Called to What?
Isaiah 6: 1 – 8 (9 – 13) Today, on our whirlwind pre-Advent tour of prophets of the Hebrew Bible, we are introduced to Isaiah. In the library of scripture, the book of Isaiah is among the “major” prophets along with Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel. It is a collection of writings that fall into three major parts. The first 39 chapters, sometimes referred to as “first Isaiah,” are credited to the tradition of Isaiah ben Amoz and reflect a period about 150 years before the Babylonian exile. Throughout this first part of the book of Isaiah, the prophet announces why things are going badly for Judah, how they will get worse, and how, once all of this falling apart happens, God might rebuild Judah for the better. Our reading for today comes from this first part of Isaiah, beginning with a time marker about the death of Uzziah. King Uzziah was a good king who reigned for about 50 years in Judah. After a long period of consistent leadership, it is likely that the people of Judah were uns