Written ~ 08-14-2023
Isaiah 6:1-8
“It was in the year King Uzziah died (740 B.C.) that I saw the LORD. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of His robe filled the Temple. Attending Him were mighty seraphim (mighty angelic beings, the hierarchy of angels), each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. They were calling out to each other, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with His Glory!” Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke. Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the alter with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.” Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.”
The Book of Isaiah is filled with warning of impending doom that the godless nations would be facing because of their evil ways. Isaiah was chosen as the prophet to give the Lord’s messages to the people. We see in our passage today that Isaiah sees an awesome vision of the LORD seated on His throne and hears the cries of the heavenly seraphim who serve the LORD in the heavenly places. The scene set before Isaiah would’ve been eye opening to say the least! These magnificent creatures calling out to each other, shouting “Holy, Holy, Holy!” What a way to introduce the LORD! Isaiah’s first response was that he was going to die. It must have been an overwhelming setting. Can you imagine, truly? What if you were sitting in your favorite chair, sipping your morning coffee or tea, just enjoying a quiet moment before the start of your day. Then suddenly, the roof gets blown off and there are these mighty angels coming at you in a cloud of Glory! I believe that every single one of us would hit the floor and think the world was coming to an end. Then you begin hearing these powerful beings shout to one another and in the midst of the clouds you see the LORD! I don’t know about you… But I would be quite fearful, because that kind of scene would be too incredible to fathom!
Isaiah was fearful because he was aware of the sin he had in his own life and the lives of the people he was representing. He had heard the warnings from the LORD about the destruction of those who did not obey Him. I can understand why the first thing he said was, “I am doomed.” But the LORD didn’t have a plan of destruction that day, no, He had a plan of redemption and forgiveness. What would you have done if a seraphim flew over to you with a burning coal that he just plucked from your burning fireplace? What thoughts would be running through your head? I would be thinking, just like Isaiah, that my life was over and because of sin in my life, I would be destroyed.
But that’s not what happened. By touching Isaiah’s lips with the burning coal, his guilt was removed, his sins were forgiven. I don’t know why Isaiah needed to have such an astonishing event take place for him to know his sins were forgiven. But the LORD was calling Isaiah for a higher purpose that day. The LORD was to use him to carry out the messages He wanted the people to hear. What I find interesting is when the LORD asked “Whom should I send? Who will go for us?” He could’ve used any one of those seraphim to shout His message to the people, but that was not His plan, He called Isaiah. And Isaiah responded, “Here I am. Send me.”
The LORD God All-Mighty is calling each of us, just as He did Isaiah. He wants His message to be told to the people of the world. Are we willing to say, “Here I am. Send me?” We have a message of hope. The world is dying, they need to hear that Jesus Christ died on the cross, bore the weight of our sins and carried out a torturous death, so we might be saved. Our every sin, our guilt, our shame, is covered by the blood of Jesus, the blood He shed on that cross. Why would He do that? Because God does not want His creation destroyed. He wanted to make a way for all of us to be redeemed and to share in His Glory.
After Isaiah said, “Send me”, verses 6:9-10 say this,
“Yes, go, and say to this people, “Listen carefully, but do not understand. Watch closely, but learn nothing. Harden the hearts of those people. Plug their ears and shut their eyes. That way, they will not see with their eyes, nor hear from their ears, nor understand with their hearts and turn to Me for healing.”
When the message of Salvation is proclaimed throughout the earth, there is a widespread ignorance, a disheartening unawareness of the truth. God knew back in Isaiah’s time that people would not listen, they would harden their hearts. The lives of the disobedient would be destroyed. When anointed words of Salvation are spoken, even with great clarity, there will be no understanding. God does not want anyone to be destroyed, that’s why there is a cry in the world today, a cry of Salvation before it’s too late. Isaiah was confused and questioned the LORD in verse 6:11,
“LORD, how long will this go on?”
The LORD’s response is clear. Verse 6:11 continues,
“And He replied, “Until their towns are empty, their houses are deserted, and the whole country is a wasteland…”
God does not want the destruction of anyone! But when there is disobedience and the blatancy of doing evil in the sight of the LORD, there must be discipline. Some will never know the LORD’s words as truth. Some will never turn their face to the LORD and ask that their sins be forgiven, they will never see, they will never hear, they will never understand. But even if everything is destroyed, there will be a small remnant, “a holy seed” (6:13), who will rise and proclaim the Name of Jesus. Let’s be part of that holy seed, carrying the message of Salvation to the world. Are you willing to say, “Here I am. Send me?”
Revival is needed in the world today. We need the mighty hand of anointing from the Holy Spirit to flood the hearts of people in the world today.
Father God, my prayer is that Your message would be sent out, to the ends of the earth. That each of us would begin, even to start with the members of our own families who do not know Jesus as Lord and Savior, and proclaim the message of Salvation. Thank You Christ Jesus for Salvation through Your sacrifice on the cross. Thank You, for taking the weight of sin onto Yourself so we can be saved. Thank You, Father for raising Your Son from the dead to forever crush the penalty of death. Thank You Almighty God for bringing Your message of Hope through Your Son Jesus, so we might live in eternal Glory with You.
~AMEN~