Isaiah 6

The Holy King, the Cleansed Prophet, and the Hardening Commission

The chapter moves from the death of Uzziah to the vision of the enthroned Lord, to the seraphic proclamation of holiness, to Isaiah’s confession of uncleanness, to atoning cleansing from the altar, to willing commission, to a hardening message, to devastating judgment, and finally to the promise of the holy seed.

World English Bible, Public Domain

In the year of Uzziah’s death, Isaiah sees the true King enthroned in the temple.

Isaiah 6:1-8

Encounter with the holy King exposes human sin, requires divine cleansing, and results in obedient mission.

1 In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.

The heavenly beings declare the LORD’s holiness and the earth’s fullness of his glory.

2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet. With two he flew.

3 One called to another, and said, “Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Armies! The whole earth is full of his glory!”

4 The foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.

The prophet recognizes his own ruin and the uncleanness of his people.

5 Then I said, “Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of Armies!”

A coal from the altar touches Isaiah’s mouth, and his guilt is removed.

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar.

7 He touched my mouth with it, and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin forgiven.”

Isaiah responds to the Lord’s call with willing availability.

8 I heard the Lord’s voice, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am. Send me!”

Isaiah’s ministry will expose and confirm the people’s dullness until repentance is withheld.

Isaiah 6:9-13

Persistent rejection of God’s word results in judicial hardening, but God preserves a remnant that carries forward his redemptive purpose.

9 He said, “Go, and tell this people, ‘You hear indeed, but don’t understand. You see indeed, but don’t perceive.’

10 Make the heart of this people fat. Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed.”

The land will be emptied and ruined, but the holy seed will remain as the stump.

11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?” He answered, “Until cities are waste without inhabitant, houses without man, the land becomes utterly waste,

12 and Yahweh has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many within the land.

13 If there is a tenth left in it, that also will in turn be consumed, as a terebinth, and as an oak, whose stump remains when they are cut down; so the holy seed is its stock.”

Key Terms

אֲדֹנָי ʾădōnāy H136
כִּסֵּא kissēʾ H3678
רָם rām H7311
נִשָּׂא niśśāʾ H5375
שְׂרָפִים śĕrāphîm H8314
קָדוֹשׁ qādôš H6918
יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת YHWH ṣĕbāʾôt H3068
כָּבוֹד kābôd H3519
אוֹי ʾôy H188
נִדְמֵיתִי nidmêṯî H1820
טָמֵא ṭāmēʾ H2931
שְׂפָתַיִם śĕphāṯayim H8193

World English Bible (WEB): Public Domain Scripture text · License details