Major Prophets · Chapter 6 of 66
Isaiah 6
In the year King Uzziah died, Isaiah sees the Lord enthroned, high and lifted up, his robe filling the temple as seraphim cry Holy, holy, holy. Undone by his own uncleanness, Isaiah confesses; a seraph touches his lips with a live coal, and his sin is purged. Then he hears God asking whom to send, and answers, Here am I, send me. His hard commission follows.
What happens in Isaiah 6
In the year King Uzziah died, Isaiah sees a vision of the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, his robe filling the temple. Seraphim hover above, each with six wings, calling to one another, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory. The doorposts shake and the house fills with smoke. Overwhelmed, Isaiah cries that he is undone, a man of unclean lips among an unclean people, for his eyes have seen the King.
A seraph flies to him with a live coal taken from the altar, touches his mouth, and declares his iniquity taken away and his sin purged. Then Isaiah hears the Lord asking, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? He answers, Here am I; send me. God commissions him to a people who will hear but not understand, until cities lie waste, yet a holy seed remains in the stump.
Isaiah 6 in context
Isaiah's call comes around 740 BC, the year King Uzziah died, at a turning point for Judah. This throne-room vision commissions him as a prophet and sets the tone for his ministry: the holiness of God, the uncleanness of the people, and a message that will largely be resisted.
The chapter is foundational to biblical worship and to how Scripture speaks of God's holiness and human need.
Main themes of Isaiah 6
Isaiah 6 (KJV)
1In 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. 2Above 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. 3And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 5Then 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. 6Then 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: 7And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 8Also 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. 9And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10Make 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. 11Then 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, 12And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. 13But 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.
Verses to carry from Isaiah 6
“And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.”Isaiah 6:3
“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.”Isaiah 6:5
“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.”Isaiah 6:8
New Testament quotation
How Isaiah 6 points to Jesus
The New Testament reads this vision as a sighting of Christ. John writes that Isaiah said these things when he saw his glory and spoke of him, identifying the enthroned Lord of Isaiah 6 with Jesus. The thrice-holy God whom Isaiah could not endure is the same One who would come in flesh, and whose glory John beheld. The pattern of the chapter is the gospel in miniature: a sinner undone by holiness, cleansed by fire from the altar, then sent.
What the coal foreshadowed, Christ accomplished, for it is his sacrifice that truly takes away iniquity and purges sin. The King high and lifted up would later be lifted up on a cross, so that unclean lips might be cleansed and unclean people might see his glory and live.
Questions about Isaiah 6
Why does Isaiah say Woe is me when he sees God?
Confronted with God's overwhelming holiness, Isaiah becomes acutely aware of his own sinfulness, crying that he is a man of unclean lips among an unclean people. Seeing the King exposes what he could not see before. This is a common biblical pattern: nearness to God's holiness first humbles a person before God graciously cleanses and restores them.
What does the live coal on Isaiah's lips mean?
The seraph takes a burning coal from the altar, where sacrifices were offered, and touches Isaiah's mouth, declaring his iniquity taken away and his sin purged. The coal signifies atonement applied to him personally: cleansing that comes from the altar as a gift, not something Isaiah earns. Only then is he ready to be sent.
Reflection
Isaiah's cleansing came before his commission, and as pure gift from the altar. If you feel undone by your failures, notice the order here: God cleanses, then calls. Let his holiness humble you without crushing you, and let his forgiveness make you willing to say, Here am I, send me.
A prayer from Isaiah 6
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