24. The Call to Service (3)

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Hymns: RHC 532 Saviour, Like a Shepherd Lead Us 459 So Send I You 444 Hold the Fort

Isaiah 6:1-8

1 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 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 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 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 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 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. 8 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.

The Call to Service (3) 

OUTLINE

(1) Heavenly Vision – Fear and Trembling (v1-4)

(2) Holy Cleansing – Confession and Cleansing (v5-7)

(3) Hearty Consecration – Call and Consecration (v8)

Continue… 

(2) Holy Cleansing – Confession and Cleansing (v5-7)

5 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 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 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.

We saw in chapter 5 Isaiah pronouncing woe upon the children of Israel, here we see him pronouncing “woe” upon himself. He realized his own sinfulness before a thrice holy God. With confession comes cleansing.

The best men in the world have reason to be ashamed of themselves, and the best of their services, when they come into comparison with the holy angels. The angels had celebrated the purity and holiness of God; and therefore, the prophet, when he reflects upon sin, calls it uncleanness; for the sinfulness of sin is its contrariety to the holy nature of God, and upon that account especially it should appear both hateful and frightful to us. The impurity of our lips ought to be the grief of our souls, for by our words we shall be justified or condemned. [Matthew Henry]

It was a vision of the cross, where Christ died for our sins – Isaiah 53:4-5 (KJV) Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

5 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.

The prophet now describes himself as filled with awe, not only by the presence of the LORD, also by a deep impression of his own sinfulness, especially considered as unfitting him to praise God, or to be His messenger, and therefore represented as residing in the organs of his speech. [Joseph A. Alexander]

His lips are unclean, and that means that he as a man was unclean. A sinful man, he cannot praise God, and his sinfulness manifests itself at the lips. 

What Isaiah must do is praise God as the seraphs were doing, but because of his depravity, he could not do this. There must first be a cleansing of the heart. The prophet must, first of all, be made conscious of his own sin and unworthiness before he can praise God as he should. 

Not only is Isaiah unfit to praise God, but the same is true of the nation in whose midst he dwells and which he represents. Because of its sinfulness, the entire nation is unfit to praise God. The theocracy, the kingdom that was intended to be the servant of the Lord, was not fit to utter His praise. Praise is a privilege, not granted to all, but only to those whose guilt has been removed. [Edward J. Young]

Even though recognizing his sinfulness the seraphim do not banish Isaiah from the presence of the Lord. Rather, they give to him a symbolic assurance that his sins are forgiven.

They were doing God’s bidding, but Isaiah does not state, nor is it particularly necessary for us to know, whether this flight was suggested through a nod or beckoning of the hand, or whether it was by a direct command. 

One from among the number of the seraphim left that number and flew to the prophet. This seraph flew and there was a hot stone in his hand. It is not that the seraph first flew and then with the tongs took the stone, finally taking it in his hands. Rather, he took the stone with the tongs from the altar, the stone was in his hand as he was flying.

The ritzpah was a stone on which the incense is placed and burned, and hence it would seem that the scene reflects upon the altar of incense rather than that of burnt offering, in as much as it is difficult to account for the presence of the stone upon the latter. The stone would be for the burning of the incense, and hence would be taken from that altar. 

At the same time, we must remember that these details of the vision are not important. As has already been remarked, the idea of the Temple is derived from the well-known earthly Temple, and merely serves as a background of the vision.

The passage clearly teaches that the purity of lips can come alone from God. Isaiah has been a true believer and he had served the Lord. We are not here reading the account of his conversion. Now he is to be promoted, as it were so that he can serve the Lord in greater measure than heretofore. [Edward J Young]

“It is because the Lord intended to enlarge and extend His favour towards him, and to raise him to higher dignity, that he might have greater influence over the people, and this was rendered necessary by the character of the times, and the change which had taken place in the state” (Calvin).

In a symbolic sense fire is regarded as having purifying power. The application of fire to the lips, therefore, symbolized the fact that those lips were cleansed.

This cleansing, however, is not the work of fire, but of the Lord; it rests upon the fact, as it brought out in the next verse, that a sacrifice for sin has been offered. Consequently, this passage is not simply another illustration of the ancient belief that fire was regarded as possessing purifying power.

Hebrews 1:7 (KJV) And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.

Hebrews 1:14 (KJV) Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

We are reminded of Daniel in the 69th year of Israel’s captivity earnestly seeking the LORD to know the future for Israel – Daniel 9:21-23 (KJV) Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications, the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.

It was an angel that the Lord sent to pour His wrath upon the fountains of the earth.

Revelation 16:4-7 (KJV) And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous arethy judgments.

In the New Testament, we are reminded of the scene at Pentecost where the Holy Spirit came in mighty fashion to save.

 Matthew 3:11 (KJV) I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

Acts 2:3 (KJV) And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

7 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.

The action of the seraph in touching the coal to the lips of Isaiah symbolized the fact that, the necessary propitiatory sacrifice having been made, his sins were forgiven. Acting in accord with God’s behest, the seraph caused the stone to touch the lips of the prophet. This stone, taken from the altar, was merely a symbol of forgiveness; the fire in itself could naturally not cleanse from sin. The cleansing and purifying work is not that of the fire, but of God alone.

“There is no reason to believe,” said Calvin, “that the coal possessed any virtue, as superstitious persons imagine that in magical arts there is some hidden power.” God alone is the Author of forgiveness, and the seraph is but His messenger, flying to do His bidding. [Edward J. Young]

Lo, this hath touched thy lips – Can a symbolical action have meaning without a verbal explanation? Can revelation be by acts alone divorced from words? The prophet must be made to understand the truth itself, in distinction from the signs which symbolize that truth, and for this end words must be employed. At the same time, the signs and the truth which they signify must not be separated. The meaning or explanation of the sign must be conveyed by words, which bring the truth to Isaiah’s mind and at the same time serve as an accompanying explanation of the sacraments and signs. Let us listen to Calvin again: “Let us therefore learn that the chief part of the sacraments consists in the word, and that without it they are absolute corruptions, such as we see every day in popery, in which the sacraments are turned into stage plays.”

First of all, a verbal explanation is necessary in order to guard against false interpretations of the action. Secondly, the accompanying words are essential in order that the truth itself may be known. The seraph first calls attention to the symbol, which is important, for the symbol directs the thoughts to the thing symbolized, namely, the fact that Isaiah’s iniquity is turned aside, and his sins forgiven. Without the spoken word of the prophet would have no understanding of what was transpiring.

To what sins does the seraph refer, and what is the iniquity of which he speaks? He speaks of sin in the ethical sense, sin which could preclude Isaiah from the active service of God. The seraph is not alluding to some particular sin but to sin in general. Isaiah had been a sinful man and, like all sinners, needed the forgiveness which God alone could give. He who would serve God must be one whose sins are forgiven and whose iniquity is pardoned. [Edward J. Young]

and thine iniquity is taken away – The guilt which is involved in Isaiah’s iniquity is turned aside so that it no longer stands as an obstacle in the path of divine forgiveness. If iniquity stands in the way, there can be no forgiveness. That iniquity must be removed or turned aisde, so that God may forgive.

and thy sin purged – The necessary sacrifice has been offered upon the basis of which there may be forgiveness. From this we learn that without shedding of blood there is no remission. Forgiveness is based upon propitiation.

Hebrews 9:22 (KJV) And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

The prophets Jeremiah and Daniel had such divine encounters that launched them forth for the Ministry of the Word.

Jeremiah 1:9 (KJV) Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

Daniel 10:16 (KJV) And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength.

(3) Hearty Consecration – Call and Consecration (v8)

8 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.

For the first time in the vision the Lord speaks. Up to this point He has been seated upon the throne, as it were, in the background. He is the Lord, Adonai, the sovereign One, and He speaks. His question directs attention to the one who is to be sent. Whom? That is the question of the Lord. Among all the inhabitants of earth, among all the men of Judah… whom? 

It is God Himself who gives this commission, and this He does by means a rhetorical question designed to elicit a response upon the part of Isaiah. 

Why, however, does the Lord speak of Himself in the plural? Is He simply employing a plural of majesty or is He also including the heavenly seraphs in His question? In carrying out His sovereign purposes God consults only with Himself. He has no need of counselling with His creatures, even with angelic creatures.

Hence, it would seem wise to adopt the time-honoured interpretation of the church and to regard the Lord as using the plural form to indicate that in the Speaker Himself there is a plurality of persons. Let us not fear to acknowledge that here is an adumbration of the doctrine of the Trinity which in the New Testament receives its fuller revelation. It is this great God who here permits Isaiah a glimpse into the very nature of His being, who cries for a messenger that will go for His benefit. [Edward J. Young]

It was the Holy Trinity that created man, it is the Holy Trinity that sent the man as His messenger to save fallen men.

Genesis 1:26 (KJV) And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.  

1 John 5:7 (KJV) For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

Isaiah’s response was immediate. A moment before he had feared that there as no hope for him; now, however, that he has received the assurance of the forgiveness of his sins and understands that God will not banish him from His presence, he is ready to do service for the sovereign Lord. It is the readiness of true faith. Indeed, even before the prophet knows what God’s bidding is, he is willing to do that bidding. Here in this matchless passage, we find the reason why so few are willing and ready joyfully to serve God, to go wherever God may call him. Does our day and age have any greater need than the preaching of the law, that men may know of their sin, and the gospel that they may look to Him who has turned aside their iniquity and pardoned their sin?

Psalm 51:13-15 (KJV) Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. [Edward J. Young]

CONCLUSION

The call of God, that divine encounter, was Isaiah’s holy commission to a life-long ministry. He could not forget the call. It would be his constant reminder to fulfil the commission entrusted to him for His glory. Amen.