Lord of the Sumps

(my expository notes on the text are at the end of the document.)

Background: King Uzziah had a long reign. He was co-regent with his father from the age of 16. He reigned a total of 52 years. All his life, Isaiah had only known one king. It’s like people who grew up during FDR, they only knew one president.

Isaiah went to the temple, probably to mourn the death of king Uzziah. While he was at the temple, he had a great vision; he saw Yahweh!

“like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump.”

Living Bible: Israel will be like a tree cut down, whose stump still lives to grow again.”

Youngs Lit: As a teil-tree, and as an oak, that in falling, Have substance in them, The holy seed [is] its substance!’

I only cut down so that I can raise up something better.

God told Isaiah he would cut through the nation like an axe. He was fed up with the religious forgeries and fakes. But then, out of the stumps, he would bring forth new spiritual life.

Many people consider 29 Palms, “the stumps” to be a dead place. But it is actually a place where God brings people who have been cut down to give them fresh life.

I. Four things God consistently does in the stumps:

1. Saves Souls.

2. Brings back roots of their faith.

3. Renews Marriages.

4. Calls out Servants.

For many people, many Marines, the stumps is the place God called them to serve Him in a deeper capacity. Many have been called to ministry here. In fact, today, as I preach, many others are preaching in pulpits who were called at Palms Baptist.

II. Isaiah 6 is all about God’s Lordship.

When it says, “I saw the Lord” it is not the Divine name, but the name Adonai.

Adonai means “Lord.” (450x)

Adon: “lord” in the sense of an owner, master, or superior.

Adoni = is the plural of Adon and refers to God.

Examples of Adonai:

Psalm 8:9: O YHWH, our Adoni, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

Psalm 54:4:“Adonay (the Lord) is the provider for my life.

Psalm 62:12: “Mercy belongs to you, O Adonay. (Lord)”

Psalm 86:15: But You, O Adonay, are a compassionate and merciful God.

Psalm 114:7: Tremble, O earth, at the presence of Adoni, At the presence of the God of Jacob,

Psalm 147:5: Great is our Adoni, and mighty in power; is understanding is infinite.

Isaiah 9:14 So Adonay  himself will give you this sign: A virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and she will name him Immanuel [God Is With Us]. 

To say he is Lord is to say: He’s in charge. He is the commanding officer.

Clarifies life because it clarifies roles. His: Master. My: Servant.

III. Isaiah chapter 6 uses the title “Adonai” 3x.

1. He is Lord of (Isaiah 6:1)

2. He is Lord of all (Isaiah 6:2)

3. He is Lord of . (Isaiah 6:3)

4. He is Lord of (Isaiah 6:4-7)

5. He is Lord of (Isaiah 6:8-12)

6. He is Lord of (Isaiah 6:13)

IV. New Life Has to Have

V. First Steps in Lordship.

1. : A Posture of Humility before the Lord.

2. : Open eyes to see God’s Wonders.

3. : My response to anything God asks of me.

Pastor’s Notes:

• Isaiah 6:1: King Uzziah was dead, but the Lord was not dead.
• Compare: Isaiah 6:1 and Isaiah 6:13: The text opens with the death of King Uzziah. But ends with God raising up new life out of the stumps.
• Theme: Titled this: Lord of the Stumps. Here’s why: Isaiah’s king, Uzziah, been a good king (flawed) died. He had kept the nation stable. When his king died, Isaiah goes to temple. Vision. Sees God high, lifted up. God has a message to take to the nation: Who will go take God’s message to earth? Here’s the message: God is about to cut the nations down the stumps. He’s fed up with: False religion. Religious fakes. People pretending. God preach the real Gospel. They’ll reject it. Then I’ll cut them down to STUMPS. But then he says: When you cut a tree down, stump remains. I’m going to bring LIFE out of the stumps. (In the very place you think there is only death, actually: I’m going to bring life.)
• Isaiah 6:1: The longer the train of a gown, the more majestic the gown.
• Isaiah 6:2: Seraphim called, “The burning ones.” This is the only time these angels are mentioned in the Bible. They cover their face in reverence, because as created beings even they cannot look fully upon the glory of the Almighty. They cover there feet because the throne room of God is the ultimate Holy Ground. They fly above the throne with two wings, ready to go and carry out any command he gives.
• Isaiah 6:1-2: The text is communicating that heaven is intact, even in the face of King Uzziah’s death.
• Isaiah 6:3: The name of God used here is, “Yahweh Tsebaoth.” It means: The Lord of Armies. It communicates that he is the Supreme commander heaven.
• Isaiah 6:4: The temple shakes at the presence of God. During Uzziah’s reign there had been a huge earthquake (Amos 1:1.) This is a heavenquake.
• Isaiah 6:4: Smoke to be compared to Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:18)
• Isaiah 6:5: Isaiah knew what “woe” means. He had just pronounced six “woes” on the nation in Isaiah 5. Expressing “woe” in the presence of the almighty is the trauma of holiness. To see God truly as he is will traumatize us.
• Isaiah 6:6: The coal is taken off the altar, a symbol of sacrifice. In Hebrew thought, Jesus was sacrificed on the altar of God for our sins.
• Isaiah 6:9: Isaiah’s job is to preach God’s Word, not his own.
• Isaiah 6:9-11: Isaiah’s message would expose the hard heartedness of the nation. They might pretend to love and believe in God, but in reality they turned a deaf ear to His Word.
• Isaiah 6:13: The doctrine of the “remnant.” God always has a faithful few who hold true to Him even in dark days.
• Isaiah 6:13: The holy seed is its stump. The stump represents new beginning for God’s people.
• Isaiah 6 begins with death in the land. (Uzziah died.) It Ends with life coming up from cut down stumps.