Isaiah 6: Picture of Salvation to Service

Isaiah 6 is an incredible picture of awesomeness and holiness of the Lord; self examination; repentance, total submission, cleansing, and redemption; and willingness to be available and willing to serve.

Awesome and Holy Lord:

Isaiah in verse 1 sees the Lord. In the year that King Uzziah dies, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 6:1 Isaiah had seen the real thing, not something he had made up In his own mind. How do you picture God? Like Isaiah, have you been underestimating the Lord. It appears that Isaiah is overwhelmed and dwarfed by the Lord. Is that the way you see the Lord?

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. And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!" 6:2 Imagine that incredible sight! When is the last time you took the time to just look around at the Lord's glorious creation? If that was enough to rock Isaiah's world, He spoke and shook him to the bone. And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke: 6:3 That was it. Isaiah had seen the incredible holiness and glory of the Lord. The Lord's holiness revealed Isaiah's incredible sinful nature, and it was too much for him to handle. Please notice that Isaiah had sought after God and his worship had brought him into the presence of the King (the Lord). He was even close enough to hear Him loudly and clearly. What kind of effort does it take to get to where Isaiah had come? Are there any benefits? (Read Proverbs 8:32:35 and consider reading Can One Obtain the Favor of the Lord?)

Self Examination:

Once Isaiah saw the Lord's holiness, he finally was able to see himself as he really was, a sinner that falls way short or the glory of God. Most today, if asked, would say that they are "good people". We all can see how most can come to that conclusion, especially if we see who they compared themselves with. Remember though that criminals in jail, see themselves "good" when compared to those on death row. Isaiah finally saw himself in comparison to the sinless Lord. The Lord had not broken a single of the 10 Commandments, but Isaiah, and I dare say any honest person, had probably broken every 1 of the 10 (lied, stolen, cursed using God's name, lusted which is adultery, hated for no cause which Jesus says is murder, not obeyed parents, wanted others things, not always put God first, created an image of a God we wanted to have not the God Isaiah had scene, and had not always kept God's Sabbath holy) Examine yourself compared to God's standard. Like Isaiah, don't you fall short?

Look here at Isaiah's reaction and consider your own: 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." 6:5 Is that seeing it as it is, or what? Isaiah not only saw his own iniquity an sin, but saw ours as well. Have you ever seen yourself as undone? Some translations say destroyed or cut-off. Don't destroyed and cut-off describe the picture of eternity separation and tortures of hell? Isaiah did not like to see himself that way, nor do we. However, he was honest with himself and wanted desperately to be clean again. He knew that in his current state, he was hopeless, and knew there was nothing he could. That was his "bad news". This is also our "bad news", if we are honest. We are all hopelessly sinners in comparison to the Lord and therefore undeserving to pollute the holiness of heaven.

Repentance, Total Submission, Cleansing, and Redemption

I realize that this section is a mouthful, but it will be clear after reading what happened next. Maybe I should say, what was allowed to happen. Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the alter. 6:6 I don't know about you, but I certainly would have wondered what that seraphim was up to. It doesn't take long to see. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged." 6:7 Can you imagine him standing still and not resisting that? He must really have detested his state, for him to just totally submit to a "live" coal, on his lips. It make your mom's soap in your mouth look pretty good about now. How do you really see yourself? Was there ever a time you saw yourself as undone? Unclean? Destroyed? Cut-off? If you haven't seen yourself that way, you might want to seek after God to see the way He sees you and submit totally to the cure He offers. Isaiah's submission to the Lord, his trusting in cleansing power of the Lord's alter (which would later be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus), cleansed and took away his sin. We know that Jesus total submission unto death, even when He was sinless and had committed no wrong resulted in our inquity and sin being taken away for those that believe, and receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. In Him (meaning Jesus) we have redemption through His blood the forgiveness of sins. Ephesians 1:7a And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5:11-12) Just as Isaiah submitted humbly to the live coal; we too must humbly submit to the Lord and receive Him. Isaiah knew he received the coal. Have you ever received the Son of God (Jesus)? Do you have Him, still have Him? Have you been redeemed by His blood? Do you have the assurance of everlasting life? Do not neglect so great salvation!

Jack Jackson