Holy, Holy, Holy: Glorious Visions of an Awesome God

Jerusalem, c. 742 BC

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. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

- Isaiah 6:1-8 

So wrote the prophet Yesha'yahu (who we know as Isaiah), recalling his vision, likely in the temple in Jerusalem. His words would have a profound impact down through the centuries.

Patmos, Greece, latter half of the First Century AD

As he sat in prison on the Greek island of Patmos, Yochanan bar-Zebadya had a lot of time to reflect on his long and eventful life. He and his brother Yacov had followed a dynamic rabbi named Yeshua who had turned their lives around, calling them from a life of fishing into one of spreading a revolutionary new message that the Kingdom of God was at hand, and the promised Messiah had come. Three years later, he stood before the cross of his beloved rabbi, who entrusted His mother into Yochanan's care. Three days after that, he got the shock of his life when he was told that Yeshua's grave was empty! He and his friend Shimon "Petros" bar-Yonah rushed to the tomb and found it empty. Yochanan believed a miracle had happened.

As the years passed, he witnessed Yeshua (who we know as Jesus) return to life and ascend into heaven. His brother Yacov (James) was beheaded for his faith. According to tradition, his friend Petros (Peter) was crucified upside-down. Tradition states that Yochanan (John) was the only one of Yeshua's disciples who would die of natural causes. Jerusalem fell to Rome in AD 70, just as Yeshua had predicted. Nine years later, Mt. Vesuvius erupted, burying the Roman cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum and others in lava and ash and causing massive loss of life. (The date of his imprisonment is disputed, but if it was in the AD 90s as tradition states, it would have been after these events.)

Now, in prison on Patmos, Yochanan received a vision from God with a charge to write down what he saw and send it to seven churches. God had an individual message for each church, and prophecies about what was to come. The book of Revelation is the result. As he stood in God's throne room in his vision, he recalled:

After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirit of God. Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:

“‘Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,’
who was, and is, and is to come.”

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”

- Revelation 4 

Hodnet, England, early 1820s

Portrait of Reginald Heber
Painting by Thomas Phillips
Oil on canvas
c. 1822, British Library

Reginald Heber was Anglican vicar of Hodnet in Shropshire, England. An accomplished poet and man of God, he set out to write hymns based on dates in the Church calendar. His most well-known hymn was written for Trinity Sunday, 8 Sundays after Easter and the Sunday following Ascension Sunday. (This year it falls today, June 4.) Recalling the visions of Isaiah and John, he set out to write about the mystery of the triune (three in one) God, also known as the Trinity. He wrote:

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty!

Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee...

Holy, Holy, Holy, Merciful and Mighty!

God in Three Persons, Blessed Trinity!...

Holy, Holy, Holy! All thy Saints adore Thee,

Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea.

Cherubim and seraphim, falling down before Thee,

Which wert, and art, and ever art to be!

Holy, Holy, Holy! Those the darkness hide Thee,

Though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see,

Only Thou art Holy, there is none beside Thee;

Perfect in Power, in Love, and Purity! —

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty! —

All thy works shall praise thy name in earth & sky & sea.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Merciful and Mighty!

God in Three Persons, Blessed Trinity! —

Heber would later be called to minister in Calcutta, India, where he would spend the rest of his life. He passed away of heat stroke in 1826. His hymns were published shortly after his death. The above is typed based on his manuscript.

Over the years, his lyrics have largely remained intact, though the last line of the second verse has changed from "ever art to be" to "evermore shalt be."

Years later, one John Bacchus Dykes would compose a tune he named "Nicaea," which he wrote to set Heber's lyrics to music. Along with his submission for the first edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861), Dykes wrote:

I am sorry that I knew nothing of the musical arrangement of the work till just now. I should have felt so happy if I could have, either in the way of suggestion, or otherwise, rendered any little aid whatever to the musical committee. I understand that you are now in an advanced state of progress. However, I just send up these slight contributions, in case they may be of any service. The “Dies Irae” has given me much anxious thought. … The other tunes I have at different times written, finding myself unable to discover suitable music for the hymns. Some of them are sung in the Galilee of Durham Cathedral and are very popular.

This is one of my favorite hymns. It is deeply meaningful, and I sometimes get chills thinking of Isaiah, John and others who were given visions of standing before God's throne, praising Him, casting down their crowns. The song mentions angels (cherubim and seraphim), but John and Isaiah (and others) were there as humans, observing and interacting. In both visions mentioned above, John and Isaiah received a charge to spread the word of what they had seen. John was assigned 7 specific churches to tell. Isaiah volunteered to go tell the news. Reading about these visions, and singing about them, I can imagine myself standing in God's throne room, in awe, though I'm certain my imagination doesn't come close to the awesome reality of the glory. Someday I look forward to being there along with my dad, my grandparents, so many friends and relatives I have lost, as well as the heroes we read about in the Bible and down through the ages. All of us bowing before our Creator and shouting, "Holy! Holy! Holy!"

https://songsandhymns.org/hymns/detail/holy-holy-holy

https://www.hymnologyarchive.com/holy-holy-holy (This includes Heber's manuscript and Dykes' submission for the hymnal.)

https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-holy-holy-holy-lord-god-almighty

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Heber

Waiting for an Announcer and a Savior

All through the Old Testament, prophets kept repeating how something big was coming. A man would someday be born who would change everything, and another man would prepare everyone for Him.

It all started in a garden. Satan used a snake to tempt Adam and Eve to do the one thing God had told them not to do. When God confronted them about it, He gave them punishments. One thing He said to the snake is important to what we are going to learn today.

Genesis 3:15

And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
    and you will strike his heel.

Hundreds of years later, Jacob lay on a bed in Egypt with his sons gathered around him. He was about to die, and as was custom before dying, he gave a blessing to each of his sons. He had something interesting to say to his son Judah.

Genesis 49:10

The scepter will not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he to whom it belongs shall come
    and the obedience of the nations shall be his.

More centuries passed. King Saul reigned over Israel, and when he died, David took his place. David ruled for many years, and Solomon became King after he died. After Solomon’s death, the tribe of Judah and a couple other tribes couldn’t agree with the rest of Israel who should be the next King, and the nation of Israel split into two. David’s dynasty continued in the nation of Judah. During the reigns of four Kings of Judah (Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah), God sent a prophet named Isaiah. He prophesied so much that it filled up a whole book! He had some interesting things to say about what was to come!

Isaiah 7:14

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Emmanuel.

 Isaiah 9:6-7

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. 

Isaiah 40:3

A voice of one calling:

“In the wilderness prepare
    the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
    a highway for our God.

At the same time as Isaiah, God sent another prophet named Micah. He had this to say:

Micah 5:2

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
    one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
    from ancient times.”

More years passed. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led an attack on Jerusalem, defeating King Jehoiakim and taking many people from the kingdom of Judah away to Babylon. Among those was a prophet named Daniel, and he served several Kings of Babylon. The angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel in dreams, and gave him some messages to tell Israel a lot of stuff about the promised Savior, such as when He would come. A few kings after Nebuchadnezzar, Darius was King of Babylon, Daniel was still alive, and God sent the prophet Zechariah with some more things to say, such as this:

Zechariah 9:9

Rejoice greatly, Daughter of Zion!
    Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
    righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

I expect we’ll learn about when that prophecy came true in a couple months.

Sometime after that, a guy named Malachi came along and prophesied this:

Malachi 3:1

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

The prophets talked about two men who would come. One would tell about the guy who was coming, and the other one would be the one he was talking about.

Israel and their ancestors went through a lot. Adam and Eve got thrown out of a garden paradise. Noah built a boat to save mankind and animals. Abraham went on an epic journey from Ur to Canaan. God saved Jacob (Israel) and his sons from a horrible famine by making Joseph a ruler in Egypt. They then endured 400 years of slavery, and 40 years of wandering before they finally got to return to their homeland. They had judges and kings. The Assyrians took the nation of Israel captive, and the Babylonians took the nation of Judah captive. Judah got to go home after 70 years of captivity, but it was never the same. After the time of the prophets, there were 400 years that aren’t mentioned in the Bible. Other books tell about how during that time they were ruled by an empire that didn’t let them worship God, and they did bad things to the temple. A family named the Maccabees led the charge against their oppressors and defeated them. Then they had to purify the temple. The Jews still celebrate the purification of the temple. In fact, they just celebrated it last week! It’s called Hanukkah.

So it was that about a century and a half after the first Hanukkah, a priest named Zechariah and his wife really wanted a child. They were getting on in age, and he and Elizabeth kept praying and praying for a kid. Zechariah was alone in the temple one day, burning incense like he often did to worship God. Suddenly, he was surprised to notice someone next to the altar right near him! It was an angel, and he could tell that Zechariah was a bit scared. So the angel said, “It’s OK, Zechariah. Don’t be scared. God has heard your prayers, and Elizabeth will have a son. Name him John. He will bring lots of joy, and the Holy Spirit will fill him even before he’s born! But be careful. He must never drink alcohol. He will lead many people to God, and he will prepare the way for the Lord.”

Zechariah was a bit skeptical. “How can I be sure?” he said. “We’re too old to have kids.”

The angel replied, “I’m Gabriel. God sent me, and since you didn’t believe me, guess what! You won’t be able to talk until what I said happens.”

So Elizabeth got pregnant, and Zechariah couldn’t say a word. Literally. He couldn’t talk.

Six months later, Gabriel showed up again, this time to a girl in Nazareth. Her name was Mary, and she was engaged to a guy named Joseph. Imagine her surprise when she looked up and saw an angel! He said, “Hey, favored one! God is with you!”

Mary had never seen anything like this, and she didn’t know what to make of it. But she was pretty scared too. So once again, Gabriel had to tell her not to be scared. He explained, “You’ll have a child, and you need to name him Jesus. He’ll be great, and he’ll be the son of the Most High God. He will sit on the throne of his ancestor David, and he will rule over Jacob’s descendants forever.”

“Wait, hold on,” Mary said. “How is that possible? I’m a virgin! It’s impossible for me to get pregnant yet!”

So Gabriel said, “The Holy Spirit will come on you. The boy who is born will be holy, and he will be the Son of God. Even your relative Elizabeth is pregnant, and she’s an old lady! In fact, she’s been pregnant for six months now. Nothing that God says will ever fail.”

“OK,” said Mary. “Let it happen.” So Gabriel left.

Elizabeth’s pregnancy was probably news to Mary, and she decided to go visit her relatives in Judea. Mary was still a ways off when she saw Elizabeth and called to her. Just as God had promised Zechariah, the Holy Spirit came on the baby in Elizabeth’s tummy. Little baby John couldn’t contain his joy, and he jumped in excitement! Elizabeth called to her young relative, “Hey, Mary! You are blessed among women, and the child you’re gonna have is blessed! What an honor to have the mother of my Lord come visit! As soon as I heard you call, the baby in my tummy jumped for joy! You are blessed for believing that God will fulfill His promises to you!”

So Mary said, “My soul glorifies God my Savior. He’s seen little ol’ me, His servant, and from now on, people will call me blessed. He’s done amazing things and brought down strong rulers, but He’s lifted up the humble. He fed the hungry but sent the rich away emptyhanded. Just as He promised Abraham and all our ancestors, He has helped Israel.” Mary stayed with Elizabeth and Zechariah for three months and then went home.

Pretty soon, the day came, and Elizabeth gave birth. Eight days later, it was time to name the baby. The priests almost named the boy after his dad Zechariah, but Elizabeth said, “Wait a minute! His name will be John!”

Now everyone was confused. It was normal to name a child after a relative. They didn’t have any relatives named John. So they decided to get a second opinion. They asked Zechariah, who still couldn’t talk. He asked for a writing tablet, and then he wrote on it: “His name is John.” As soon as he finished writing, he discovered he could talk again! So they named him John, and the news began to spread.

Then Zechariah prophesied: “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel! He has come and redeemed them! Just as He promised through the prophets, he has raised up salvation in the house of His servant David, to save us from our enemies and show mercy to our ancestors. He promised Abraham that He would rescue us from our enemies and would make sure we could serve Him without fear and in holiness for all our lives. You, my son, will be a prophet, and you will prepare the way for the Lord. You’ll tell people about how God will save them and forgive their sins because of His mercy. The light of God’s mercy will be like the sun shining on people who were in darkness, and it will help us to walk in peace.”

Mary, meanwhile, was still pregnant. But that’s another story for another Sunday. John grew up and lived in the wilderness until he started to appear publicly.

Just as God promised the snake in the Garden of Eden, Jesus came along and crushed Satan’s head, but not before Satan struck Jesus’ heel. More about that at Easter time. Just as God promised Isaiah, a child was born of a virgin, and He was a wonderful counselor, everlasting Father, Mighty God, Prince of Peace. As God promised Isaiah and Malachi, John called from the wilderness, preparing the world for his relative Jesus. Just as God promised Micah, Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. As God promised the prophet Zechariah (not John’s father), Jesus would one day ride into Jerusalem on a colt. As God promised through Gabriel, Jesus was born just when Daniel said He would be born, the priest Zechariah’s wife Elizabeth gave birth to a child in her old age, and a young virgin gave birth to a healthy baby boy who would save the world.

Jesus Rejected in Nazareth

This morning's Sunday school lesson:


Jesus was very young when He moved from Egypt back to Israel with His parents. In the years that followed, Mary and Joseph had other children, and the growing family lived in Nazareth. Joseph was a carpenter, and he taught his trade to Jesus.

When Jesus grew up, He was baptized, and then He wandered for 40 days without eating, just praying and wandering. Near the end of this time, Satan noticed that Jesus was really super hungry and decided it was time for some mischief. He told Jesus, “If you’re really God’s Son, turn this rock into bread!” But Jesus quoted scripture: “Man does not live by bread alone.” Then Satan took Jesus to a high place and showed Him all the riches and kingdoms of the world. He said, “If you worship me, I’ll give you all this.” But Jesus quoted scripture again: “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only!” This time, Satan decided two could play at this quoting-scripture thing. He took Jesus to the roof of the temple and said, “OK, then. If You’re really God’s Son, jump off! Scripture says that ‘He will command His angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” But once again, Jesus quoted scripture: “Scram! It also says, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test!’” So Satan left.

The Holy Spirit had come on Jesus when He was baptized, and He was still there after Jesus was done being tempted. He traveled throughout Galilee teaching in the synagogues (Jewish churches), and people started talking. Word was getting around that there was a great teacher who was helping people to understand what the scripture said. Word got back to Nazareth, and one day, Jesus decided to go home. That Saturday, He got up in church and read the words of Isaiah:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

Then He rolled up the scroll and sat down. Everyone was watching Him, so He kept talking. “Today, that scripture has been fulfilled!” The townspeople were surprised by what He said, and they wondered, “Wait a minute… Isn’t this Joseph’s boy?” They were impressed!

Jesus went on, “You’re probably going to say, ‘Doctor, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we’ve been hearing about you doing in Capernaum! But no. Prophets aren’t accepted in their hometowns. Remember what you learned about Elijah? There was a famine for three and a half years, and Israel had lots of widows. But God didn’t send Elijah to any of them. He sent him to a widow in the town of Zerephath, which wasn’t even in Israel. Then later, lots of people in Israel had leprosy, but God didn’t send the prophet Elisha to any of them. He sent the Syrian general Naaman to Elisha to be healed.”

This really got the Nazarenes steamed. “What do you mean? You won’t save us? You’ll save foreigners instead?!” But they missed the point. Jesus wanted to do miracles in Nazareth, but the people didn’t understand what the widow in Zerephath and Naaman understood. You have to believe. Those two foreigners from so many years earlier believed in God. Their lives were changed because they believed God could heal them. The Israelites in Jesus’ time thought the Messiah would only be for the Jews. But Jesus was saying that the Messiah was for everyone! They didn’t want to share their Messiah with anyone else.

Nazareth was built at the top of a hill. The Nazarenes were so furious with Jesus that they got up and chased Him out of the synagogue, out of town, and to the edge of a cliff so they could throw Him off! But when they got there, Jesus walked through the crowd and left. If the Nazarenes weren’t gonna listen, maybe people from other towns would.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

(a.k.a. Veni, Veni, Emmanuel)

Latin:


Latin and English:


Veni, veni, Emmanuel
Captivum solve Israel,
Qui gemit in exsilio,
Privatus Dei Filio.

Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel,
Nascetur pro te Israel!

Many have sung this Latin chant over the centuries. Though it is somewhat unclear when it was written, it either comes from the 8th Century Gregorian chants, or from the 15th Century Franciscan order of nuns, according to Wikipedia. In any case, it is traditionally sung during the Advent season, the four weeks leading up to Christmas. It wasn't until the 19th century that John Mason Neale and Henry Sloane Coffin translated it into English. It is a plea for Emmanuel, "God with us," to come and save us from our our bondage. Prophets such as Isaiah foretold of a Messiah who would be called Emmanuel, who would save Israel. Through the years, Israel went through bondage to Babylon and Assyria, and then later to Rome. The Jews longed for their promised Messiah to come. (Many Jews still do today.)

The first verse pleads with Emmanuel to come and ransom Israel, who is groaning in exile. The second verse asks for wisdom. The third verse asks the Lord to come, and it remembers the Law that He presented to Moses on Mt. Sinai with "majestic glory" (literal translation of the Latin). The fourth verse, from what I can tell, appears to be an appeal to God to use the shepherd's staff of Jesse (David's father) to catch the enemy (Satan and sin) and hurl him into the cavernous pit of hell. The fifth verse asks the metaphorical Key of David (Jesus was prophesied to be a descendant of David) to unlock the way to heaven and lock the way to hell. The sixth verse asks for comfort, and to get rid of the darkness of death. The last verse appeals to the King of the Nations and Redeemer of all (God) to come and save the people on earth who are slaves to sin.

Due to the challenges of translating a song into English, some of the ideas in the verses were lost or adjusted. The English lyrics must still fit in the tune and rhyme, so it is much more difficult to get a literal translation than, say, translating a book. One line I find interesting was the line Noctis depelle nebulas, Dirasque mortis tenebras in the sixth verse. The official English translation is "Disperse the gloomy clouds of night And death's dark shadow put to flight." The last two words, mortis tenebras, mean "death's darkness." Accordingly, the notes in the tune go down on the staff in the same way the meaning of the words goes downwards to the depths of dark death. So it's interesting that the English moves those words to earlier in the sentence and, with the notes going downward on the staff, has the words "put to flight."

Some of the prophecies that it mentions were fulfilled when Jesus came, "God with us", was born, lived, and gave His life as a ransom for the bondage that we had to sin. Jesus conquered death when He rose from the dead. Many Orthodox Jews who don't believe that Jesus was the Messiah are still waiting for Messiah to come and do this. However, some of the prophecies have not yet been fulfilled, and both Christians and Jews cry out for Christ to come and save us from our bondage. One day Jesus will return and conquer death once and for all. His sacrifice on the cross about 2000 years ago freed us who believe from sin, but as humans, we still suffer temptation and death. Someday that will be no more. Someday, Satan will be flung into the pit of hell where he can't torment and tempt us any more.

So with the Jews of old, I cry out to God:

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel