The Commission of Isaiah

By John H. Fish III [1]

An Exposition of Isaiah 6:1–13

Introduction

Preachers often speak on Isaiah, chapter six because of the vision of the awesome majesty and holiness of God presented there. They also speak on the call of Isaiah and his response to God. “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’” (6:8). But not many continue in the chapter to dwell on the specific message Isaiah is told to preach because this message shocks us. Isaiah is told,

“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, lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed” (6:9–10).

This sounds harsh and startles us. It seems incompatible with the love and grace of God. Isaiah is told to render them insensitive to the truth so that they might not understand, return to the Lord, and be healed. How could this be the message of “God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:3–4)? Could the Lord who is “not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9) keep men and women from salvation by preventing them from understanding the message of the Gospel?

To understand the commission of Isaiah we must first understand the context of his call, both in terms of the times in which he lived (6:1) and in terms of the revelation of the majesty and holiness of God which is seen in verses 1–6. Isaiah, chapter six consists of two parts. Verses 1–7 describe Isaiah’s vision and cleansing while verses 8–13 describe his call and commission. The first part is the preparation for the second.

The Vision of the Lord

In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple (6:1).

The Time of Isaiah’s Call

What is unexpected first of all in this chapter of the vision of the Lord and the call of Isaiah is its position in the book. We would think that the call of the prophet and his commission of the Lord would come in the first chapter rather than the sixth. Its position after chapters 1–5 is an important part of the plan of the prophet. [2]

Chapters 1–5 describe the condition of the nation and the people to whom Isaiah is called to preach. It is a people immersed in sin.

Religious Corruption

During the reign of Uzziah, Judah was politically and militarily at her height, but chapters 1–5 show that her spiritual, moral, and social ills had reached the crisis state. There was an advanced religious corruption. In Isaiah 1:1–6 Yahweh charges the nation with rebelling against Him and not knowing Him. They are corrupt, having forsaken Him (1:4), and are spiritually sick (1:5–6). Israel was Yahweh’s vineyard which had unparalleled privileges, but she yielded no fruit (chapter 5). Religious ritual had become a substitute for genuine worship. The cultic worship was punctiliously observed but without any spiritual heart, and all of the sacrifices and keeping of days were utterly rejected by Yahweh (1:10–17). Judah had even gone so far as to allow idolatrous practices. This may be implied in 1:3 where it is said that Israel does not know God. In 1:29 it becomes clearer when it is said, “Surely, you will be ashamed of the oaks which you have desired, and you will be embarrassed at the gardens which you have chosen.” [3] In 2:6–8 the charge becomes explicit, for not only was Judah full of diviners and soothsayers, but it is said, “Their land has also been filled with idols; they worship the work of their hands, that which their fingers have made” (2:8). Chapter 2:18, 20 speak of the day of the Lord as a day which would bring to an end the present idolatrous practices. Thus Judah had not stopped at the most serious form of religious departure.

Moral and Social Corruption

Departure from God inevitably results in moral and social corruption, and these are apparent. Widows and orphans were oppressed and unjustly treated (1:17). Jerusalem was corrupt, and this was particularly seen in its leaders who were rebellious, companions of thieves, acceptors of bribes, and unjust toward orphans and widows (1:21–23). They misled the people (3:12), took spoil of the poor (3:14), and crushed and afflicted the Lord’s people (3:15). The sins of luxury and vanity are seen in 3:16–26, and this is reiterated in 5:8 where the rich are gathering all of the wealth to themselves. Other sins mentioned are pride and conceit (2:12–16), drunkenness (5:11), and corruption like that of Sodom and Gomorrah (1:10; 3:9). Their pleasure-filled living had made them blind to God (5:12).

It was to this people that Isaiah was commissioned to preach, and while Judah was not as far degenerate as the northern kingdom of Israel, it was a people so immersed in sin as to be incapable of repentance and correction. Isaiah’s preaching was therefore to be a part of the judgment of God resulting in judicial blindness upon the nation.

Isaiah Saw the Lord (6:1)

In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple (6:1).

The first three verses describe Isaiah’s vision, a revelation of God to the prophet which is essential to an understanding of his call and commission. Before Isaiah is sent to preach to the sinful and rebellious nation, he is given a vision of the majesty, greatness, and holiness of God.

Verse 1 says that Isaiah saw the Lord. How this could be is not indicated. There are many verses in the Bible which teach that God is invisible and cannot be seen. “No man can see Me and live!” (Exod. 33:20). “No man has seen God at any time” (John 1:18). In fact Paul says that God “dwells in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen or can see” (1 Tim. 6:16). “God is spirit” (John 4:24).

Yet Isaiah saw the Lord and many others in the Bible are said to have seen God. Jacob said, “I have seen God face to face” (Gen. 32:30). The Lord Jesus even said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8).

It is obvious that the phrase “to see God” is used in two different senses. Man cannot see God in His essence. Man can only see God as He has revealed Himself. Any time a person sees God, it is an indication that God has adapted Himself to the limited capacity of the creature. We do not know God as He really is. We only know God as He has revealed Himself. Our knowledge of God is never exhaustive and perfect, but it is nevertheless true. It is not exhaustive because no one can see God and live. It is true because God has accommodated Himself to the weakness of man so that there was a sense in which Isaiah was able to “see” God.

The Imposing Majesty of God

The vision displays the imposing and incomparable majesty of the Lord. His throne is exalted and so insignificant a matter as His sweeping robe filled all of the space in the temple.

The one who is seen is Adonai (אֲדֹנָי), the Lord or master. The word itself can be used of God or man. It is used of the slave owner who was the master of that slave (Ex. 21:4). Abraham’s servant referred to Abraham as his Adonai, his master (Gen. 24:9, 10). Joseph was called the lord of Egypt (Gen. 42:3). He had great authority and power and was in effect the sovereign over Egypt, not in himself, but because he was acting in the place of the king. Pharaoh himself was called Adonai because he was the sovereign over Egypt (Gen. 40:1). God is Adonai because He is the sovereign Lord of the universe.

He is the exalted and majestic sovereign, and it is particularly significant that Isaiah will be called to a ministry in which the sovereign power of God will be displayed and in which His judgment will be prominent. [4]

The Response of the Seraphim

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. And one called out to another and said, 

“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory” (6:2–3).

Above and around the throne are a number of seraphim worshipping the Lord (6:2–3). They acknowledge the person of the Lord by their actions in verse 2. Two wings cover their face from the overwhelming impact of the divine glory. These are holy angels, not tainted by sin, yet the divine glory is so overwhelming and His brightness so dazzling that they are not able to gaze directly at God any more than man can gaze directly at the sun. Two wings cover their feet (i.e. their nakedness) from the divine eye, [5] and two wings are used for flying as they are ready to carry out the will of the Lord.

In verse 3 the seraphim acknowledge the person of the Lord by their words. They worship Him for His utter holiness and for His glory displayed in all the earth. “As used here, qadosh [holy] signifies the entirety of the divine perfection which separates God from His creation.” [6] There is an incomprehensible contrast between what is divine and what is human. Also the holiness of God consists of His positive attributes which constitute His deity. [7] The holiness of God involving His inner essence is largely hidden, but His glory is manifest, being declared by the whole creation. [8]

The Reaction to the Vision

And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, 

“Woe is me, for I am ruined!  Because I am a man of unclean lips,  And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (6:4–5).

The Reaction in the Temple

The reaction to the vision in verses 4–5 heightens the awesomeness of the divine majesty. The foundation of the threshold shook at the voice of the seraphim and the temple was filled with smoke (6:4). The meaning of the smoke is uncertain. It may signify 1) the presence of God (cf. Ex. 40:30; Ezek. 10:4); or it may be 2) an indication of the sanctuary scene with the smoke rising from the altar of incense; or 3) the smoke may be an indication of the wrath of Yahweh (cf. Psalm 18:8). [9] With the latter interpretation smoke would add to the awesomeness of the scene and picture the wrath and judgment of the Lord about to be announced in Isaiah’s commission.

The Reaction of the Prophet

The reaction of the prophet to the vision in verse 5 is one of alarm and despair as he cries out, “Woe is me.” Four causal clauses give the reason why he so despairs. The last clause says that he has seen the Lord of hosts and it is for this reason that he says, “I am ruined!” (נִדְיתִי, niḏmêṯî, I am made to cease, cut off, undone, doomed to die). [10] He does not merely say that he is doomed because of the belief that no man can see God and live (Exod. 33:20), but because the vision has revealed the infinite moral contrast between the One on the throne and Isaiah himself. “Isaiah saw himself in the light of Jehovah’s infinite holiness. It is ever thus when man is brought consciously into the presence of God.” [11]

He is a man with unclean lips. The lips are specified because of the fact that he had just seen choirs of holy creatures worshipping with pure lips. Notice the extent of his sense of sinfulness. Even if he uses his lips to praise and worship God, they are still unclean lips because he is unclean. In the presence of the thrice-holy God he is not even fit to worship properly. Sin so pervades our nature that it taints all of our thoughts and actions, not just those which we can specify as disobedient to God. Even with our best intentions and desires, our worship of God is imperfect. Perhaps it is because we never do anything 100% to the glory of God that no work is untainted with sin. Furthermore not only was Isaiah himself a man of unclean lips, he was a member of a nation with unclean lips. How could such a one as he live in the presence of the almighty and holy God?

The Cleansing of Isaiah

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 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” (6:6–7).

In verses 6 and 7 following his confession, one of the seraphim performed a symbolical act in cleansing the prophet. He then explained the significance of that act. From the altar of incense he took a hot stone on which incense was burned and he touched it to Isaiah’s lips. Symbolically the fire had a purifying effect, but the cleansing came not from the fire, but from the initiative of the Lord and the fact that a sacrifice for sin had been offered. Young comments, “The action of the seraph in touching the coal to the lips of Isaiah symbolized the fact that, the necessary propitiatory sacrifice having been made, his sins were forgiven.” [12] Isaiah’s woeful cry is silenced. By the gracious work of the Majestic and Holy One upon the throne through atonement his sins are taken care of along with the resultant guilt.

The Call and Commission of Isaiah

The Call of Isaiah

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (6:8).

All that had taken place, the vision and the reaction to it, has been preparatory to the commission of the prophet in verses 8–13. Having seen the Lord and having been cleansed, Isaiah is no longer the same individual, and he now possesses a fitness for service which he never had before. Adonai, the Sovereign One who was revealed in verse 1, speaks and calls for one to do His bidding. [13] Acutely conscious of just being cleansed, Isaiah eagerly responds that he desires to carry out the divine will. Grace gives confidence to do God’s bidding. [14] He will be the messenger of this awesome and holy God in speaking to His sinful and rebellious people.

The Commission of Isaiah

And He said, “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, Lest they see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed” (6:9–10).

The Nature of Isaiah’s Ministry

The message of Isaiah given in verse 9 was startling and quite different from what he expected. He is told to go and speak to “this people.” The phrase, “this people,” as found in Isaiah 8:6, 12; 9:15; 28:11, 14; 29:13, 14 is used in a contemptuous sense and denotes the superstitions or unbelief of the people. [15]

Grammatically the imperatives of verse 9, “Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand” are to be Isaiah’s commands to the people. They should not be translated “hear carefully or clearly” but rather “hear and see continually, [16] (cf. the NASB “keep on listening, keep on looking”) or “hear indeed.” [17] What is to be heard is the message of God through Isaiah, and what is to be seen are the works of God which prominently display His providence. [18] The message and the revelation are to be repeatedly before the nation, yet she is forbidden to perceive and understand.

Although on the face of it these negative commands are to be preached to the people, the book of Isaiah fails to show that these were the terms or the substance of Isaiah’s message. Instead of expressing the very words Isaiah was to use, these seem to be ironic commands used as a rhetorical device to vividly express the result Isaiah was to expect. [19] More, however, is signified than a prediction of the effects of Isaiah’s ministry according to the foreknowledge of God. The spiritual blindness and insensitivity of the nation are the result of the judicial will of God in judgment for their rebellion and sin.

The Hardening of the People

Verse 10, then, consists of commands to the prophet directly instead of to the people and indicates what will be the effects of his message. Verse 9 indicates that the revelation of God is going to be continually before the nation through Isaiah’s ministry and yet as punishment for her sins she is forbidden to perceive it. Verse 10 indicates that Isaiah himself in his preaching is going to be the very instrument God uses to achieve this blindness.

As the foregoing verse contains a prediction of the people’s insensibility, but under the form of a command or exhortation to themselves, so this predicts the same event, as the result of Isaiah’s labours, under the form of a command to him. … The thing predicted is judicial blindness, as the natural result and righteous retribution of the national depravity. This end would be promoted by the very preaching of the truth, and therefore a command to preach was in effect a command to blind and harden them. [20]

Three figurative expressions are used to express this hardening. Isaiah is commanded to make their heart fat, dull and insensitive to the working of God’s grace. He is to make their ears heavy or dull of hearing so that the message of God’s revelation falls on deaf ears. Thirdly, he is to blind their eyes so that they cannot see the divine truth. The word “lest” (פֶּן,pen) indicates a negative purpose. The purpose of Isaiah’s blinding them is clearly said to be to prevent them from perceiving the truth and turning from their sins and being saved. The verse cannot mean anything less than the fact that Yahweh wills their judgment and not their salvation and therefore through this judicial blindness seals their fate.

What the hardening is not. It seems at first that this verse is shocking and irreconcilable with the goodness of God. Two views, however, are to be avoided if these verses are to be properly interpreted.

1) The view that this blindness is an unintended effect foreseen by God, but not directly willed by Him, does not do justice to the text or the context. First, the “lest” of verse 10 alone should be enough to refute this. God is willing something in order to prevent the future possibility of salvation. Second, this view does not do justice to the imperatives in that it simply understands them as futures. But as it is apparent that God foreknows that the preaching of Isaiah will result in rejection and blindness, and as Isaiah is commanded to preach in such a way that this result will be the consequence, then it must be concluded that the result is inevitable and determined by God. [21] Third, it is entirely in keeping with the character of God and it is the repeated teaching of Scripture that those who are depraved and have continually hardened themselves to the light of God may justly be cut off by God and excluded from further light.

2) It must also be noted that this chapter does not refer to a decree of reprobation in the same sense as the decree of election in Romans 9. The latter in reference to Jacob took place before his birth and before he had done good or evil (Rom. 9:11), whereas Isaiah 6 has to do with God’s decree for a sinful and rebellious nation who had continually rejected Him. It has been shown how chapters 1–5 reveal the depravity of the people and their refusal to obey God. This is a judgment of God for those who are already depraved.

What the hardening is. Sin carries with it its own consequences so that rejection of God itself produces insensitivity to God. It becomes clear that the nation has hardened itself so that they have passed the point of repentance and response to God. Their choice of sin and disobedience was settled and therefore “God gave them up” (Rom. 1:24, 26, 28). This generation is being confirmed in its rebellion and will not be given another chance. God will destroy it (Isa. 6:11–12) and therefore judicially blinds them to further light. The thought of verses 9–10 is complex and must be viewed from different aspects. The main thought is that of the hardness and blindness of the nation. On the one hand this is the fruit of their own depravity. On the other it is the execution of God’s righteous judgment. In addition Isaiah is the agent in achieving this effect. [22]

The Preaching of Repentance to a Hardened Nation

A final question which needs to be answered is why Isaiah was to preach and call the nation to repentance which was already judicially blind. At least two reasons may be given. One is that the judgment of blindness over the nation as a whole did not preclude the salvation of individuals. Even today while Israel as a nation is blinded (2 Cor. 3:15), God is still saving individuals (Rom. 11:1). These individuals who would be saved through Isaiah’s ministry are the basis for the remnant of verse 13.

Secondly, if the theocracy was to come to an end, then it must be evident that it no longer had a concern for God. Isaiah was to preach to stony soil in order that it might be apparent that the nation no longer was responsive to God and was ripe for banishment. [23]

The Length of the Hardening Judgment

Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, 

“Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people, And the land is utterly desolate, The Lord has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land” (6:11–12).

The commission of the Lord was difficult, yet Isaiah accepted it obediently. However, one question based on the fact that Yahweh had chosen Israel and had given her an unconditional promise came to the mind of the prophet. Since God could not cast off His people forever, Isaiah asked how long the hardening judgment would continue (Isa. 6:11). The answer in verse 11 is that it would continue until the utter destruction and desolation of the land.

Verse 12 develops this concept of desolation with the strange statement until “the Lord has removed men far away.” “That can hardly be intended to mean anything other than a captivity and a deportation.” [24] As a result of this there would be many forsaken places, abandoned towns and cities, in the land.

The Promise of a Remnant

Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, And it will again be subject to burning, Like a terebinth or an oak, Whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump (6:13).

Verse 13 refers to a second judgment and magnifies the extent of the ruin. From the destruction and exile of verses 11–12 only a tenth will remain. Yet that remnant will itself be purged. The text says “it will again be subject to burning.” This tenth which survives the exile is compared to an oak or terebinth tree. The tree will be cut down so that only the stump remains. Yet in the last words of the verse the tone switches to an optimistic note, for from this stump comes the irreducible remnant which Isaiah indicates will be left when he names his son Shear-jashub (a remnant will return) in chapter 7. Skinner indicates that the usual interpretation of 6:13b, which there is no reason to abandon, is as follows:

As the terebinth and oak when cut down retain the principle of vitality in their roots, which will again spring up into a great tree (cf. Job xiv. 7ff.), so the ruined Israel contains the indestructible germ of the future kingdom of God, the “holy seed” is wrapped up in it. [25]

Conclusion

The preaching of Isaiah in Isaiah, chapter six calls us to remember a solemn and important message of Scripture. The God of grace and mercy is also a God of judgment. Even though God is longsuffering and a God of love, His love and patience cannot be assumed presumptuously. There will come a day when He will come and deal out “retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thes. 1:8–9). The day of grace will end and there will be no more opportunity for salvation for those who have rejected the Lord Jesus.

Isaiah, chapter six teaches us that even in this age the day of grace may come to an end for certain individuals. That happened to Israel in Isaiah’s day and to many of the individuals in it. Because of their sin which is presented in the first five chapters, they are judged by God. God “gave them up.” He cut them off from further light. The effect of this was to confirm them in their sin, and therefore confirm them in their lost estate.

Are we offended by this? We should only be offended if we are offended by the fact that God is a God who judges sin. This has nothing to do with innocent people being kept from salvation. “We may safely say at once that God never harden [sic] hearts that would otherwise be soft, and that owe their hardness to His interposition. He does not blind the eyes of those that would fain see, and apart from His interposition, would see.” [26] Rather this hardening is the outworking of the message of Proverbs 29:1, “He, that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” God will not forever offer the pearls of His grace and salvation to those spiritual swine who continually trample them in the dust.

This is a solemn warning for all who are outside of Christ to take heed and to come to Him in faith. But it is never meant to be a message of despair to any lost sinner who desires salvation and would like to come to the Savior. There is no sin which is too great for the grace of God, and anyone who wants salvation can rest in the promise that “the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out” (John 6:37). Those who are hardened by God are simply confirmed in their own sinful thoughts and desires. They are already rebellious and hostile to God. The judgment of God means that they will continue this way.

This message is also a message that grace really is grace. God is under no obligation to forgive all sinners. Nor is He obligated to offer salvation to everyone forever. When He judges sin, He is still perfectly just and righteous. Isaiah, chapter six is a message that the judgment of God is not only in the future, it may also be now.

Notes

1. Jack Fish is a faculty member at Emmaus Bible College and the editor of The Emmaus Journal.
2. Some have suggested that its place in chapter 6 rather than in chapter 1 is accidental. They say it originally began a collection of oracles which circulated separately and which concerned Isaiah’s experiences relating to the Syro-Ephraimitic war (Isa. 6:1–8:18). This would mean that chapter 6 has no real connection with the previous context. There is of course no evidence for this view. It has also been suggested that this is a renewal of his prophetic call or a recommission after a number of years in his ministry. This supposition is nowhere supported in the chapter and is derived from the erroneous assumption that the book is chronologically arranged. The normal reading of this chapter gives the impression that it describes Isaiah’s first vision and his inauguration into the prophetic ministry (J. Skinner, The Book of the Prophet Isaiah, Chapters I-XXXIX, CBSC [Cambridge: At the University Press, 1897], 42). John D. W. Watts, however, questions this, The Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 24, Isaiah 1–33 (Waco: Word Books, 1985), 70.
3. Cf. Edward J. Young, The Book of Isaiah, 3 vols. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965–1969), 1:91.
4. Young, The Book of Isaiah, 1:238.
5. George Buchanan Gray, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Isaiah, I-XXVII, ICC (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1912), 104.
6. Young, The Book of Isaiah, 1:242.
7. Skinner, The Book of the Prophet Isaiah, 45.
8. H. C. Leupold, Exposition of Isaiah, 2 vols. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1968), 1:131.
9. H. C. Leupold, Exposition of Isaiah, 1:132–133.
10. Young, The Book of Isaiah, 1:247.
11. H. A. Ironside, Expository Notes on the Prophet Isaiah (New York: Loizeaux Brothers, 1952), 39.
12. Young, The Book of Isaiah, 1:251.
13. The plural in לָנוּ, lānû, “for us,” imay be explained as inclusive of the seraphim and other heavenly attendants who are graciously allowed to manifest their interest in the divine call (Leupold, 136), or else it is a foreshadowing of the plurality of persons in the Trinity (Joseph Addison Alexander, Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah, 2 vols. in 1 [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1953 {= 1846–47}], 1:151; Young, The Book of Isaiah, 1:234).
14. William Kelly, An Exposition of the Book of Isaiah, 4th ed. (London: C. A. Hammond, 1947 [= 1896]), 117.
15. Gray, ICC, 109.
16. Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar, ed. E. Kautzsch, trans. and rev. A. E. Cowley, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910), § 113r.
17. Bruce K. Waltke and M. O’Connor, An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax (Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 1990), 586.
18. Leupold, Exposition of Isaiah, 1:139.
19. Motyer points out that in 28:9–10 the criticism leveled against Isaiah is that he taught with such simplicity and clarity that the sophisticates of his day scorned him as fit ony to conduct a kindergarten. “Isaiah did not understand his commission as one to blind people by obscurity of expression or complexity of message. He, in fact, faced the preacher’s dilemma: if hearers are resistant to the truth, the only recourse is to tell them the truth yet again, more clearly than before. But to do this is to expose them to the risk of rejecting the truth yet again and, therefore, of increased hardness of heart.” J. Alec Motyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1993), 79.
20. Alexander, Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah, 1:153.
21. Young, The Book of Isaiah, 1:259.
22. Alexander, Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah, 1:152.
23. Young, The Book of Isaiah, 1:258–259.
24. Leupold, Exposition of Isaiah, 1:140.
25. Skinner, CBSC, 48.
26. F. C. Jennings, Studies in Isaiah (Neptune, New Jersey: Loizeaux Brothers, 1935), 68.