*Isaiah 6:1-13
Isaiah 6 describes Isaiah’s calling as a prophet after a vision of God’s holiness and majesty.
- Vision of the Lord’s Glory:
- The passage begins with Isaiah recounting a vision he had in the year King Uzziah died, where he saw the Lord seated on a lofty throne, high and exalted.
- He describes the Lord’s appearance, with His robe filling the temple and seraphim hovering above Him, each with six wings, calling out “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.”
- Isaiah’s Response and Cleansing:
- Isaiah reacts with awe and fear at the sight of the Lord’s glory, feeling unworthy and acknowledging his own sinfulness and that of his people.
- One of the seraphim takes a live coal from the altar with tongs and touches Isaiah’s lips with it, symbolizing the purification of his sin and the forgiveness of his guilt.
- Commissioning of Isaiah:
- Upon being cleansed, Isaiah hears the voice of the Lord asking, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” to which Isaiah responds, “Here am I. Send me!”
- The Lord commissions Isaiah to go and speak to the people of Israel, warning them of impending judgment and exile due to their hardness of heart and refusal to listen.
- The Hardening of Hearts:
- Isaiah is given the daunting task of prophesying to a people whose hearts have become calloused and their ears dull of hearing, foretelling that they will not understand or respond to his message.
- He is instructed to continue prophesying until the land lies desolate and its cities are destroyed, with only a remnant left to carry on the message of hope.
- Promise of Restoration:
- Despite the coming judgment, Isaiah is given a glimmer of hope as he is told that a holy seed will remain in the land, indicating that God’s covenant promises will ultimately be fulfilled.
- The vision concludes with a declaration of the enduring nature of God’s sovereignty and the certainty of His plans, even in the face of human rebellion and disobedience.
Isaiah 6:1-13 teaches us that when we truly see God’s greatness, it changes us. Isaiah realized his own faults when he stood before God, but God cleansed him and gave him a mission. This reminds us that no matter our past, God can use us for His purposes. When we feel unworthy or unsure, we should trust that God gives us the strength we need. Like Isaiah, we should be willing to say, “Here I am, send me,” and follow wherever God leads.
Isaiah 6:1-13 (WEB)
6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet. With two he flew. 3 One called to another, and said,“Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of Armies!The whole earth is full of his glory!”4 The foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 Then I said, “Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Armies!”6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar. 7 He touched my mouth with it, and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin forgiven.”8 I heard the Lord’s voice, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”Then I said, “Here I am. Send me!”9 He said, “Go, and tell this people,‘You hear indeed,but don’t understand.You see indeed,but don’t perceive.’10 Make the heart of this people fat.Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes;lest they see with their eyes,hear with their ears,understand with their heart,and turn again, and be healed.”11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?”He answered,“Until cities are waste without inhabitant,houses without man,the land becomes utterly waste,12 and the LORD has removed men far away,and the forsaken places are many within the land.13 If there is a tenth left in it,that also will in turn be consumed,as a terebinth, and as an oak whose stump remains when they are cut down,so the holy seed is its stump.”