הקדשה or New Mission?

This week we broke down the main points of פרק ו and interpreted each event based on it being Yishayahu's הקדשה, the first interaction with G-d, or it being his new mission. The first event in the perek was the death of Uziahu. The possibility of this being a הקדשה stemmed from his sin of bringing the Ketoret without being a Cohen. He spiritually died in this instance, but still physically lived for many more years. This could also be Yishayahu's new mission because Uziahu could have physically died. Shortly after Uziahu's death, we find Hashem sitting on a throne with smoke rising all through the palace. Here, Hashem is showing us that because Uziahu thought he was immortal, he died, but Hashem is still living because he is all powerful and immortal.

The next major הקדשה we witness is Yishayahu admitting he is a man of unclean lips. This could be showing Yishayahu's fear of Hashem. He knows he is sinning and doesn't think he is worthy to become a prophet. If we look at this as Yishayahu's new mission, the Navi suggests that he needs to go through a purification process to clean him of his sins. We also look at this as a mashal for all the people being impure. The purification process that he is put through is painful. A piece of hot coal is touched to his lips to remove his, and only HIS sins. This is a הקדשה that prepares him for his new mission. This is conveying to Yishayahu that the only thing left that he can do is use punishment to get rid of the sins.

The last הקדשה we learn about in פרק ו is the message that Hashem is trying to convey to Yishayahu, and more importantly, the message Yishayahu will convey to the people. The message basically is that the people are hearing, but not listening; they are not processing anything they are being told. This is when we find out the real purpose of Yishayahu's new mission. He MUST convey this final message to the people. He then asked Hashem how long the punishment would last, and He says until 1/10 of everything and everyone remain. We are told here that Hashem really wants TOTAL destruction. The people have been so bad that the only thing left to do is punish.

Through all of these mashals and nimshals we learn the real purpose of each mission. If this is Yishayahu's first mission then, he has to convince the people that they are doing wrong and they need to fix their actions. But, if this is his second mission then the concept of Teshuva has changed from national to individual. Hashem told Yishayahu that the punishment will not stop until there is a 1/10 remnant left in the land. That 1/10 could be the people who tried to do Teshuva when they were told, or even didn't do bad in the first place. We are going to depend on them to build the nation back up in the future.