Crisis of Leadership

Lesson 2
Memory Text: Isaiah 6:1

SABBATH: No great movement on earth took place without a leader. Leadership crisis often leads to a fall. Confucius taught that a good government is made up of 3 things; sufficient food, sufficient weapons, & confidence of the common people. He added that confidence of the common people is most essential for it builds trust. To him, one is lost when he can’t trust his leaders. Judah also faced crisis of leadership & reaped sad results.

SUNDAY: Uzziah as a king was a pillar in Judah. For many years, God through him had prospered the nation & conquered enemies. Yet, he marred his long years of service with sin & was leprous till death. Uzziah unlike Isaiah sought for holiness on presumption (Isaiah 6:1; 5-7; 2 Chron. 26). Judah also became leprous in terms of morals. Uzziah’s death led to crisis in Judah, but God was still in control.

MONDAY: In the same year that king Uzziah died, Isaiah saw God on His throne. Thus, hope was given to the prophet. Unlike the mortal & sinful Uzziah, God, immortal & sinless, was at the helm of affairs (Isa. 6:1-4; Exod. 25:8; 40:34-38). How God revealed Himself to Isaiah was as He did to Ezekiel, Daniel, & John who were in exile & needed hope, to stay faithful (Ezek. 1; Dan. 7:9, 10; Rev. 4, 5, PP, p. 307).

TUESDAY: In similitude to the Day of Atonement, God showed Himself to Isaiah. But this time, Isaiah was not a high priest & was not burning incense to prevent death. Coming close to God, He saw his sinfulness (Isa. 6:5-7; Lev. 16:2, 12, 13, 21; Exod. 33:20; Judg. 6:22, 23). The prophet saw that with His strength alone, He cannot fulfill His calling. Isaiah responded to God’s call & He was purged (PK, p. 308, Isa. 6:6, 7).

WEDNESDAY: By anointing his lips, the angel made Isaiah ready to go out to speak to the nation (Isa. 6:8). Thus, Isaiah was like an NT apostle who was on a “royal commission”. Though we don’t know when Isaiah received His call (Jer. 1:4-10; Ezek. 1-3), a prophet can still have a holy encounter (Moses; Exod. 34; Elijah; 1 Kings 19). God also encouraged Isaiah (Ps. 73:17, Heb. 4:14-16; 10:19-23, Rom. 5, Rev. 5:6).

THURSDAY: In every age, God has sent our prophets & messengers to draw men’s hearts to Himself. He desire for all to be saved (2 Pet. 3:9). The rebellious would be left without an excuse (Ezek. 2:5). God bid Isaiah to make an appeal to Judah (Isa. 6:9-13, Matt. 13:13-15). Some still cherished their sins. God’s appeal was then a message that hardened their hearts (see Exod. 4:21; 8:15, 32; 9:34).

FRIDAY: Sin has the affinity to spread even to the righteous. The faithful few in Judah were tempted to lose hope in God. It seemed that God’s plans for Israel would fail & the sinful nation shall have the same fate as Sodom & Gomorrah. Isaiah seeing the hard hearts of the people tried to avoid the duty of warning idolatrous Judah as God desired. Yet, God would rule the earth & not the gods of Nineveh.

—Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, pp. 306, 307.

Keywords

NT- New Testament

PK- Prophets and Kings

PP- Patriarchs and Prophets

Captions

SUNDAY- The King Is Dead. Long Live The King!
MONDAY- “holy, Holy, Holy” (isa. 6:1-4)
TUESDAY- New Personality (isa. 6:5-7)
WEDNESDAY- Royal Commission (isa. 6:8)
THURSDAY- Appalling Appeal (isa. 6:9-13).

Discussion Questions

📌 If a skeptic or an atheist were to challenge you with the question, “How can you show that your God is in charge?” what would you answer?

📌 If God is in charge, why do innocent people suffer? Does Isaiah 1:19, 20 mean that in the present life only good things are supposed to happen to God’s faithful people and only bad things happen to those who rebel? (Compare with Job 1, 2, Psalm 37, Psalm 73.) Can we reconcile our understanding of God’s character with the bad that happens to people? Do we need to?

📌 In Isaiah 6, why are there so many connections to the Day of Atonement? Consider the fact that on this yearly judgment day God purified His people by cleansing sin from loyal ones (Lev. 16:30) and purging out the disloyal (Lev. 23:29, 30).

Entire Lesson Summary

At a time of insecurity, when the weakness of human leadership was painfully obvious, Isaiah was given a grand vision of the supreme Leader of the universe. Petrified by inadequacy but purified and empowered by mercy, Isaiah was ready to go forth as God’s ambassador into a hostile world.

For January 2-8. Happy Sabbath.

—Michael Adarkwah Agyemang

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