TAKING UP THE ISAIAH PARADIGM
Towering like a majestic peak above the other great moments in Isaiah is this passage in Isaiah 6:1-13. It was this event that formalized Isaiah’s understanding of God and his mission. If this passage were missing from the book the impact of its message would be greatly diminished.
This was a defining moment in Isaiah’s life. From this point on nothing would ever be the same. Nor would anyone in Isaiah’s shoes ever want to go back to the way things were.
What happened to Isaiah? Look at the opening words: “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple” (v. 1).
We have a specific time explained here. Uzziah, Isaiah’s cousin, had reigned for 52 years. He was a good king for the most part but faltered at the end when he presumed to take on priestly duties and go before the altar of the LORD. God gave him leprosy for this pride. Still, Israel had prospered under Uzziah and with his death came a period of uncertainty and anxiety. What did the future hold for Israel without good king Uzziah?
That’s when Isaiah was given the vision of God upon his throne. As one king dies the true King is revealed. We put our hope in human leaders and for a time all is well. But when they die or fail or disappoint us we are thrown into panic. Isaiah had said, “Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?” (2:22). Consider who truly sits on the throne and rules the world.
Isaiah saw the Holy King upon his throne. The description of God is indirect. We see through Isaiah’s eyes a throne, robes and attendants, but the Lord is not described. John the Evangelist wrote, “No one has ever seen God, but God the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known” (John 1:18). And the LORD said to Moses, “…you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live” (Ex. 33:20). It is proper then that Isaiah only described what his eyes were allowed to take in – the robes, the throne – but God’s face he could not see. The radiance of God is too wonderful for human eyes to see…or even angel eyes.
“Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying” (v. 2). God was encircled by the highest of heavenly beings, the seraphim, the burning ones who were as bright as the sun. Even they were not as brilliant as the Lord; even they were forced to cover their eyes in the presence of God.
With two wings they covered their faces, a picture of reverence and the inability to behold the full glory of God. With two wings they covered their feet, the feet symbolizing activity and the covering of them the fact that their authority is from God. With the other two wings they flew, showing a ceaseless activity and speed in service. Note that they did not cover their ears as they were ready to hear God’s commands.
Then we hear their song. I tremble to say these words. What would this song sound like? “And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory’” (v. 3). This was a continuous song. You know how you get a song stuck in your head and it stays with you all day long. You get sick of that tune but you can’t shake it. This song never grows tiresome. And you want to know something? The angels are still singing it. John had his own vision and this is what he saw: “Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come’” (Rev. 4:8). It gives me the shivers to think that we join in that angel chorus when we say those words.
Holy is the Lord. What do we mean by that? Holiness is supremely the truth about God and his holiness is so far beyond our thoughts that a “super-superlative” has to be used to express it. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. He is perfect, total and lacking nothing. He is exactly what he ought to be. Nothing is missing in God’s character. He is absolutely whole.
And the glory of God is everywhere. The whole earth is full of his glory. The glory of the Lord sits before me in these baptism candidates and their willingness to be transformed into the glory of God. His glory can be seen in all creation as well. Consider the extent of his glory.
The universe is incredibly vast. Astronomers tell us that even our own galaxy, our own little neighborhood, is three hundred thousand light years across. Light traveling at eleven million miles per minute takes three hundred thousand years to travel it! And there are millions and even billions of galaxies like ours, and larger than ours, throughout the cosmos.
Then turn to the smallest of the small, the atom. In its electrons, neutrons and protons, there is a minute universe that imitates our great galaxy. Think of the beauty of our world, of how our bodies are fearfully and wonderfully made, with what we are capable of and what we have been given. If only we could see with the seraphim how the whole earth is full of his glory (adapted from Ray Stedman, “His Majesty”).
This is why the seraphim sing of God’s glory and as they sing: “At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke” (v. 4). Oh what a wonderful and terrible sight. Terrible? Yes!
Isaiah was beside himself and thought he would surely die. “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 see the King, the LORD Almighty” (v. 5).
Isaiah realized his unholiness for the first time in his life. Sure he may have known what a sinner he was before, but this was a different matter. When people tremble before God it is not because of a consciousness of their humanity before the presence of divine power, it is because of the consciousness of their sin in the presence of God’s moral purity.
Remember when Jesus told Peter and his buddies to throw their nets on the other side of the boat? Peter whined that they had been fishing all night and had caught nothing. But they would do as this mysterious stranger said. Humor him, they thought. And the nets nearly broke from the weight of the fish they hauled in and the boats began to sink. What was Peter’s response? “When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me Lord; I am a sinful man” (Lk 5:8). Jesus ignored him and said “Let’s go catch some people.”
I tell you I felt a little that way when Calvin and Carol asked me to come over. The Lord had told me what they wanted and I trembled. I am a sinful man, I thought. But it’s not about me; this is all about the Lord and his glory.
Isaiah claimed unclean lips. Why the lips of all the offending body parts? One could say that even the slightest of sins, one hurtful word, contrasted with the greatest of privileges, seeing the LORD, means death. Or as Mark 7:20-23 says it was what comes out of a person that makes them unclean. Jesus was referring to the mouth specifically.
Regardless, he recognized his sins before a holy God. And Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 5:3). Those who recognize their spiritual poverty will be received by God. Those who in their pride consider themselves “good” will not.
“Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for’” (vv. 6-7). With this confession of sin and with this burning coal, Isaiah received divine cleansing.
I always wondered why a burning coal was used.
The altar that the live coal was taken from was the Altar of Burnt Offerings - it was the altar where the blood was shed. It was the place where the priests would kill those animals to pay for the sins of the people, because without the shedding of blood there is no remission (no cleansing) from sin.
So you have a coal that has been touched by two things: BLOOD and FIRE. The blood speaks of cleansing from sin (only blood can wash away our sin), and the fire speaks of refining, purifying power. The blood washes away sin, the fire brings the refining of positive holiness.
“How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” (Heb 9:14). The blood of Jesus would have been in that altar, for the temple Isaiah entered was the eternal dwelling of God, the perfect throne room of heaven.
Notice that the writer of Hebrews also said that this cleansing took place so that we may serve the living God. That is the natural response of one who has been forgiven and adopted by our Father God. That was Isaiah’s response too: Isaiah volunteered to serve.
“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!” (v. 8). When Isaiah saw the glory of God, when he was cleansed of his sin, there came a burning in his heart and a desire to be used of God and be a part of God’s glorious work.
Unknown to a great percentage of the human race is this inbuilt desire to serve the living God. But it is there. When you have encountered the LORD and have fallen at his feet, that is when this desire comes alive, and suddenly you understand that you would do anything for God. Jesus is all you want; Jesus is whom you want to serve.
Consider taking up the Isaiah paradigm. Follow the example of the prophet who saw the Lord on his throne. Throw yourself at the feet of the glorious One, the King of kings and cry out “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty!” Confess your sin before him and receive his cleansing. Cry out, “Here I am. Send me!”
This is the Great Adventure. If you have never heard his voice speaking to your heart and if you never cried “Woe is me! I am undone” you cannot go on this journey. Unless you have felt God’s cleansing and restoring grace, you cannot come. Jesus calls you, but do you hear him? That nagging at your heart right now, that bit of discomfort is Jesus inviting you to his holy presence. Will you come?
AMEN
