Isaiah 6:1-13

This is one of the most well known passages in all of the Old Testament.  It gives us a unique view of the throne of God in heaven as well as the response of those who are granted a glimpse of this glorious place.  When we get a glimpse of God’s glory our natural response will be to fall on our faces in worship and then recognize our own guilt before Him.  God’s response to our worship and repentance is to purify us through forgiveness and then commission us to communicate His message to the nations of the World.  Those who have no sense of guilt before God and not desire to communicate the message of God have likely never come into the presence of God.

ISAIAH ADMIRES GOD’S GLORY: Isaiah has a unique experience that very few people have had.  He was granted a vision of the presence of God.  He sees the Lord high and lifted up and surrounded by glorious angelic creatures that are praising His holy name.  God’s glory is the point of all creation and it is clearly demonstrated and proclaimed in the heavens.  God’s overriding attribute that takes precedence over all of His other attributes is His absolute holiness.  His purpose in history is to fill the earth and the entire universe with His glory.  Despite the current conditions brought on by sin, God’s glory is being promoted in all the earth.  His presence is an overwhelming reality that should and will fill our hearts with awe, admiration and worship.

ISAIAH ADMITS HE IS GUILTY: The natural response of any man who is exposed to the glory of God is to fall on one’s face in worship and repentance.  Isaiah immediately realizes that He is in the presence of God and that He is unworthy of such honor.  He fully expects to be killed in the presence of God’s holiness because he recognizes His great sinfulness.  He confesses that He is unclean and from and unclean people.  God’s first response to Isaiah repentance and worship is to send an angel with a burning coal to cleanse him of his uncleanness.  God can be nothing but holy so His only option when sinful men come into His presence is to kill them or cleanse them.  Because of His love, grace and the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross He can justly cleanse us of all sin.  We can be forgiven of all sin because Christ has made atonement for us.  God’s second response is to commission Isaiah to go forth and proclaim His Word to the people.  There can be no other response then complete disposition to do the bidding of God.

ISAIAH ADVISES ISRAEL OF WHERE THEY ARE GOING: The message that God calls Isaiah to proclaim is not what we would expect.  It is a message of condemnation.  Isaiah warns the people that they are hearing but not understanding, their heart is dull, their ears are deaf and their eyes are blind.  They think that they are just fine but nothing could be further from the truth.  God’s intention is to keep this in this state of darkness until He has judged the nation and the cities are destroyed, the land ruined and the people are taken captive.  God will not even permit a tenth of the people to remain.  Sin will always fall under God’s condemnation.  This is not an easy message to proclaim but it is the truth.  We must faithfully warn every man of the wrath of our holy and just God.  We must warn man of his lost condition and his own spiritual blindness in hopes that he will repent and find restoration in the Lord.  God is willing and able to cleanse us from all sin and use us to do His will but He is also willing and able to judge sin and condemn us to an eternity apart from Him.