A Vision of God Is 6:1 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

Isaiah saw the Lord; he had a vision of God.  The problem that immediately arises in this text is that the Bible says that no man hath seen God at any time, Jn 1:18.  In Ex 33:20, the Lord told Moses, you “can’t see my face … and live.”  In Ex 33:23, Moses saw his “back parts.”  Yet, Ex 33:11 says, “the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.”

Look at the context of the vision of Is 6:1.  In Is 6:8-10, the Lord gave Isaiah the prophecy to give to Israel.  This prophecy was once fulfilled in Jn 12:37-41.  In that passage we learn that Isaiah saw “his glory,” a reference to the glory of Jesus Christ.  He saw a pre-incarnate vision of Jesus which would account for him being able to see God without dying [Jn 14:9;12:44-45].  Jesus is the express image of God [Heb 1:3].

Isaiah said, “I saw ALSO the Lord,” – other people saw him, too.  In Ex 24:9-11, the priests and the 70 elders saw him.  In Gen 18:1-2, he appeared with 2 of his angels.  Abraham had seen him before, so he knew who he was [Gen 17:1-3].  And when he saw him, he fell on his face, an act of worship that only the Lord would allow [Rev 22:8-9].  When Jesus appeared, he appeared as a man, as when Ezekiel saw him in his glory [Ezek1:26].

When Jacob wrestled with him in Gen 32:24-30, he appeared as a man but he was also an angel [Hos 12:4].  In Ex 3:2-6, he is the angel of the Lord, who is God in the appearance of an angel [Ex 3:6, 14; Acts7:30-33].  Note that the angel of the Lord is often the Lord but not always.  In Lk 1:11-19, we find that the angel of the Lord there was Gabriel.

When he showed up in Dan 3:25, Nebuchadnezzar knew enough to know that he was the Son of God – and he referred to him as God’s angel [v.28].  Did he learn about him from Daniel’s preaching?

In Is 6:5, Isaiah said, “Mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”  That’s further evidence that we’re dealing with Jesus, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.  In Ps 24:7-10, he is the king of glory.  In Num 22:31-35, when Balaam saw him, the Lord was holding his sword and Balaam fell prostrate before him.  Joshua saw him with his sword, as well [Jos 5:13-15].  Notice in that appearance that the ground was holy [Ex 3] and Joshua fell and worshipped him.

Even after Jesus’ resurrection, he made an appearance as the angel of the Lord [Acts 27:23-25].  Paul said of the angel he saw, “whose I am” and “whom I serve.”  He saw Jesus.  All of these men did.