Before Isaiah’s life ended, he could have written another book with the title, The Steps to My Success as a Hebrew Prophet. For sure, it too would have been a bestseller.
Keep in mind, before he even took that first step, Isaiah had to have the power of God, and he did. In the vision given to him in the Temple, he saw the Lord.
Two of those steps consisted of Isaiah’s deep conviction which led to his going before the Lord confessing he was a sinner. He then took the next step of going before the Lord with a broken and repentant heart. Conviction and confession were precious to the God of Israel.
Before prophesying God’s message, Isaiah’s next step to success as a Hebrew Prophet was to be cleansed. That was accomplished in Isaiah 6:6-7.
“Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.'”
The next step for Isaiah, he was consecrated in order to be sent out. To be consecrated is a word we don’t often hear in a normal conversation. Here’s how Got Question’s website defines it:
“The separation of oneself from things that are unclean, especially anything that would contaminate one’s relationship with a perfect God. Consecration also carries the connotation of sanctification, holiness, or purity.”
And finally, the next and final step to Isaiah’s success as a Prophet was to be obedient to the commission God had for him. Simply put, he was to go. Look at Isaiah 6:8-9:
“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me.’ And he said, ‘Go, and say to this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.'”
If we are Disciples of Christ, those steps Isaiah took certainly apply to us today. We were convicted to confess our sins. We were cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. We were consecrated, which means we are set apart, we are sanctified for the work of the Great Commission. And, we are commissioned to go out into the world and make disciples.
Once again, there is nothing new under the sun. Isaiah, with the power and authority from an Almighty God, walked those 4 steps. We disciples and followers of Jesus have that same power and authority by way of the Holy Spirit. This is another proof of how perfectly God the Author weaves both the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament with the New. Amen.