Isa 6:1 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.
Isa 6:2 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.
Isa 6:3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Isa 6:4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
Isa 6:5 “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.”
Isa 6:6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
Isa 6:7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
Isaiah’s Commission from the Lord
Isa 6:8 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!”
Isa 6:9 He said, “Go and tell this people: “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
Isa 6:10 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.”
Isa 6:11 Then I said, “For how long, Lord?” And he answered: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged,
Isa 6:12 until the LORD has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken.
Isa 6:13 And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”
1 Isaiah, in a vision of the Lord in his glory, 5 being terrified, is confirmed for his message. 9 He shows the obstinacy of the people unto their desolation. 13 A remnant shall be saved.
Isa 6:1 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.
It was probably 740/739 b.c. The date is obviously an item of importance. In the year that Uzziah concluded his long reign of 52 years the Lord accorded the young man Isaiah a vision confirming his call to the prophetic office and gave him a message of reproof for Israel (PK 305–307; 5T 749, 750). The time was one of peril and crisis.
The great Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III had come to the throne in 745, and almost immediately began a series of campaigns that led to the conquest of much of Western Asia.
In 745 he marched against Babylonia, in 744 he went against the country to the northeast of Assyria, and between 743 and 738 he made annual campaigns against the northwest.
In his annals Tiglath-pileser frequently mentions Azriau from Iauda, generally believed to be Azariah (Uzziah) of Judah, who was evidently the leading spirit in resistance to Assyrian aggression among the countries of the Mediterranean region of Asia.
The ancient ruins of Nineveh tell us that Menahem of Israel is also mentioned. It was during Tiglath-pileser’s campaigns against the West that Uzziah died. The man who had taken so strong a stand against Assyria was gone. What would now be the fate of Judah?
Must all the world fall a prey to Assyrian arms? Because of their sins the professed people of God had forfeited divine protection. Assyrian might appeared, invincible, and it seemed to be only a question of time before Judah would be overwhelmed and Assyria would control the world.
Isa 6:1 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.
This manifestation of the divine glory took place upon the occasion of one of Isaiah’s visits to the sacred precincts of the Temple (PK 307). God designed that Isaiah should catch a wider vision than merely what he saw taking place about him. God would have him know that despite all the might of Assyria, He was still supreme upon His throne and in control of the affairs of earth. Moses was accorded a similar vision of God (Ex. 24:10). More than a century before Isaiah’s time the prophet Micaiah saw the Lord seated upon His throne, with the armies of heaven standing by Him (1 Kings 22:19).
Earlier during the reign of Uzziah, Amos also saw the Lord standing by the altar in the Temple court (Amos 9:1). Later, during the Babylonian captivity, both Daniel (Dan. 7:9) and Ezekiel (Eze. 1:1; 10:1–5) saw visions of the Lord upon His throne, as did John on the Isle of Patmos (Rev. 4:1–6). When perils encompass God’s people and the powers of darkness seem about to prevail, God calls them to look up to Him, seated upon His throne and directing in the affairs of heaven and earth, in order that they may take hope and courage. See Ed 173.
Isa 6:1 I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
At the time he was accorded this vision Isaiah stood in the Temple court praying (PK 307). Before him the doors of the Temple appeared to open, and in the most holy place he saw God Himself seated upon His throne. The Heb. hekal, the word commonly used of the Temple, designates it as the “temple,” or “palace,” of the great King of heaven (see Ps. 11:4; 29:9; Hab. 2:20). The “robe” is the garment of God’s infinite glory. John (12:41) applies this vision to Christ.
Isaiah 6:2 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.
The seraphims.
Hebrew śeraphim, literally, “burning [ones],” or “shining [ones].”
Six wings. Compare Rev. 4:8, where the living creatures that John saw about the throne also have six wings. The living creatures seen by Ezekiel, however, are represented as having four wings (Eze. 1:6). Isaiah sees the angels with two wings covering the face, in an attitude of homage and reverence before God, two wings covering the feet, and two used for flight. Ezekiel sees the living creatures with two wings covering the body and two wings stretched upward (Eze. 1:11).
Isa 6:3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Holy, holy, holy.
The angels about the throne of God are impressed with His outstanding attribute—perfect holiness of character. The living creatures John saw about the throne likewise cried, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty” (Rev. 4:8). God sought to impress upon the mind of Isaiah a concept of His holiness, in order that the prophet should keep this attribute of the divine character constantly before His people, that they might thereby be encouraged to put away their sins and aspire to holiness.
The whole earth is full of his glory.” Compare this with:
Isa 40:5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
A realization of the glory and holiness of God will lead men to stand in humility before Him. At a time when darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the people.
Isa 6:4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
The very foundations of the Temple seemed to shake at the voice of God.
Smoke. As of incense, reflecting the luminous glory of God. Compare Ex. 19:18, where Mt. Sinai is covered with smoke and quakes greatly, and Rev. 15:8, where the temple is filled with smoke because of the glory of God.
Isa 6:5 “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.”
Isaiah had been pronouncing woes upon the sinners among God’s people (ch. 5:8–30). Now, finding himself in the awesome presence of a holy God, he becomes profoundly aware of his own imperfection of character. The same experience will come to us as we draw nigh to God.
My eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.
This vision of God in His holiness and glory gave Isaiah a conception of the sinfulness and insignificance of man. Looking upon God and then upon himself, he realized his own nothingness in comparison with the Eternal, his guilt in the presence of the “Holy One of Israel” (ch. 5:24). Moses hid his face when he came into the presence of God (Ex. 3:6), and Job abhorred himself and repented in dust and ashes (Job 42:6).
Isa 6:6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
That is, the golden altar of incense (see on Ex. 30:1–5), essentially an altar of intercession (see on Ex. 30:6–8). John saw prayers from the hearts of repentant sinners presented with incense before the throne of grace (Rev. 8:3, 4).
Isa 6:7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
The coal from the altar represented the purifying and refining power of divine grace. It signified, as well, as transformation of character. Henceforth the one great desire of Isaiah for his people was that they too might experience the same work of cleansing and transformation. Our greatest need today is for lips touched with holy fire from the altar of God.
Isa 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
Isaiah’s response was immediate. Like Paul, Isaiah had one great desire for Israel—that they might be saved (see Rom. 10:1). He knew that judgment was soon to fall upon a guilty people and longed to see them forsake their sins. Henceforth, Isaiah’s one task in life was to bear God’s message of warning and hope to Israel that they might catch a vision of the love and holiness of God and be saved as a result.
Isa 6:9 And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
Like many other prophets, Isaiah faced a difficult task. God warned him that the message he bore would largely go unheeded, that despite all he might do the people would continue in their evil ways. Apparent failure would be his unhappy lot, but certainly not more so than with the ministry of Jesus (Matt. 13:14, 15; John 12:37–41) and that of Paul (Acts 28:26, 27).
These words of Isaiah are quoted repeatedly as applicable also to New Testament times. Isaiah nevertheless had the assurance that his work would not be entirely in vain, for God revealed to him that a remnant would be saved (1:9; 6:13; 10:21). Paul, however, realized that in his day the Jews had made their final decision and been cut off as the people of God (Acts 28:26–28; Rom. 9–11).
Isa 6:10 “Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed.”
The spiritual perceptions of Israel would prove to be so dull that they would fail to heed even the most stirring messages Heaven should send. The situation would be similar to that of Pharaoh when his heart was hardened, and he refused to comply with the message of the Lord given by Moses (see on Ex. 4:21).
In the days of Isaiah it was not the Lord who blinded the eyes of the people or made their heart heavy; they brought this condition upon themselves by their rejection of the warnings God sent them. With each rejection of truth, the heart becomes harder and the spiritual perceptions more dull, until at length there is utter inability to perceive spiritual things. God takes no delight in the death of the wicked and does everything possible to turn them from their evil ways, in order that they might live and not die (Eze. 18:23–32; 33:11; 1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9).
Isa 6:11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered: “Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, The houses are without a man, The land is utterly desolate,
Isaiah faced a bleak prospect. He could hardly believe that the situation the Lord had described could persist for any length of time. Surely, after a time, the people would come to their senses and accept God’s message of salvation and deliverance. Hence his inquiry.
Until the cities are laid waste.
The sad answer the Lord gave Isaiah was that the situation would prevail till Judah had destroyed itself. There was no hope of repentance, no hope of survival. A remnant would be saved, and for the sake of that faithful group Isaiah was to proclaim his message of salvation. But the nation as a whole would refuse to turn from its evil ways. And that refusal would in the end bring utter and irretrievable ruin.
The cities would be without inhabitants and the land utterly desolate and forsaken. Sin brings not happiness but woe, not prosperity but ruin, not life but death. This is the great lesson God’s spokesmen have brought to the world again and again (see Lev. 26:31–33; Isa. 1:20; 5:9; 14:17, 20; Jer. 4:7, 20, 23–27; 7:34; 9:11; 26:6, 18; Micah 3:12; etc.).
Isa 6:12 It will last until I have sent everyone far away. The land will be totally deserted.
This refers to the coming captivity. First by Assyria in Isaiah’s day, and then by Babylon a century later, the people would be carried away into foreign lands. This had been foretold by Moses, conditionally, before Israel ever entered the Promised Land (Lev. 26:33; Deut. 4:26–28; 28:64).
The land God had intended to blossom as a rose would become waste and would be forsaken of its inhabitants. Instead of prosperity there would be ruin.
Isa 6:13 And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”
The basic meaning of the verse is clear. Verses 11, 12 have described the desolation of Judah at the time of the Babylonian captivity. Though the land would be left utterly desolate, this experience would not mean the end of Israel as a nation. She would rise again.
This message of hope blends with the depressing image of a people who will not stop being perverse and who will not listen to the words Isaiah. The land will not be completely abandoned, and that God will eventually bring them back.
Compare the name of Isaiah’s first-born son, Shear-jashub, which means a new tree would grow. The message therefore was one of encouragement and hope. Isaiah’s work was not to be entirely in vain; in the end a remnant would be saved.
Life would still exist in the “stump,” and this would eventually reappear and produce a new tree. “[A] remnant [shall] return” is often represented in the Old Testament by a tree.
The thought that a “remnant” would “return” recurs again and again throughout the book. No particular significance is to be attached to the fact that the remnant would be “a tenth” of the original. In the Bible, ten is a small, sometimes indefinite, number, and a tenth part would, accordingly, be a small number.
But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.
A tree from which turpentine was secured. The tree might be stripped, and nothing left of it save the stump. But from that stump God’s people will arise. From this “holy seed” a new and glorious Israel would rise.