Isaiah 6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord…

Isaiah’s Loss

Isaiah dates his vision by the year his King Uzziah died. King Uzziah for the most part was a good king. One of the last that Judah would have.

2 Kings 15:3 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done;

Then something happened. Uzziah became proud and he entered the holy place of God’s Temple to burn incense. 2 Chronicles 26:16-20 But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense. And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the LORD, that were valiant men: And they withstood Uzziah the king, ... 19 Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar. 20 And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the LORD had smitten him.

I believe that Isaiah may have been looking to Uzziah as a king who would once again lead Israel to follow God but instead, he was severely punished by God because of his pride and then died, leaving that great task undone. Isaiah and Israel have lost their King and their hope. It is at this time of loss for Isaiah and the nation that the God chooses to show his glory to the prophet.

In Our Loss We Often See God

Many times in life, if not always, it is necessary to suffer loss in order to know God, to glimpse His glory in our lives. It is often after loss, brokenness, great sorrow or complete weakness, that we experience the power, hope and strength of God. The Bible is filled with examples of this truth.

Israel after facing certain death at the Red Sea, with no way to retreat and no way to go forward in Exodus 24:9-11 Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God,

Ezekiel the prophet is taken as a prisoner of war suffering the loss of family, friends and home, all he had ever known and then in Ezekiel 1:1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

John according to history is dipped into burning oil for preaching the word of God, banished to a barren rock of an island called Patmos and left to die. Then this near 100 years old the last of the apostles sees the great vision of God and the conclusion of God’s plan for the ages. Revelation 4:2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

To begin to experience and know God as He wants us to see Him, we must understand the place of loss, pain and defeat. Through these we must come to the end of ourselves before we can come to the beginning of God.

We must lose our belief in ourselves, lose hope in our goodness. We must see the reality of our weakness and fallibility. We must die to ourselves in order to truly become alive to the reality of God. We must be willing to believe that the greatest loss, our greatest failure may result in our greatest gain by experiencing God.

Philippians 3:8-10 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

Jacob Wrestles with the Lord - Genesis 32:24-26

Probably the best example of this is the conniving, supplanting Jacob. When he was sure Esau would kill him, he went away by himself and their on Mt. Penuel, he met God and in his brokenness became Israel a prince with God. And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.

The Lord could have slain Jacob with just a whisper, but instead he lets Jacob use up all his strength, cripples him for life and then Jacob finally cries out as he cling to the Lord, “I will not release thee, except thou bless me.”

Without that loss Jacoub would never have been made Israel by God’s and without loss in our life we cannot fully receive the blessings of God in our life.