I had always vaguely known about Isaiah’s commission before God, but I merely viewed Isaiah 6 as another recurrent, un-relatable biblical occurrence where God reveals himself to His people.
UWCCF Winter 2017 Retreat was the first time I had heard a sermon preached about Isaiah 6 and it profoundly changed the way I viewed my relationship with God. The speaker did an excellent job breaking down the passage and putting it into context. For a moment, I felt like I was Isaiah in the midst of God’s throne room, basking in the splendour of the great “I AM”’s unfathomable holiness and perfection.
I strongly believe that taking the time to identify with Isaiah in his short encounter with God can teach us so much about the character of God and His call for our lives. My goal with this post is to not only describe my key learnings and my personal reflections on the passage since then, but to also help facilitate your own personal identification with Isaiah as he came to terms with the holiness of God.
1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
In the year following King Uzziah’s death, Isaiah has a vision of God. He sees the Lord in all of His splendour and majesty “high and lifted up”. Even His robe fills the entire temple. Above God flew these 6 winged angelic beings called seraphim. God is so Holy that the angelic beings that were created to surround and be directly subservient to Him could not fully exist in His presence.
Covering their feet is also very reminiscent to Moses taking off his sandals before the burning bush in Exodus 3. Everywhere in God’s presence was holy ground so the Seraphim needed to protect their feet. They had to cover themselves otherwise the complete holiness of God’s presence would have absolutely destroyed them.
3 And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
The word holy (קדוש) in Hebrew loosely means “set apart” or “set aside”. We use this term to refer to God because he is so set apart from our human condition. God is completely separate and transcendent from His creation (at the same time Christians claim that God is always with us, but we’ll save that for some other time). Sin cannot exist in the presence of God because he is so holy.
In the Jewish context, repetition was used as a form of emphasis. It is the only adjective repeated 3 times used in the entire Bible to describe God. The fact that it was used 3 times in this instance goes to show how much the writers wanted to get across the idea of God’s inconceivable holiness. I am certain that if the writers wanted us to take away anything from this chapter about God’s character, it would be that God isn’t just holy, but is holy, holy holy.
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
The entrance of heaven itself (threshold) literally shook at the sound of their voices. Heaven was shaking because the angels were praising God so vigorously.
God’s incredible perfection and holiness causes us to instantly see the fault in ourselves. Just like how when you shine a light at an object out of the darkness, you are instantly able to see the full nature of things (ex. colour, form, blemishes). At the sight of God’s holiness, Isaiah instantly recognizes the depravity of his existence and seeks repentance. Sin cannot exist in the presence of an all perfect God and I think it is likely that Isaiah would have been incinerated by the prolonged exposure to the presence of God had he not been forgiven.
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
After taking one of the burning coals and having his lips be merely touched by one of them, Isaiah’s sins are instantly forgiven and he is made right before the living God of the universe. This passage reveals another element God’s character which is His incredible grace and mercy. Isaiah is a sinner just like you and me totally deserving of God’s wrath and judgement, yet God grants him complete forgiveness of sins. Not only does He not destroy him, but God completely purifies him of any fault.
8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”
God’s invitation to have Isaiah join Him in His good work that He has prepared for him is met with an incredibly eager response from Isaiah. This too should be our response to God’s call in our own lives. When we see the King and come to a greater understanding of his unfathomable holiness and grace, it should compel us to serve Him wholeheartedly. Nothing else should please us more in this life than serving the King and his ultimate purpose for our life.
9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10 Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
11 Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste,
12 and the Lord removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13 And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.” The holy seed is its stump.
Interestingly, God tells Isaiah to go out and continue preaching to the people and warning Israel of their sinful ways, even though it will have the paradoxical effect of hardening their hearts more.
I think this final section of Isaiah reveals to me two things. For one I am reminded again in the same chapter of the incredible mercy that God has towards the Israelites. Though they continue to rebel against God and ignore Isaiah’s warnings, God will preserve the lineage of the Israelites through the remnant people that have remained faithful to Him.
Secondly, I think this final section of the passage draws similar parallels to the trials we will encounter in our own lives. I think if I were Isaiah, I would be pretty discouraged that this was the grandiose plan that God had for my life, that I was to continue preaching to a people that would not listen to all the warnings and prophesies I had to make. Sometimes God might lead us down a path that seems futile and pointless at the time, but in reality He is using it to carry out part of His greater master plan.
I hope that I have helped illuminate this passage a bit more for you and that you would not only desire to worship/view God with greater reverence and awe at His immense holiness, but also through prayer and the reading of His Word, earnestly seek out the good works that He has prepared for you.
