1 “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. 2 Above Him stood the seraphim; each one had six wings; with twain He covered His face, and with twain He covered His feet, and with twain He did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory. 4 And the foundations of the thresholds were moved at the voice of Him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 Then said I, Wo 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 mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. 6 Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar; 7 and he touched my mouth with it, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 8 And 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. 9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed. 11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And He answered, Until cities be waste without inhabitant, and houses without men, and the land become utterly waste, 12 and the Lord have removed men far away, and the forsaken places be many in the midst of the land. 13 And if there be yet a tenth in it, it shall again be eaten up; as a terebinth, and as an oak, whose stock remaineth, when they are felled; so the holy seed is the stock thereof.”
Golden Text.—“I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.”Isa. 6:8.
Suggestive Questions.
(1) About what time did King Uzziah die? Note 1. Who saw a vision in that year? What was the principal object in the vision? V. 1; compare Ezekiel 1. (2) What stood above Him? Describe them. V. 2. (3) What did one cry to another? V. 3; compare Revelation 4. (4) What was the effect of this cry? V. 4. (5) What did the prophet exclaim as he contemplated the vision? What led him to realize his own uncleanness? V. 5. Note 2. (6) Then what did one of the seraphim do? What did this seraph say? Vs. 6, 7; compare Heb. 1:13, 14. Note 3. (7) What did the prophet hear the voice of the Lord saying? What was the reply? V. 8. Note 4. (8) What message was then intrusted to Isaiah? V. 9. (9) And what commission was given him? V. 10. Note 5. (10) What question did the prophet ask? What answer did he receive? Vs. 11, 12. Note 6. (11) What encouraging promise followed this fearful sentence? V. 13; compare Rom. 11:1-7.
Notes.
1. The time.—Chronology varies as to the time of King Uzziah’s death, from B.C. 759 to 737. It was only a few years before the fall of the kingdom of Israel. It was near the time of the founding of Rome, B.C. 753, and the rise of Corinth, 745. The prophets Hosea, in Israel, and Nahum and Micah, in Judah, were contemporary with Isaiah, who saw the vision here recorded.
2. “A man of unclean lips.”—By comparison with what he had seen in vision, Isaiah saw and realized as never before how far short he was of the perfect standard. He realized that he partook of the sinfulness of his surroundings. No doubt, like Saul of Tarsus, he had not before seen himself in his true light. This is evident from the reason he gives for saying, “I am a man of unclean lips,” namely, “for mine eyes have seen the King.”
3. Humble penitence on the part of the prophet is evident; for the Lord immediately takes away his iniquity. It is the privilege of every one to look into the “perfect law of liberty” and behold himself as he is; and then to confess his sin, and have his iniquity taken away.
4. Prepared for service.—Having been cleansed from sin, he could receive of the Spirit of prophecy, could listen to the call of God; and, aside from being willing to go, he was one whom the Lord could safely send. As one commentator has aptly said, “God wants volunteers and not conscripts” in His work, and He says in His unchangeable Word, by this same prophet Isaiah, “Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.” Chap. 52:11.
5. “Make the heart of this people fat,” etc.—By fatness is meant covered over with the lusts of the flesh, until they are not susceptible to spiritual things. As David says of the wicked, “their eyes stand out with fatness.” Ps. 73:7. The command to “make” the people’s ears heavy, and shut their eyes, does not imply that it is the Lord’s desire that they should be so. The prophet was to tell the people their condition, knowing that they would reject his word, and become more and more averse to it because of the rejection, just as Pharaoh’s heart was hardened by the messages brought to him by Moses and Aaron. The Saviour recalled these words of Isaiah, and applied them to the Jews of His day.” See Matt. 13:10-17.
6. “Until the cities be wasted,” etc., refers to the coming captivity, altho it was yet about one hundred and fifty years in the future. Thus is shown that in every age God is long-suffering toward sinners, patient with His people, and always gives them such warnings of impending doom as leave them without excuse.
