Isaiah Chapter 6: “I Saw the Lord, High and Exalted”

In chapter 6, we meet Isaiah personally, as he describes his call to ministry, starting in vv. 1-4:

“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. 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. ³ And they were calling to one another:

‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;

the whole earth is full of his glory.’

⁴ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 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 begins the account of his call to service by recalling the vision he had had of the King of kings seated on an exalted throne surrounded by “…seraphim…” (vv. 1-2), who cried  “…Holy, holy, holy…,” prompting Isaiah to immediately sense and confess his own uncleanness and that of his people.

Isaiah chapter 6 is the only place in the Bible where heavenly beings called “…seraphim…” (v. 2) are mentioned. Seraphim are part of the great number of heavenly beings created by God, which include angels, archangels, principalities, powers, and cherubim. The word “seraphim” is the plural form of the Hebrew root word “saraph,” which means, “to burn,” and the term “seraphim” means “the burning ones” or “the fiery ones,” implying that these beings burn with love for God.

The seraphim are represented as standing above God as He sits upon His throne, ready to serve Him. They appear human in form, but with the addition of wings. Isaiah describes them as having faces, feet, hands, and voices (vv. 2-7). The seraphim hide their faces from the bright glory of God, and they cover their feet in His presence, indicating humility.

In Isaiah’s vision, the seraphim repeatedly proclaim God’s supreme holiness and glory (v. 3). They do not address God directly, but call out to each other in God’s presence: “And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory’” (v. 3).

To be holy means to be set apart as sacred. The seraphim declare God holy three times. This repeated designation of holiness to God is found only one other place in scripture, in Revelation 4:8, where we find the four living creatures worshiping God day and night saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.”

The repetition of “…holy, holy, holy…” was interpreted by the early Church Fathers as a reference to the Trinity, but it is sufficient for us to recognize that Isaiah believed the theme of holiness was of great importance in his writing.

Isaiah describes the effect of the declaration of God’s holiness, writing in v. 4 that: “At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.” To the ancient Israelites, earthquakes and smoke were signs of God’s divine presence. For example, David wrote in Psalm 104:31-32: “³¹ May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works—³² he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke.” And when Moses led the Israelites to the base of Mt. Sinai to meet with God, “Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently” (Exodus 19:18).

When Isaiah noticed that the heavenly seraphim covered themselves before God to acknowledge their unworthiness before the Lord, the prophet realized his own mortal sinfulness and feared for his life (v. 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.’”

At that point, one of the seraphim picked up a burning coal brought the live coal to Isaiah (vv. 6-10):

“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. 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.’ 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.’”

According to the law, fire could be used as a purification agent. The act of touching the live coal to Isaiah’s mouth by the seraph served to purify Isaiah’s sins, and the seraph assured Isaiah that now “your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for (v. 7). Cleansed of sin, Isaiah now could speak directly to God, and when God called out for a prophet, Isaiah could eagerly accept his calling as prophet to the people of Israel by responding: “Here am I. Send me!” (v. 8).

In vv. 9-10, the Lord first warned Isaiah that his prophetic ministry would prove to be a difficult one, because the people would not respond well to the message he would proclaim to them. Isaiah was to face intense resistance in his preaching. Because of the people’s refusal to see, hear, and understand his message and turn away from their sin, they would not regain God’s favor, and their national condition would not be healed.

Isaiah questions God, asking how long His judgments would continue (vv. 11-13):

“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

¹² until the Lord has sent everyone far away

    and the land is utterly forsaken.

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 answer was that judgments would continue until the nation was defeated by invading armies and the cities and land were destroyed (v. 11). Many people would die in battle, starvation, disease, or lack of water inside besieged towns. God would allow survivors to be carried away as captives of war and the land to be abandoned (v. 12) as punishment for the people’s disregard of His law.

After the devastation of the land, a remnant, a “…tenth remains in the land…,” though the land is desolate and unproductive (v. 13). This remnant would live stressful lives in the barren land. Isaiah describes their existence as like the stumps that remain after mighty trees have been felled (v. 13).

Isaiah knew that the prophetic ministry to which he had been called would be difficult. Israel’s refusal to hear and obey the word of the Lord was going to result in a devastating judgment that would leave their land desolate (v. 11) and their cities uninhabited (vv. 10-12). The judgment would leave a tenth (v. 13) of the people as a remnant in a barren and useless land.

But there would be hope when future generations turn back to their Lord. Out of this remnant, this stump remaining amid all the destruction, God recognized the presence of the faithful few who would be a holy seed (v. 13) that would spring to new life in the age of Israel’s future restoration and renewal.