In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. – Isaiah 6:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (November 5, 2013): Isaiah 6

Albert Einstein once commented that “as far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.” It is a concept that I think we really need to be reminded about. So often I think we are in search of certainty and we seem to believe that the best place to search for certainty is in the physical sciences. We think that doctors are infallible and can cure everything; that scientists somehow deal with what is certain, and therefore that they deal with what is real. But the truth is that in every area of existence, what we are really dealing with is a level of uncertainty.

Isaiah’s opening words in this passage, in the year King Uzziah died, are more significant than we sometimes understand. King Uzziah had been a strong image throughout the past half century of Judah’s existence. The Bible evaluates the reign of King Uzziah with the word “good.” He rose to his position as King over all of Judah at the age of 16 and in all he reigned for 52 years. Through all of the changes that happened over the passage of time, the constant was that the people knew that the good King Uzziah was still ruling on the throne. It is true that in the last few years the king had been isolated because of leprosy, but the people knew that ultimately, even in his isolation, it was still Uzziah that was King in Jerusalem.

For Isaiah, there was an even more personal connection to the king. It is believed that Isaiah and Uzziah were most likely cousins. Because of Isaiah’s relationship with Uzziah, Isaiah had enjoyed total access to the ruling councils of the nation. But in the year King Uzziah died, it seemed that all of this was about to change. What once seemed to be a certainty, was not certain any longer. In this moment, both for the nation and for Isaiah, it was uncertainty that reigned.

While the opening phrase of this passage is significant, the next phrase may be even more significant - In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted. It might be that in this moment Isaiah realized two things. The first was that Isaiah and the nation were going to miss the good king. But the second thing Isaiah may have been realizing in this moment was that their confidence had been misplaced. There was no doubt Uzziah had been a good king, but the real consistency (and certainty) was only in the King that was high and exalted.

For Isaiah, what was needed in the year that king Uzziah died was a return to a faith, not in the physical things of this world, but a faith in the one who had created this world. Uzziah had led the nation well, but the future of the nation was held in the hands of Isaiah’s God. It always had been in his hands, but during the good years of King Uzziah, the nation had forgotten the source of their confidence. In the year that King Uzziah died, everything needed to change. There needed to be a re-evaluation in the where the nation had placed their faith – and a restoration of the nation’s faith in God.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 27