In reading Isaiah 6, when it says that the train of His robe filled the temple, I am reminded also of Isaiah 61:10 where it says that the Lord has covered me with the robe of righteousness. Romans 3:10 also comes to mind when it says that there is none righteous, no not one. This then brings me back to Isaiah 6, and because I am a visual thinker and most of my thoughts are like movies that play out in my head. The Lord tends to show me things in the same way. In reading Isaiah 6 and remembering the other two references that I have mentioned—Isaiah 61:10 and Romans 3:10—this is what plays out in my mind.
Isaiah is in the throne room of God—a huge and massive room covered in gold with huge pillars. The room reminds me of what the temple may have looked like during the Old Covenant—the temple that King Solomon built as a labor of love to Yahweh. As he describes in the passage, there are seraphim around the throne, each with six wings, each using the wings to cover their faces and feet. This gives me the idea that the righteousness of God is so much that not even the angels here can look directly upon Him and they cry out to one another Holy… Holy …Holy … is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory! The worship of the angels is so intense that the doors shake with their worship. Isaiah is, of course, filled with awe and amazement but he is also afraid as would anyone who finds themselves in the presence of the Almighty God, Creator and Sustainer of our very existence, our very universe.
Isaiah says “woe is me for I am undone”! The word undone gives the idea that he, at that moment, feels as though he is being uncreated simply by being in the presence of One that is so holy, so just, and so perfect that it is more than his mind or soul can even grasp. Isaiah continues explaining why he feels as though his very existence is unraveling: “because I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King the LORD of hosts.” Isaiah of course feels completely blown away; he has found himself in the presence of the God of Israel. The God that, as a nation, they felt they could not even use His proper name, could not even write out the name of Yahweh. This is where I am reminded that one day we will all stand before the Creator and Sustainer of all that we know, the Creator of everything: what we know and all that we don’t understand. In my mind I picture the same scene and, just like in Isaiah, the train of God’s robe flows down over the sides of the throne, down the steps and fills the temple, but as I gaze out on this scene the temple is filled with people from all walks of life, all different times, and they are all facing our Heavenly Father worshiping. The robe that our Father wears also covers them or at least some of them. Others stand there bare—the robe goes around them, not over them. The train of the robe doesn’t cover them.
This is when I am reminded of the children’s fairy tale, The Emperor’s New Clothes written by Hans Christian Anderson. Most should be familiar with it but let me just briefly recap: an emperor is full of pride and self righteousness, so much so that he searches his kingdom for the best tailors that are available to make him a new set of clothes that will bring out and show off all that he thinks is best about him. But the tailors that he commissions for the task are con artists and they convince him that they will make him the finest clothes better than any anyone has anywhere else but they can’t be seen by anyone who is unfit or is “just hopelessly stupid”. After the clothes are “made”, the emperor parades publicly in front of all of his subjects until one small boy cries out, “But he isn’t wearing anything at all!”
This brings me back to the throne room. Those that are present in the throne room, the ones that our Father’s robe just goes around, and doesn’t cover? They are the ones that think they are good enough in themselves, that they are able to do it without Christ’s sacrifice. They think that they can manufacture their own way their own righteousness. They are the ones that Christ is referring to in Matthew 7:23 when He says “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” These are the ones that are present and Our Father’s robe doesn’t cover because they won’t accept the Robe from the Son of God who paid the price so that they could wear it. This leaves us with only one question as the movie draws to a close in my mind: which one are you are you clothed in: the robe of righteousness mentioned in Isaiah 61:10, the robe that was paid for by the blood of Christ so that you could wear it? Or are you just another emperor so self absorbed with your own works, your own life that you can’t even see that you are standing bare and…. unprotected…. defenseless… with a robe that is not invisible…… it just doesn’t exist?
Isaiah is in the throne room of God—a huge and massive room covered in gold with huge pillars. The room reminds me of what the temple may have looked like during the Old Covenant—the temple that King Solomon built as a labor of love to Yahweh. As he describes in the passage, there are seraphim around the throne, each with six wings, each using the wings to cover their faces and feet. This gives me the idea that the righteousness of God is so much that not even the angels here can look directly upon Him and they cry out to one another Holy… Holy …Holy … is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory! The worship of the angels is so intense that the doors shake with their worship. Isaiah is, of course, filled with awe and amazement but he is also afraid as would anyone who finds themselves in the presence of the Almighty God, Creator and Sustainer of our very existence, our very universe.
Isaiah says “woe is me for I am undone”! The word undone gives the idea that he, at that moment, feels as though he is being uncreated simply by being in the presence of One that is so holy, so just, and so perfect that it is more than his mind or soul can even grasp. Isaiah continues explaining why he feels as though his very existence is unraveling: “because I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King the LORD of hosts.” Isaiah of course feels completely blown away; he has found himself in the presence of the God of Israel. The God that, as a nation, they felt they could not even use His proper name, could not even write out the name of Yahweh. This is where I am reminded that one day we will all stand before the Creator and Sustainer of all that we know, the Creator of everything: what we know and all that we don’t understand. In my mind I picture the same scene and, just like in Isaiah, the train of God’s robe flows down over the sides of the throne, down the steps and fills the temple, but as I gaze out on this scene the temple is filled with people from all walks of life, all different times, and they are all facing our Heavenly Father worshiping. The robe that our Father wears also covers them or at least some of them. Others stand there bare—the robe goes around them, not over them. The train of the robe doesn’t cover them.
This is when I am reminded of the children’s fairy tale, The Emperor’s New Clothes written by Hans Christian Anderson. Most should be familiar with it but let me just briefly recap: an emperor is full of pride and self righteousness, so much so that he searches his kingdom for the best tailors that are available to make him a new set of clothes that will bring out and show off all that he thinks is best about him. But the tailors that he commissions for the task are con artists and they convince him that they will make him the finest clothes better than any anyone has anywhere else but they can’t be seen by anyone who is unfit or is “just hopelessly stupid”. After the clothes are “made”, the emperor parades publicly in front of all of his subjects until one small boy cries out, “But he isn’t wearing anything at all!”
This brings me back to the throne room. Those that are present in the throne room, the ones that our Father’s robe just goes around, and doesn’t cover? They are the ones that think they are good enough in themselves, that they are able to do it without Christ’s sacrifice. They think that they can manufacture their own way their own righteousness. They are the ones that Christ is referring to in Matthew 7:23 when He says “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” These are the ones that are present and Our Father’s robe doesn’t cover because they won’t accept the Robe from the Son of God who paid the price so that they could wear it. This leaves us with only one question as the movie draws to a close in my mind: which one are you are you clothed in: the robe of righteousness mentioned in Isaiah 61:10, the robe that was paid for by the blood of Christ so that you could wear it? Or are you just another emperor so self absorbed with your own works, your own life that you can’t even see that you are standing bare and…. unprotected…. defenseless… with a robe that is not invisible…… it just doesn’t exist?
