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:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
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 I am! 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.
13 And 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. Isaiah 6 ESV
Isaiah 6: 5-7 Tremble, Tremble, Tremble
I remember a story from when I lived in the mountains. The local sheriffs raided a house on a drug bust, and they found the usual drugs, money and paraphernalia, but there was also something quite peculiar, the sort of thing that causes the typical to stand out in one's mind. There was a bear, and he was on a chain. He was different than other bears in that his canines and claws had been removed. I guess the owners liked the idea of having a bear, but he was too strong, fearsome and bear like in his natural state. On the chain he could not run after them or run away, and without his teeth and claws they could approach him without fear.
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands.
16 They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see.
17 They have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them. Psalm 135: 15-18
…17 saying: “We give thanks to You, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. 18 The nations were enraged, and Your wrath has come. The time has come to judge the dead and to reward Your servants the prophets, as well as the saints and those who fear Your name, both small and great— and to destroy those who destroy the earth. 19 Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple. And there were flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and peals of thunder, and an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.… Revelation 11: 17-19
…29 How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.… Revelation 11: 29-31
5-7. And I said, Woe is me, for I am lost - It is unfortunate that you can go into places that are called "Christian" book stores these days and find books and movies about people's supposed vision, transportation, after death experiences that supposedly took them to heaven. There are writers, "preachers", who claim to have walked with angels and God Himself, touring rooms filled with fancy cars, because they are prosperity teachers and they know what your idols are. They describe rooms with spare body parts just waiting to be claimed because they know that health is important to us; we don't like infirmities. These men then twist scripture, omit context and say "you have not because you ask not, just name it and claim it." They profane the sacred, blaspheme the Holy Spirit, and so with this other gospel they are peddling, they also make a new heaven with an eternal Santa like genie, who is chained to their felt needs, their covetous desires, and all that is sacred, Holy, and just is removed from His mouth and fingers. They lead this God around on a leash and act as if He is the God of the Bible when he is really just the invention of their wicked and deceitful hearts.
Isaiah is shaken by the voice of an angel. The angel is more holy than him. He is lost here, and by the most pious standards of men, Isaiah is a godly man, a preacher of righteousness, but before the throne of God he is out of place. When John saw the vision of an angel he fell to the ground. He made a gross mistake, and was corrected for it, but this is the result of trauma, well beyond the field of battle, of culture shock.
…7“Behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of prophecy in this book.” 8 And I am John, who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had shown me these things. 9 But he said to me, “Do not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God!”… Revelation 22: 7-9
For I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips - Remember back in Isaiah 2:
…8 Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made. 9 So mankind is brought low, and man is humbled— do not forgive them!10 Go into the rocks and hide in the dust from the terror of the LORD and the splendor of His majesty.… Isaiah 2: 8-10
He said, "do not forgive them!", but now, after the trauma of the realization of God's glory and holiness, standing there without the God given covering of the wings before his eyes and a pair to cover his feet, comparing himself to the mirror of the Almighty, he is mortified. All he can see is that he is not like God, not even like the angel; God is Holy, holy, holy, and I am not. What is left for anyone who has seen this but certain judgment, death. His "do not forgive them", turns in to I am one of them. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, and I am a man of unclean lips. I have said wrong things, thought wrong things, underestimated the Holy, and made light of the sacred, I do not belong here. So why doesn't God kill him? This is who He came to save, the meek, the lowly, humble, the lost, not the righteous, for there are none. He came to call sinners unto repentance. If there is anything that Isaiah knows right now it is that he is a sinner among sinners. Like Moses, when we come before the burning bush, as he was directed to remove his shoes, his temporary covering, man made covering, so we must remove all ideas of self righteousness, all we have are soiled hands and feet. He had seen the King, the Lord of hosts. It is a mercy that He brings us to the place of unworthiness, knowing that all we have to bring is our sin, our falleness, and He provides the covering of His Worthiness.
Then one seraph flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar - On earth as it is in heaven, the altar in the tabernacle was called most holy to the Lord. Think about this before you read your Bible and before you pray.
…8 And they are to make a sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them. 9 You must make the tabernacle and design all its furnishings according to the pattern I show you. Exodus 25: 8-9
…8 When Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he must burn the incense perpetually before the LORD for the generations to come. 9 On this altar you must not offer unauthorized incense or a burnt offering or grain offering; nor are you to pour a drink offering on it.10 Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on the horns of the altar. Throughout your generations he shall make atonement on it annually with the blood of the sin offering of atonement. The altar is most holy to the LORD.”… Exodus 30: 8-10
“The fire was taken from the altar, to intimate that it was divine or heavenly; for the law forbade any strange fire to be brought to it, because in sacred things every human mixture is absolute profanation. By this figure, therefore, Isaiah was taught that all purity flows from God alone.” (Calvin)
And he touched my mouth and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for" - If someone approached me with a burning coal, I would say, "woe is me, for I have sensitive lips", but for Isaiah the woe had already come, much worse than the prospect of any mortal pain, was the realization of his sin. Cleanse me, Oh Lord, purge me, the thought of redemption, of being made clean, far outweighs the horrors of physical pain. The process may seem extraordinary to us, but what brings a man to his knees, to the end of himself, that is mercy undeserved. In light of the glory of God's forgiveness, this may not seem like pain at all.
Isaiah knew he did not serve the LORD like these seraphim, the burning ones. So God said, “I will light a fire in you, also!” That is why a burning coal was used to purify Isaiah. “Jehovah, who is a consuming fire, can only fitly be served by those who are on fire, whether they be angels or men.” (Spurgeon)
Once Isaiah had met with the LORD, been convicted of his sin, and cleansed from its guilt, then he was ready to serve God. “The effect of that live coal will be to fire the lip with heavenly flame. ‘Oh,’ says one man, ‘a flaming coal will burn the lip so that the man cannot speak at all.’ That is just how God works with us; it is by consuming the fleshly power that he inspires the heavenly might. Oh let the lip be burnt, let the fleshly power of eloquence be destroyed, but oh for that live coal to make the tongue eloquent with heaven’s flame; the true divine power which urged the Apostles forward, and made them conquerors of the whole world.” (Spurgeon)
This Christ, the Lord of hosts, He will not call down angels, no, He will make His way to the cross, the altar of God's wrath, and with all my sin, no less, burned away upon Him.
…23 When they heaped abuse on Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats, but entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly. 24 He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.” 25 For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.… 1 Peter 2: 23-25
Listen to this when you are laying down for the evening or have a long drive RC Sproul part 3
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