Isaiah 6

Chapter Overview

What happens in Isaiah 6

Isaiah has an incredible vision of God sitting on his throne in the temple, surrounded by angelic beings called seraphim. Overwhelmed by God's holiness, Isaiah confesses his sin. After God cleanses him, Isaiah hears God ask who he should send, and Isaiah answers with the famous words, "Here am I. Send me!"

Scripture

Isaiah Sees the Lord in the Temple

Study note

This vision came in the year King Uzziah died, around 740 BC. Uzziah had been a good king for most of his 52-year reign, so his death left the nation feeling uncertain. In this moment of national crisis, Isaiah sees the true King, the Lord himself, sitting on a high throne. Seraphim are powerful angelic beings whose name means 'burning ones.' Each had six wings: two to cover their faces in reverence, two to cover their feet in humility, and two to fly. Their cry of 'Holy, holy, holy' is one of the most famous phrases in the Bible, emphasizing God's complete purity and perfection.

1 In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne that was high and lifted up. The edges of his robe spread out and filled the whole temple. In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

2 Powerful angels called seraphim hovered above him. Each one had six wings: they used two to cover their faces, two to cover their feet, and two to fly. Above it stood the seraphims: 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 They kept calling back and forth to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord who commands heaven's armies! His glory fills the whole earth!" And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

4 Their voices shook the doorposts and the foundation of the temple, and the whole building filled up with smoke. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

Isaiah's Sin Is Cleansed

Study note

When Isaiah sees God's holiness, his first reaction is terror and despair. He cries out that he is 'undone' or ruined because he is a sinful man living among sinful people. He recognizes that a sinful person cannot stand in the presence of a holy God. But God immediately provides a solution. One of the seraphim takes a burning coal from the altar and touches Isaiah's lips, declaring that his guilt is taken away and his sin is forgiven. This shows that God's holiness both exposes sin and provides the means to deal with it.

5 I cried out, "I am finished! I am doomed, because my lips are full of sin, and I live among a people whose lips are full of sin. And now my own eyes have seen the King, the Lord who commands heaven's armies!" Then said I, Woe 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, one of the seraphim flew straight to me. He was carrying a burning coal that he had grabbed from the altar with a pair of tongs. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

7 He pressed it against my mouth and said, "There — this coal has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away, and your sin is forgiven." And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

Isaiah Is Called to Be a Prophet

Study note

After being cleansed, Isaiah hears God asking, 'Who shall I send? Who will go for us?' Isaiah immediately volunteers: 'Here am I. Send me!' But the mission God gives him is heartbreaking. The people will hear Isaiah's message but not understand it. Their hearts will become harder and harder until judgment finally falls. When Isaiah asks how long this will last, God says it will continue until the cities are destroyed and the land is empty. However, a small hope remains at the end: like a tree stump that can sprout again, a 'holy seed' will survive the destruction. This remnant will be the beginning of future hope.

8 Also 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." Also 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.

9 He told me, "Go and say to this people: 'You will keep hearing, but you will not understand. You will keep seeing, but you will not learn anything from it.'" And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

10 "Make these people's hearts dull. Make their ears heavy and shut their eyes tight. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, turn back to me, and be healed." 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 convert, and be healed.

11 I asked, "Lord, how long will this last?" He answered, "Until their cities are in ruins and empty, until there is nobody left in the houses, and until the whole land is a wasteland." Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,

12 "The Lord will send the people far away, and the entire land will be left empty." And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

13 "And even if one out of every ten people is still around, the land will be ruined again. But just as an oak tree leaves a stump behind when it is chopped down, the holy few who remain will be that stump — and new life will grow from it." But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.

Key Themes

Themes in Isaiah 6

The holiness and transcendence of GodIsaiah's conviction of sin in God's presenceDivine cleansing and commissioningSpiritual blindness and the hardening of hearts

Prophetic Connections

How this chapter points to Christ

Isaiah 6:9-10 Matthew 13:14-15

Jesus quotes this passage to explain why he teaches in parables: the people hear but do not understand, see but do not perceive, because their hearts have grown dull.

Isaiah 6:9-10 John 12:39-41

John cites Isaiah 6 to explain Israel's unbelief in Jesus, saying Isaiah 'saw his glory and spoke about him,' identifying the Lord on the throne as Christ.

Isaiah 6:9-10 Acts 28:26-27

Paul quotes this passage at the end of Acts to explain Jewish rejection of the gospel and the turning of salvation to the Gentiles.

Apply This Today

Living Isaiah 6

A genuine encounter with God's holiness always produces two things: a deep awareness of our own sinfulness and a willingness to serve. God does not expose our sin to destroy us but to cleanse us and send us on mission. Even when the message we carry seems to fall on deaf ears, faithfulness to God's calling is never wasted.

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