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:
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.”
Isaiah's Commission from the Lord
8 And 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.” 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.
13And 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.
Understanding Isaiah's Prophecies
Isa. 6:1–13 Grace—through Judgment—for Isaiah. God's grace leads Isaiah from “Woe is me!” (v. 5) to “Here am I!” (v. 8). This vision seems to recount Isaiah's commission as a prophet. His book conveys the lasting impression of this vision of God in his infinite holiness.
Isa. 6:1 In the year. Around 740 b.c. King Uzziah died, marking the end of a lengthy era of national prosperity (see 2 Chronicles 26). Uzziah had contracted leprosy for flouting God's holiness, and his son Jotham had been his co-regent for about 10 years (2 Chron. 26:16–21). I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne. The undying King holds court above. The words high and lifted up appear elsewhere in Isaiah (Isa. 52:13; 57:15) and seem to be part of his distinctive style. John 12:38–41 brings two of these together, implying that John saw the servant of Isa. 52:13–53:12 as not only messianic, but divine. The temple in
Isa. 6:2 the seraphim. Fiery angelic beings (the Hb. word serapim means “flames”). Six wings suggest remarkable powers. The references to face and feet, with their capacity for speech in vv. 3 and 7, and “his hand” in v. 6, imply composite creatures, such as are represented in ancient Near Eastern art. he covered. Even a perfect, superhuman creature humbles himself before the all-holy God.
Isa. 6:4–5 The revelation of the Holy One is disturbing (see Ex. 19:16–18).
Isa. 6:6–7 this has touched your lips. The remedy of grace is personally applied. God's holiness and glory now redemptively enter Isaiah's experience. atoned for. Through the sacrifice on the altar, according to the Levitical ordinances (e.g., Lev. 1:4). Through his seraph (the singular form of seraphim, plural; see note on Isa. 6:2), God declares the remedy for Isaiah's sin to be sufficient and instantly effective. Now Isaiah is qualified to proclaim the only hope of the world—the overruling grace of God. « Less
Isa. 6:8 Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? See 1 Kings 22:19–20; Jer. 23:18, 22. Here am I! Send me. Isaiah's experience of grace has dealt with his problem, confessed in Isa. 6:5. “Us” is like “us” in Gen. 1:26 (“let us make man”): God could be addressing himself (in a way compatible with the Christian doctrine of the Trinity), or he could be addressing his heavenly court (less likely, since only God is doing the sending here). See notes on Gen. 1:26; 1:27. « Less
Isa. 6:9–10 God decrees that the prophet's ministry will have a hardening effect on his own generation, whose character was laid bare in chs. 1–5. The NT quotes this text to explain why some reject the good news of the gospel (cf. Matt. 13:14–15 par.; John 12:39–40; Acts 28:25–27). The openness of faith is a gift of grace, but the unresponsive hearer finds that the message only hardens him to God's gracious purposes (cf. Isa. 29:9–10; 42:18–25; 65:1–7; Luke 2:34; John 9:39; Acts 7:54; Rom. 11:7–10, 25; 2 Cor. 2:15–16; 1 Pet. 2:8). « Less
Isa. 6:11–13 God's discipline will leave only a remnant of his people—the holy seed—like a single stump left after a forest has been burned over. The remaining believers are set apart for God by the same grace that saved Isaiah. They are the heirs of God's promises to Abraham, and thus the only hope for the whole world (see 10:20–23; 11:1–10).
Keep you hearts open Beloved and hear the Holy Word drawing you back to Him and His Wisdom. Do not let the woes of this world cause you to harden your hearts and close your ears. See what the Lord has done, it is good and it is righteous and His mercy endures with us forever!! What a hopeful promise we have in Him...the flesh is weak and temporary but our souls are part of His Soul, His Holy Spirit living in us and preserving us for eternal life. Amen, all my love Sister Lisa
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