Our current weekly study from Scripture concerns the subject of holiness. This week’s essay continues to examine the holiness of God from Isaiah 6:1-7.
“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory! And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for 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!” (Isaiah 6:1-5)
“The holiness of God is traumatic to unholy people.” – Dr. R. C. Sproul
The result of the Seraphim’s antiphonal praise of the LORD was “the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.” Inanimate objects possessed the sense to quake at the sound of this worship and in the presence of the God who is holy, holy, holy. The scene within the temple also symbolized the wrath and judgment of God upon sinners (cf. Ex. 19:16–20; Rev. 15:8).
What hope does any sinner have before the awesome holiness of God? There is no hope in ourselves. The LORD is holy, holy, holy. He remains sacred, set apart, consecrated, uncommon and uniquely different from sinful humanity. Sinners, on the other hand, are secular, profane, and all to commonly acquainted with all manner of sin. This applies to sinners like you, me and the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah’s response to what he witnessed was profound. “Woe is me! For I am lost; for 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!” (Isaiah 6:5)
Isaiah may have been one of the most righteous individuals the nation of Judah had in the 8th century B.C. He was a prophet par excellence. He was the quintessential spokesperson for God. The priest of God spoke to the LORD on behalf of the people of God. The prophet of God spoke to the people of God on behalf of the LORD.
The prophet’s primary message was called the oracle. An oracle is an authoritative and wise declaration from God through a spokesperson. It is a divine announcement prefaced by the phrase, “Thus says the LORD.”
The Old Testament oracle existed in two forms. There was an oracle from the LORD of joy, approval and blessing upon the people. This oracle was often prefaced by the word “blessed” (Psalm 1:1; Matt. 5:1-12). There was also an oracle from the LORD of judgment, wrath and condemnation upon the people because of their sin (Psalm 1:4-5). This oracle of judgment was accompanied by the word “woe” (Matt. 23:13-36).
Upon seeing the glory of God, and witnessing the resounding praise from the Seraphim, Isaiah cries out ““Woe is me!” Isaiah pronounced judgment upon himself. He became a broken man. For the first time Isaiah saw God for who He truly was and is: holy. Concurrently, for the first time Isaiah saw himself for who he truly was: unholy. In light of this startling recognition, Isaiah pronounced judgment: not upon the kingdoms of Israel or Judah, but rather upon himself.
Why did Isaiah respond in this manner? Why did he acknowledge he was a broken man, lost or undone before God? It was because he understood, perhaps for the first time, he was a man with a heart filled with sin, and God was holy. Isaiah particularly identified his speech.
Dr. John MacArthur writes, “If the lips are unclean, so is the heart. This vision of God’s holiness vividly reminded the prophet of his own unworthiness which deserved judgment. Job (Job 42:1-6) and Peter (Luke 5:1-8) came to the same realization about themselves when confronted with the presence of the LORD (Ezekiel 1:28:2:7; Revelation 1:1-7).”
Jesus said in Mark 7:14-23. “And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus, he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
The Prophet Jeremiah wrote, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9). The prophet was not only speaking of the individual, but also of the entire nation of Judah. See Jeremiah 17:1-8.
Dr. R. C. Sproul explains, “Isaiah is astonished by the glory of God; like Peter, he becomes afraid (Luke 5:1-8). He pronounces an oracular curse upon himself. His conviction of sin is specific: he has unclean lips. The fact that others around him suffer from the same condition compounds his sin rather than alleviating it.”
“… for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” Often when we consider the holiness of God, and by consequence our sin, we tend to evaluate ourselves either by ourselves or by others. We dismiss our sin by saying it is not so bad. Or we look to others and favorably compare ourselves by saying we are not as bad as they are.
Isaiah would have none of this. He compared himself to the thrice holy God and became a broken man; a man “lost” or “undone.” Isaiah was no longer a man who had it altogether, but rather a man who was falling apart.
To truly know God is to recognize and understand He is holy, holy, holy, and we are not. He is set apart from sin, while we belong and revel in sin. He is uncommon sacred and we are all to secular and worldly. He is holy and we are profane.
How then can sinful creatures ever hope to eternally be in the presence of this God who is holy, holy, holy? Our only hope or confidence is in the gracious redemption of the LORD. We need the LORD to touch us in order to purge away our sin so we can become holy as He is holy (Lev. 11:44; I Peter 1:16). This is what Isaiah needed. It is what unconverted sinners need. It is also what believers in Christ continually need.
May the LORD’s truth and grace be found here. Have a blessed day.
Soli deo Gloria!
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