Isaiah 6:5

The Bible says in Isaiah 6:5-7, “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. 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: 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.” In the verses just before this Isaiah saw the seraphims before the presence of God and saying, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts.” When we become aware of the holiness of God, we also become aware of our own sinfulness. And so Isaiah said, “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.”

It is interesting that when Isaiah thought of his own sins, he spoke of his “unclean lips.” If only we could say the things that we ought to say, and not say the things that we ought not to say. If we could control our speech, we would live much holier lives. Unfortunately, that too often is not the case. Most of us tend to speak our minds too spontaneously, impetuously, or arrogantly. The Bible says in James 3:1, “For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.” And it also says in James 3:8-10, “But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.”

Thank God that He has provided a remedy for our sins through Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus, there is forgiveness and cleansing. Because of Jesus, when we put our faith in Him, God treats us as though we have not sinned. That is what it means to be justified: just as if we have not sinned The biggest problem of the human race is the sin problem, and the solution is Jesus Christ. One of the seraphims said to Isaiah, “thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.”

The Bible says in Isaiah 6:8-10, “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. And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 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.” These verses show us one of the important ways in which God works in this world. He does not speak from heaven with an audible voice. God sends a believer to speak the Word of God so that mankind might hear and know the Word of God. God works with man. The use of man as God’s witness is the method that Christ has established so that the gospel is preached even though Christ has left the earth. This Bible principle is also set forth very clearly in Romans 10:13-15, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” Of course, for a believer to go and preach the good news about Christ, that believer must be rightly related to God, and must not have any un-confessed sins. We saw in Isaiah 6:7 that Isaiah was cleansed of his sins before he was called to declare God’s Word. It says in First John 1:6-9, “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Notice that the call that was made to Isaiah in Isaiah 6:8 was a very personal call. Isaiah said, “I heard the voice of the Lord.” If God calls you to do something for Him, He will let you know. The Almighty God knows how to speak to people and to reach them. A beautiful hymn was once written that contains the words, “Speak my Lord, and I will surely answer thee.” If God does speak to you, how will you respond to Him? Isaiah said, “Here am I; send me.”

Notice that the verb that God used when He called Isaiah was the verb “to go.” The Lord said, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” The Lord also said, “Go, and tell this people.” The verb “to go” is the same verb that Jesus used in Matthew 28:19-20, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Of course, the call from God involves more than just “going:” it also involves “telling.” Remember the words from Romans 10:14, “How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” It is interesting to also notice that when God said to Isaiah, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us,” God spoke of Himself both in the singular and in the plural. This is an indirect reference to the trinity, just as Isaiah 6:3 can be viewed as a reference to the trinity when the seraphims cried out before the throne of God, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts.” There was one declaration of holiness for the Father, one for the Son Jesus Christ, and one for the Holy Spirit. When God said, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us,” we see both a singular reference with the word “I” and a plural reference with the word “us.” What one member of the trinity does, they all do. Each member of the trinity is an individual, but they also work as one. When one member of the trinity does something, all three of them (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) are in fact doing it. That is why Jesus said in John 10:30, “I and my Father are One.” And Jesus also said in John 14:9, “He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father.”

Please notice carefully that when God told Isaiah to go to the people of Israel and to speak to them, that God also made it very clear that the people would not listen. This was the message that God gave to Isaiah to give to the people of Israel, “Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 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.” Christians know that God has given to them the most wonderful message in the world: the message of the love of God through faith in Jesus Christ. This is the good message that everyone in the world needs to hear, because it is the news that will bless for eternity all those who believe. It should be that great crowds will come to hear this message, and to thank the Christians for bringing the message of John 3:16 to them. But often it just does not happen that way. Paul quoted Isaiah and wrote in Romans 10:16, “Lord, who hath believed our report?” Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

God knows that many people will not listen to the Gospel of Christ, will not repent of their sins, and will not turn to Jesus for forgiveness of sins, but God in His mercy gives them a chance to hear and to believe. Even though there are people who are going to reject the truth, there are several other reasons that God wants His Word to be preached. For one thing, the name of Jesus Christ is glorified when His gospel is preached. For another thing, people are at least given a chance to hear and to believe. Also, at the judgment seat of Christ when everyone kneels before the Lord to be judged, it will glorify God when it is shown that the gospel was preached and the Word of God was taught to all of these individuals.

The Bible says in Isaiah 6:11-13, “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, And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. 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.” Isaiah asked God the question, “how long?” In other words, how long should Isaiah preach God’s Word to these people? The answer is very clear: once God has called you to do something, you should never stop doing it. No matter how much judgment came to the land and no matter how much destruction came, and no matter how many people rejected the message, God still wanted the truth to be told. It says in First Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

Another important fact that God revealed to Isaiah is that no matter how bad things get in life, God always has a few Christians who are preserved to serve Him. God said, “But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return.” No matter what happens in the world around us, God is always more than able to safely keep a remnant who love Him and who serve Him. Are you one of the remnant who have purposed to serve the Lord Jesus no matter what?

The Bible says in Isaiah 7:1-8, “And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind. Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shear-jashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field; And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal: Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people.”

The countries of Syria and Israel came against Judah. Judah was the last place that had some semblance of serving God. If you serve God in this world, you will always have enemies. “They that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” Jesus said, “The servant is not greater than his Lord.” And the Lord, who was without sin, was crucified by His enemies. But one important thing to remember is what we are told in Isaiah chapter seven: God will fight for His children. God will protect His children in the way and in the time that God chooses. The enemies of God’s people are in God’s hands. It just might be that God will take you home, where you will suffer no more at the hands of your enemies, or He may say to your enemies the same thing that He said to the enemies of Judah, “It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.” How fortunate are those who trust in the Lord Jesus. He is not only our Savior; He is also our great protector. The Bible says in Second Thessalonians 1:6, “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you.”

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