Dawn in the empty temple court: white smoke rolls out of the open doors between the two bronze pillars and fills the porch, warm golden light deep inside.

Holy, holy, holy

Isaiah 6

King Uzziah is dead, about 740 BC. What happens when you see God as He really is?

13 verses≈ 3 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

1–5Zion on trialJudah’s sin, the mountain raised, the vineyard’s song
6Holy, holy, holyIsaiah’s call, in the year King Uzziah died (about 740 BC)Chapter 6
7–12ImmanuelAhaz’s fear, the sign, the Child, the shoot of Jesse
13–23The nations judgedBabylon to Tyre: the LORD is Judge of all the earth
24–27The whole earthThe earth laid waste, and death swallowed up
28–35Woe and a KingEgypt’s help or the LORD’s, and the King in His beauty
36–39Hezekiah’s crisisSennacherib, 701 BC: the prayer, the sickness, the envoys
40–48Comfort My peopleTo the exiles ahead: Cyrus, the idols, the Servant
49–55The Servant and ZionPierced for our transgressions; Zion restored
56–66New heavens and earthA house of prayer, the Anointed One, all things new

Isaiah’s Commission

Isaiah

Inside the temple’s holy place: from a brightness above and out of frame a vast train of shimmering white-gold light and cloth pours down and fills the cedar-paneled hall from wall to wall.

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.

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Isaiah

Isaiah

Above Him stood seraphim, each having six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.

Isaiah

Close at the temple doorway: the great stone threshold and doorposts shaking, dust falling from the stones, thick white smoke pouring through and filling the porch.

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke.

Isaiah

A young man seen from behind, on his knees and bowed to the stone floor of the temple porch, his mantle drawn over his head, light and smoke pouring out over him from the open doors.

Then I said:

“Woe is me,

for I am ruined,

because I am a man of unclean lips

dwelling among a people of unclean lips;

for my eyes have seen the King,

the LORD of Hosts.”

Isaiah

Isaiah

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And with it he touched my mouth and said:

“Now that this has touched your lips,

your iniquity is removed

and your sin is atoned for.”

Question

Quick question

Isaiah has just said he is ruined. Look at what happens next before you answer.

What did the seraph touch to Isaiah’s lips?

Isaiah

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying:

“Whom shall I send?

Who will go for Us?”

And I said:

“Here am I. Send me!”

Isaiah 6:8

God

And He replied:

“Go and tell this people,

‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;

be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’

Make the hearts of this people calloused;

deafen their ears and close their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

hear with their ears,

understand with their hearts,

and turn and be healed.”

Isaiah

Then I asked:

“How long, O Lord?”

God

And He replied:

“Until the cities lie ruined

and without inhabitant,

until the houses are left unoccupied

and the land is desolate and ravaged,

until the LORD has driven men far away

and the land is utterly forsaken.

God

Gray morning in a burned-over field: the broad stump of a great felled terebinth, its rings plain and its edges charred, its roots still gripping the earth, ash on the ground.

And though a tenth remains in the land,

it will be burned again.

As the terebinth and oak leave stumps when felled,

so the holy seed will be a stump in the land.”

Pray

Holy, holy, holy LORD, I am a person of unclean lips. Touch me and take my sin away. Here am I. Send me.

Seen, cleansed, sent

Whiteboard

He saw, he was undone, he was cleansed, and he went. And even the ruin keeps a stump with life in it.

You’ve experienced

Isaiah 6

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A verse to carry with you

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?” And I said: “Here am I. Send me!”

Isaiah 6:8

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