Isaiah · chapter 6 of 66
Updated on
Isaiah 6 tells of the vision in which Isaiah sees the Lord seated on a high throne in the temple while seraphim proclaim his holiness. Isaiah confesses that he has unclean lips, a seraph touches his mouth with a coal from the altar, and the prophet volunteers to go. The Lord sends him to a people whose ears and hearts will grow dull, and promises a holy stump that will remain.
Isaiah 6 recounts the prophet's call in the year King Uzziah died (c. 740 BC), a date that marks the end of a long, prosperous reign and the beginning of an unstable era. Although it appears after five chapters of prophetic messages, it is the foundation of all his authority: Isaiah speaks because he has seen the King.
In the year King Uzziah died, Isaiah sees the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and the hem of his robe fills the temple. Above him stand seraphim, each with six wings: with two they cover their faces, with two their feet and with two they fly. They call to one another that the Lord of hosts is holy, holy, holy, and his glory fills the whole earth. The thresholds shake at the sound of their voices and the temple fills with smoke.
Isaiah reacts with fear: he is a man of unclean lips who lives among a people of unclean lips, and his eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. One of the seraphim flies to him with a burning coal taken from the altar, touches his mouth and declares that his guilt is taken away and his sin forgiven.
Then Isaiah hears the voice of the Lord asking whom he shall send and who will go for them. Isaiah answers that he is here and asks to be sent. The Lord gives him a hard message: the people will hear but not understand and see but not perceive; their hearts will grow dull. Isaiah asks how long, and the Lord answers: until the cities lie waste and the land is desolate. Even so, though the people are consumed like an oak, a stump will remain, and that stump is a holy seed.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Isaiah sees the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne in the year Uzziah died. When an earthly king dies and the future seems uncertain, the prophet is reminded that the true King is still on his throne.
The seraphim proclaim that the Lord of hosts is holy, holy, holy, and that the whole earth is full of his glory. The threefold repetition expresses God's holiness to the highest degree.
Before God's holiness Isaiah sees himself as undone because of his unclean lips. A seraph touches his mouth with a coal from the altar and declares that his guilt and sin are taken away. Forgiveness comes from God, not from the prophet's effort.
When the Lord asks whom he will send, Isaiah answers that he is willing and asks to be sent. His response comes after being forgiven: service is born of grace received.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: In the year King Uzziah died. — Isaiah 6:1
Answer: Six: with two they cover their faces, with two their feet and with two they fly. — Isaiah 6:2
Answer: That the Lord of hosts is holy, holy, holy and that the whole earth is full of his glory. — Isaiah 6:3
Answer: As a man of unclean lips living among a people of unclean lips. — Isaiah 6:5
Answer: He touches Isaiah's mouth and declares that his guilt and sin are taken away. — Isaiah 6:6-7
Answer: A stump, which is a holy seed. — Isaiah 6:13
Isaiah 6 invites us to begin by looking at God. When we see his holiness, we understand our need for forgiveness, and when we receive forgiveness, we can serve with joy. In a small group, this sequence helps us check whether our service springs from gratitude or from obligation.
The chapter also prepares us for hard tasks. Isaiah was sent to a people who would not listen, yet he obeyed. Faithfully fulfilling God's call does not always mean seeing visible results; it means trusting that the Lord, on his throne, preserves his holy seed.
Isaiah 6 shows the origin of Isaiah's ministry: a vision of the holy God, the forgiveness of his sin and a difficult commission. In chapter 7 the prophet takes that message to King Ahaz, who must decide whether he will trust the Lord in the face of his enemies' threat.
They are heavenly beings who serve before God's throne. They appear only in this passage of the Bible. They have six wings and proclaim the Lord's holiness. Their name is related to the Hebrew word meaning to burn, which fits the burning coal one of them carries.
The people had already rejected the Lord's word again and again, and Isaiah's message would expose and confirm that hardness. The Gospels quote this passage to explain why many did not believe in Jesus (for example Matthew 13:14-15 and John 12:39-41). God still keeps a remnant.
John 12:41 says Isaiah saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him, which many Christians understand as a reference to this vision in chapter 6. The song of holy, holy, holy also appears in the throne vision of Revelation 4:8.