ISAIAH 6:1-8
ISAIAH'S CALL TO SERVANTHOOD
Here we have Isaiah's solemn call to serve the Lord. Because of his special ministry the prophet received a special revelation of God. He was given the difficult mission of telling people who believed they were God's people that they had forsaken God and would suffer the consequences for their disobedience. His call came to him in the form of a vision. This vision was to confirm Isaiah's faith and sustain him in the unpopular truth he was called to proclaim. The vision also revealed something of the Holy One and awakened him to the awesome reality of Whom he would serve. Those who present to others the realization of God ought to be well acquainted with Him themselves.
Isaiah heard the call of God, and in response, volunteered his life (CIT). We today also need to personally hear the powerful call of God so that we might voluntarily respond to it also (Purpose). But God had to prepare Isaiah so that he would hear his call and respond to his mission. We also need to experience a portion of God's preparation of Isaiah that we too might have ears to hear and a heart to respond to God.
Let's use the following outline to look at how God prepared His servant to hear and positively respond to His call for ministry.
I. CALLED, 1-4.
II. CLEANSED, 5-7.
III. COMMISSIONED, 8.
Isaiah first in gives us an historical indicator for his vision in verse 1. "In the year of King Uzziah's death,
The year of King Uzziah's death was approximately 740 B.C. His reign was important in Jewish history. Uzziah had brought many benefits to the country and had introduced an era of prosperity and peace. He had reigned in Jerusalem for 52 years. Many of the people in Jerusalem lived their entire lives under the reign of King Uzziah. The national boundaries had been extended, commerce and agriculture flourished and there was peace. But the great glory and national pride of Judah were now facing an end, never to rise again.
The Bible tells us that Uzziah began his reign in godliness doing, "what was right in the sight of the Lord." He sought after God and God blessed him. Uzziah was victorious in battle over the Philistines and other nations. He built towers in Jerusalem and strengthened the city walls. He dug massive cisterns in the desert and stimulated great expansion in the nation's agriculture. Uzziah restored the military power of Judah to a standard nearly as high as in the Davidic era. For most of his career Uzziah was a great and beloved king, though in this time of prosperity many of his people turned away from the Lord.
The life of Uzziah ends with a sad note. The last years of his life were like those of a Shakespearian tragic hero. His career was marred by the sin of pride which came after he acquired great wealth and power. He defied the Word of God by boldly entering the temple and claiming for himself the rights that under the Old Covenant God had given only to the Levitical priests. When the priest of the temple tried to stop his sacrilege, Uzziah became enraged. While he was screaming at them in fury, leprosy broke out on his forehead. 2 Chronicles 26:21 says, "He lived in a separate house, being a leper...cut off from the house of the Lord." When Uzziah died, in spite of the shame of his latter years, it was a time of national mourning. During this time of transition Isaiah went to the temple to worship and pray for the nation and himself. There God met him and Isaiah saw a heavenly vision.
Isaiah continues in verse one, "... I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. The king was dead (or dying), but when Isaiah raised his head during worship, he saw another King, the Ultimate King, the One who sits on the throne of David forever. He saw the Lord high and lifted up. Notice that the word begins with a capital letter and is finished with lower case letters. This stands in sharp contrast to the word LORD in all caps which occurs latter in our text and frequently in Scripture (Ps. 110). One is the word Adonai, the other the sacred tetragrammation, the unspeakable four letters YaHWeH.
What or rather who did Isaiah see? "I saw the Lord" the Gospel of John (12: 41), indicates that Isaiah actually saw Jesus. After quoting several prophesies concerning the unbelief of the people because they refused to believe in Jesus despite the evidence of His miracles, John writes, "Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him." Isaiah was given access to the throne room of heaven; And as he entered it, he experienced the presence of the second Person of the Trinity, Christ the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
Men are not allowed to see the face of Almightily God (Jn. 1:18; 1 Tim. 6:16). The Scriptures warn us that no man can see God and live (Moses in Ex. 33: 19-23; 19:21; 20:19; Gen. 32:30; Judg. 6:11-24). Thus since Lord or Adonai is the N.T. equivalent to Lord- kurios- which is Jesus' titled. Jesus is called the King of kings and the Lord of lord. This is the pre-incarnate Christ. (Let it be noted that Christ can also be equated with YAHWEH, Ex. 3:2, the Angel of the LORD and I AM WHO I AM, 3:14).
When Isaiah came to the temple there was a crisis of sovereignty in the land. The long reigning monarch Uzziah was dead. Then the eyes of Isaiah were opened and he was ushered in to see the real King of the Nations. Isaiah saw God seating upon an eternal throne with all power and all dominion.
This throne was high, toweringly high. It is greater and exceeded all other thrones because of the exalted position of the One who seats on it. The robes of the Sovereign King of the Ages were long and loose flowing so that they filled the palace. (It is as though words are inadequate to describe more than the train of His royal robe.)
Isaiah's description of the heavenly scene continues in verse 2. "Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
It is customary that monarch be accompanied by the court and retinue. Here the heavenly court and heavenly attendants are described as seraphim, or burning ones (Num. 21: 6). [This term is used elsewhere to describe serpents, Num. 21:6; Isa 14:29; 30:6.] The seraphim are personal, spiritual beings for they have faces, feet and hands. They also use speech and understand moral concepts. They are seen as standing up in flight which indicates they are in position to wait upon the One seated upon the throne as His attendants.
Each of the seraph has six wings. Now the seraphim are not sinful men burdened with impure hearts, yet angelic beings are still created, even though they may be of the lofty status as consorts to the Most High God. Thus it was necessary for them to shield their eyes from a direct gaze on the face of God. So as a sign of reverence and awe before the Holy Lord, each seraph covered his face with two of his wings. The sight of God wrought humility in the beholder.
With the second pair of wings the seraphim covered their feet. The third pair of wings flew the seraphim in swift compliance to the will and orders of their Lord. With their voices they fill the temple with praise and with their wings swiftly serve.
Verse 3. "And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory."
The continuous occupation of the seraphim is the blessed work of praising God. One group of the seraphim cries out, and another group would answer. As Isaiah stared in silence, dumbfounded by the vision he saw, the cry would sound out again and again and again. The substance of their songs of praise was the declaration of the holiness of God.
This is the crux of Isaiah's vision. For the seraphim's song reveals the awesome message concerning God. The main focus of the song is the repetition of a single word-holy. Three times the word is sung in succession, giving the church its most lofty anthem. HOLY, HOLY, HOLY!
Why is the word holy uttered three times. The significance of the word holy can easily be missed. The Hebrew language possesses an unusual way of expressing its comparatives and superlatives. Comparatives are repeated twice. Superlatives are repeated three times. Thus this trishagion of gadosh ( , Separate, cut off) is expressing an ultimate about God. Only on a handful of occasions does the Bible repeat or elevate something in the third or superlative degree. It does so about the holiness of God both here and again in Revelations 4:8: Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come.
God is not simply holy, or even holy holy. He is the trice holy God. The seraphim and cherubim, the beings in closest proximity to God and most familiar with His presence, with what God is like, proclaim that holiness is the fullest expression of who and what the Lord is. Holiness is central to who God is. Holiness is central to His character as well as His essence. [It is God's holy essence that makes His attributes perfect. What God is determines what He does. Since God in His essence is holy His attributes share His perfection. R.C. Sproul, "The Holiness of God" 109]
God is holy meaning He is completely separate from the unholy or common. Holiness is distinctiveness, distinctiveness from all others. It distinguishes the divine, the Creator from all other things. He is separated not merely from creation because of its sinfulness but in essence different from creation also. He is absolutely independent of His creation, outside of it or transient from it. Creation is dependent upon Him, He is not dependent upon it. Holy means God is transcendent or beyond the limits. He is supreme and absolute in greatness. He is free of space and time in a totally unique dimension, outside of His created universe.
The word holy also includes an ethical element, the complete freedom and separation from what is sinful not only in essence, but in character. God is holy in thought, word, and deed.
In their song of praise the seraphim set forth what is the distinguishing essence of God, His holiness. Their hearts burst forth in praise of His very being. Our greatest service to Him also is to be found in being caught up in His wonder and praise.
God's glory is not restricted to His essence for the whole earth is full of His glory. The Hebrew word for glory (kabod) means weight or heavy. It refers to the reputation, importance, or the weight a person carries in a society. We give God glory by enhancing His reputation, significance or weight our lives and situations. God glory is found in His Presence or where His Presence (shekinah glory) is manifested.
Verse 4 reveals some effects of the angels' worship. "And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.
An effect of this proper praise were that the foundations of the threshold shook. The very glory and strength of the song of praise of the seraphim causes the thresholds to tremble. The shaking (Ex. 19:18) suggested the awesome presence and power of God. In addition to this shaking, the temple itself was being filled with smoke. The smoke was probably the cloud of glory which Isaiah's ancestors had seen in the wilderness (Ex. 13:21; 16:10) and which the priests in Solomon's day had viewed in the dedicated temple (1 Kings 8:10-13). In Scripture smoke often accompanies the presence of God - the shekinah glory (Isa. 4:5).
Oh that we might be so uplifted and moved by the awesome distinctiveness and glory of God that the threshold of this house of worship would shake as we praise Him!
[Conclusion for part 1if broken up for study] The throne, the attending angels (name derived from burn perhaps indicates their purity), and the threefold holy all stress God's holiness. In a time when moral and spiritual decay had peaked it was important for Isaiah to see God in His holiness. Holiness means morally perfect, pure, and set apart from all sin. We also need to discover God's holiness. Our daily frustrations, society's pressures, and our shortcomings reduce and narrow our view of God. We need the Bible's view of God as high and lifted up to empower us to deal with our problems and concerns. God's moral perfection, properly seen will purify us from sin, cleanse our minds from our problems and enable us to worship and to serve.
II. CLEANSED, 5-7.
[Intro.] Isaiah was overwhelmed at the sight of the angelic beings covering their faces to shield their eyes from the blinding brightness of the throne and at the sound of their song. His fear was so real as he was confronted with the realization of God's holiness and as he became profoundly aware of his own sinfulness and the sinfulness of the society in which he lived. (5) Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts."
The doors of the Temple were not the only thing shaking. The body of Isaiah quaked also. When he sees the Lord, the reigning Monarch of the Universe on His throne he bursts out an agonizing cry, "Woe is me!" Woe indicates that calamity has fallen or is about to fall upon him. It is an announcement of what is justly in store for the wicked. In this one piercing utterance lies condemnation of self.
Such a confrontation of God's majesty, holiness, and glory made Isaiah see himself more clearly than he ever had before while living in his own fallenness among a sinful people. [Those in the Bible who have a vison of God's majesty always react with fear and awe. When Ezekiel saw God's glory he too responded with humility. the responses of Job, Job 42:5-6; Daniel, Dan. 10:7-19;Peter, Luke 5:8; Saul, Acts 9:1-9; and the Apostle John, Rev. 1:17.)] Isaiah had pronounced woes (threats of judgment) on the nation (Isa. 5:8-23), but now by saying Woe is me! (24:16). He realized he was subject to judgment.
Isaiah says he is undone or ruined. To be undone is to be broken or to come apart at the seems, to be unloosen. Modern psychologist would describe the experience as one of personal disintegration. To go to pieces. He has not discovered that the universe is meaningless. He is fully aware that life has meaning but that he is outside, unable to participate in it.
The reason he is undone and outside of the meaning of life is because he was unclean. When seen next to the purity of God's holiness, the impurity of human sin is overwhelmingly evident. The prophet realizes with sickening force that his character is not in keeping with God any more that the people's character is.
Isaiah Ben Amoz was considered by his contemporaries as one of the most righteous man in the nation. He was respected as an example of virtue. Then he caught one sudden glimpse of a Holy God. In that moment all his pride was shattered. In a brief second he was exposed before the gaze of the One who is perfectly holy in His essence. As long as Isaiah was compared with other mortals, he was able to sustain a moral opinion of himself. In God's presence his true self was revealed. In that instance he was broken. He was undone. His sense of integrity and well-being came apart. Who would not be so broken? God normally breaks us little by little as we gradually recognize our fallenness. God showed Isaiah his corruption all at once.
His eyes had seen the Lord and for the first time in his life Isaiah really understood who God was. At the same instant, for the first time Isaiah really understood who Isaiah was. In recognition Isaiah calls himself a man of unclean lips. His lips do not belong to God or else like the seraphim they would be pouring forth praise. The lips express what is in the heart and mind indicating their uncleanness also.
Interestingly Isaiah identified with his people who also were sinful (a people of unclean lips). Sin and iniquity must be removed if Isaiah, and his people, are ever to serve God with clean lips.
As Isaiah quivered in hopelessness God responses to his heart-felt repentance in verse 6. "Then one of the seraphim flew to me, with a burning coal in his hand which he had taken from the altar with tongs.
While Isaiah's guilt is screaming at him he encounters the depths of God's grace. The holy, holy, holy God is also a God of love, grace and mercy. Isaiah does not plead for mercy, nor does he make great vows if God will but deliver him. All of the evidence makes it appear that he considers his case hopeless. Yet out of the smoke comes a seraph with a purifying coal. God does not reveal Himself to destroy us, but rather to redeem us (so with Jacob in Gen. 32, and with the Israelites in Exodus 19-24).
[The identification of the altar from which the coal was taken is uncertain. Gray believes it to have been the altar of sacrifice (without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin), while most other commentators assume it was the incense altar. There would be something entirely fitting about the coal having been a charred portion of the whole burnt offering, for as Young points out, in the Bible there is no atonement apart from bloodshed (Lev. 16:14-19; 17:11; Mt. 26:28; Heb. 9:22). At the same time, incense taken from the altar which stood just in front of the holy of holies could also have an atoning and purifying effect (Lev. 16:12; Num. 16:46, 47), so it may be this effect which is intended.]
The fire is of great significance here. As noted on v. 2 the title "seraph" may denote "fiery one," and here again fire enters in. The appropriateness of fire as an image of God's holiness is apparent. Fire can be a source of great blessing but it is never easily controllable. Fire can destroy but also purify. Fire is fascinating but also slightly terrifying. Fire translates mass into energy. So it is with the holiness of God. Without forcing the imagery to say more than it does, one cannot doubt that "our God is a consuming fire" (Deut. 4:24; Isa. 33:14; Heb. 12:29); yet that fire is a fire of righteousness, in the midst of which only unrighteousness is devoured (Ps. 50:3-23; Isa. 33:13-15; Ps. 24:3-6; Dan. 3). So it is by fire, the fire of God's own purity, that the repentant are made like Himself (1:25).
When Isaiah judged himself as unclean he opened the door for God to cleanse him.
This symbolic action signified the removal of the prophet's guilt and his sin. Of course this is what the entire nation needed. The Judahites needed to respond as Isaiah did, acknowledging their need of cleansing from sin. But unlike the prophet, most members of the nation refused to admit they had a spiritual need. Though they, through the priests, burned sacrifices at the temple, their lives needed the purifying action of God's "fire" of cleansing.
Once Isaiah realizes and acknowledges his sin, notice what happens in verse 7. "And he touched my mouth with it and said, Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is forgiven.
The fiery coal from the hand of the fiery one touches the prophet's mouth. The coal is so closely connected with the holy altar that it brings the altar's characteristics with it. The coal from the altar symbolized the cleansing and forgiveness granted by God. God has a provision for sin and iniquity whereby their effect is mitigated and their power is broken. Though Isaiah was a sinner, he did not have to stay that way. God took his guilt and atoned for his sin.
Sin and iniquity are dealt with because they are real and because those in whom they reside cannot have fellowship with God (Isa 59:1-2; Hos. 11 :8-11; 2 Pet. 3 :9). There is, of course, nothing in the burning coal itself that can deal with a condition of the heart. Yet there is a link between the image and reality that conveys essential value. When God takes away the iniquity and sin in which we have lived for years, the experience is a wrenching, searing one. But more deeply, what causes sin and iniquity? It is that arrogant self-sufficiency which refuses to bow the knee before the Lord. Pride is the ultimate uncleanness of which Isaiah had been accusing his people and now finds resident in himself. This rebellion never gives up without a fight. Apart from the fires of self-surrender and divine surgery the clean heart is an impossibility. Sin keeps us from Holy Spirit motivated service for God.
Truth is we can't please God, that is, not on our terms. Nor does it do any good to try and hide our sin. Like Isaiah, we can only be used by God when we're willing to admit, 'I am a person of unclean lips.'
It reminds me of the story of KING FREDERICK II, an eighteenth-century king in Prussia, what is today Germany. He was on a visit to a prison in Berlin when the inmates crowded around him to proclaim their innocence. All except one man. He sat quietly in the corner, head bowed.
"Frederick walked over to him and said, 'What are you here for?' "'Armed robbery, your majesty,' the man replied.
'Are you guilty?' the king asked.
'Yes, sir. I deserve this punishment.'
"The king turned to the guard and ordered, 'Set this guilty man free. I don't want him corrupting all these other innocent people.'"
Finding God's pardon in our lives begins by admitting our guilt. To insist we are innocent when we are not leaves us in a prison of our own making. Yet when we admit our need, our guilt, God offers us grace and forgiveness. Imagine, if you could start your life all over today? You can do that by placing your faith in the sacrifice of God's one and only Son, Jesus Christ.
Some of you are feeling like Isaiah this morning, filled with remorse over what you've done wrong, but uncertain of what to do about it. The way to God isn't by trying harder, or by cleaning up your act. It's by faith. Faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross.
When Jesus (the sinless Son of God) died on the cross, He paid for our sin. God's justice is satisfied (sin is punished) and He is also able to extend mercy (on the basis of Christ's substitution). The reason we are called children of God is not because we are good . . . but because we are forgiven. We are forgiven not because we were among the best of the class but because Christ died for our sin.
After Isaiah sees God's majesty, is confronted with His sin, finds forgiveness through the sacrifice of Christ, he is commissioned by God.
III. COMMISSIONED, 8.
When the forgiveness of sin is experienced, loving response to God follows as we see in verse 8. "Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
Now, for the first time, God speaks. [Note the singular and the plural in this verse. "Who will I (singular – one God) send" "Who will go for US" (plural – the trinity in action – Father, Son & Holy Spirit).] It is as if Isaiah was not ready to hear before this moment, as if the possibility of service could not be appreciated until this time. Isaiah is now willing to serve not out of obligation but out of gratitude and out of a desire to exalt God's glory. For God makes it plain that while spiritual experience is never merely a means to an end, neither is it an end in itself. Isaiah wants the world to know the greatness of God. He's not concerned about promoting his school of prophets, or his system of financial management, or his course on public speaking. Isaiah is concerned with one thing . . . to honor the one who is most worthy of honor.
Unless the experience of repentance issues forth in some form of lived out praise and service to God, it will turn in upon itself and rot. [It is very possible, in the light of 1 Kgs. 22:19, that who will go for us is an address to the heavenly host, either visibly present or implied.] Isaiah is neither directly addressed nor is coercion indicated. Perhaps it is so because Isaiah does not need coercion, but rather needs an opportunity to volunteer.
Having believed with certainty that he was about to be crushed into nonexistence by the very holiness of God and having received an unsought for, and unmerited, complete cleansing, what else would he rather do than hurl himself into God's service? Those who need to be coerced are perhaps too little aware of the immensity of God's grace toward them. So, unlike Adam and Eve, who sought to hide from the searching voice, Isaiah, permitted for a moment to eavesdrop on the councils of God, cannot keep silent. "Would I do?" Such a grateful offering of themselves is always the cry of those who have received God's grace after they have given up hope of ever being acceptable to God.
In response to his cleansing Isaiah submitted himself entirely to God's service. No matter how difficult his task would be, he said, "Here am I. Send me!" The painful cleansing process was necessary before Isaiah could fulfill the task to which God was calling him. Before we accept God's call to speak for Him to those around us, we must be cleansed as Isaiah was, confessing our sins and submitting to God's control. Letting God purify us may be painful, but we must be purified so that we can truly represent our pure and holy God.
The sequential relationship of the elements ought not to be overlooked. Each element leads to the next. The king's death prepares the way for the vision of God; the vision of God leads to self-despair; self-despair opens the door to cleansing; cleansing makes it possible to recognize the possibility of service; the total experience then leads to an offering of oneself.
CONCLUSION
Isaiah had a threefold vision. It was a vision of deity - he saw the Lord. It was a vision of depravity - he saw himself. It was a vision of duty - he saw a lost world.
Isaiah's lofty revelation of God gives us a sense of God's greatness, mystery, and power. Isaiah's example of recognizing his sinfulness before God encourages us to confess our sin. His picture of the forgiveness and cleansing reminds us that we too are forgiven and cleansed in Christ. When one truly see the greatness of our Holy God, we will recognize our sinfulness and seek His cleansing. Then we will receive the power to do His work.
The conditions of our world are such that people often react in despair for the future. In crisis situation people ask, "Why doesn't someone do something?" In God's plan you may be that someone. The Lord is still asking, "Whom shall I send and who will go for us?" Future hope lies in those who hear His call, volunteer and say to Him, "Here am I; send me."
What can one person do? Not very much alone. But through those who are willing, God can do wonders beyond our fondest imaginations. The Lord is able and willing. He waits upon His people to whom He has revealed Himself and cleansed to respond. "Here am I; send me." Is that your response?
