Isaiah's Vision

Isaiah 6:1 “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.”

6:1

Isaiah explains in detail what exactly he sees in his vision. The first thing he sees is the throne of God that is lifted up. When Isaiah is talking about the Throne of God being lifted up, he does not mean just in the physical sense, but this is also a significant sign of the position of God. And that God is the true reigning king of his people. We see this Illustration of God sitting actively on the throne.

He sees the train of the Lord that is coming from the almighty throne, and it spreads throughout the entire throne room.

For those of us who are unfamiliar, a train is a part of the King's ceremonial attire that a king would wear for special occasions. Part of this symbolism shows us that God can not be contained in just a building; we can see this in (1 Kings 8:27). The main idea of this verse is that God can not be contained anywhere. This is a difficult concept for us as humans to grasp, much less understand completely. The position that Isaiah was in when confronted by the presence of the Almighty God must have been overwhelming, to say the least.

Isaiah 6:2–3 “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!”” “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.”

6:2 - 6:3

He also sees a seraphim with six wings in total. Two of these wings cover the feet, and two cover his face, and with the final two, he is flying. The seraphim are flying around loudly proclaiming praises to God.

We do not know the reason why the flying beings are covering their faces and feet; the text does not explicitly state any reason. However, I do have a few thoughts on the matter. I have read something that suggests that the seraphim are covering their face in reverence to God and covering their feet in service to God. This is quite possible that this is simply the case.

On the other hand, this could be a reference back to the Book of Exodus, where Moses wanted to see the face of God, but he was forbidden to do so (Exodus 33:20). The covering of the feet could be a reference to also the book of Exodus where Moses had a encounter with God and was told him to take off his sandals because Moses was standing on Holy Ground in the mist of God (Exodus 3:5). To be clear I'm not saying that I am 100% correct on these inferences I am saying that the similarities are compelling at the least.

Isaiah 6:4 “And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.”

6:4

The seraphim were proclaiming the glory of God so loudly that it shook the threshold. As the room started to fill with smoke.

Question: What is the smoke from? And what can we learn from the smoke in the throne room? I know it is a weird question to ask here, we are. Well, I have some thoughts about the smoke. Here they are.

It may represent the spirit of God we see in the Scriptures, that the spirit of God hovered over the waters in creation (Gen 1:2 b).

Where else do we see in the Bible that mentions smoke, as luck would have it, I did find another place that mentions smoke. We see it in (Exodus 19:18) when Moses was meeting with God.

Isaiah 6:5 “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!””

6:5

After witnessing these things, Isaiah realizes the stark contrast between his sin and the Holiness of God. We can see this in his statement in (6:5 b). Isaiah even points out the difference between Mankind and God, and how Isaiah lives amongst an unclean people, thus does not deserve to be in the presence of God. Isaiah says something interesting to me here, he uses the words “woe is me!” (Isaiah 6:5a). Which had me wondering the meaning of the word woe. Woe is translated from the word הוֹי hôy in Hebrew, meaning “an impassioned expression of grief and despair.” It would be a fair conclusion that when Isaiah was confronted with the absolute Holiness of God, contradicted by his sinful state, it was overwhelming to him, with the possible feeling of him not ever being able to measure up. It's almost like looking at the standard; this is what God expects from us, perfection, and we know that we cannot achieve this on our own.

We can learn from Isaiah's experience that when we are in the midst of the almighty God, our sin becomes more apparent to us. Because of this, we may have feelings of unworthiness, or we may feel like we don't belong, just like Isaiah did. Can anyone relate?

Isaiah 6:6–7 “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.””

6:6-7

After this, the seraphim took a hot coal and touched it to the mouth of Isaiah. And stated to him that his guilt and sin were atoned for. In the Old Testament, fire symbolizes refining, purifying, and cleansing in the ancient culture. This is still held in present-day Jewish culture, like in the process of koshering objects and items.

Something that I think is worth talking about is the fact that God did not leave Isaiah in his state of despair. This is not exactly expressed in the text, but we can see from the actions of the seraphim that God did not let Isaiah stay in his disparaging mindset. In fact, God spoke to Isaiah in a way that he would understand because of Isaiah's cultural background and understanding of fire with its purifying properties. This inference is made based upon what the seraphim says to Isaiah in the text because he states that” you're guilt and sin are atoned for”(Isaiah 6:7b).

In the same way that God was not going to leave Isaiah in the place of despair, He surely is not willing to leave us in it either. It's not going to be easy because the closer you draw to God, the more your sin will be revealed in the process, which will give you feelings of inadequacy

We have the benefit of the hard work being done by the cross of Jesus Christ. All we have to do is walk it and follow Jesus with passion and zeal. Asking Him to make us like Him. It all starts with step one, which is turning your life over to Christ. Asking him to be Lord of your life and your savior.

As we remember the actions of the seraphim that took the coal and pressed it to the mouth of Isaiah to pardon his sin Isaiah 6:6-7. We too must remember who pardon our sins through His death and Resurrection. Jesus took bread and broke it and said do this in remembrance of Him.( Luke 22:19) church take and eat. Jesus too the cup and stated that this the new covenant in His blood.(Luke 22:20) Church Take and drink.