Isaiah 6:1-10 The Year that King Uzziah died
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Having read 2 ch passage we start our message for today with a prayer for wisdom and for understanding as we take these words to heart and dare to walk where angels fear to tread.
Isaiah 6 begins with
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.
And in the past when I have read this verse the first note- in the year that King Uzzian died sounds like a dating tool to let the reader know what year this took place. I have always lightly skipped over it to the weighty words of wonder that follow.
But I don’t think we should do that in light of what we just read in 2 Ch 26! Uzziah’s death was not because of old age or battle or even the result of political intrigue. Rather Uzziah died because of the Wrath and the will of a Holy and Awesome God.
Uzziah who was practically speaking a excellent and even Godly king. Uzziah of whom the chronicler says, “4 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. 5 He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success.
At some point towards the end of his truly illusteous reign he grew proud and unfaithful to the God of Israel. and in his pride considered himself fit to do what he should not have done. To to draw near the the holiness of God. And you can see how beloved he was as 7 priests tried to warn him and stop him. But his pride drove him like a sheep to the slaughter and the Lord smote him with lepersy. A disease the made him as unclean on the outsie as he had been on the inside. And so Uzziah died A leper. Imagine the fear of the lord that flowed through the nation of Judah as the story of Uzziah’s punishment spread.
As a nation the people were reminded that the temple was made holy by a holy God and with his glory came his wrath. I suspect the excellent kingship of Jotham Son of Uzziah was inspired not only by him fathers good example but also by his mistakes.
now with the echoes of Uzziah’s punishment ringing in our ears we return to Isaiah’s vision in chapter 6.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
“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.”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
He said, “Go and tell this people:
“ ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
In this fantastic passage Isaiah invites us into what must have been his call to prophetic ministry.
A great and wonderful moment when Isaiah met God and God called him to the work of a lifetime.
As we look at this passage we will see three things that we should remember for our journey through Isaiah and for our own walk with God.
Our God is Holy, Holy, Holy!
We are but tinder before the furnace of his wrath.
There is a altar and an answer.
Our God is Holy Holy Holy.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
Isaiah’s vision requires great imagination- in his vision the great space that was the temple of God had been transformed into the cosmic throne room of the King of heaven and earth. -And as great as the tempe is it cannot contain the greatest of the king. He sits high above and the train of his robe filled the space.
Around the throne are the seraphim, the burning ones- magnificent beings of fire that sing a nonstop hymn of praise to the Lord who sits enthroned. As they sing they cover their faces ad their feet. - The holiness of God is to much for them. but it is their song that shakes the throne room and proclaims the name of the one who sits on the throne.
In Hebrew gold gold was how pure gold was described so true holiness might be said holy holy. but those that sing say holy holy holy is Yahweh the lord of the hosts of heaven.
Yahweh’s holiness is beyond anything conceivable by man.
and there amid the smoke and their worship. while the temple shook and the burning ones sang. Isaiah feels the weight of his situation. If the great king Uzziah was consumed the wrath of this holy Lord. Then he who has stumbled into his presence can not escape it!
Isaiah realizes “We are but tinder before the furnace of his wrath.”
The holiness of God reveals our brokenness our and sinful hearts. And so Isaiah confesses.
The New International Version (1984) Isaiah’s Commission
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.”
6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 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.”
We don’t know why he focused on his lips. He was a gifted speaker and perhaps he had misused those gifts. perhaps it was simply the part of his being that need most the sanctifying work of god so that Isaiah might be used as a prophet to proclaim the words of God.
Isaiah was not alone as his confession makes clear. He dwelled in the midst of a people with unclean lips. And we too must recognize that we share his condition. The holiness of God is so far beyond us that even the sinless seraphim hid themselves in his presence. The holiness of God is so far beyond us that there is no sliding scale between a good person and a evil person. Before the holiness of God the best of us are destined for destruction. Romans 3:23 says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And yet we are all destined to stand before his throne!
Are you sweating yet? Do not take this vision lightly! remember what happened to Uzziah. We are all in His shoes. We were made to worship The lord. but our sins mean that our worship is broken and we have become vessels of wrath.
But when Isaiah confesses something wonderful happens!
he discovers that there is an altar and an answer.
one of the seraphim takes a coal from an altar with tongs and brings it to Isaiah. Now this isn’t a good idea. don’t go around kissing coals or touching them. and we know this was a hot coal because even the burning one needed tongs to take it from the altar.
But when it touches Isaiah’s lips he is fried or burned. Rather the angel declares him forgiven and his sins atoned for.
And in this moment we are reminded of the whole story of the bible. How we cannot atone for our own sin but there was a lamb that was slain to atone for the sins of the world. Jesus the son of God.
to return to that passage in Romans 3
English Standard Version Chapter 3
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
And So Isaiah is declared righteous and is forgiven before the throne of the lord of hosts. And that is the moment that we all should remember from this fantastic vision. How Isaiah was forgiven when he confessed and cried out!
But the vision doesn’t end there does it!
Not there is another voice added to the chamber. the voice of the one on the throne. Now that Isaiah has been forgiven he can hear the words of the Lord and so he is sent.
The New International Version (1984) Isaiah’s Commission
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
9 He said, “Go and tell this people:
“ ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
10 Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
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 becomes like one of the seraphim in the throne room but sent out.Back to his people with thier sinful lips and hardened hearts. To speak the words that the Lord with give him to proclaim the holiness of the lord of hosts and to call for his people, his family and his own to repent!
Application.
We have seen the holiness of God revealed in flesh. Jesus showed us the Love of God and the Glory of God. His power and his purpose. He warned us as well that without repentance and believing him him that we too would be consumed the the father’s wrath.
But for those who confess. We like isaiah are forgiven, and equipped to hear the words of the Lord and answer his call. We who follow him become the like the burning ones. filled with the spirit of the living God we go forth proclaiming and showing his perfect holiness in a broken sinful world.
Let us then follow in Isaiah’s footsteps confessing our sins and entrusting ourselves to the Lord of hosts.