A Study of Isaiah 6

There is some controversy as to the correct place of chapter 6 within the chronology of Isaiah’s life and ministry. There are those who suppose that chronologically the Book of Isaiah really begins with verse 6, and that the prophet’s ministry began at the death of King Uzziah. My own view is that this was not the beginning of Isaiah’s work as a prophet. In Isaiah 1:1 we read that he prophesied during Uzziah’s reign:

The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

The vision we read about in chapter 6 came to Isaiah while he was already engaged in the ministry as a prophet. This vision is what Ross Price referred to as a “transforming vision…that deepened his spiritual life and insights.” This is a perfect example of a man of God, working for God, and growing spiritually at the same time. This should be an encouragement to any believer who feels inadequate in doing the work of the Lord. Whom God calls, He enables. We wish that enabling would take place before we start about the work, but often God wants us to step out in faith, realizing our own weaknesses and shortcomings as we serve Him. When we need Him, He comes to us, as He did to Isaiah.

1. Some background information

Chapter six opens with a funeral; the funeral for a truly great king, King Uzziah. Some commentators believe that Uzziah was the last great king the southern kingdom of Judah ever had and that at his death, the glory of the Lord was no longer to be seen.

In his 52 years on the throne, Uzziah did a number of remarkable things: he subjugated the Philistines, the Arabians and the Ammonites. Under his rule, the nation experienced God’s blessing in the form of great prosperity. Delitzsch wrote, “The national glory of Israel died out too with King Uzziah and has never recovered to this day.”

As great as he was, however, Uzziah was under a death sentence because of something that happened in 2 Chronicles 26:16-21.

But then the strength and success went to his head. Arrogant and proud, he fell. One day, contemptuous of God, he walked into The Temple of God like he owned it and took over, burning incense on the Incense Altar. The priest Azariah, backed up by eighty brave priests of God, tried to prevent him. They confronted Uzziah: “You must not, you cannot do this, Uzziah—only the Aaronite priests, especially consecrated for the work, are permitted to burn incense. Get out of God’s Temple; you are unfaithful and a disgrace!”

But Uzziah, censer in hand, was already in the middle of doing it and angrily rebuffed the priests. He lost his temper; angry words were exchanged—and then, even as they quarreled, a skin disease appeared on his forehead. As soon as they saw it, the chief priest Azariah and the other priests got him out of there as fast as they could. He hurried out—he knew that God then and there had given him the disease. Uzziah had his skin disease for the rest of his life and had to live in quarantine; he was not permitted to set foot in The Temple of God. His son Jotham, who managed the royal palace, took over the government of the country. (The Message)

It was a time of national crisis. There was the appearance of outward prosperity, but inward there was much corruption. The king spent the final days of his life in seclusion. The young prophet must have been disillusioned and the future of the empire loomed large in the mind of both the people and the prophet. It was during this very bleak time that God stepped in and gave Isaiah the vision that would take the prophet far above the wreckage of his earthly hope; Isaiah was given a glimpse of the unspeakable glories of God and of Heaven, and what he saw would change his life and his message. From now on, Isaiah would realize that the hope of earth rested in God Himself.

2. The Woe of Condemnation, verse 5

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

We are told in various places in Scripture (Exodus 33:20; Matthew 5:8, for example) that only the holy see God and live. The fact that the prophet saw God and lived to write about indicates the estimation God had of His prophet. But, at the same time, there was work to be done on Isaiah’s heart.

G.W. Grogan observed,

The theme of divine holiness is of towering importance to Isaiah. This man of God could never forget the disclosure of transcendent purity he encountered…

When we come face to face with the absolute holiness of God, regardless of what He thinks of us, we can’t help but come face to face with our utter unholiness. When in the presence of God, we realize we are nothing. In the Hebrew Isaiah’s statement is slightly different: I am struck dumb. What can one who is nothing say in the presence of One in whom is everything? The light of the glory of God reveals the inner man, which is given expression through speech. Isaiah saw his true self and couldn’t join in the heavenly chorus of “Holy, holy, holy” until the Lord cleansed him.

Job had a similar experience. God Himself declared that Job was “perfect and upright,” yet we read this in Job 42:5-6,

My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

In the KJV, Job says that he “abhors himself.” The light of God’s presence reveals things about ourselves we don’t like. Even Paul, after he encountered the risen Lord, he no longer saw himself as a self-righteous Pharisee, but as a sinner, lost and in need of salvation.

Isaiah, having seen what true worship is, became painfully aware of the imperfection of his devotion and the condition of his people. The leprous condition of their king was merely a picture of the true spiritual condition their own leprous lives.

3. The Lo of cleansing, verse 7

With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

To continue serving God after the death of Uzziah, Isaiah needed to be cleansed. It is the God of burning holiness Himself who did the work. Isaiah did nothing, except receive what God had provided. Some believe the burning coal was symbolic of Jesus Christ.

There is an interesting parallel between what happened to Isaiah and what happened to the believers gathered on the Day of Pentecost. In that instance, they were all touched by the Holy Spirit, evidenced by a flame settling on each person. Here, one of the seraphims touched a burning coal to the prophet’s lips, making him fit to carry on his ministry. Price makes this observation, “Calvary provided a Pentecost for every uncleansed believer.” Indeed, pardon and purity are part and parcel of what God does for us through Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul one time came face to face with his own wretched condition, even while preaching the Gospel:

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Romans 7:24)

Like Isaiah, Paul needed something only God could provide. Paul’s cry of desperation came, not as a lost sinner, but as a mighty man of God! The great lesson of Isaiah and Paul is this: living for God can only be accomplished by divine grace.

4. The Go of commission, verse 9

He said, “Go and tell this people…

Before we get to Isaiah’s call, we read a very interesting thing in verse 8:

“Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

Many Christians have never felt as though they had been called of God to do anything. Even with a world of lost sinners dying all around them, so many believers have never felt “the call” to do anything about it! Of note is that Isaiah’s call didn’t come until after he had been cleansed by God. This is significant. Of course, he had been serving God prior to this, we would call him “born again,” yet he had not experienced this deeper relationship with God. He had never been made suitable for the task God had in mind for him. This is, I think, a great need within the church today. Our pews are full of people who have professed Christ and are serving Him, yet they have never experienced a total cleansing because they have never experienced this deeper relationship. Those who gathered in the Upper Room experienced it, Isaiah experienced it. God can and does bless His Word, even when it is given out by those flirting with sin. But imagine how much more effective our work for Him would be if we allowed Him to touch our lips with his supernatural fiery coals!

Of special note, as well, is the the fact the entire Trinity is involved in this cleansing of Isaiah. Notice the “we.” Isaiah heard the call, he responded, and was made fit for the new work to which God was call him.

Verse 9 begins the strange commission. At first reading, Isaiah’s message sounds harsh and mean. But God is not mean; His Word is light that reveals the hardness of man’s hearts, the blindness of man’s eyes, and the deafness of man’s ears. The light of God’s Word reveals the exact state a man is in. Isaiah is being called by God to take the light of God to a people in darkness. In reading God’s message to His people, is it any wonder why Isaiah needed to be cleansed and made fit? One can preach about the love of God after having experienced it, but one cannot preach repentance and holiness until one has been cleaned from the inside out, as Isaiah had been.

Conclusion

Isaiah’s commission would not be an easy one. Like our Lord, Isaiah suffered for the sake of his message. In frustration, the prophet cried out, “Who has believed our report?” (53:1) and “I spread my hands all the day unto a rebellious people” (65:2). His was a lonely life, and a life filled with great sorrow, as he watch the nation he served and loved going down under God’s judgment because of the stubbornness of the people’s hearts. Isaiah was to become the messenger of doom to an obdurate people, and only a small fraction of the population would be saved. Isaiah couldn’t do what he did for all those years had he not been made fit but the Spirit of God. He preached, he witnessed, he suffered, he died. Yet the seed Isaiah scattered in tears still bears a harvest to this very day.