#BibleLesson Timeless Truths. Ruined and Restored. Isaiah 6


In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called out to another and said,
“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts,
The [a]whole earth is full of His glory.”
4 And the [b]foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the [c]temple was filling with smoke. 5 Then I said,
“Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is [d]forgiven.”

8 Then 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!” 9 He said, “Go, and tell this people:

‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive;
Keep on looking, but do not understand.’
10 “Render the hearts of this people [e]insensitive,
Their ears [f]dull,
And their eyes [g]dim,
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
Understand with their hearts,
And return and be healed.”
11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered,
“Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant,
Houses are without people
And the land is utterly desolate,
12 “The Lord has removed men far away,
And the [h]forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13 “Yet there will be a tenth portion in it,
And it will again be subject to burning,
Like a terebinth or an oak
Whose stump remains when it is felled.
The holy seed is its stump.”
Isaiah 6 (NASB)


 You need to hope in order to live out holiness.
You don't seek, because you can't "do" holiness.
Isaiah's life has nothing to do with his task but who he is when he's with God.
Isaiah's vision in Chapter 6 takes place in God's throne room (Temple)

 The Holy Place is 2/3 of the Temple. 

  • The Table of Incense was there.
  • The Holy of Holies was separated from the temple proper by a veil.
  • The Ark of the Covenant was covered by statues of Seraphs.


 In Isaiah's vision, the seraphs are living and flying over God.

 All who entered the Temple had to be ritually clean.

  • Their cries focus on God's radical difference from anything else--His holiness.
  • Shaking in the vision reminds readers of Mt. Sinai.


 Only God and Isaiah are present in the Throne Room.

  • Isaiah's cry is a call for God's salvation.

Verse 5

  • Isaiah still feels unclean, even though he'd been declared clean by a priest and had done nothing wrong since then.
  • Being captured in God's holy presence can bring us to "ruin" as we realize our limited capacity to experience holiness as God is holy.

Verse 6

 The angel actually strikes Isaiah's lips.

  1. Guilt and sin are intertwined in the presence of Holy God.
  2. Isaiah's lack of holiness is cleansed in the Holy place.

Sometimes the earthly effects of sin affect your entire life.

  • In the presence of God, those long-term effects are erased.

Isaiah's experience with holiness is not his first "God experience."
Holiness began in the presence of Holy God when you become aware of how Holy He is.

 Isaiah goes from ruin, "Woe is me" (v4), to restoration, "send me!" (v8)

  • The second declaration is not fear, but friendship!

Isaiah did not get to stay in God's presence forever.

  • He took some of God's holiness with him into the world. (v9)

Transformation and the holiness experience come from God, but you cannot make it happen.

  • Life-altering experiences often happen during times of upheaval.
  • There may be more than one "Temple experience" in your life.
  • Even though you move from fear to friendship. you cannot stay in God's presence.

You are an unclean person chased by a Holy God!
So, REJOICE!

 Thanks to Pastor Beverly Cook for the primary teaching in this post.

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