Day 160 - Isaiah 1-6

It was not with temerity and arrogance that the prophet promised his own conscience that he would go, but with fidelity, for his lips were cleansed and the iniquity of his sins washed away and purified. When the Lord had said to Moses, therefore, “Come, I will send you to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt,” [Exo 3:10.] he too responded with humility, not contempt, saying, “I beg you, Lord, to send another because I am not worthy,” or as we read in Hebrew, “Send him whom you were about to send,” [Exo 4:10-13.] for he who had been educated with all the wisdom of the Egyptians had heard nothing about the cleansing of his lips. Isaiah also offered himself for ministry by the grace of the Lord with which he was cleansed, not by his own merit. But others think that Isaiah offered himself because he thought that the message to be announced to the people was favorable, because he heard, “Go and say to this people: ‘You will hear with your ears and not understand, you will see and not recognize.’ ” [Isa 6:9.] Subsequently, therefore, when the voice of the Lord had said to him “Cry,” he did not cry immediately but inquired, “What shall I cry?” [Isa 40:6.] Jeremiah also, to whom it had been said, “Take this cup and make all the nations to whom I will send you drink from it,” [Jer 25:15.] willingly accepting the cup of punishments to give to the enemy nations that they would drink and vomit and fall, later heard, “Go and first make Jerusalem drink from it,” [Jer 25:17-18.] to which he replied, “You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived.” [Jer 20:7.] This observation pertains to the Hebrews, but we acknowledge that others were obedient, not impetuous, in offering themselves to be sent by the Lord—St Jerome