Server Outage Notice: TheSeed.info is transfering to a new Server on Tuesday April 13th
| > Sermon Archive > Sermons by Author > Dr. Wes Bredenhof > Who can be priest king? | Previous Next Print |
| Order Of Worship (Liturgy) Hymn 3:1-3 Psalm 11 Psalm 29 Hymn 1 Hymn 38 Scripture reading: 2 Chronicles 26 Catechism lesson and text: Lord's Day 12 and Isaiah 6:1 (read verses 1-7) |
Beloved congregation of Christ,
Have you ever read too much into what someone else was saying? They didn’t mean to imply anything with their comment but for some reason you took it to mean more than what they intended. It sometimes happens with literature. People can overanalyze things. I remember studying a novel called The Great Gatsby in school. In the novel, there’s this green light on a dock. And one of the great debates about The Great Gatsby is whether this green light means anything. After all, sometimes a green light is just a green light. It might just be a realistic feature of the scene without any further meaning.
Sometimes that kind of thing happens when people read the Bible too. For example, when Jesus tells a parable, not every detail in a parable is meant to represent something. But there have been those who’ve taken them that way. Like in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, some have said that the Inn to which the Samaritan takes the wounded traveler is meant to represent the church. But sometimes an inn is just an inn.
When it comes to Isaiah 6:1, some have said that the reference to the death of King Uzziah is more or less just incidental. It’s just there to give us a time reference, to establish the historical nature of what happened. And yes, sometimes the giving of a date in Scripture is done for that purpose. Sometimes a date is just a date.
But I’m convinced that this isn’t true in this instance. There’s evidence here that the reference to King Uzziah’s death is quite important for the meaning of the passage. You see, Uzziah disqualified himself from being king by reaching for more. This passage is all about qualifications. These qualifications ultimately relate to the title of the Son of God found in Lord’s Day 12 of our Catechism. He is called Christ. Christ means ‘anointed’ and our English word is taken from the Greek. The Greek in turn translates the Hebrew word ‘Messiah.’ Messiah also means “anointed,” but it adds “by God.” The Son of God was anointed to be prophet, priest, and king. The focus of Isaiah 6:1 is on the last two of those offices and who can have them combined in one person. So our passage answers the question, Who can be a priest-king?
We’ll see that:
- Uzziah can’t
- Jesus can and is
- In Jesus you can and should
In the history of Israel’s kings, there were many low points, but there were also a few high points. Most of Uzziah’s reign was good. In 2 Chronicles 26 we read that he did what was right in God’s eyes. God blessed his reign. Uzziah was one of the best kings Judah had ever known.
And yet he had a tragic end to his reign. Second Chronicles 26:16 says, “But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction.” Pride comes before a fall, as it says elsewhere in Scripture. Somehow Uzziah got the idea into his head that he should go into the temple and make an incense offering there.
There were two major problems with this idea. One was that the altar of incense was in the holy place in the temple. You have to remember the design of the temple. There were concentric zones of holiness. There was an outer court where Israelites could bring their sacrifices for burnt offerings on the altar. That was the outer-most zone and Uzziah was certainly welcome to go there. In fact, it was required that he go there. The two inner-most zones were in the actual building of the temple. First, there was the Holy Place. Only Levitical priests were permitted to enter the Holy Place. Then there was the Most Holy Place, the inner sanctuary. That was where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. Only the High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place and only on the Day of Atonement. Uzziah’s idea involved him entering into the Holy Place – where only the priests were permitted. Then the other major problem was that only priests were permitted to make incense offerings on the golden altar of incense in the Holy Place. Of course, it makes sense that if only priests can go where that altar is, only priests can make that offering.
Now we also need to remember a few things here about the incense offerings and the altar of incense. As I mentioned, this altar was in the Holy Place. In fact, it stood right before the entrance to the Most Holy Place. Leviticus 16:18 even says that this was the altar which was “before the LORD.” Incense was offered there because it was near the mercy seat, God’s throne on top of the ark. When incense was burned, there would be a thick smoke, but the smoke wasn’t the key aspect of this offering. Instead, it was the smell. When this incense was burned, it smelled beautiful. This smell, offered by the priests, pleased God. The sweet-smell of the incense represented reconciliation between God and his people, restored fellowship. That’s why it was only supposed to be offered by the priests. Only the priests were responsible for the ministry of reconciliation. Reconciliation is what a priest is for.
So it was prideful and presumptuous for Uzziah to do what he did. The priests of God, led by Azariah, they followed him into the Holy Place and told him that what he’d done was wrong. Instead of being humble and repenting, he got his back up and became angry. Then 2 Chronicles 26 tells us he immediately developed leprosy on his forehead. It wasn’t on his arms or legs where it could be hidden, but on the most prominent part of his body, obvious to everyone. God struck him in that place with that disease. Because of that disease, he’d never be permitted to come anywhere near the temple again. Leprosy made him unclean. In fact, he would become an outcast from God’s people. He was no longer even able to carry out his reign as king and his son Jotham took over. And Uzziah was never healed from his leprosy to the day of his death.
God struck him down and humbled him because he wanted to be more than a king. He also wanted to do the work of the priests. It wasn’t enough for him to rule over God’s people, he also wanted to be a leader in their reconciliation with God through the priestly ministry. But God had been clear: only the Levites were to be priests. Only the priests were to come into the Holy Place to offer incense. But Uzziah thought he knew better than God. He thought he could be a priest-king, but then God not only denied him the priesthood, but effectively took away his kingship too.
In the year 740 BC, King Uzziah died. And in that same year, Isaiah saw a vision of the living heavenly King. This is what we call a theophany. A theophany is when God appears to someone in the Bible. Another example of a theophany would be how God reveals himself to Moses through the burning bush in Exodus 3. In the theophany here in our passage, Isaiah sees the Lord sitting upon a throne. Now I want you to notice something here. Look at the word ‘Lord.’ Do you notice that it’s not spelled with all capital letters like in verse 3 and in so many other places in the Bible? That tells us something. LORD in all capital letters in our English Bible translations is God’s personal name Yahweh. But Lord only with a capital ‘L’ at the beginning is the Hebrew word adonai. It means ‘the Lord,’ master, owner, but with a connotation of sovereign power. The use of this word is meant to deliberately contrast the dead king who had no power in life or death with the living heavenly King on his throne who has all the power and strength.
He was sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up. Again, we’re given the picture of a king, but the King most highly exalted and glorified. In the verses which follow Isaiah was confronted with the unsurpassed holiness of this King. The sight undoes him. It breaks him down. He’s afraid for his life because he’s never seen such majesty and he knows that no one can see God and live. How then can Isaiah see God and live? I’ll get to that in a minute.
For now, notice one more majestic detail in verse 1. It says, “…the train of his robe filled the temple.” I don’t know how many of you remember July 29, 1981. Many of you weren’t born yet. But for those of you who were around and old enough to remember, maybe you watched the Royal Wedding, Prince Charles marrying Lady Diana Spencer. It was a big deal. Many people will never forget watching her walk down the aisle at St. Paul’s Cathedral. She had the longest train in royal wedding history – it was 7.6 meters long. It conveyed a powerful sense of majesty. That’s what we’re also seeing here in Isaiah 6. This super-long train on the King’s robe is meant to impress you with his illustrious magnificence. There is no one like this heavenly King.
Then there’s that other important detail. The throne of this king – where is it located? This whole scene takes place in the temple. The King is not just in the Holy Place, he is in the Most Holy Place, on the throne. In the Old Testament temple, the throne of God was the mercy seat found in the inner sanctuary. This king is dwelling where only priests are permitted to enter, and even more, dwelling in the place where only the High Priest was allowed and only once per year. He is almighty King, but there’s also something about him that allows him to go where only the High Priest can go.
I said earlier that this is a theophany. But it’s more than that. It’s what we call a Christophany. A Christophany is when Christ appears to someone in the Old Testament. There are different passages where people say there’s a Christophany, but it’s hard to know for sure. For example, some say the Angel of the LORD who appears at various points in the Old Testament is a Christophany, an appearance of Christ before his incarnation. But in this instance, we don’t have to guess. The Bible tells us directly that Isaiah saw the Son of God, the one later given the name Jesus. In John 12, John first quotes from Isaiah 6:10. Then he says, “Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.” Isaiah saw Christ seated on the throne in the temple – he saw the great High Priest and King.
Now a few minutes ago, I mentioned that no one can see God and live. It’s true. No one can see God in his pure essence and survive that encounter with his holiness. So how did Isaiah manage to come away alive? Here we have to skip ahead to an important detail in verse 4, “the house was filled with smoke.” Isaiah’s vision of the pre-incarnate Son of God was obscured by this smoke. He was protected by this smoke. And remember again how Uzziah died trying to make smoke in the temple with the altar of incense. Here is the smoke provided by the priest-king that really does protect from death. The Son of God protects Isaiah from his holiness and that allows him to be in his presence and not die. It’s really quite amazing when you think about it.
What Uzziah wrongfully aspired to be, Christ rightfully is. As our Catechism puts it, he is our great King who rules over us by his Word and Spirit. With his power he protects us from the enemies who want to destroy us. And he is also our great High Priest. Uzziah could have nothing to do with making or representing reconciliation, but the great priest-king Jesus has everything to do with it. He’s rescued us and brought us near to God with the blood he shed on the cross. And now as our Great High Priest, he’s constantly on our side, constantly interceding for us. Not only does he carry out the offices of priest and king, he’s also our chief Prophet and Teacher. While it’s not in Isaiah 6:1, we do learn that from elsewhere in the Bible. It was predicted in Deuteronomy 18 and Acts 3:22 says that Christ fulfilled it. So Christ brings together in one person these three separate offices of the Old Testament. And he does it for our sakes, in relation to us and our salvation.
And now, when we’re in Christ by faith, we share in his three-fold office. If we bear the name of Christian, we’re also prophets, priests, and kings. Since our passage focuses on those last two, let’s briefly look at how in Christ we too can and should be priest-kings. After all, 1 Peter 2:9 says that Christians are a royal priesthood. We are priest-kings.
As priests, we’re called to make sacrifices. Not sacrifices of atonement, not sacrifices to represent or bring about reconciliation. No, we’re called to give sacrifices of thanksgiving to God. We’re called to offer up our lives in holy service to him. Like the priests did in the Old Testament and like Christ did perfectly, we’re called to worship God every day and with all our being. Worship isn’t just for Sundays. It’s for every day of the week. Worship isn’t just praying or saying or singing words of praise to God. Worship is also committing yourself, your whole life, to him.
Sometimes people will describe themselves as non-practicing Christians. But imagine telling someone that you’re a non-practicing vegetarian. You’re either a vegetarian or you’re not. You’re either a Christian or you’re not. And part of the practice of being a Christian is to be a priest. Every believer is to be a priest who offers sacrifices of thanksgiving and worship to God with their entire life.
As kings, we’re called to fight. Second Chronicles 26 tells us of how Uzziah was a successful king in this regard. He successfully made war against the Philistines, the Arabians, and Meunites. He had an army of over 300,000 men – huge for that time. And they had all the latest equipment. Uzziah was a mighty warrior-king. But there was one enemy he couldn’t defeat. Himself. His pride. His pride turned out to be his greatest enemy and his downfall.
If we’re in Christ by faith, we’re commissioned to fight like kings. That means fighting against sin in general. But pride is a particular sin many people struggle with. God calls us to fight against our pride, to slay it, to put it to death. James 4:6 famously reminds us of how “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Because God opposes the proud, we’re called to oppose our pride, to fight against it. As Romans 12:3 puts it, we’re not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, but to think with sober judgment. We should constantly remind ourselves that we’re sinners who need God’s grace every day. And we don’t have everything figured out and we never will. We’re just creatures who depend on God’s hand in our lives every day. Without God we’re nothing.
Do you know what an oxymoron is? It’s a contradiction in terms. An oxymoron is like dry water or an organized mess, or false truth. Well, a proud Christian is also an oxymoron. Scripture teaches us not only to be humble, but also to give all the glory to God. First Corinthians 1:31 says, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” That’s one important way we fight against our pride. We take Scripture seriously, ask God for the help of his Holy Spirit in putting it into practice, and then go forwards striving to do what God says. Our goal is to become less and less like Uzziah and more and more like King Jesus.
And doing that, we can be confident that we’ll someday reign with him eternally over all creatures. The Bible promises every Christian that there is a throne waiting in the new creation. Second Timothy 2:12 says, “…if we endure, we will also reign with him.” Fighting now and reigning later. First the struggle, then the glory. As it says in Acts 14, we enter the kingdom of God through many tribulations. But the glory of the kingdom is promised, it’s guaranteed. It’s been won for us by our great priest-king Jesus Christ. That gives us hope and motivates us to carry on with the good fight from day to day.
Loved ones, the amazing thing is that someday we will all see the glory of our great priest-king. We will be brought into his presence and we will see our beloved Jesus sitting on the throne. And unlike Isaiah, we’ll have no fear. Sin will be gone, so we won’t be afraid. Instead, we’ll be in awe and wonder, getting ready to spend eternity with the one Isaiah saw on the throne high and lifted up. We’ll be entering into an eternity of friendly communion with this highly exalted priest-king. It’s something to look forward to. As we do, let’s remember the calling we have today to live as those united to him. To live for his praise and glory right now already. AMEN.
PRAYER
Our Lord Jesus Christ,
You are our great priest-King. Your sacrifice has brought us peace and reconciliation. Your intercession each day gives us encouragement and joy. Your rule over our lives gives us comfort and strength. None of our enemies can destroy us because you are our King. We praise you, Lord, for being so unique and so awesome. Please help us with your Word and Spirit to be more in awe of you. Please help us too to live out our callings to be priests and kings. Help us each day with your Spirit to be committed to living a worshipful and thankful life for you. And please give us your strength to fight against our pride. We want to give you the glory now, but also every day.
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Dr. Wes Bredenhof, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
Please direct any comments to the Webmaster
