Our God is Holy

Isaiah 6

Isaiah 6:1–8 ESV

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. 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. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 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!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” 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.”

If I had to pick a favorite passage in the Bible I think I would have to say it would be this one right here. Several years ago in my new found love for theology I discovered a man by the name RC Sproul, particularly an old teaching series he did called the holiness of God. Many of my observations from this passage are a result of that series but from it I got a greater love and knowledge about God.

The first thing to notice in this passage is that he is on his throne high and lifted up, showing how exalted he is above everything. We then see that the train of his robe filled the whole temple. The train of the robe is the part that flows behind and it used to be used to measure royalty, we see here that the train of his robe is not comparable with any form of earthly royalty.

We then see the seraphim as they fly, in a situation similar to Moses they cover their face and feet as they sing in the presence of the holy one. The song they sing says holy, holy, holy adding more emphasis than was ever used in that day.

When confronted with all this holiness Isaiah could do nothing but shout woe is me!

God’s holiness is his perfection, his otherness. It is the framework in which all his other attributes rest. His love is a holy love, his wrath is a holy wrath, his justice is a holy justice.

When we are confronted with his holiness we can do nothing but be in fear but it is just this holiness that sets him so far apart from him and it is this reason that we need the forgiveness for our sins.