales. So me and Saint Patrick are just the same. Wow. I'm Scott's Irish and Welsh. Wow, that's what I am. So we're the same. But it's all about you, Jeff, Yeah, exactly. It should be Sat Jeffrey's day, that's. Any Yeah, Jeff's and Pat's day. He was born around three eighty five AD. He was kidnapped by Irish pirates wow at the age of sixteen and taken to Ireland as a slave. What. After escaping, he later returned as a missionary to convert the Irish to Christianity. Wow. That blew my mind. In honor of his efforts to convert people to Christianity, yep, people get slashed. Apparently, yeah, apparently. Well did you know here's another one. This is amazing. Saint Patrick's Day was originally a dry holiday. No alcohol come so what it says? Ironically, Ireland once banned alcohol sales on Saint Patrick's Day because it was a religious holiday, and pubs were closed nationwide until nineteen seventy wow, when the holiday was reclassified as a national festival, because you can get sladged at festivals but not religious holidays. So basically, when you and I were born, yeah, that's before our time, it was a dry holiday. Yes, it was probably a dry day. I mean think about it, like, what else is there to do in the middle of March? Right if you live up north? All right, now, what are the foods? What are the foods you're supposed to eat on Saint Patrick's Day? Irish? Yeah? Goodness, so be like what like isn't Irish? Like? More more like actually, I don't know. It's corn beef and cabbage. Corn beef and cabbage, which is supposed to have But that's the go to Saint Patrick's Day meal in America, but it's not the traditional Irish food. In Ireland, the dish is usually bacon, and cabbage. Wow. Yeah, but Irish immigants in the US substituted corn beef because it was cheaper and more readily available. Holy cow, isn't that something? Yeah? That was amazing? And then what was the other one? Leprechauns were originally evil? I didn't know that one. I think I did know that one. Yeah, they're bad guys, their tricksters or even malevolent creatures, not the jolly figures on cereal boxes. And blue was the original color, not green. Okay, now that's going too far, jeff, I, I. No, no, come on. Originally, Saint Patrick was associated with the color blue because it appeared on ancient Irish flags in the royal courts roads. They don't die the river blue in Chicago. It wasn't until that I got one about that. What okay? Hang on. It wasn't until the eighteenth century, when Ireland's fight for independence used the green shamrock as a symbol, that green became associated with the holiday. Come on, I'm not lying. It says it rre but die the river green. Every year Chicago dies the Chicago River green. Everybody knows that, yes, but few people know that the tradition didn't begin until nineteen sixty two. As an accident, a group of plumbers used a special dye to check for illegal pollution in the water system. When they realized that turned bright green, the city adopted it for the holiday. Oh my goodness, isn't it amazing? So it was a plumbing accident, that's amazing. And then here's the last one, and this is the glorious one. More people of Irish descent live in the US than in Ireland. Wow. Yeah. So it says there's about four point nine people living in Ireland today, but over thirty two million Americans claim Irish ancestry. Oh isn't that amazing? I mean four point nine million people. Yeah, this just said four point nine million. Yeah, you said four point nine people. I was like four point nine million people. Yeah, almost five people. There's almost almost five people. Yeah, four point nine million people. Now there's over thirty two million in Americans who claim Irish ancestry. So that's over six times the population of Wow. Yeah. The Irish diaspora spread largely due to the Great Famine in the eighteen forties. Well, my wife is Irish, is she? Yeah? And that's why she's so nice. That makes my kids Irish. But I have no part of that corn beef and cabbage. I couldn't believe. I can't believe. I didn't think of that when I was in New York. Well, you were still hung up on the alcohol side of. It, the slashing party. Yeah. Well, I actually have a horrible story where somebody asked me to come and like like pray at at a at a thing, and I thought it was a legitimate prayer. Come to find out it was a Saint Patty's like like slosh kickoff or something. Oh no, it was a terrible, terrible experience. In fact, Jeff, I won't tell you about it, but I'm just going to tell you this. Uh, I can tell me about it, But let me tell you something I'll just make. I'll just make the one this statement. It's a statement about it. Yes, and my family knows this story. Yeah, it's in my thirty what is it, thirty three years we've been pastors. I have never had a worse ministry experience. Wow, that's a that's a statement. That's a big statement. Yeah, that was. It was actually like I got confused. I didn't know what I was doing. Somebody asked me to do something it was a favor when I showed up and I was like, this is horrible. Anyway, that was it was, it was so it's it's like triggered. It's connected to these triggered memories. Well, I'm telling you there's some amazing things. Do you want to hear one more surprising one? Sure? I got one more. There were no snakes in Ireland for Saint Patrick to banish, but there were no snakes on the on the island at all. I'm not sure I was aware of the snake history. Oh well, the great one of the great things stories about Saint Patrick is that he banished all the snakes from island because there are no snakes in Ireland now, so he ran them off. But it's not true. There was himself. Yeah, but there weren't any snakes. Well I think that that's silly to begin with. So it was just a legend. But I'm not shocked about it. Okay, faoughly unimpressed on that one. Yeah, okay, Well, hey I have one more question. Yeah, I didn't wear green today, but are my eyes green or blue? In the light today? They look more blue, more blue? Okay, Sometimes they're blue, sometimes they're green. So I'm on both sides of that. The blue flag originally in the green later maybe that's what it is, because my eyes go back and forth. A lot of Irish people are blueish, sometimes greenish sometimes with their eyes. You know. Speaking of all that brand new information about Saint Patti's day, huh, we're kicking off into a brand new book today, the Book of Isaiah. That is the best good Jobsba. We're welcome, good jobszarba. So we're jumping out of first and second kings, right, Well, we did Amos and then from there what we didn't do is there's all these little statements Jerreboeam his reign ended in Israel, and then this guy named Zachariah became the king, and then he was only there for a little while. And then Shallam rules in Israel, and then manae Him rules in Israel, and then a guy named pekka Ayah rules in Israel, and then Peka follows Pecca Ayah in Israel. Then it's all done. Yeah, thanks for that. So each of those is just like a minute or two. They're like a year or two reign. They didn't do a ton. And then finally we get to Isaiah we're gonna read Isaiah chapter six. And the reason why we're bouncing around is keep in mind, we're doing highlights of the Old Testament in this series, and we're doing it chronologically. That's right. So this is Isaiah overlapping second Kings and this is right around the year of seven four. That's right. Good job. Yeah. And Isaiah is a prophet, and he was in the same time as the King Usiah, and it says this, it was in chapter six. It was in the year King Usiah died that I saw the Lord, and he was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings, with two wings. They covered their faces with two, they covered their feet with two. They flew, and they were calling out to each other. Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Heaven's armies. The whole earth is filled with his glory. And their voices shook the temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke. And then I said, it's all over. I'm doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven's armies. And then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs, and he touched my lips with it, and he said this, see this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven. And then I heard the Lord asking whom should I send as a messenger to this people who will go for us? I said, here, I am send me, And he said, yes, go and say to this people, listen carefully, but do not understand. Watch closely, but learn nothing hard in the hearts of these people. Plug their ears and shut their eyes. That way they will not see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand what their hearts, and turn to me for healing. And I said, Lord, how long will this go on? And he replied, until their towns are empty and their houses are deserted, and the old country is a wasteland, until the Lord has sent everyone away, and the entire land of israelies deserted. If even a tenth the remnants survive, it'll be invaded again and burned. But as a terra binth or oak tree leaves the stump when it's cut down, so israel stump will be a holy seed. Ooh, well that's some judgment there, buddy. This is a very very famous passage. Yes, and probably one of the most dramatic visions I would say that anybody has ever had ever Yeah, right, and. Yeah, it's one of my favorite visions or experiences with God, you know, told in the Bible. Yeah, and I can't even imagine. I mean, Isaiah is having this experience that you know, you and I can't even imagine. Can we start off by talking about angels, Let's do it so it says attending him, we're mighty seraphim, each having six wings. Have you ever seen I'm sure you've seen this in culture where it says like what people think angels look like versus what angels really look like. Yes, and some of the pictures of angels are terrifying. Where did you ever see them where there's eyeballs on their wings? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah, where it's like it's like angels are actually not like they're they're intimidating. If you if you really go by the Bible's description of what angels look like. They are not fluffy, happy, go lucky creatures. And I always say this, but I think that, uh, you know, culture is obviously often dictated by Hollywood and you know, and obviously books and things like that, and somewhere along the way in the nineteen thirties, people thought people adopted the fact that every time a bell rings, the angel gets his wings. And the idea is like, hey, we all die one day and then we earn our wings, and. So you see this, We've got news. Grandma is not an angel, right, that is exactly right. And by the way, this this is depicted. And even like in cartoons, you know, where it's like somebody it'll you know, somebody will like bugs bunny will. Die by the bus hit by suddenly they're floating up as an angel. And you get their harp and their halo, their wings or Elmer Fudd you know, he left. And it's just like it's in culture everywhere that somehow, you know, like you know, and you've heard her on Hallmark cards where they say, well God needed an angel, yeah, you know, and so he you know, blah blah blah, and and and then and then people. People just somehow believe that humans become angels. But the Bible is extremely clear he goes out of his weight. Isn't it to say that that that that mankind is not. Unless unless Grandma had six wings to covering her face and to covering her body and to to fly with. Yeah, she's not an angel, right exactly. Yeah, they're distinct different creatures right all together. And then within the angels there seems to be a couple, right, there's the seraphim and the Cherubim. This word sarah comes from the word that means to burn, burning, right, and it probably has to do with this passage that you know, he uh purified Isaiah with fire. So, by the way, because some of the actual depictions of angels are so terrifying, it's no wonder why the angels had to say fear not every time an angel. Do you ever notice every time an angel shows up, it says, don't be afraid. Yeah, And so it's like. Imagine that you were confronted with a terrifying looking angel with eyeballs on its wings, and and it just and it just had this unbelievably majestic and intimidating look about it. With you know, six wings and flaming swords and such. You know, you would you would probably be terrified on the get go anyway, So. Most of the time, when like when Joshua saw an angel, others when they see they see men. Yes, right, So so the the angels seem to be able to present themselves as a man. Yeah, a lot when he saw the angels, when when Abraham Elijah, yeah, Elijah, they see them as as men. And even then they're terrifying. But yeah, there's something to that, uh. In this situation. These are the angels that seemed to be flying around the Throne of Heaven for one, which I love. So let's go back just a little bit before we get there. It says in the year King Uziah died, I saw the Lord. And this is a very profound thing I think for Isaiah. Isaiah's vision is I think upsetting to him a little bit. Yeah, Usiah was a good guy mostly right, Most of what he did was really good. And then remember he goes in and sacrifices in the temple or whatever and does this thing there and then God goes come on man and he winds up dying. So because he had leprosy, right, yeah, Hey, he was cursed with leprosy to the day he died, right because he was trying to take on the priestly duties. That's right. So he was. He was a good guy. And I think that so Judah. Remember I mentioned all those other kings in Israel. Judah and Israel were separated, and Judah was still more prosperous and had had some bad leadership for while. But Yusaiah comes in, he does a great job for the most part. I think the prophets, there were so many prophets in those days, remember, and I think the prophets were like, good, thank God, We've got this good, godly leader. And then Usiah dies and you can imagine then how uncertain and unsettling it is when you have an uncertainty with regard to who's the leader going to be next and are they going to be a good king or a bad king? Just think of how unstable things get every election cycle with here in the US, right right with and we have a limited powered leader in our in our nation. Whereas in those countries and those times, the king, if you had a good king, things were going to be amazing. If you had a bad king. It was going to be hell for everybody. Right, that's it's literally he had absolute total authority. And so Usiah dies and there's there's some sadness in this, and it's in that context that he sees God. You're right, he has this vision of God, and I think that there's probably it's you know, if you read between the lines, this is God stepping into Isaiah's life, going, hey, I've always been the one in charge. Right. You read Romans thirteen and God says that there is no power that exists that he didn't establish. And then he says, hey, I'm on the throne, and just the train of my robe fills the whole temple. And then he has this really amazing vision of the angels flying around the seraphim, six winged creatures flying around the throne, and they're singing worship songs. Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. Right, the whole earth is filled with his glory. We sing that song in church sometimes, right. Chris Tomlin and what's his name helped put those together, and I love it. You want to know how loud they sang. They sang so loudly that they shook the temple to its foundations. And that's some volume. And then the building was filled with smoke. They had a smoke machine, and so as loud and smoky, and they're singing Holy, Holy, Holy, as the Lord of Heaven's armies. And he says his immediate response when he has a view of God is I'm a sinner. Yeah, I'm unworthy right, yeah. And I think that that is even today, it's an appropriate response repentance. When we haven't encounter with God, repentance should come immediately. A lot of times we go, well, at least we're not as bad as sinners as other people. In reality, when we're confronted with the holiness of God and the glory of God, one of the first things is we don't deserve to be in his presence. And then what does he do. He sends an angel to come and give him this purifying thing. That's what Jesus did, is he purifies us. He makes it where we can be in front of God. And so God goes, so, man, I got this project I need to work on. Who am I going to send Isaiah? And I love it? And God goes, hey, good idea, I'll send you. Go tell the people there's some bad news coming right right, right, Yeah, And I love the volunteering, the. Posture of Isaiah of saying I'm a I'm a sinful man, I'm undone, and then he gets purified and then uh, and then he says, here I am send me. Well, this is a very common you know, this is a very common theme in the scriptures. Right here, I am sent me. Who's who said that? Samuel? Samuel said here I am said me? Was it Abraham? Abraham said here I am sent me. Oh, Samuel would be the other strong one. Okay, yeah, Samuel and Isaiah. But but it's just the idea of of like, hey, hey, God, if nobody else will go, I'll go. And uh, and I just I love that idea, right even in Romans, right it says who will go? Right? Who who will actually go? Jesus said, you know, uh, pray that he'll send workers into the harvest. Right. It's just this idea of like, hey, let's let's all be the ones that are just available to say here I am. And so just the posture of Isaiah here is a model for all of us, I think, you know. And then of course he's only made worthy by the cleansing right. The cleansing which is for us is to cross right. That's what makes it possible to for us to be worthy. So in this situation, God says, there is no other detail other than there's a mission and I need a messenger. That's it. He doesn't tell any of the details, any of the danger, any of the advantages. He doesn't say this is the message I needed to do. He just says, who will go? And Isaiah goes, oh, I'll go, I'll do it. And I think that there's something too that that. A lot of times many of us feel like, one, we're not qualified. Well neither was Isaiah. Two we want to find out every detail before we tell God yes to something. But the great blessing and the reason why you and I are still talking about Isaiah and Isaiah says some of the most profound things about Jesus of anybody in the Old Testament. Right, God used Isaiah literally to change history. And he's not saying, okay, God, I'm interested, tell me more right. He just says, yes, explain everything. Yes. And a lot of times I think we miss out on a great blessing because when we get that nudge from God, we want more information before we take this than the next step, as opposed to the adventure always happens with a yes. Adventure never begins with a no. Right, And so he says, yes, I'll go, and so God says, then go and tell these people. And I've said this before on this podcast. I don't know that I ever had this earth shaking moment where you know, lightning crashed from heaven and the sweats broke out and I was white knuckling it and God just overwhelmed me with his spirit and I couldn't stop crying, and he called me to ministry. You know, I never had like this amazing, a little dramatic, but okay, yeah, Well there's people who will tell you that that's the kind of and I'm not denying that that's what they had. But they had this Chakaina glory kind of moment with God and God called them into ministry, like Isaiah, Yeah, and I don't I don't have that I saw Angels around the Throne kind of call. Right. You know, you've been around people who've had that that kind of a call, or that definitive moment when somebody preached a message and they knew that message was just for them, and they surrendered to the ministry. That's me. Yeah, I don't even have that. Yeah, I have a very I had a very strong sense at some point I really wanted to serve God. And so I kept talking to my to the pastors and to my spiritual mentors above me and out in front of me, saying, I want to serve in ministry, but I've never had a call. And so finally I had one of the guys say, just volunteer, and God'll stop you if he doesn't want you to. And here I am thirty, you know, year decades later, this is probably forty something years later now from that conversation where I just I have the here am I send me story? I don't have the you know, the temple was filled with the train to God's glory, right, I don't have that, or the angels sing around heaven or whatever. I don't have that moment. So you have a preaching moment, right. Which is far less dramatic than you know, the glory moment, but still. The holy spirit moment of somebody preached a message and in that message you said, that's for me, and I surrendered. Yeah, and all of that, but it's the last thing I wanted to do. Me too, I did not want to go in the ministry. In fact, I was like, are you serious? God? You know it was Actually it wasn't a celebratory thing for me. Yeah, I was willing to do the music side of it, right, that was my background, but I didn't I didn't ever want to be a pastor, right per se. So so I think a lot of people miss out on really great ministry because they're waiting for that earth shattering moment. But the reality is, it wasn't the earth shattering moment. It was the after he had been cleansed. He just said I'll go. Yep, right, that was it. He just he just said I'll go. And so I think, whether it's a a friend that's not a believer, or a family member or whatever, you don't have to wait for God to do some kind of supernatural miracle to empower you. You've already been empowered, you've been forgiven, you've already been empowered with the Holy Spirit. Just volunteer to go and see if God doesn't use you. That's a great word and that is our time. So man, what a great passage and hopefully we'll pick up tomorrow and you'll join us on the Bible Guys