Isaiah 6
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”
4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 So I said:
“Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because 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 live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said:
“Behold, this has touched your lips;
Your iniquity is taken away,
And your sin purged.”
8 Also 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.”
(prayer)
Of all the passages in the Bible that deal with the holiness of God Isaiah chapter 6 gives us a striking description of the Holy God, high and lifted up with angles ministering in the heavenly temple and around the throne of God.
Revelation chapter 4 gives us a similar description with additional details that before the throne there was a sea of glass like crystal and the four living creatures minister both day and night saying Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty, who was and is and is to come.
These heavenly visions were given to men and as men they (and we) are only able to comprehend but a fraction of the holiness, majesty and glory of Almighty God but with that being said, the little that we are able to comprehend still fills us with wonder and amazement towards the great God that we serve. In the sermon this morning we are going to focus mainly on the holiness of God, what it means, what it looks like and finally towards the end what impact it should have on us who were made in His image after all the Apostle Peter reaffirms the Old Testament admonition given by the Lord to His people “Be holy, for I am holy.”
Now to understand the background behind Isaiah chapter 6 it is important to understand a little bit about what it was like to be a prophet of God. Being an Old Testament prophet was a thankless job. It wasn’t anything desirable, it certainly wasn’t anything glamorous. The prophets had the difficult task of preaching the word of God to the people and anyone who has ever read the Bible knows often the message was not always pleasant.
The Scripture tells us that there is nothing new under the sun so what was true back then is also true today. The false prophets were beloved among the people while the true prophets were despised. Why? Because the false prophets told people what they wanted to hear, the true prophets told the people what they needed to hear.
When a prophet was called by God they were very careful to record the details of their calling, which is what we read here in Isaiah chapter 6. If a prophet didn’t resist the call up front, he often would struggle with it later. The Lord told Isaiah if we were to keep reading “go and preach to the people, but they’re not going to listen to you.” So why was Isaiah so willing to accept the call? Because once he saw the Lord sitting on His throne high and lifted up, once he received that vision of heaven’s throne room, once he was confronted with the holiness of God, saying no to God was not an option! I pray that we would have that same mind here this morning.
The setting of this story where the prophet goes back to recall his ordination (if you will) was in the 8th century B.C. It was in the year that King Uzziah died. Uzziah was one of the greatest Kings Judah ever had, he took the throne at age 16 and reigned for 52 years, one of the most prosperous periods since the days of Solomon. But even though Uzziah loved the Lord he became prideful taking upon himself the duty of the priesthood offering a sacrifice which was forbidden for any king and when he did so the Lord struck Him with leprosy and he eventually died.
Why did God strike him with leprosy? Because God is holy and the King, no matter how great he was offended the holiness of God. You also may remember the first King of Israel, King Saul. Why did the Lord reject Saul? It was for the exact same reason. So the contrast is clear between King Uzziah and the prophet Isaiah. One saw the holiness of God as a trivial thing, the other was undone by it. One was prideful, and he did what he wanted to do. The other was humbled and became a willing servant.
Isaiah 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.
When Isaiah saw this vision, he may have been in the Jerusalem temple but what he saw transcended anything earthly. This vision was what is called a theophany by theologians as it represents a visible manifestation God who is exalted above all things. The train of His robe was said to fill the temple. Perhaps you’ve seen images of royalty where the robe or gown is so long it must be carried by servants who walk behind the monarch. Those who watched either the coronation of Queen Elizabeth or later the wedding of princess Diana would have seen this very thing, and what is the message that is being sent? It is supposed to communicate honor and majesty! Well the Lord is so high and so holy His robe not only flows far behind him, it fills the temple!
2 Above it stood seraphim which is a type of angel. The Bible speaks of the Seraph and the cherub, or in the plural form Seraphim and Cherubim. These angles the Bible says each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
The flying likely represents the angels service, the covering of the feet the acknowledgement that they are creatures and therefore below God, and the coving of the face the fact that even these most exalted angels still could not look directly into the face of God. Verse 3 3 And one cried to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”
There is so much packed into these verses it’s difficult to know where to start. First of all you notice the difference between verses one and three. In verse one Lord is spelled “L” -o – r – d. This is the title of God Lord, or in the Hebrew Adonai. This is the most exalted title given to God and it’s important to point out that in the New Testament this title is given to Jesus Christ, so turn if you would to Philippians chapter 2.
Philippians chapter 2. So when you see capitol “L” with the lower-case o-r-d that is the title Adonai, meaning master or sovereign, Lord. But when Lord in in all capital letters L-O-R-D that is the name of God Jehovah or in Hebrew YHWH (Yahweh).
Philippians 2:5-11 “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
So in the Old Testament who is the Lord? The Lord is Jehovah. In the New Testament who is Lord? It is Jesus therefore Jesus is Jehovah and you remember what Jesus told the religious leaders in John chapter 8? Before Abraham was, I Am! That is the name given to Moses in the burning bush, Jehovah, I am who I am. Jesus takes that sacred name and applies it to Himself.
What’s the point – Jesus is Lord, He is the only sovereign, Lord of Lords and King of Kings and the spirit of Christ (The Holy Spirit) is said to dwell in you! This is why saint is the primary term used in the Bible to describe Christians. You are a saint, which means Holy one! God’s spirit is in you therefore you are holy! It’s not because you are perfect, it’s not because you are completely pure, God is, we know that, but you are holy because God has made you that way, He has set you apart and He has set you apart for a purpose.
Another story that helps us understand these things is the story of Moses. Moses actually received a glimpse of Gods glory which emanates from His holiness. Isaiah saw it through a vision, Moses saw it up close and personal.
You remember when Moses asked God to see His face, the Lord said no man can see my face and live but Moses I’ll put you in the cleft of the rock and I shall pass by and you shall see my back. You know what it’s like to see something out of the corner of your eye, then you look and it’s gone? Or maybe it wasn’t really there! Well, it’s like Moses out of the corner of his eye got a glimpse of Gods back, not His face, but a brief glimpse of Gods back and you know what happened, his face shone so bright the people were afraid to look at him so he had to cover his face with a veil.
Why go through all these accounts? Because these are the stories God has given to help us understand who He really is. The God many people know, or the God they think they know seems more like Santa Claus than the God of the Bible. To understand and know the God of the Bible (the only God who really exists) to know the God of the Bible you have to go to the Bible. That’s the only way! The only other way you could possibly know about God is if He sent to you and angelic messenger!
Maybe that’s the way God used to do it but Hebrews 1 says God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son… And what is the New Testament but the New Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Now Go back to Isaiah chapter six. The prophet see’s the Lord on His throne, high and lifted up, the angels serve Him day and night, the seraphim’s are not silent rather they lift up their voices, verse 3 And one cried to another and said
Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”
This is significant and it’s something that could be easily missed. Of all the attributes of God none are elevated to this degree. When we have something important to say what do we do? We usually repeat it right?
When Jesus had something to say that was especially important, EVERYTHING Jesus said was important but there were specific times when Jesus would say what? Verily, verily I say unto you! What does that mean? Truly truly, and what he is actually saying in Greek is a-men (A-Main, a-main).
This is our English word amen which means “it’s true!” Were usually accustomed to amen being at the end of a statement or prayer but Jesus would say, amen, amen I say unto you, and He repeated this phrase to show it’s importance! But here is Isaiah six, along with Revelation four as we noted earlier the holiness of God is not just repeated here in Scripture it is elevated to the third degree. When we use that term, third degree what does it speak of but intensity! God is above all things HOLY, HOLY, HOLY!
This is Gods greatest attribute, consider the attribute man often elevated above all others, the attribute of love and the Bible does say God is love, Amen! But while the Bible does say God is love, it doesn’t say God is love, love, love. The Bible says God is Holy, holy, holy! That’s not accidental!
The Bible is the word of God directly inspired by the Holy Ghost so there is nothing that is just there by coincidence. God is holy and He is declared to be holy day and night so we could perhaps say that not only is His holiness elevated to the third degree it is actually elevated to an infinite degree!
You might say “but I’m not sure I totally understand all of that”, right! And that’s why God is so great! One more thing before we continue in Isaiah 6, holy repeated three times may indeed be a reference to the Trinity, holy being mentioned once for each member of the Godhead because certainly the Father is holy, the Son is holy and the Spirit is Holy. 3 And one cried to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”
4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 So I said:
“Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because 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 commented a moment ago about how some view God, as this grandfatherly like figure in the sky who is more like Santa Claus than anything else. He’s just there to answer your prayers and give you all the things you want. I would simply ask, is that the picture of God that Isaiah the prophet saw?
Isaiah said “Woe is me for I am undone!” The Greek word (da-mah) is also translated perish, destroy or Cut off. Basically Isaiah after seeing the Lord in this vision said “I am destroyed!”
Of all the ministers of our time the man who seemed to be most associated with preaching on this subject, bringing attention to the holiness of God was the teacher and theologian Dr. R.C. Sproul and in one of his messages on the holiness of God he spoke of a woman who wrote him a letter and she said that she was deeply concerned that her minister was doing everything he possibly could to try and hide the truth about who God really was. And while R.C. couldn’t speak to that specific situation he recognized that this was a real problem, he said before his death “This is the problem with the Christian church, we don’t know who God is, and we don’t know who we are”.
Isaiah understood and when he understood who God was he said I am undone! Why? Because God was holy and he was a man of unclean lips. Hebrews 12:28-29 says “ Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire.”
When you hear people talk about God, do they often refer to him as a consuming fire? How much do we hear these days about having a fear of God, reverence and godly fear? I fear this is lacking! Severely lacking! And all that may indeed give us a frightful picture to where if we were to dwell on in, we might not ever have any true peace, but thankfully the good news of the gospel is explained by the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 5:1-2
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God
Let’s close by turning to 1 Peter chapter one. 1 Peter chapter one. So it is because of Christ that we have peace with God. The God that struck terror into the heart of the prophet Isaiah // Jesus stands between Him and us, the one mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus who gave Himself a ransom for all…”
It is because of that that Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:13-16
Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.
What’s Peter saying? Because of what Christ has done for us we should be ready, we should live right knowing Christ is coming again! We shouldn’t go backwards, we shouldn’t be like those who live the same way they use to live before they knew the truth rather we should be holy in our conduct.
What is God asking of us? He is asking us to live a set apart life, as believers we should be different, we should be set apart from everyone else, why? Because this is what the Lord says “Be holy, for I am holy.”
