The Death of King Self

Isaiah 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."

In this turning point of Isaiah's life we see a progression of "NO, WOE, GO." Before this fateful day -- when the prophet saw the vision of the Lord "high and lifted up" -- he was what we would today consider a "good" Christian. However, in the year of King Uzziah's death, the paradigm of faith shifted in Isaiah's life forever. Uzziah will always be symbolic of rebellion, pride, and arrogance as he tried to act like a priest and God smote him with leprosy. This dreaded disease is a metaphor for sin and all its consequences. Isaiah deliberately tells us that he was diametrically changed in the year Uzziah died. Allegorically, it was the year of his death to what he thought a good follower of God should be.

Before the death of "king self" typified by Uzziah's death, he said, "No, not me Lord!" He was probably happy with his life as a well-educated priest. But now something changed. He saw the Lord high and lifted up in the subsequent verses of this chapter and said, "Woe is me!" seeing himself in the light of God's knowledge. Now, he became the prophet as God told him "Go" with total disregard for his own life and total concern for God's mission.

How many of us need to come to the "year of King Uzziah's death" in our lives? How many of us need to quit being "good" Christians and see our flesh for what it is, but then also see that God has made us the righteousness of Christ in God? Revelation of this sort can only result in a desire to go, say, and do whatever the Lord might lead.