Translation and Sermon by Nate Wilson delivered 06 August 2006, Manhattan, KS
1 In the year of the death of the King, Uzziah,
I saw the Lord
sitting upon a throne,
high and lifted up, and
His train filled the temple.
2. Six-winged seraphim were hovering over Him.
Each had six wings:
with two he covers his face, and
with two he covers his feet, and
with two he flies. 3. and
This one calls to that one and says,
“Holy, holy, holy Jehovah of Hosts.
All the earth is full of His glory!”
4. And the bases of the thresholds vibrated
from the voice of the one who called, and
the house was filled with smoke.
5. And I said, “Woe to me!,
For I am undone,
for I am a man of unclean lips,
and in the midst of a people of unclean lips I am dwelling,
For my eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts!”
6. Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and
in his hand was a glowing coal he had taken from the altar with tongs.
7. And he touched upon my mouth and
said, “Behold, this has touched upon your lips, and
your iniquity has been taken away and
your sin has been covered.”
8. And I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
“Whom shall I send, and
who will go for Us?
And I said,
“Behold me;
send me!”
9. And He said,
“Go and say to this people,
‘Hear and hear, but don’t understand;
see and see, but don’t perceive.’
10. Fatten the heart of this people and
weigh down their ears and
plaster their eyes,
otherwise
it will see with its eyes
and hear with its ears and
its heart will understand and turn
and He bring healing to it.
11. Then I said, “Unto what extent, Lord?”
And He said, “Until whenever
cities crash to ruin without inhabitant,
and houses are without a human
and the ground is ruined – a desolation. 12.
And Jehovah puts humanity far away and
her forsaken places be many within the land.
13. and only a tenth is in her
and she will return and she will be for feeding on.
The holy seed is her stump, like the elm and like the oak whose stump is with them even in their fallen state.
This passage starts: “In the year of the death of the King, Uzziah, I saw the Lord”
Chronologically, this chapter actually stands before any of the previous chapters in Isaiah – this happened first; Isaiah’s cleansing from sin and His calling to the ministry of a prophet. It stands here, however, to show a transition from the prophecies of hardening to the prophecies of comfort that come in chapters 7-11.
The year is about 758 BC (2764 years ago). Isaiah is living in Jerusalem, Israel and
his king, Uzziah, is stricken with leprosy and he dies.
He is living in a country filled with people who are living in rebellion to God.
Things aren’t looking good to Isaiah.
And it is at that time that God gives him a vision of the spiritual realities going on.
Although the king of Judah is dead, the King of Kings is sitting in heaven, alive and well.
Although the people of Israel are living evil lives, God is in heaven in pure holiness.
Although it looks like everything is going wrong, God has a good plan that He is carrying out.
This chapter can be organized into three parts:
The holiness of God in heaven
The Holiness of God given to man
Man sharing in God’s holy work
sitting upon a throne,
high and lifted up, and
His train filled the temple.
2. Six-winged seraphim were hovering over Him.
Each had six wings:
with two he covers his face, and
with two he covers his feet, and
with two he flies. 3. and
This one calls to that one and says,
“Holy, holy, holy Jehovah of Hosts.
All the earth is full of His glory!”
4. And the bases of the thresholds vibrated
from the voice of the one who called, and
the house was filled with smoke.
Isaiah is standing just outside the door of the temple, looking in, seeing the robe filling the temple, the doorframe vibrating from the noise of the worship, and the temple filling with smoke – a lot like other men who saw the glory of God:
1Ki 8:6-11 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. 7. For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles... 10. And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD, 11. so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.
Eze 10:1-4 Then I looked, and behold, on the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something like a sapphire, in appearance like a throne. 2. And he said to the man clothed in linen, "Go in among the whirling wheels underneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city." And he went in before my eyes. 3. Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the house, when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court. 4. And the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD.
Rev 15:8 and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary...
Isaiah saw Jesus in His glory!. John 12:41 explicitly says that Isaiah saw the glory of Jesus and quotes from this chapter of Isaiah 6. Now what’s interesting is that if you go down to verse 5, he says he has seen Jehovah of Hosts. If there’s any doubt in your mind that Jesus is God, here is a definite statement from the Bible where Isaiah says he saw Jehovah God, and the Apostle John in chapter 12 of his gospel says that Isaiah saw Jesus! Interestingly enough, Paul, in Acts 28, quotes this same chapter saying that it was the Holy Spirit speaking, so we have the Trinity here!
Kingship of Jesus is emphasized here: Power, majesty, attendants, kingly robe, throne, court, and Isaiah says in verse 5 – “my eyes have seen the King.”
This is the only place seraphim are mentioned in the Bible, although they are very like the living creatures that Ezekiel and John the Revelator describe in their visions of heaven. They are awesome creatures, attending upon the Lord. Seraph means “burning” perhaps because they are burning bright in appearance, perhaps because they handle burning coals in v.6
Holy, holy, holy. Three times! Super holy. Also Trinity (cf who will go for us in v. 8)
v5. And I said, “Woe to me!,
For I am undone,
for I am a man of unclean lips,
and in the midst of a people of unclean lips I am dwelling,
For my eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts!”
This is the proper response. Oh God, I am unholy, I deserve to die. I can’t see You and live because I am unclean!
Job has a similar reaction: Job 42:5-6 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; 6. therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes."
Peter was a little more easily impressed, but he also has a similar reaction to the holiness of Jesus that he saw after hearing Jesus teach all day and then seeing how Jesus knew where the fish were: Luk 5:8 …he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord."
Contract between the pure praises of the Seraphim and the impure lips of Isaiah.
How do we sin against God with impure lips? Lying, cutting people down, exaggerating, making ourselves look good with a little spin, cursing and profanity, complaining…
It is the work of the Holy Spirit, who convicts us of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8), so if you feel this way, then be assured that it is God working in you – you can’t generate this kind of conviction humanly.
Before a holy God we muse recognize that we are not o.k. We are unworthy, we are guilty of breaking his law, and we are doomed. But thank God the story doesn’t end here!
v6. Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and
in his hand was a glowing coal he had taken from the altar with tongs.
7. And he touched upon my mouth and
said, “Behold, this has touched upon your lips, and
your iniquity has been taken away and
your sin has been covered.”
God, in His mercy, touches the very part of Isaiah’s body that Isaiah recognized as sinful and cleansed it.
Notice that Isaiah did not cover his own sins; he confessed them and God took care of them without any further effort from Isaiah
Also note the transferr. The coal was from the altar. Symbolically God was pointing back to the sacrifice for sins, showing that Isaiah’s holiness comes from the sacrifice for sins offered upon the altar. This is also where our holiness comes from. The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus was our final sacrifice for sins, and His righteousness is imputed to us by God’s hand so that when God looks at those of us who believe in Jesus, instead of seeing our unclean lips and our sin, He sees the righteousness of Jesus Christ and does not punish us for our sin. This is very important.
v8. And I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
“Whom shall I send, and
who will go for Us?
And I said,
“Behold me;
send me!”
We respond by living lives that are available to God to fulfill His purposes. We have been bought back by God and now we are his servants. As God’s holy people we now can participate in His holy purposes.
If you have asked God to forgive your sins because you trust in Jesus, then your next step is to say, Here I am, Lord, send me!”
v9. And He said,
“Go and say to this people,
‘Hear and hear, but don’t understand;
see and see, but don’t perceive.’
10. Fatten the heart of this people and
weigh down their ears and
plaster their eyes,
otherwise
it will see with its eyes
and hear with its ears and
its heart will understand and turn
and He bring healing to it.
Mar 4:10-12 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11. And he said to them, "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12. so that "they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven."
Mat 13:10-16 Then the disciples came and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" 11. And he answered them, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: "'You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. 15. For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.' 16. But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.
Act 28:25-28 And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: "The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet: 26. "'Go to this people, and say, You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. 27. For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.' 28. Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen."
Don’t misunderstand the meaning of the “otherwise.” The “lest/otherwise” is not a condition that God is absolutely trying to prohibit, it is an alternative course that the ones God chooses to save will follow. There is mercy and hope of salvation. Verse 10 ends with “he bring healing to this people” or, as the four NT authors quote it, “I will heal them.” God does heal those who listen to Him and turn away from their rebellion against God. As the classic commentator Delitzsch wrote, “Judgment on the people does not preclude the possibility of saving individuals.”
This is a hard task that Isaiah is called to – it is not a glorious ministry with lots of applause and understanding and appreciation, but it parallels the work of God as God brings His salvation to those He chooses to save. Just as Jesus purposefully obscured His message by using parables so that His disciples would understand, but the ones He was not seeking to save did not understand, so it was in Isaiah’s time, and so it is in our time. We are in partnership with a God who chooses whom He wants to save. It is our task to tell everybody about Jesus and then trust that God will use the words we speak to either harden the hearts of those who are not going to be saved or bring God’s light to those who will be saved.
However, if you are in church week in and week out, you should find it a terrifying thought that God could use preaching to harden your heart. As we see in the Heidelberg Confession Question 84, the kingdom of heaven is open and shut through preaching. “According to the command of Christ, the kingdom of heaven is opened when it is proclaimed and publicly testified to each and every believer that God has really forgiven all their sins for the sake of Christ's merits, as often as they by true faith accept the promise of the gospel. The kingdom of heaven is closed when it is proclaimed and testified to all unbelievers and hypocrites that the wrath of God and eternal condemnation rest on them as long as they do not repent. According to this testimony of the gospel, God will judge both in this life and in the life to come.”
If you do not understand and don’t care about what you are hearing in church, be afraid and call out to God to save you and not let you be hardened!
11. Then I said, “Unto what extent, Lord?”
cf. Ps. 13:1, Job 7:19, Hab. 1:2; Rev. 6:10
This prayer, “How long/to what extent” is a good prayer, it expresses
faith in God’s sovereignty
longing for His will to be accomplished
concern for God’s people who will not be forsaken forever
The passage closes with a prophecy of the exile to come and a hint of the holy seed which is to come – Jesus Christ, who would be a descended of those Jews who survive the exile and rebuild in Judah. Hope is once again held out, and we will see this a little more explicitly next week in chapter 7!
And He said, “Until whenever
cities crash to ruin without inhabitant,
and houses are without a human
and the ground is ruined – a desolation. 12.
And Jehovah puts humanity far away and
her forsaken places be many within the land.
13. and only a tenth is in her
and she will return and she will be for feeding on.
The holy seed is her stump, like the elm and like the oak whose stump is with them even in their fallen state.
(cf. Isa 5:5, 4:2 feminie pronouns refer to “land”)
In conclusion, Isaiah 6 teaches us to:
Take a good look at God’s holiness and respond with confessing our sin.
Receive the holiness of Jesus Christ and respond by offering ourselves in service to Him.
And Share in God’s holy work, proclaiming the hope of salvation in Jesus and praying, “How Long, Lord?”