Isaiah 1.3

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Susan: outpatient procedure

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Suzanne: Delette Spring

Isaiah 6

Suddenly, here in Isaiah 6 the narrative changes! No longer is this the vision of Isaiah and the poetic, yet prophetic words of God to the people. We get a first-person narrative. Isaiah inserts here his account of his calling by God into prophetic ministry. This is why we’ve said over and over that the first 5 chapters function as a preface, an introduction to the main themes of Isaiah and the major indictments against God’s people. But here we see the calling of the prophet. And I want to notice a few things here:

First, we see the status of God in this narrative as holy and as king.

Second, we see the status of Isaiah the prophet, condemned because of his sin but then made clean and thus ready for prophetic ministry.

Finally, we’ll see the Lord’s program of ministry for Isaiah. Again, look for the glimpse of hope in these verses.

Isaiah 6:1–8 ESV

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. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 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!” 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.” 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.”

In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah situates us in the historical reality of his world. This is a moment of transition, a hinge point for Judah, their king is dead, a new king will rise to take his pace, what will that bring for this people? What will political change bring for Judah’s relationship with their enemies? What will it bring for the community itself? These are the open questions for Judah at this moment, but the answer in Isaiah’s book has nothing to do with some up and coming political leader or king: the answer is this:

“I saw the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the trian of his robe filled the temple.”

I saw the LORD on the throne! Whatever concern or anxiety one may have felt regarding the death of their king, here is the vision of a greater king who sits high and lifted up, higher than the mightiest kinds of earth; not only does he sit on his throne, but the train of his robe fills the whole temple. There is a sense of overwhelming might and glory in the vision of YHWH that Isaiah has here.

This king will not die, this king is above all things and all rulers. And look at the scene: this king is surrounded by seraphim, some sort of heavenly creature, and what are they doing: praising YHWH! Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!

The primary activity of the throne room is the heavenly creatures engaging in this ongoing worship that serves to proclaim and enhance the attributes of God.

What attributes of God then are highlighted in Isaiah’s vision of the Lord? YHWH’s holiness and His glory. He is holy—this is a repeated motif throughout the book of Israel, He is the Holy Lord of Israel—his is so uniquely set apart from any other thing, king, leader, person, whatever it is. There is an overwhelming aspect to the Lord’s holiness. And we see that in a huge contrast in Isaiah’s response in v. 5: Isaiah 6:5 “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!””

I have seen the holiness of the King of Kings and now I know: I am unholy. I am unclean. I am not worthy! That is the result of truly beholding the glory and holiness of God, a recognition of our own inadequacy.

And notice this in what the heavenly creatures declare: the whole earth is full of his glory: there is this idea that such is his holiness and glory that these things would be declared and proclaimed of in all of creation! There is such an intensity to the total otherness of God here.

And, of course, I don’t want to move on from this moment of God’s holiness and glory without reflecting on where this moment is recreated in scripture later, anyone? Revelation 4

Revelation 4:8 “8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”” The same words, the same heavenly creatures praising the same white-hot holiness and glory of the same God!

I bring this up for a couple of reasons. It shows us the unchanging nature of God: he was, is, and will always be perfectly holy, perfectly deserving of our praise, and totally glorious. This is our God. And two to show the continuity of scripture. Isaiah and John have a vision centuries apart and what they see is the same God: of course John’s vision becomes far more comprehensive, but this is not something so far afield.

This was the first point, I mentioned, that what we’d see is a holy God who reigns as King. That’s a timely reminder for us coming out of the first 5 chapters of Isaiah in which we have been confronted again and again with the unholiness and unrighteousness of God’s people. We needed to be reminded that they serve a holy God who called them to be holy like Him.

And this is what I so appreciate about Isaiah’s response: Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell int he midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!

It would be so easy for Isaiah to distance himself from the people to whom he was called to prophecy. To preach the word of God from some remove. But he does not do that, he recognizes his own condemnation, his own unrighteousness, and then he identifies himself with his people “I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” This is good pastoral/prophetic ministry. The prophet identifies his own weakness.

We cannot fall into this temptation to say: oh the culture is falling apart! our society is all sinners, but not me! I’m not one of them! No! We all have such a tremendous need for healing and renewal out of our unrighteousness.

And it is a reminder for us that Isaiah’s call to prophetic ministry was not because he was particularly holy or good. It was the grace of God that chose him for this work!

So Isaiah feels a deep conviction in the face of YHWH’s presence. In some ways there is an inherent reaction here, an instinct if you will of our sin—think of Adam and Eve reacting to God’s presence by hiding in the garden. But I would suggest the is also related to Isaiah’s own upbringing in the religious practice of Israel. Where was God’s presence meant to dwell? In the Holy of Holies. Who was allowed in there? The High Priest on the day of Atonement. Isaiah has, unwittingly found himself in the presence of his Holy God and he is not a qualified high priest. Woe is me!

But see the response of YHWH. Isaiah recognizes his own sin and God makes a way for him to be made clean. One of the heavenly creatures purifies Isaiah’s lips with the hot coal, he is refined. There is a challenging, hard, painful even work here—a burning coal on one’s lips—but the result is good: restoration, renewal, righteousness. Your guilt is taken away, your sin atoned for (there’s that word, related to the Day of Atonement and the day in which someone could enter into the presence of God). There’s a comprehensive work here: guilt and sin, the shame you carry with your sin can be gone, the sin itself is covered.

And see, this is what we’ve been talking about already in Isaiah but on a macro-level with all of Judah. God intends to burn away, refine in fire and destruction the unrighteousness of this people. Isaiah is now experiencing that as a microcosm of the hot, burning, refining work of all the people.

And, as we’ve said, Isaiah has been cleaned and now prepared for the ministry of God’s word. In a way, we might understand one of the purposes of this section is to legitimize the prophetic ministry of Isiah. You see? Isaiah isn’t just making this stuff up, he saw the Lord! And YHWH made him clean!

Indeed, for us we ought to feel confidence in the witness of this book as the word of God.

Now, the prophet has volunteered to be sent, there seems to be few other options, but he raises his hand nonetheless. I will go, send me. One scholar recognizes the difference here between Isaiah being almost shut out of the throne room of God, overwhelmed by the vision (then when he was still unclean) to now being close enough to God in his purification to hear the Lord and to be a part of his missionary program to Judah. It’s a ministry of reconciliation, and it’s our story. We’re not merely saved in order to be made clean, but that we would go and be a part of what God is doing in His Kingdom in this world.

Now let’s finish chapter 6 with a statement of God’s instructions for Isaiah now that he’s volunteered to go. Isaiah 6:9–13 “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.”

This is, let’s admit, quite an odd commission for Isaiah. God says, go to the people and they will not hear! They will not understand! They will not see! They will not perceive! It’s both the external, outward senses as well as the inner ones (our heart, our minds, our understanding). The hearts of this people will be dull. There will be a comprehensiveness to their inability to comprehend the message, the people will not heed the word of the prophet.

They will not hear the message, the simple truth of God’s word to his people. And we must understand that these verses are important because they are quoted by Jesus in all four of the Gospel accounts. In the Gospels, Jesus is talking about the spiritual blindness of the people. That because of the darkness in which they walk and the hardness of their hearts, they cannot hear His message.

Here’s what God is saying to Isaiah: Your preaching will not make it easier for the people to believe and repent. It will make it more difficult! Indeed, at the times, the human heart can be so resistant to the truth of God that hearing that gospel truth can cause further distancing.

This is what’s happening: Isaiah is called to declare faithfully what he’s seen and heart from God. But instead of—like Isaiah—repenting of the sin because they’re so moved by the holiness of God, they refuse all the more! What’s the alternative for the prophet? To change the message? To altar the truth? To soften the approach and hope the people will be more responsive and thus they could be healed. But this is no healing at all.

Isaiah’s preaching cannot save this generation, it will destroy it! But Isaiah’s faithfulness to his call could save future generations of readers, those in Jesus’ day who knew the scroll of Isaiah and saw it being fulfilled before their eyes in the person of Jesus. For us today as we recognize our deep need for healing and forgiveness in the face of a holy God, but we also know the forgiveness we have now in Christ, made clean by His blood and not by a burning coal. Jesus took the coal to the mouth, he was nailed to cross, so we could be made clean.

Isaiah’s call is to be faithful and obedient, NOT to find great earthly success.

And look at Isaiah’s response in v. 11: how long, O Lord? and God responds: keep at it until the nation is desolate, cities are destroyed and the people are exiled. Isaiah expresses sorrow at this! When will it end? When can I preach salvation instead of judgement. It is nothing more than that though, this is not a complaint, it is not a refusal, it’s obediently expressing sorrow.

There will be no reprieve. We’ve already said this, divine judgment is coming. It will have the last word and it will be entirely destructive. This had been prophesied long before Isaiah.

Look at these words from Leviticus 18:24–28 “24 “Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, 25 and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. 26 But you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you 27 (for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean), 28 lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.”

This is the hand of the Lord upon Judah in judgment. BUT. There is hope, the tiniest glimmer of hope at the end of this passage.

Isaiah 6:13 “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.”

The holy seed is its stump.

There is a seed. There will be an offspring of this stump, this small desolate remnant, that will be the holy seed, the messiah. The seed of Adam and Eve mentioned in Genesis 3, the seed that will one day destroy the snake and set all things right!

That seed is coming! Destruction is coming but it will not be the end of this story, there will arise a shoot from this stump that will bring salvation and renewal.

Indeed, we know this shoot, we know this holy seed in Jesus.