Isaiah 6

The Explanation

Isaiah was a man who talked with God. One day he saw something so big it must have made his knees shake. He saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up. The edge of God's robe filled the whole temple.

Above the throne stood strange and wonderful creatures called seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two wings they covered their face, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. They called to each other with a voice that shook the doorposts: "Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Armies! The whole earth is full of his glory!" Smoke filled the house like fog rolling into a room.

Isaiah did not feel brave. He felt small and dirty. "Woe is me!" he cried. "I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I have seen the King!" Imagine standing in front of a king with muddy shoes and a torn shirt. That is a little like how Isaiah felt, only much bigger, because this King was God himself.

Then something surprising happened. One of the seraphim flew down with a hot, burning coal from the altar, held with tongs so it would not burn his hand. He touched it to Isaiah's lips and said, "Your sin is taken away, and your sin forgiven." It must have felt like fire, but it was not punishment. It was cleaning.

After that, Isaiah heard the Lord's voice asking, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Isaiah did not hide. He said, "Here I am. Send me!"

What Does This Mean?

Would you have dared to say that? Isaiah had just seen how holy God is, how big and shining and powerful. He also saw how small he was next to God. But God did not leave him standing there ashamed. God cleaned him first, then gave him work to do. That is the order that matters: God makes clean, then God sends.

The message God gave Isaiah to carry was not an easy one. The people would hear but not understand, see but not perceive. Isaiah even asked, "Lord, how long?" God answered that hard times were coming, cities empty, land wasted. But even then God promised something would remain, like a stump left after a tree is cut down. "The holy seed is its stock." Something holy would grow again.

The Common Thread

Long after Isaiah, another prophet named John wrote that Isaiah had seen the glory of Jesus that day on the throne. The same holiness, the same fire that could have destroyed Isaiah instead cleaned him. That is what Jesus does too. He does not turn away from people with dirty lips and dirty hearts. He touches them, forgives them, and sends them out clean. And just like the stump that keeps its holy life underground, God's promise never really dies, even in the hardest years. It waits to grow again, all the way until Jesus.

For You

You do not need to see angels with six wings to know God is holy and big. But you can still say what Isaiah said. When you have done something wrong, you can tell God honestly, the way Isaiah did. And when he forgives you, you can also say, like Isaiah, "Here I am. Send me." Maybe that means being kind to someone nobody else talks to, or telling a friend about Jesus, or simply obeying when it is hard.

Talk About It

Why do you think Isaiah felt so small and afraid when he saw God?

What do you think it means that God cleaned Isaiah before he sent him?

Praying Together

Lord, you are holy, holy, holy, and your glory fills the whole earth. Thank you for cleaning our hearts, even when we feel too small or too dirty to come near you. Give us hearts like Isaiah's, ready to say, "Here I am. Send me." Amen.