The first five chapters of Isaiah tell why the book itself was written. Chapter 6 looks at the call of Isaiah to preach this message. It is one of the finest chapters in the Bible. Isaiah 6 stands apart as a unique record of how the call of God reached a man and a prophet was born.
Chapter 6 begins with “In the year that King Uzziah died”. King Uzziah of Judah had a long and distinguished reign, described in 2 Chronicles 26 and in 2 Kings 15:1-7 (Uzziah is called Azariah in 2 Kings 15).
Uzziah began his reign when he was only 16 years old, and he reigned 52 years. Overall, he was a good king, and 2 Kings 15:3 says, he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. 2 Chronicles 26:5 says, He sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God; and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper. Uzziah was a strong king who led Israel in military victories over the Philistines and other neighboring nations. He was an energetic builder, planner, and general. 2 Chronicles 26:8 says, His fame spread as far as the entrance of Egypt, for he strengthened himself exceedingly.
But Uzziah’s life ended tragically. 2 Chronicles 26:16 says, But when he was strong his heart was lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the LORD his God by entering the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. In response, God struck Uzziah with leprosy, and he was an isolated leper until his death.
So, to say in the year King Uzziah died is to say a lot. It is to say, “In the year a great and wise king died.” But it is also to say, “In the year a great and wise king who had a tragic end died.” Isaiah had great reason to be discouraged and disillusioned at the death of King Uzziah, because a great king had passed away, and because his life ended tragically. Where was the LORD in all this?
- Isaiah 6:1 I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne
Where was the LORD in all this? The LORD was sitting on a throne! God was still enthroned in heaven, and was still in charge of all creation. There is a throne in heaven, and the LORD God sits upon it as the sovereign ruler of the universe! This is absolute truth; that there is an occupied throne in heaven. God does not sit on a chair in heaven. Anyone might sit on a chair. But sovereign kings sit on thrones. Judges sit on thrones. Those with proper authority and sovereignty sit on thrones.
Isaiah was not alone in seeing God’s throne. Almost everyone in the Bible who had a vision of heaven, was taken to heaven, or wrote about heaven spoke of God’s throne. The prophet Micaiah saw God’s throne (1 Kings 22:19), David saw God’s throne (Psalm 9:4, 7, 11:4), the Sons of Korah saw God’s throne (Psalm 45:6, 47:8), Ethan the Ezrahite saw God’s throne (Psalm 89:14), Jeremiah saw God’s throne after the fall of Jerusalem (Lamentations 5:19), Ezekiel saw God’s throne (Ezekiel 1:26, 10:1), Daniel saw God’s throne (Daniel 7:9), and the Apostle John saw God’s throne (Revelation 4:1-11 The Throne in Heaven).
In fact, the book of Revelation may as well be called “the book of God’s throne,” because God’s throne is specifically mentioned more than 35 times in that book! The bottom line of atheism, secular humanism, or materialism is that they believe there is no throne; there is no seat of authority or power all the universe must answer to. Secular humanism believes there is a throne – but man sits upon it. But the Bible makes it clear that there is a throne in heaven, and no fallen man sits on the throne, but the Lord GOD is enthroned in heaven. Isaiah may have been depressed or discouraged because a great leader of Judah was no longer on the throne. God in heaven now shows Isaiah, “Don’t worry about it, Isaiah. Uzziah may not be on his throne, but I am on My throne.”
- Isaiah 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
The throne was high and exalted. The throne set its Occupant in a superior position. There are two words in the original language that are translated “Lord” in the Bible. One word is Adonai. This is the Hebrew word which is spelled “Lord”. Adonai is “the master”. The other word is Jehovah or Yahweh. When this word is seen in the Bible it is always spelled as “LORD” with all capital letters. This is God, the eternal one. In verse 1 Isaiah saw the “master”. He saw the one who had the right to tell him anything and everything that he needed to do. He saw the throne and God, high and exalted and lifted up. Isaiah saw the Lord – the glorious One.
- Isaiah 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
Kings of that time would wear robes with long trains, because they were difficult to maneuver and work in. Wearing a long train meant, “I am important enough that I don’t have to work. I am a person of honor and dignity. Others must serve me and wait upon me.” Essentially, the same is said when a bride wears a dress with a long train today. God is so honored, so important, so dignified, that the train of His robe filled the temple.
- Isaiah 6:2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.
Above him were seraphim. What are Seraphim?The Bible has little to say about seraphim. The main passage is Isaiah’s vision in Isaiah chapter 6. There is some debate among scholars about if these are angels, but most believe they are. In many other passages, these angels are known as cherubim (Psalm 80:1; Isaiah 37:16; Ezekiel 10:3) or as the living creatures of Revelation 4:6-11. This is the only chapter in the Bible where these creatures are named seraphim. Some deny that cherubim and seraphim refer to the same beings but that is a different topic for a different class.
Each one had six wings like the four living creatures mentioned in Revelation 4:8. Two wings cover their faces. The LORD said to Moses, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live” (Exodus 33:20). Apparently the same is true even for angels, so the seraphim cover their faces. This also indicates humility; they are too lowly to look upon the LORD.
Two wings cover its feet, perhaps to hide this “humble” area of the body, so nothing even possibly deficient is seen in the LORD’s presence. Some believe this also symbolizes endurance, indicating a readiness to do God’s will. The other two wings are for flying, probably indicating their readiness to perform the commandments of God …
The seraphim used four of their wings to express their humility, and used two of their wings to express their willingness and ability to serve God. This is the proper balance. Thus they have four wings for adoration and two for active energy; four to conceal themselves, and two with which to occupy them in service. We can serve God best when we are humbled by his holiness.
So their wings represent speed, endurance, humility, obedience, and readiness. They can fly with one set of wings. With the wings that cover their faces they show their humility. There are also wings that cover their feet which will show the endurance they have. They are ready and willing to do God’s will. They will go wherever God tells them to go. They will do whatever God tells them to do.
- Isaiah 6:3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Their song is a simple one – “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” This is very similar to the song of the four living creatures in Revelation 4:8. The seraphim are not even directly addressing the Lord here. They are proclaiming His glorious nature and character to one another, in His presence.
Why do they repeat “holy” three times? Wasn’t it enough to simply say that the Lord was “holy” once? It wasn’t enough. In the Hebrew language, intensity is communicated by repetition. To say the LORD is holy says something. To say the LORD is holy, holy, says far more. To say, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord is to declare His holiness in the highest possible degree. The throne, the attending seraphim or angels, and the threefold holy all stressed God’s holiness. In a time when moral and spiritual decay was high, it was important for Isaiah to see God in his holiness.
What does it mean that God is holy? Holiness, at its root, has the idea of apartness. It describes someone, or something, which is set apart from other people or things. What is the Lord set apart from? He is set apart from creation, in that the Lord GOD is not a creature, and He exists outside of all creation. If all creation were to dissolve, the Lord GOD would remain. He is set apart from humanity, in that His “nature” or “essence” is Divine, not human. God is not a super-man or the ultimate man. God is not merely smarter than any man, stronger than any man, older than any man, or better than any man. You can’t measure God on man’s chart at all. He is Divine, and we are human. Holiness means morally perfect, pure, and set apart from all sin. God’s holiness is a part of everything He is and does. God’s power is a holy power. God’s love is a holy love. God’s wisdom is a holy wisdom. Holiness is not an aspect of God’s personality; it is one characteristic of His entire Being.
The last part of verse 3 says that “the whole earth is full of his glory.” The seraphim surrounding the throne of God could see this probably more clearly than Isaiah could. We are often blind to the obvious glory of God all around us.
- Isaiah 6:4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
The seraphim are majestic beings, and their voice carries weight. When they speak, the door posts of God’s throne room shake! Yet these high, majestic beings -perhaps the highest beings in all of God’s creation – have one occupation. Their existence is given over to the praise and worship and honor of the LORD God who is enthroned in heaven. What could we possibly do that is a higher calling than that? They sang so powerfully, the door posts were shaken! Shouldn’t we sing with the same passion, the same heart, the same intensity?
The result of their song was the temple was filled with the smoke of the glory of God. He alone was exalted in this vision. The phrase the temple was filled with smoke means that God was in the temple and no one could go in. This smoke reminds us of the pillar of cloud that represented the presence of God (Exodus 13:21-22), the smoke on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:18), and the cloud of God’s glory that filled the temple (1 Kings 8:10-12).
- Isaiah 6:5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
Notice Isaiah’s cry – “Woe to me” Isaiah’s overwhelming sense of unworthiness, the realization of his own sin, was the first step in the making of a prophet. God can do something with those who see what they are and know their need of forgiveness. A sinful man had seen the Lord and he was still alive. God wanted him to know that he counted him as clean. So God had a seraphim take a live coal from the altar and touch it to Isaiah’s lips. His lips were not burned they were cleansed. He had been touched, he was forgiven.
- Isaiah 6: 6-7 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
There is no need of preaching a gospel of forgiveness to those who feel no need of forgiveness. The experience of forgiveness is an important step in the making of a minister of God’s Word. Isaiah was going to speak a lot about the sins of his people and one who had bathed in the holiness of God could not do that without the terror of judgment in his words. There is no good news in denunciation: thunder and lightning do not cause growth; only the life-giving touch of the sun and rain can do that; only the assurance of divine mercy can bring hope to a sinful people. He who would speak for God must know forgiveness, not as a doctrine, but as an experience (the apostle Paul for example). It was a forgiven man who left the temple that day to plead with his people, plead with the authority of one whose own sin had been blotted out by the touch of God.
- Isaiah 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
The third step in the making of a prophet is the dedication of a life redeemed. There have been many whose experience of forgiveness has taken them back to life rejoicing in regained peace, but with eyes still blind to others’ need. Isaiah heard God’s call and it came with intense and personal reality. He did not pause to debate the obligation of forgiveness; he answered the call. This was more than obedience; it was the response of the man’s whole being to an overwhelming sense of God’s mercy. In forgiveness God claimed him; under that constraint he spoke the quiet words “Here am I. Send me!”, and a prophet was born.
God said, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And Isaiah said “Here am I. Send me!” He was anxious and ready to go because he had been cleansed. He no longer saw himself as the woeful sinner. He saw himself saved and ready to go. Nothing in Isaiah’s ministry can truly be understood apart from this transforming experience. The terrible words of doom which he must speak broke from the heart of a man who had glimpsed the eternal holiness and knew that sin in its rebellion spells out its death. The exquisite oracles of hope, the tender pictures of a people coming home to the welcome and peace of a father’s love – they were given to the man who in all the tumult and travail of his ministry never forgot, and never lost the peace of God’s forgiveness. That is why this vision is in this book; it explains both the man and his God inspired message. The next 2 verses describe Isaiah’s mission.
- Isaiah 6:9-10 He said, “Go and tell this people: “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ 10 Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
His commission was simple: Go tell whatever I (God) tell you to tell! But – know that the people will not understand because they don’t want to understand. God told Isaiah that the people would be hardened by his message. The message would judge them. God told Isaiah to go and preach to a people who wouldn’t respond, so that their guilt would be certain. As one commentator put it, Isaiah would “Preach them to hell.”
What preacher could be satisfied with a ministry that made the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes? Isaiah might not be satisfied with it. The people might not be satisfied with it. But God would be satisfied with it.
These verses show what the word of God can accomplish when it is received with open eyes, ears, and heart. It brings understanding to our heart, it makes us return, and it brings healing to our lives.
- Isaiah 6:11-12 Then I said, “For how long, Lord?” And he answered: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, 12 until the Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken.
Isaiah asked the Lord, “For how long?” This is a logical question from anyone who is given such a difficult commission. “I have to preach to those who won’t hear, and their rejection of my message will ultimately seal their doom? How long will I have to serve in that kind of ministry?” God basically told him to preach until destruction comes (Until the land is utterly forsaken.) God told him this was going to be his job until there were no more people to tell, until there was no longer a nation in the land. However, even though Isaiah’s ministry was difficult, it was not without hope.
- Isaiah 6:13 And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”
God did not say there would be absolutely nobody to listen. No matter how wicked the nation became, there would be survivors. Sin would go on working, and it would make the nation a wasteland, but there would be a remnant. There would be that righteous few who had not bowed the knee to any idol and still followed the Lord. The remnant was evidence of God’s mercy in Judah. From that stump there arose a branch – the Lord, the Messiah (Isaiah 11:1). And from that branch all people would have the hope of salvation.
The remnant would indeed return, but even the remnant would eventually be judged. Israel was not done being disobedient when they returned from the Babylonian captivity, and God was not done bringing His judgment on a disobedient Israel.
What can we learn from this chapter that is relevant to us, right here and right now?
1. God is on His throne: No matter what turmoil may be going on in our lives or in our world, God is always on His throne.
2. Stay Humble: We need to remember who we are and who God is. We are sinners, He is holy, and apart from Christ we are nothing.
3. Be Willing: – Here am I. Send me! Isaiah 6:8. Be ready and willing to do whatever God might call you to do because you have been redeemed. Be as wise as a serpent, gentle as a dove, and as bold as a lion. Most people won’t listen but don’t get discouraged, there is still a remnant.