← Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis
Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis
God's Holiness & The Most Important Thing About You | Isaiah 6 Explained
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- [00:00]
A
Sometimes people ask, why is maybe worship so trivialized or trendy? Why is preaching weak and flat? And why is passion for God lost at sea? Well, the answer to all those questions would be that we need to elevate and magnify our understanding of who God is. And a low view of God leads to low views of holiness, his holiness, which would consequently lead to low views of our sin, which would lead to low views of the cross of Jesus Christ, which would lead to low views of grace. And if your view of grace is low, then it isn't amazing to you, even if that's what you might sing. Hank, how we doing?
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B
Doing great, Johnny. I have a question for you.
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A
Go ahead.
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B
First, how are you doing?
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A
I'm good. I'm doing well.
- [00:47]
B
What is the scariest airplane experience you've had in your life?
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A
Probably there was a point in. I was flying from a little airport in Nepal to another tiny airport in Nepal at the Himalayan Plateau. And I remember that the plane was shaking so much and there was an elderly woman next to me. I have a photo of it. I might even post it over this section.
- [01:12]
B
Look here.
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A
Yeah, she is holding my hand and praying and I'm like, she was scared. So anyways, it was one of those. Or there's been a couple, like internationally that have been like, you know, the little puddle jump burst assessments. Why do you ask?
- [01:26]
B
I'm a man who's prone to hyperbole. And so I'm gonna right size and tell the truth on this one with no hyperbole. I thought I was gonna die. Last week on a flight back to Nashville from D.C. we were coming in and we were trying to beat some thunderstorms that were rolling into Nashville. And pilot comes on is like, hey, it's gonna be choppy as we're coming in for this landing. And also turbulence doesn't really bother me. Like, I've flown enough that it's. That doesn't get under my skin.
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A
But it makes your tummy sick.
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B
I've got a sensitive tummy. That's a separate topic. We're coming in. I'm not exaggerating. It's like, oh, yeah, okay. Turbulence is beginning. We start hitting pockets of air and wind that are making us. I'm not exaggerating. Probably drop hundreds of feet in, like, movements. And I had a weird moment where I was looking out my window. I've never seen. There is a black curtain of non stop incessant lightning rolling in over our left wing. Our right wing is in beautiful sunshine. And I literally had A moment with my iPad open on my lap, watching House of David. Just thinking I didn't know this is how it was gonna end.
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A
Did you think you were gonna die?
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B
I sincerely just thought, like, what a wild way to do it.
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A
Did you think it was the end?
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B
I kind of did.
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A
And you didn't give me a text?
- [02:43]
B
No.
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A
I literally just thought that's, ladies and gentlemen, all you need to know.
- [02:49]
B
Johnny hasn't responded to a text in months. But anyway, you have to group text me. I literally thought, I'm going to ask Johnny. And then I genuinely, in the back of my mind, I thought, it's probably going to be some flight in Nepal. I nailed that.
- [03:01]
A
Well, yeah, I mean, we're Papua New Guinea.
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B
All right. What are we talking about?
- [03:05]
A
Well, I'm glad you're alive and mad.
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B
That good to be here.
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A
I mean, like, I was worth saying goodbye to.
- [03:10]
B
To live as Christ and die is gain.
- [03:11]
A
I thought I was going to do your funeral. All right, nevermind. You're probably familiar with the line, I love this line by A.W. tozer. He says, what comes into your mind when you think about God is the most important thing about you. How you view God determines and dictates the rest of your life. The most revealing thing about a nation is their view of God. The most revealing thing about a church is their view of God. And the most revealing thing about an individual is their view of God. A low view of God leads to low views of holiness, his holiness, which would consequently lead to low views of our sin, which would lead to low views of the cross of Jesus Christ, which would lead to low views of grace. And if your view of grace is low, then it isn't amazing to you, even if that's what you might sing. Low views of God make the Christian life seem stale and mechanical. Sometimes people ask, why is maybe worship so trivialized or trendy? Why is preaching weak and flat? And why is passion for God lost at sea? Well, the answer all those questions would be that we need to elevate and magnify our understanding of who God is. And in order to grow in our understanding of God's character, we have to turn to His Word. And we pray as we do. So, like before even this episode, when we start recording, we pray. And one of our prayers is, you know that I pray often before I preach, is that this increased knowledge of God as revealed in His Word would not be the end, but the means to the end, which would be an increased relationship with this God. And today, what I want to focus on is who God is as a holy king, understanding his holiness. If you miss this, you miss, I believe, what is the hub of the wheel in the realm of the attributes of God, Meaning if there's a hub and there's spokes off that wheel. It's been said by theologians and commentators that God's holiness is the hub of the wheel. And all of his other attributes, his love, his justice, are connected to this central attribute of God, which is his holiness.
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B
And before we go, that was such an important point, I want to make sure we don't gloss over it too quickly. The intent in having these conversations is explicitly not that people would come away with like, a greater intellectual understanding of kind of the right answer to theological questions or matters of the Bible or practical living. Those are all really good things. But your point there, which is so critical we can't blow by it, is that we want it to breed an elevated view of God, that it might lead to a life of worship.
- [05:38]
A
A life of worship. Correct. You know what? I want to. At least we're going to end up in a couple different passages in this episode, but I want to begin in 2 Chronicles 26 on a quest of growing in our understanding of God's character. This passage in Isaiah 6 is rooted against the backdrop of a story. And I love preaching narrative. You know, sometimes we forget that the Bible's not just propositional truth. It's not just do this, don't do this. It's, you know, a story. And a lot of God's commandments and the revelation of who he is and his character is against the backdrop of historical events in the life of Israel. And in second Chronicles 26, we. We read this story of Uzziah who became king at 16 years old. It says in verse 2, he built Eloth and restored it to Judah after the king slept with his fathers. It says he was 16 years old when he became king, and he reigned 52 years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Ja. There's one for you. And verse four, it said, he did right in the sight of the Lord according to all that his father Amaziah had done. He continued to seek God in the days of Zechariah. That's the prophet who had understanding through the vision of God. And watch this. It says, as long as he sought the Lord, God prospered him. So bottom line, Uzziah, 16 years old, he becomes king in Jerusalem. And it says here there's a condition attached. As long as he sought the Lord, God would prosper him. And that's exact exactly what God did. If you look with me to verse 7, it says God helped him against the Philistines. He built to verse 10 in the wilderness he hewed many cisterns, for he had much livestock. And this guy's blowing up. This is like, oh, this king is awesome. Verse 11, he had an army ready for battle, a standing army of 307,000 men, it says, who could wage war with great power. It says in verse 15 he made engines of war. He's an inventor. He's a skilled engineer. And it says that he placed men on towers and on corners for the purpose of shooting arrows and, and stones. Meaning he's coming up with new warfare techniques. He's coming up with new inv. And all of this is a derivative of God's blessing on his life, because it says that when he became king, as long as he sought the Lord, God would prosper him. He was famous. This episode is brought to you by one of our ministry partners, the Masters University. One of the things I love about TMU is their commitment to Christ and scripture. And not only that, they offer 150 different fields of study, all that are established upon a biblical worldview. This is so important, regardless of the field of study you might may be going into. They offer engineering, elementary education, music, business. Some of you may know that I studied actually accounting and finance. And I'm so thankful for where I'm at today. But I was so grateful to learn finance, business, accounting from a biblical perspective. I would encourage you to check out the Masters University by visiting Masters. Edu. And when you do, you can even look at our own dial in page. If you go to Masters. Edu, dial in and see if this would be a good fit for. For you. And if you use our code dial in, that'll waive the application fee for you if you're a student or for the student in your life looking to pursue higher education. And just one thing to note here, if prosperity doesn't humble you, it will blind you with pride. And this is what we see in the life of Uzziah. Watch this. In verse 16, it says but. And again, I love that you know the contrasted conjunction it's just talking about in the first 15 verses. This guy is the man. He's dominating his army, his engineering, it's off the charts. Verse 16. But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly. And he was unfaithful to the Lord his God. For he entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense, not just contextually. This is a big deal. It says he entered the temple of the Lord to offer incense. This is Something that numbers 18 says that only can be done by a priest. And anybody else that attempts to offer incense in the temple of the Lord that was not a priest was to be put immediately to death. But what's at play here, and you don't necessarily. There's no verse that explicitly says this right away, but you're beginning to kind of catch something about Uzziah. He's becoming really comfortable with God. God has blessed him, God has prospered him. And now Uzziah, king of Jerusalem, he's cavalier, he's confident, he's nonchalant, he's numb. And he. Conor McGregor's kind of into the temple and says, give me that, takes it from the priest and begins to offer incense. His strength, his popularity, his notoriety, his wisdom, his influence had gone to his head. And so what happens is he presumes and assumes that God is going to continue to bless him even if he is walking in disobedience. And the main thing that's happening here is Uzziah is becoming high in his mind without a tethered elevation of the character of God. And so he's starting to view himself as me and God ain't so different. And then watch what happens. It says, then Azariah the priest entered after him. And with 80 priests of the Lord, valiant men, they opposed Uzziah the king, and said to him, it is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the son of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful and will have no honor from the Lord God. But Uzziah, with the sensor in his hand for burning incense, was enraged. And while he was enraged with the priest, the leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priest and the house of the Lord. Besides the altar of incense, Azariah, the chief priests and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous on his forehead. And they hurried him out of there. And he himself also hastened to get out of there because the Lord had had smitten him. Watch this final verse here, verse 21. King Uzziah, once prominent and powerful, was a leper to the day of his death. And he lived in a separate house, being a leper, for he was cut off from the house of the Lord. It says in 2nd Kings 15:5, same thing. The Lord struck the king, so that he was a leper to the day of his death, and he lived in a separate house while his son ruled over the land. And this was the case until he died. It's a sad point in Israel's history, and it marks the beginning of the decline of the vibrancy of the Jewish faith. Because of the king's apathy towards the holiness of God, who God was as king, they became, consequently, as a nation, much like their king. They had a diminished view of God. And when you have a diminished view of God, you think you can approach him any way you want, there are disastrous consequences.
- [12:06]
B
There's two things there that stick out to me. One, I feel like we need to do a whole separate episode on what gave those 80 priests, valiant men of God, the courage to stand 100%. I mean, that is one of those where it's just like, I want to be one of those dudes.
- [12:21]
A
I mean, side note, the Old Testament's awesome.
- [12:23]
B
I mean, electric. Welcome to the electric factory. But that separate episode, we need to return to that at another time, because it's this wild juxtaposition of all of his power. And for them to stand there, that story, they don't know how that's going to be written. And so you could imagine a totally different outcome for those 80. As an aside, back on task here. If I'm listening to this, I'm thinking, like, okay, great. But I'm not Uzziah. I'm not a great man of renown. I'm not extravagantly wealthy in charge of an entire kingdom. I'm not an engineer. I'm the inverse of an engineer. So practically, though, how does that necessarily apply to me? Or what's the through line of the view of God? Like, I'm not prone to make those same mistakes.
- [13:04]
A
Yeah, well, I think there's a couple different things at play. First of all, it's the backdrop against which I would say the greatest passage in all of Scripture, talking about the holiness of God is given. And so, contextually, when you look at the Old Testament and you go, it's in this context, King Uzziah, that we turn to Isaiah 6 and we begin to grasp. And again, when we go to the Scripture, my friend Eric Thomas always says, we're on a hunt for the character of God. So the Bible's not primarily. How does this apply to me? The Bible is primarily a story that reveals God's character. And so that's our first and foremost question. And then we'll get to the practical, maybe about me afterwards. But Isaiah 6 begins this year, this way, in the year of King Uzziah's death. No coincidences in the Bible by the way. I Isaiah, Isaiah 6 says verse one, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of his robe filling the temple. I want to just make some observations as we make our way through the text. I want you to notice where the king is sitting. Now in the year of King Uzziah's death, Isaiah is going to have a vision of the supreme king of the universe. And notice again where he is sitting. It says he's sitting on a throne. He's not in a lazy boy for him to relax. It's been noted that he's not at a conference table where he co rules with his buddy. He's not in a stadium watching the events of the world while he's eating popcorn. He's on a throne. Why? Because God rules and reigns and the position of the throne is not at eye level. It's lofty and exalted. There's nothing normal about this God. He is transcendent. He is greatly elevated. And the positioning of his throne details and denotes the superiority of the king that sits upon it. Now notice what the king is wearing. It says the train of his robe fills the temple. Robes in the ancient world were symbols of majesty. It displayed the extent of the sovereignty of the individual that wore them. And Isaiah's vision here says that the train of his robe fills the temple, meaning there is no room for anyone or anything else to stand. This is massive glory. You know, speaking of Papua New Guinea, I remember one time in the tribes you have kind of these priests and they wear these big headdresses and the taller, the headdress is kind of representative of their power and their influence, prestige. And that's what we have here with the train of his robe. One thing and we'll do an episode. And you've heard me preach on this. There is nothing self deprecating about God. He is jealous for his glory. And when we look to the revelation of who God is, he's not shy or modest. That's why when Isaiah sees God, he's on a throne, lofty and exalted. And the train of his robe fills the temple. Now I want you to notice the king's audience. It says in verse 2 Seraphim stood above him, each having six wings. With two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. So there's seraphim, warriors These are not fat, little chunky boss babies, you know, And I think sometimes we have this idea of a cherub, you know, Tom and Jerry strumming a harp or whatever.
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B
Always curly hair. It's always. Yeah, they're always right on the edge of Gerber babies. Yeah, they're not fit, I'll say that.
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A
Yeah, they're not fit. A seraphim, though, literally means a burning one. They are spirits that dwell in the presence of God. And because our God is a consuming fire, they become like the one that they represent and the one in whose presence they dwell. They are holy angels, and their purity is dependent upon the one they reflect. Michael Horton says this. God's holiness is inherent. He is not like the moon that reflects the light of another great source. So they are burning creatures. Now, I want to look at their anatomy here. God structures his, you know, creatures anatomy to fit their environment. Meaning that pandas have, like, an extra appendage to be able to grab leaves.
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B
We could have gone with fish in the ocean, but we went with pandas.
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A
Fish, fish with gills, you know, whatever you want to talk about. Birds in the air. These seraphim warriors have six wings. It says with two. They cover their face. Let's talk about that for a moment. Why. Why does God have. Why do the seraphim warriors have two wings or six wings? And two of which they cover their face well to shield their eyes from beholding the unvarnished glory of God. I want you to think about it for a moment because I've looked at this with you in 2 Kings before that, one angel wipes out 185,000 Assyrians in the blink of an eye. And yet these seraphim are so in tune with the dissonance and distinction between them and God that with two of the six wings that they possess, they are shielding their eyes from God's glory. Spurgeon says they also might be saying, don't look at us, look at him. Why would you look at the lesser reflected glory? Meaning they are also cognizant that. Don't waste your time with us. It says with two wings they cover their feet, meaning that these are symbols of creatureliness. They were symbols that they're not God, they're not the Creator. And so they cover their feet, and it says, with two wings they fly, meaning that they are ready to do the bidding of God. And they have an anthem, and I want you to notice the anthem that they sing in verse three and. And one called out to another seraphim to seraphim. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And the foundations of the threshold trembled at the voice of him who called out while the temple was filling with smoke, meaning that they are crying out back and forth to one another. You know, I remember hearing R.C. sproul teach on this passage after college, and I was listening to him on these Ligonier series, and he said, it's the strongest form of superlative in the Bible, meaning that God is love. 1 John 4 says, you know, God is love, he is merciful, and so forth. But there's only one attribute of God elevated to this superlative degree where there is this threefold emphasis. There's only one attribute where it says it three times in a row. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. Now, I think sometimes we say this word holy, but I don't actually think we understand what it means. And I want to talk about that for a moment. I like what Sinclair Ferguson says. He says God's holiness means he is separate, separate from sin. But holiness also means wholeness. Wh. Wholeness. God's holiness is His Godness. It is his being God and all that it means for him to be God, to meet God in His holiness. Therefore, as watch this, to be altogether overwhelmed by the discovery that he is God and not a man, meaning he's nothing like us. And I've heard it said before that God's holiness is not quantitative, meaning he's not more than. He's not bigger and better, but qualitative, meaning he's totally other than us. But I think growing up in the church or even growing up reading the Bible, you have this idea that God is almost like a powerful genie and he's stronger than us. And so he's. Yeah, he's much bigger. My God is so big, so strong and so mighty. We sing it. But it's not just that God is quantitatively more, he's qualitatively other. He's nothing like us.
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B
Yeah, and I want to go back for a brief second and maybe underscore the point because you touched on it's not God isn't in the Bible ever self deprecating? And actually, I'll maybe confess for me, as I remember as a kid distinctly, that was actually almost hard for me of thinking like, is God arrogant? And for anyone who's listening and wrestling with those same principles, the reality is no. God isn't self deprecating because there's nothing we are drawn to. Other people are self deprecating because it shows at a level of insight and self awareness that they're aware they aren't as good as they may appear. Whereas with God, that doesn't exist. He is as good as he appears. No, he's actually better. And there's nothing that compares to him. So for him to be self deprecating would be misleading. And it's God's idolatry 100% for him
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A
to allow you to worship anything or anyone else.
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B
And it's, it's the opposite of arrogance, it's loving kindness that he isn't self deprecating and missing the point. And it relates back to your holiness. Point of that he is completely other. And we almost get the idea of like my son who turns five next month. You know, I'm a bigger version of like what he'll be. And it's easy for he looks at me and I can almost see the way I looked at my dad. And it's almost we can do the same to God. But your point is. No, no, no. It's not like he's our dad 10 foot tall version.
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A
Yeah, he's totally other.
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B
100%.
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A
Anyway, that's what holiness means, is other, otherness. Exodus 15:11 asks the question, who is like the Lord? And the answer is what?
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B
No one.
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A
No one. You're not almost God. God never defines himself by comparing himself to anything else. Meaning he doesn't say like I'm like this, but more, you know, in the sense of. And obviously God says, I'm the bread of life and so forth. But there's nothing in no one that is anything like Him. More than any other attribute, God is identified by his own holiness. He has a holy word in his presence. Moses stands on holy ground. The priests wore holy garments as they approached God in His holy temple. The fourth commandment is to remember the Sabbath and to keep it holy, because it is a holy day. In First Peter we are a holy people, and his name is holy. Isaiah 57:15 says, for thus says the one who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity. Watch this. Whose name is holy? I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is contrite in lowly spirit. To revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. God is marked over and over again in scripture by his holiness. And no one yawns at this. No one fist bumps God. And I talked about it before and I don't mean it derogatorily, but sometimes you see people wearing those shirts or bumper stickers God is my homeboy. But understanding in the Scripture, God is the king of the universe. And there's nothing cavalier about the way that we approach Him. He is our friend, and we don't want to lose sight of that. But he is a holy king.
- [22:49]
B
And that's worth clarifying is I think it's easy in these episodes, we're exploring, like a central point from Isaiah 6. Here you're not saying, I could hear someone responding, like, oh, my goodness, they're berating this holiness point. But God is love. And maybe your response would be, he is love. He has all of his attributes at all times in full measure.
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A
That's a great line.
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B
Two years and we're cooking, baby. No, but I would say practically in your response, like when you say no one yawns at God. There's actually. I would have to confess there are times where I can find myself getting dangerously close to losing sight or casting my eyes too low on his holiness. And this is actually a good reminder for me.
- [23:28]
A
You know, I think, too, just going along with what you're saying, sometimes people would say, you know what? God is love. But you'll always have a small view of God's love if you have a diminished view of God's holiness. God's holiness is essential to understanding his love, because in understanding his holiness, we recognize our unworthiness. And in recognizing our unworthiness, then we receive that, understand that we're the recipients of love we don't deserve. Now, in Isaiah 6. 4, we continue. It says, the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of the king, who's calling out while the temple is filling with smoke. And I want to move through this because I want to. You just see what we're doing in John 12. But when God speaks, the thresholds of the heavens shake. I mean, have you ever been in an earthquake? Isaiah is immediately on his knees. Sometimes you see these stories of people that met God. They died and went to heaven, and then they came back and they write a book about it. Listen, there's a uniform response in God's Word to people that stood before God. Habakkuk 3 says, his knees begin to knock. John falls on his face like a dead man. And Isaiah, the most righteous man in Israel, pronounces a curse on himself and says, woe is me. A woe is what prophets would use to pronounce a curse on a sinful nation. And here is the most righteous man in Israel, the prophet of God, pronouncing a curse on his own life. Because when he stands before God and recognizes who he is, he says, I'm done. I'm disintegrated. I'd rather die. He's absolutely petrified. Such is the effect for every individual in Scripture of standing in the presence of God. And this is a massive problem for Isaiah. And, you know, long before James writes chapter three of his epistle, Isaiah understands something about the human condition. He says, I am a man of unclean lips. Why does he say that? Well, our lips are the expressions of our heart. Jesus says, out of the heart, the mouth speaks. And he says, I live among a people of unclean lips. And he says, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Now he's just petrified. And then it says, then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. And again, at this point, Isaiah is just aware of his finitude, the sinfulness of his own soul. He wants to die. Verse 7 says, he touched my mouth with it and said, behold, this has touched your lips, and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven. I mean, this is a gift, right? Isaiah, in the moment that he understands his sin so distinctively, against the backdrop of the holiness of God, the angel comes to him, touches his lips and says, behold, your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven. This is a tremendous gift. And then it's against this backdrop, we come to the kind of like the verse people reference for, like missions night at church, totally. Verse 8. Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send? Who will go for us? And then I said, here I am. Send me. And he said, go and tell this people. Keep on. Okay, so verse eight, here I am. Send me. A lot of times we. We forget what comes after that. He says, go and tell this people. Keep on listening, but do not perceive. Keep on looking, but do not understand, render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed. Now turn with me to John 12. It's against this passage that John is going to draw a connection for us. And I want to set the scene in John 12. Jesus enters into the city on what we know as Palm Sunday, and it says that they remained unbelieving, the Pharisees. And it says this in John 12:37. And you need to see the connection here, 12:37. But though he that's Jesus had performed so many, so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah, the prophet which he had spoke. Lord, who has believed our report? We just read this in Isaiah 6. And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For this reason, they could not believe. For Isaiah said, again, are here. He has blinded their eyes and has hardened their heart so that they would not see with their eyes and perceive with their heart and be converted and I heal them. Now watch this. It says these things Isaiah said, because he saw his glory and spoke of him. Now the question is, who's him? John is saying that Isaiah spoke of him. Who's him? Jesus. Bottom line. To cut to the chase here, the most exalted vision in the Old Testament of the king of the universe sitting on a throne, surrounded by fiercely loyal angelic seraphim warriors is that of a carpenter In John chapter 12, who is about to be slaughtered. And in this passage, it says, they keep on persisting in unbelief. And the whole chapter 12, this is right after the resurrection of Lazarus. It's a week before Jesus is slaughtered. Palm Sunday. Here comes the king of the universe with a plot against his life and a price on his head. He's regarded as a common criminal. And here comes the author of life, and with a plan to put him to death. And now, going back to your word, we're going to juxtapose the two texts, Isaiah 6 and John 12. In Isaiah 6, his audience is Seraphim, warriors. And in John 12, when John says Isaiah spoke of him, here's Jesus, here's his audience. Here it's people lining the street, right? You got 2.5 million Jews that take that from Josephus saying that there were 256,000 lambs one year at the Passover, you multiply that by 10, you get the rough estimates. There are two and a half million Jews.
- [29:05]
B
And this is where Jesus is speaking at the time of John 12. Contextually, yeah.
- [29:08]
A
And here comes the one who heals the sick, feeds the multitudes, walks on water, raises the dead. And using your word, the atmosphere is electric. There are kids on their daddy's shoulders. They want to see the guide that they're about to make king. So that's the audience, not warriors, just the nation of Israel. Now, the anthem in John 12:13, it says they're all shouting out Hosanna, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. They're waving palm branches. Palm branches were signs. That's the Equivalent of our American flag. It's a symbol of liberation. And here comes the guy who has the keys to life and death. He just raised the dead. They're shouting out Hosanna, which means, save us now. Everything Jesus did touched the very nerve of Jewish expectations regarding the Messiah. They believed it was their time for dominance, and so they want to make him their military king. Now, notice where the king is sitting. Here he is not coming through the city on a golden crusted chariot. He's not on a mighty white horse, it says. And I think often we get this wrong. He's coming through Jesus. It says, finding a young donkey. It's not even a donkey. This is a baby donkey. And you find this polarity of the king who speaks in the thresholds of the heavens, shake in Isaiah 6. And here he comes through the city amongst the people he came to save. And it's just, eee, ah, eee, ah. And it's a moment that you go, it's the same guy. No streets of gold, no banners or trumpets, no armed forces, no white horse, just a donkey symbolizing peace. Had he said the Word, they would have rushed to make him king. He could have said, I am the Alpha and the Omega. Everybody bow. And they would have all yielded to his supremacy. But no. And here, the one whose robe fills the temple with glory in Isaiah 6 comes through the city wearing garments that four days later would be divided amongst those who would slaughter him. And the anthem of this crowd yelling out, hosanna. Hosanna. Save us. Now, in a matter of days, four or five days, they're going to be shouting out, we want Barabbas. We want Barabbas. We want Barabbas. You know, one of the things about the scripture, the Bible that I love, is it does make you think, man, why would he do this, right? You know, in John 12, we all know the story of Palm Sunday. You know, if you've been to church on Palm Sunday, we call them like Christians, you know, Easter, Christmas. So everybody knows this story. But when you put it up against the backdrop that John says, quoting Isaiah 6, Isaiah saw him, that's Jesus. And sometimes I think we probably, you know, I don't know if we personalize it and say the king of the universe sitting on the throne in Isaiah 6 is Jesus of Nazareth. Why would he do this? Well, I think to fulfill the scripture, right? But I think more than anything, to goad the Pharisees into killing him. And now going back, just because that's what he came to do. He came to die. For sin. And going back to your question, you know when people rebuttal and say, well, I thought God was a God of love, Well, I just like to frame it this way. Like, has it ever dawned on you that the God who extends his love to you in the person and work of Jesus Christ is the supreme, lofty, exalted, elevated king of Isaiah's vision? He is a holy king. And in his holiness, what makes him so different? And again, holiness means otherness. What makes this God so other is that in humble condescension, he stoops to love those who rejected him. And you know one thing, and I want you to read this passage. When Jesus came in his first advent, he did come in lowliness, humility, and meekness. But there's a full story in the
- [32:51]
B
scripture, and I want to hop in for just one second. Two things. One, where we started with, I'm going to butcher his name. Uzziah.
- [32:59]
A
Uzziah.
- [32:59]
B
Okay. I posed the question kind of like, okay, but I'm not a great kingly warrior who's kind of high and lifted up among his people. And to me, it's actually the exact opposite of, I'm not that way. And yet I still lose sight of this reality far too frequently. Like, I need to be personally reminded that the God of Isaiah 6 that I had those verses on my Instagram in high school, here I am. Send Me and John 12, that God needs to be reminded and pointed back to the forefront of my mind regularly.
- [33:37]
A
Yeah, it's true. And the scripture basically concludes Revelation 19 with this different picture of Jesus. In Revelation 19:11, it says, and I saw heaven open. This is John speaking. And behold the white horse. And he who sat on it is called faithful and true. And in righteousness he judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems. And he has a name written on him which no one knows except himself. I love that line. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God and the armies. I mean, he was largely abandoned in his first advent, but here it says, and the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following him on a white horse. And from his mouth comes a sharp sword, so that he may strike down the nations. And he will rule them with a rod of iron. And he treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty. And then just read verse 16 for me.
- [34:34]
B
It says, and he has on his garment and on his thigh a name Written King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
- [34:41]
A
That's really the central theme of Scripture, is that there is a king, the King of the universe. And when the fall happens, and you've heard me say this before, there's the anticipation of the king that will come and undo this. He's going to restore everything that's been broken. Where is the king? Kings will come from you. Kings will come from you. You see that over and over again in Genesis. And that's why we sing at Christmas in Matthew 1, that genealogy, so that we sing this. This is Christ the what king? That king who is lofty and exalted, he came to die. And that king who came to die, he also rose from the grave. And one day when he comes back, he says it's happening soon. On his thigh it says it's written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
- [35:28]
B
It's amazing. And where we started this, His Holiness, it's a great reminder of this amazing image of Isaiah 6 surrounded by flaming warriors is the same guy who came on a baby donkey. But then we don't leave him there. He's coming back as a mighty warrior, wearing a robe, drenched in blood, with a sword coming back. And that doesn't change. Yeah. If that doesn't change your day to day view of how you approach life, you have a misguided view of the Savior.
- [36:03]
A
Yeah. And this is heaven's song as we close it, says that they do not cease to sing, the living creatures in heaven. Revelation 4. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and is and who is to come. This is the central attribute of God. And going back to Tozer's line, what comes into your mind when you think about God is the most important thing about you. And if you can think about God without grasping, albeit so smallly, his holiness, we have a deficient view of God. And regardless of where you may be at with your or in your spiritual journey, everybody listening and watching ought to have, as a main prayer in their life, give me a greater understanding, O God, of your holiness. And that's my prayer.
- [36:53]
B
And so that we might worship him.
- [36:55]
A
Exactly.
- [36:55]
B
It's a helpful challenge. Well, thank you, Johnny.
- [36:57]
A
Thanks, Hank.