Isaiah 6:5,8

Isaiah 6 contains the account of how Isaiah was given his mission as a prophet of the Lord (probably before the previous chapters’ prophecies, in the last year of king Uzziah’s reign). It is very reminiscent of the Revelation account of John. Isaiah sees the Lord ‘sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.’

After Isaiah sees the Lord and the seraphim standing above the throne, who cried out to each other praising God ‘And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.’ So, the posts were shaken and smoke filled the house (temple) because of the voice of God’s servants! Let alone God Himself!

So what is Isaiah the soon-to-be prophet of the Lord’s response? (verse 5)

‘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.’

If Isaiah is a man of unclean lips, how much more are we!? Unclean lips means an unclean heart. The point is: however clean and pure and righteous we are, when we see the Lord, when we view Him in His true light, then we can do nought but say ‘woe to me, for I am undone!’ with Isaiah. For He is holy (as the seraphim say three times). But we know we are clean by Jesus’ blood. Likewise, the seraphim takes up a burning coal and touches Isaiah’s lips with it, saying ‘Your iniquity is taken away and your sin is purged’. This seems to have an effect on Isaiah, because in the next verse, although plagued by his uncleanness, he obviously trusts the Lord when He says he is clean.

‘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 6:8)

Although Isaiah sees himself for what he is, unclean and impure, when God pronounces him clean (not of his own works but of God’s grace), he is immediately ready to go and speak for the Lord. Should this not be a type for all of our own responses? When God pronounces us clean, washed in the blood of Jesus, should we not be immediately ready to go into the world and tell God’s word to everyone we meet. Should we not be immediately ready to obey Him? And Isaiah’s mission was not an easy one: as a prophet he was constantly ridiculed and eventually sawn in two. As a part of being a Christian, we ourselves are called to ‘carry our cross’.

Let us all seek God in His true glory and majesty. Let us seek Him in truth. Only from a vision of His glory and a burning love for Him will we be ready to say ‘Here am I! Send me.’